Monsters:
#Appearing is random
Hit points are random
Hits are random
Damage is random
Saving throws are random
Treasure is random
XP is... not random?

Why don't we roll for experience points after combat?

Because experience points are not an opportunity to show player skill.  They're a reward for it.

Quote from: TJS;1058296Because experience points are not an opportunity to show player skill.  They're a reward for it.

Isn't treasure also a reward for player skill? Why is that random?

Because it's fun?  And otherwise it would be repetitive?

Quote from: TJS;1058300Because it's fun?  And otherwise it would be repetitive?

Why isn't XP repetitive?

Quote from: Cave Bear;1058302Why isn't XP repetitive?

It's not a thing that exists in the game world.

It's fun not knowing exactly what the Orcs have in their lair.  - It also allows for the chance they may have something worth more than you could give them if they alway had exactly the same thing.

Quote from: Cave Bear;1058302Why isn't XP repetitive?

Because they are reward.  And rewards, to a lot of people, should be 'fair' or at least perceived as such.  Hence when the party spends a certain amount of resources to succeed, they expect a certain amount of reward in return, the harder the event the more one should get.

If you've ever done work that gets tips as part of it's income (Waiter, alcohol server), when someone gives you a dime for spending 30 minutes of kowtowing to their demands, how would you feel?  Same principle applies here.

Quote from: Cave Bear;1058302Why isn't XP repetitive?

I think players would want a 'consistent' reward as opposed some kind of random method.

Plus, it wouldn't actually correlate to the treasure that has been presented in the scenario (if it was done like that).:confused:

Quote from: Christopher Brady;1058305If you've ever done work that gets tips as part of it's income (Waiter, alcohol server), when someone gives you a dime for spending 30 minutes of kowtowing to their demands, how would you feel?  Same principle applies here.

You're arguing against random treasure.

If more effort and challenge should lead to greater rewards, why is treasure random and XP is a set value? Why aren't they both prorated according to the challenge? If the monster gets all 1s on its hit points roll, it's worth the same XP as one that rolled all 8s. That's not "the harder the event the more one should get."

Quote from: Xuc xac;1058331You're arguing against random treasure.

No, I'm not.  It sounds like it, but the principle is the same.  A reward is the currency a modern player gets to show for what they did and XP is that currency.  Treasure can be ephemeral as they are 'things' and things can be lost.  Especially in older D&D where you have monsters that can easily 'destroy' or remove a reward.

There's a reason in 5e that the Rust Monster still exists, but level drain and XP loss does not.  I know some of the hardest of the hardcore, think that those who hate XP loss are weenies, but most players disliked that mechanic the most.  They hated losing XP over losing gear.  After all, gear can be regained, but 'experience' should be forever, because it's memories, skill learned.

Quote from: Xuc xac;1058331If more effort and challenge should lead to greater rewards, why is treasure random and XP is a set value? Why aren't they both prorated according to the challenge? If the monster gets all 1s on its hit points roll, it's worth the same XP as one that rolled all 8s. That's not "the harder the event the more one should get."

Because XP is rated to the amount of challenge presented.  An ogre fight is different than five goblins.

Quote from: Cave Bear;1058297Isn't treasure also a reward for player skill? Why is that random?

Well, amount of monsters is directly linked with amount of XP for killing monsters. By that logic, it is random

Quote from: Azraele;1058333Well, amount of monsters is directly linked with amount of XP for killing monsters. By that logic, it is random

  Likewise, GP=XP means that randomizing GP randomizes both.

There are a number of games that do randomized experience - notably Basic Roleplaying / Call of Cthulhu / RuneQuest, which has randomized experience checks. I haven't found any problems with that.

In psychology, there is a theory that randomized rewards are more motivating. This is behind the draw of gambling, for example. On the other hand, I haven't felt like this has been a major factor in RPGs, in my experience.

Quote from: Azraele;1058333Well, amount of monsters is directly linked with amount of XP for killing monsters. By that logic, it is random

Yep, that's where it ends. If you have a random number of monsters, then you have a random number of XP, even if the randomness of the latter is dependent on the former.

Quote from: Cave Bear;1058293Monsters:
#Appearing is random
Hit points are random
Hits are random
Damage is random
Saving throws are random
Treasure is random
XP is... not random?

Why don't we roll for experience points after combat?

Because it's more work for no extra gain. Do you want to be the DM who, after the adventure is over, has to roll a bunch of dice to calculate how much XP the PCs just earned?

There's nothing wrong, in principle, with rolling random XP if you really want to. It won't hurt anything. But all of the other things you listed affect things that have a dramatic question attached. "Is the ogre still alive and attacking? Did he just squish Bob's brains out? How many trolls are behind this door? Did Hrothgar just get paralyzed by that ghoul?" Random XP has no dramatic question attached, it's just end-of-adventure bookkeeping. It adds nothing but randomness for its own sake.