Here we have a post about how players roleplay character's experience and how that is reflected in setting.

Here we have an article suggesting a way to remove metagame considerations in handing out experience.

So, a question...
1. What games are you currently running?
2. How do you handle the experience in that game?

I'm currently running Mythras.  Mythras is a RuneQuest based system that uses Experience Rolls (ER) which allow you attempt to improve a skill, buy new skills, learn spells, etc.  Some uses may take more than one ER.  The suggestion is awarding 2-4 per session (perhaps with a bonus based on stats) depending on a lot of things, but it is suggested that all characters earn the same number of ERs.

So far I've been pretty much following the recommendation.  With a number from 2-4, possibly with a +1, there's not a whole lot of range, so what determines a 2pt session vs. a 4pt session?  Well, now that I think about it, I've been kind of naturally doing it based on time played like that article above.  Not a strict rule of X amount of time per ER, but time played is how it's ending up getting handed out.  I've been factoring that in without really thinking about it.  There's no voting for MVP, there's no "roleplaying awards", "best joke bonus", "clever plan award" or anything like that...just roleplaying.  I'll have to say, it's been working out.

As to the other part, the IC representation of experience, well, I have hacked the system a little bit, in that higher skills cost more ER to raise than lower skills, and if you have used the skill that session, it costs less.  Now with the numbers so small, a lot of the time, there isn't a cost difference, but sometimes there is an ER cost difference based on use, which brings the system a little bit more in line with the old RQ.  Now as Bren and I were discussing in that article thread, I am leaving myself open to Skill Spam, as players try a wide variety of skills with the meta-knowledge that it will lead to a reduced cost for growth.  So far, however, I'm not seeing it (because I have good players) and the amount you receive is relatively small to begin with.  The characters are more worried about coin and reputation then ERs (like good S&S players should).  In any case, it being a skill system improving individual skills more gradually, there is no DING! to have to worry about and rationalize IC.

I run OD&D.

At the end of the session I hand out XP based on how much gold each player got.

We don't worry about the "IC" aspects in the slightest.

Well, by the book mostly.  I tend to use Rolemaster's idea points to balance out the rewards among the party.  In GURPS by the book means just wing it so that's mostly what I do in GURPS.  In D&D I don't like handing out too much gold and lean to hierocentric exchange so the king often hands out thousands of GP in free training.  But even in D&D I require training to exchange gold to XP.  In all honesty, I much prefer a system that spells it all out like Rolemaster.  I like BRP's experience rolls in theory, but in practice they reward cheaters.

Quote from: CRKrueger;930373Here we have a post about how players roleplay character's experience and how that is reflected in setting.

Here we have an article suggesting a way to remove metagame considerations in handing out experience.

So, a question...
1. What games are you currently running?

None.

Quote2. How do you handle the experience in that game?

Last game I ran was Dungeon Crawl Classics over Skype. I awarded xp for every encounter of note. I  put a notation in my notes for every encounter of what xp it was worth, put a checkmark in the margin if the characters dealt with the encounter. (No matter how they resolved it) and tallied up the xp at the end of the session, and handed out a lump sum.
I usually inform the players of my xp approach sometime at the beginning of a campaign, so they know if they did anything interesting, they were getting xp for it.

Quote from: CRKrueger;930373So, a question...
1. What games are you currently running?
2. How do you handle the experience in that game?

1: Currently 5e D&D and a hopefully new Star Frontiers campaign.
2: In 5e I hand out EXP at the end of a completed mission. Or at strategic segments of a longer campaign. In SF it is much the same. At the end of a mission of campaign segment. Though really EXP in SF is really skill points.

X: The players get extra EXP for good play and interesting solutions to problems. They dont know that though.

Quote from: David Johansen;930382I like BRP's experience rolls in theory, but in practice they reward cheaters.

That's what we talked about in that article thread.  If you hand out ERs based on session or time then there's no "cheating" really.  No way to cheat, or really even think about experience at all, because the only way you can control it is to play longer (and even that goes away if it's just per session).

Quote from: Omega;9303881: Currently 5e D&D and a hopefully new Star Frontiers campaign.
2: In 5e I hand out EXP at the end of a completed mission. Or at strategic segments of a longer campaign. In SF it is much the same. At the end of a mission of campaign segment. Though really EXP in SF is really skill points.

X: The players get extra EXP for good play and interesting solutions to problems. They dont know that though.

For 5e, do you give experience for "defeating" an encounter without killing it?

Quote from: CRKrueger;930390For 5e, do you give experience for "defeating" an encounter without killing it?

Yes. The DMG even mentions that somewhere. EXP for negotiating, sneaking, avoiding, capturing, rescuing, whatevering.

Like this.

