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[Cerufel]

I know the book outlines how to dish out EXP at the end of a session, but I was wondering if people could list about how much they give out on average. 

Also, any additional reasons, beyond what the book says, that you award players additional EXP.

 Thank You

[Lizbeth]

31 exp per usual 8-hour session +combats (usually 1 exp per combat) + some extra exp at the end of module (around 15).

[vytzka]

I just give out chunks of 50 xp whenever the party achieves anything in the story (works out to about once every two sessions, I might speed it up to keep advancement fast in higher levels).

[kplate]

My average is about 20. Are normal games run about 6-7 hours at times 5. The biggest dump of xp in my games is one of two things, 1. finishing a major plot point, or 2. really impressing roleplaying. There was one game we had it ran the full 7 hours and not one die was rolled it was all roleplaying the whole game I gave out 40-45 xp for the night. I think the biggest amount I have gave out for plot is 50 but that was only once most times its like 10-15.

[Spirit_Crusher]

I follow the guidelines keeping and I think it works pretty good. We play for 3 to 5 hours usually.

[Cerufel]

Yeah, the guidelines are what I use too. 

The reason I ask is that my husband and I live far away from our players, and we don't play over the web, so when we all get together it's only for a few days at most (once every couple of months).  So for three or so days I run a short campaign and the sessions usually last upwards of 6 hours, our longest being almost 14 hours.  I award EXP according to the outline but I was not very confident that I was doing it correctly.

I wanted to have an idea of the range of EXP generally granted at the end of an average session, for comparisons sake.  So, thank you all very much for contributing.  I feel better about the amount I gave out last time we played. 

[The Dread Polack]

I am generous, because my games tend to die off quickly

I always give the maximum of 3 xp per hour. At a typical 5-6 hour session, that's 15-18 xp, plus another 10-20 for the various other things. Most of my plot arcs last 3 sessions, and I give the most at the conclusions of those arcs.

[Cerufel]

I am generous, because my games tend to die off quickly

I always give the maximum of 3 xp per hour. At a typical 5-6 hour session, that's 15-18 xp, plus another 10-20 for the various other things. Most of my plot arcs last 3 sessions, and I give the most at the conclusions of those arcs.

Yeah, that's pretty much what I did for similar reasons.  Living in northern NY pretty much curses us to online play (which we are not big fans of) or using our vacation time to visit with friends and play over a long weekend.  :p

[Lia Valenth]

I seem to give out 18-25XP per session for 5-8 hour session. They average to about 25XP/session with arc rewards. I did find I had to stop rewarding it based on role playing, and just give out a static amount. This was because some players were getting 28/session while others were getting 22/session, and over the 6 months (27 sessions or so) it was becoming a bit of a gap.

[The Dread Polack]

I really like the idea of rewarding players for roleplaying and individual deeds. Unfortunately, the xp gap you mention can come up, and players can get a little annoyed when they're not getting as much as others. That's why I always give the same amount these days.

I'm using the Savage Worlds rules in my campaign, and players are incentivised to roleplay by getting "bennies" which are used for rerolls, soaking damage, and a couple other things. I think this works out well. Players who are light on the roleplaying don't get as many, but don't have to push themselves as hard, and heavy roleplayers have to work harder, but get more bennies.

There's also an optional rule called "Interludes" where a character can choose to draw a random card and tell a story about their character and receive a benny or "adventure card" as a reward. I like this a lot, and plan to encourage it heavily, as it gives me ideas for further adventures and ways to hook the players. I think the dramatic nature of Anima's setting works perfectly with this rule. The "Tears of Vykris (sp?)" adventure is full of this sort of thing, and wouldn't we all like to have some of that drama in our campaigns? Might as well incentivise it!

[Cerufel]

Perhaps another way to still give out EXP for rp would be to make it known that everyone will gain an additional bonus at the end if everyone contributes to good rp-ing.  This would encourage players to work together for an additional common goal and keep them encouraging one another during rp. (the amount of EXP would have to be a proportional bonus to the total given at the end of the session, something worth the effort given but not too much). 

Though I suppose most GM's probably already include this in the total if everyone is doing well... but you could always still let the players know in order to inspire them to greater aspiration.