XP for games

[akreder]

I am new to gamemastering WEG SW. How do I dish out XP to my players?
Thanks

[Jedi Skyler]

First, it's really unnerving to see someone else using the avatar for my character!

Secondly, it all depends on the way you want to do it. Each GM has their own preferences; some dish 'em out after they finish a particularly rough segment of an adventure. Some break them out after each scene. Some wait until the single adventure is over. Obviously the longer you wait, the more points you'll be giving out, because the characters will have gone through more.

[Gry Sarth]

Wow, am I seeing double?

Well, my group usually gives out XP at the end of each session. The amount given usually varies between 5-10 XP, depending on how well each member played the adventure. Sucess is not a factor, what matters is your commitment to the game, good roleplaying and good ideas.
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"He's Gry Sarth, of course he has the stats for them."

[akreder]

I mean is the XP skill point or just character points? Is the Xp to up skills?
thanks
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VADER WAS FRAMED.....

[masque]

Character points are indeed what is under discussion. They can be used to increase skills, or the player can hoard them a bit and use them in game to improve their die rolls. It's up to the player as to how they are spent.

As for policy, mine is similar to Gry's. Generally, I have the players make notes when they succeed with skills during a session, or if they successfully roll a skill they don't already have at their attribute default;, I then encourage them to improve those skills with their CPs.
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Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.

[Jedi Skyler]

Also, I have one GM who (in a PbP setting) will give out more CPs to those who post more in the session. Surely it's not always a completely fair thing, for sometimes one CAN'T post until someone else does something... but if a player's right on top of things, then they'll be rewarded with an extra CP or two.

[Jedi Skyler]

By the way, Gry... How many fingers am I holding up?

[Vanion]

I once had a GM/DM who used a system that (at the time) I didn't like very much... but I think I've since changed my opinion and am thinking about using it myself.

At the end of the session, our GM would go around the table and ask something to effect of "What did you do this session that you think you should be rewarded for?". As the player submitted various things, the GM would give what he thought was appropriate XP for each one.

Looking back, that might have been a good system. It relieved some pressure from the GM to keep track of rewards... kept the players thinking about their actions and conduct during the game... and lead to some pretty interesting ideas.

Also... it was interesting to hear what some people thought that should have been rewardable... and what some people thought wasn't importent enough to be rewarded. After all, why should the GM reward something that the player himself doesn't think importent?
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"Life is not measured in years, but by deeds"

[Jedi Skyler]

Plus, that would also give the GM to show his players the kinds of things he himself sees as rewardable, and also the kinds of things they could get points for IF they're able to spin it in a good enough fashion... It'll also give the GM a window into his players' minds to see what actions THEY think should've gotten rewarded. If the players tend to use those same actions a lot, he can either tailor his games to steer them toward alternate courses of action, or can hope to do so simply by rewarding them less and less for just doing the same old things.

I agree, this is probably a good way to develop some creative thinking among the players.

[Grimace]

Yes, in Star Wars, we don't call them XP or Experience Points, we call them Character Points or CP. As masque mentioned, they are used to either increase skills and attributes when enough have been accrued, or they can be used to boost die rolls during the course of play.

As for how many to give out, there are a couple schools of thought. If you give out more, your PCs will advance faster and you'll rapidly have people rolling 8 to 10+ dice for skills. That can lead to some problems of game balance, as PCs of that ability are quickly able to dispatch many problems. If you give out less, you may find your PCs are not capable of handling some of the challenges put before them.

Basically, you must make sure that what you give out doesn't start rapidly advancing the PCs, nor does it keep them so unskilled and lacking in CPs that the players aren't able to use any to boost needed rolls during game play.

My rules of thumb is to determine a base amount that people get for showing up. That number usually sits around 2-3. After that, I grant additional CPs for better roleplaying or situations where someone did something particularly good. I then give 1 additional point per bonus aspect. Meaning that if I felt the base for that session was 3, and a player did well with his roleplaying, he would get an additional 1. If he also came up with some good ideas that may have helped the party (whether they acted on that idea or not), I would give another 1. So that single player would receive 5 CPs for that game session. Another player may have only just tagged along, doing whatever the group did and not particularly standing out. For him, I'd give only 3 CPs.

For exceptional times, the most I'd give out would be 8 or 9. I felt if I started handing out too much, the players would either have so much to advance skills with, or they would have all they ever needed to augment rolls during the next game session. I felt it better to give them the option of spending those CPs to augment rolls, or save them for skill advancement (which I didn't do after every session). Giving them too much allows them to do both, and too little usually results in them making the wrong choice (saving them for skill advancement when they should have used them to save the character during a pivotal time).

So be careful when you're giving them out. If you find that the players are dying off too fast without using them, perhaps you're giving too few out. If they are able to use them to augment rolls, and still advance quickly in skills, then chances are you're giving out too many. Adjust accordingly.

Hope this helps.

[Gry Sarth]

One thing to factor in is how often your group plays. If you're gaming once or twice a week, then something around 3-5 cps per session is adequate. If you're playing once or twice a month, then I'd recommend something between 5-10 cps per session. This ensures that the real life perception of your character's advancement is satisfying yet not overdone.
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"He's Gry Sarth, of course he has the stats for them."

[Aardon24689]

[Grimace]

Three or four times a year?!?

And you want to take pity on the people that can't make that and give them CPs for not even being there? You're WAY more generous than I would be.

If a person can't make one session out of 4 in a year, IMO, they don't deserve any sort of reward for not showing up. If they don't want to fall behind, they should be able to make a game session once every 3 months.

[Gry Sarth]

Not being as harsh as Grimace, at the rate you're playing, even if a person misses most of the games you play and gets no CP for them, he won't really fall behind the other characters in stats. Having some 20 CPs less than the others doesn't really make much of a difference in the game...
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"He's Gry Sarth, of course he has the stats for them."

[Aardon24689]

I imagine you are right, I was planning that originally when we were doing to use D20. It would be a much bigger deal when you have levels to deal with.

Unfortunatly our group is so dispersed that is about as often as we get together any more. I'd like to increase that but it is partially dependant on how well I GM I bet. If I can make it good enough I can probably convince everyone to meet more often.
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"You can't take the sky from me..." Wait wrong forum.