When I ran AD&D, I handed out exp pure RAW, gold and monster exp.
When I ran Shadowrun, I handed out karma pure RAW, by mission objectives, and maybe a little RP or some other form of success award kicker.
When I ran RM/MERP I did the same thing, RAW, even keeping track of first encounters, etc...

So I guess up to now, I've mostly I stuck to By the Book when it comes to different game's exp handouts with maybe some minor hacks.

Quote from: Bren;930394Like this.

4 to 1 that's a pretty good ratio.  I've seen some intense city campaigns I've played in take a couple months to go through a couple days of campaign time.

I see your AP average is from 1.6 to 3.3 so obviously it is variable from session to session.  Is it variable from player to player for any given session?  Do you hand out RP awards, or any type of OOC awards, like MVP Vote or Best Joke or anything like that?

Quote from: CRKrueger;9303974 to 1 that's a pretty good ratio.  I've seen some intense city campaigns I've played in take a couple months to go through a couple days of campaign time.

I've been trying to shift the ratio close to 1-1, but it is a struggle.

QuoteI see your AP average is from 1.6 to 3.3 so obviously it is variable from session to session.  Is it variable from player to player for any given session?  Do you hand out RP awards, or any type of OOC awards, like MVP Vote or Best Joke or anything like that?

Yes and yes.

• Sometimes I give an extra point if the player did something outstandingly entertaining, in character, apropos for the period, or otherwise enjoyable. Same if someone comes up with an innovative approach or solution to getting something done in the session. No voting. Just me ruling. That probably happens once every five sessions or less.
• I'll give an extra point if players do something meaningful on their own time like write up an actual letter to a friend or a report their PC submitted to their superior. It wouldn't often be meaningful and players seldom do that anyway, so a careless carpenter could count the number of times I give out those awards on one or two hands.  
• Rarely I'll adjust the point award if there is a big discrepancy in how active players and their PCs are during a single session. Like if one player is only there for half the session or something.
• I add an extra point or maybe two if the session has intense and dangerous combat or if it's some sort of successful conclusion or resolution to an multi-session arc. In effect it is a kind of completion bonus.That probably occurs every 5 or 10 sessions.

Another cause of variation is that I give less experience per session as the PCs become more experienced. You can see that in the scoring. PCs who have been 60%+ of the sessions tend to average < 2 points per session. Characters who have been in 10-25% of the sessions are about a point or half a point higher on average. Characters who have only been in a handful of sessions average around 3 points.

• For the really experienced characters 1 Advancement Point per session is my default expectation. If the session is really active, dangerous, or concludes an arc I'll add a point. Sometimes even +2 points.
• For not too experienced characters my default expectation is about 2 APs per session with active sessions at 2-4 points.
• Max award for a single session is 6 points. That's really rare. Like maybe five or six times total.

Note that APs get awarded after the session is over or the award gets announced at the beginning of the next session. So awards are never in-character.

Oh, one other thing. Sometimes players run NPCs. Usually if their PC isn't in the session or scene. I count that time and activity the same as if they were running their PC so they get APs awarded. But the award is either tied to the NPC, like when a player runs their PC's trusted companion - think Planchet in the Three Musketeers. Or the award is given to the player to use on any of their PCs or trusted companions (if they have one).

And I do let the players spend AP from a PC to improve that PC's trusted companion(s).

Mostly running Magic World, and occasionally DCC.
For Magic World I do the standard BRP thing with XP rolls earned for skills used... both successfully and for fumbles. Just about anything can be trained up while in a stable place with the proper resources.

Quote from: David Johansen;930382I like BRP's experience rolls in theory, but in practice they reward cheaters.

So maybe don't play with cheaters? I don't know... it's a problem people make noise about that I've never run into.

For DCC there's XP for whatever seems like a challenge... like, you can get XP for peacefully defusing a potential combat, for pulling off schemes, for succeeding or failing really badly at something hard (if you survive it). Harder stuff yields more XP and easy peasy stuff yields little or none. XP gets handed out as challenges complete but you need to get somewhere safe/stable to actually level up (time to relax and reflect).

Quote from: CRKrueger;930395When I ran AD&D, I handed out exp pure RAW, gold and monster exp.

er? Pretty sure AD&D has a section for giving EXP out based on performance as well as the standard kill/bypass + loot.

Quote from: CRKrueger;930373So, a question...
1. What games are you currently running?
2. How do you handle the experience in that game?

I am currently running a game of d6 Star Wars and Traveller. I hand out experience the same way with both games.

I buy several large bags of skittles. When a player does something worth an experience point, I place a skittle in a bowl in front of them. At the end of the game session, any uneaten skittles are considered to be experience points and placed on their character sheet.

For treasure, I buy a large bag of chocolate coins wrapped in gold foil.....

What I actually do is give out the same amount for each player based upon their group roleplaying and teamwork. If a player has done an outstanding job in the game and whose decisions and actions were crucial to the adventure being resolved well, that one gets an extra point or two.