[D20] Alternate XP Rewarding, What are your thoughts?

Right now I am running a D20 game where my players are rewarded XP in just about the normal way. I won't get into that because the details are not important. What is important is the way I am thinking of changing the way I reward XP.

I would like to have players come up with a certain number, say five, character goals each. Each time one of those goals is accomplished that player receives a XP reward. I would also like to have the group create five group goals. Each time one of those is accomplished, everyone in the group receives a XP reward. The group XP reward would be two or three times higher than the individual character goals. Players would still receive a small amount of XP just for attending game as well.

I have spoken to my players about this, but what I would like feedback on is do you think this type of reward system, if the numbers were right, could award a similar or greater amount of XP?

Also posted at RPG.net Forums

This link is from the RPG.net thread but it was soo cool I had to add it here. Sweet 20 XP

Check it out and see what you think.

Moved from the fall of charn.

My games also go for a considerable amount of time without combat so I am right behind you on this one.

My sessions usually last from six to twelve hours, although more often they are closer to twelve. This is just a rough guess, don't have any info in front of me at the moment, but I think the characters in my game go up a level every 4 - 6 sessions.

While I have not played Shadow of Yesterday I will be changing that very soon.

Sweet20 seems like a good idea, and if it does not end up working for me or my players, we will look into something different. Right now I am not willing to throw away the D20 system just quite yet. Sweet20 is a step in the right direction.

So I just ran my first game using keys. While I am not using them exactly as suggested, I am sticking to it as close as possible.

My players seem to really dig the idea of being given cookies for playing their character to the hilt, and the fact that they chose when to award themselves for the XP puts that it right in front of their face.

One of my players was worried that there would be less XP rewarded from using Keys, but after the end of the game I think thats faded away. We played for nearly 7 hours and most of the players had a pile of three to five tokens (used for tracking rewards) in front of them.

I am going to reserve final judgement until all of my players show up to a game, and I have used them for a few sessions. But so far I think they are keen.

Very interesting and creative method of dispening experience! I like the visual aspect too. Positive re enforcement is always gto the good.

For myself, I give a base point level for the session based on difficulty, and then have the players take turns discussing the session and their actions, and they haggle w/ me for bonus exp. This is usually a pretty fun way to recap things at the end, and it helps me identify what excited them during the game, and helps make sure that no important deed slips through the cracks.

Thats an awesome way to do a recap. Do they have a check list, or a certain order of things they go over after each game?

No, no set list, though the more organized a player is with their game notes(like my wife for instance, she has full notebooks of campaign notes, takes them compulsively..has more than me as GM LOL), the better off they'll be at the recap. They'll just remember more, and earn more for their credit. The fighters will regail me with thier view of their combats and consequent results, and the roleplayers will really get a chance to get into the action. Every little thing they did they will throw at me lol, and we really get into some good discussion of plot and ramifications of actions.

If playing in character, I'll give exp for just about anything that has even a little impact on the story that the player brings up in the end debate, and I have sometimes geared the next session around things the players have speculated w/ me about. A good idea is a good idea, even if I didn't think of it!(this is really cool for precognitive characters too) lol ..The players are very involved w/ story. I create a background and a hook, and they really have free will within that. They make the story. I am the ocean, they the ship. LOL Well, that's past tense, as I am sans gaming group currently. My last 2 groups (we moved here from Fayetteville, Arkansas) lasted for most of 14 years, w/ me and another GM rotating campaigns for the first 9, and then a third member caught the GM bug and joined the rotation. Anyway, I used that exp method the whole time when I was GM with no complaints, and they seemed to look forward to it. Players tend to rise in level quickly, however, I balance it by being stingy with gifts. Even in D&D, magic is very rare and powerful in my campaigns. It's not uncommon for the party to have only one or 2 magical weapons, and a sprinkling of helpful magical items for the duration.

Anyhoo, I cannot be brief it would seem