Looking for GM opinions. How do you handle XP awards for scenes in which only SOME of the PCs are present, but ALL of the players are spending their game time either acting or observing?

Our group is running Jewel of Yavin. With its somewhat sandbox approach to the 1st and 2nd Acts, the crew has naturally seen the benefits of splitting up to lay the ground work for the job. This has led to the five-player group splitting into two, or sometimes three, subgroups so that they can accomplish tasks simultaneously (in game time), at the recognized real-time expense that players may be observers for up to half a session of play. I deliberately keep the split-scenes to about 15-30min before switching back... to avoid having losing players' attention to their phones, the internet (we play over Roll20), etc.

How would YOU award XP for those split-crew scenes? Only award XP to the PCs that are IN the scene (the most RAW answer, I think)... OR... award XP to everyone as compensation for attending a session where they truly "play" about 50% of the time? Or perhaps a compensatory award of 5 XP if you (the player) are present for a scene, but your PC is not??

Side note: I typically award about 5 XP per scene to all the PCs involved. And I typically award NO XP if a player is absent for the night. And in so doing, I do what I can to make their PC be "off screen" for all of the scenes that night. In my experience, running a PC as an NPC, or handing them off to another player, slows down play as folks who are NOT familiar with the PC are hunting down character sheet details, reading up on rules they are not familiar with, etc.

Thanks!

GM Khyrith

I award XP per session, or depending on where we take a break in the module not even after every session. There is potentially some additional XP for players going above and beyond, but that has nothing to do with time.

To be clear: I track XP for each scene... but only "award" (by FFG definition) to the players after every Act or so. Keeps from having to do paperwork EVERY week.

But would like to get back to the question: do you award XP to players who are AT the session but NOT actively part of a scene?

I doubt there are too many people who allocate XP by scene, so you might not get an answer.

I don't micromanage XP, I just award XP by session. If they show up, they get some. I don't award extra XP for role-play, etc, that comes in the form of boost dice, extra DPs, or whatever fits the situation they are roleplaying in.

In another thread I saw someone talk about using XP in the middle of the game. I imagine you could do something similar and award XP after the scene so the characters who are in scenes get that reward as things happen.

5 hours ago, Khyrith said:

To be clear: I track XP for each scene... but only "award" (by FFG definition) to the players after every Act or so. Keeps from having to do paperwork EVERY week.

But would like to get back to the question: do you award XP to players who are AT the session but NOT actively part of a scene?

What @whafrog said. I don’t see any benefit to awarding XP scene by scene - not judging your approach, do what works for you, but that’s just not for me. I assume it evens out over time anyway, insofar as there are players not taking part in scenes happens. Bob sits out 10 mins this week, there might be a scene Steve is not part of three weeks from now and now that I think of it, Matt was left out of things for a bit last month too. That kind of thing. I also don’t think players should get ‘punished’ because their character stays backstage for a bit. My players want to play, if they’re not part of the game for a bit it’s probably because it’s better for whatever mad scheme they just cooked up and I don’t want them opting for a less good plan just so everyone can be in on it. And finally, they’re still at the table. They still help make things more fun, by being there and cheering each other on and adding to the general atmosphere. It’s a social event and they’re still being social.

I do it per session. Wouldn't want to have to track something else.

Thx guys. Somehow this got off topic about IF to award XP and into WHEN to award XP.

But maybe that answers my question. For those who calculate XP per session, I suppose it doesn't matter if a PC was at the table but off-screen most of the game b/c of a split party event. Thx for the input.

Why make things awkward by rewarding XP individually? At the end of the day, the group is collaborating for the great big steal and thus individual accomplishments shouldn't be weighed into too heavily; after all for most of episode's 4 and 5 the "party" spends practically no time together. Fact is, not everyone is able to contribute equally toward every scene and that is fine; as long as everyone is playing to their strengths (and sometimes improvising.) then the group should be rewarded as a whole for the advancements that were made, and equally penalised on missed opportunities. After all the Jewel of Yavin very strongly encourages the spiltting of the team to accomplish a long list of activities to the most energetic heist of all time on that assumption of completing a series of tasks in a time efficient manner.

Now if a player outright isn't partaking in any action around the table that could be an engagement issue. However from what I have identified this isn't an issue. Indeed, even if the players don't do exactly what is said in the book that is fine, reward XP for equally inventive solutions that push forward the heist development even if that means neglecting some of the options in the book. At the end of the day the client asked for precisely two things; to steal the jewel and to steal the money. How they go about that precisely (though the money is fairly restrictive in its' access, unless the credits are handed in a very material based manner) is up to your players and you.

4 hours ago, Khyrith said:

Thx guys. Somehow this got off topic about IF to award XP and into WHEN to award XP.

But maybe that answers my question. For those who calculate XP per session, I suppose it doesn't matter if a PC was at the table but off-screen most of the game b/c of a split party event. Thx for the input.

Just trying to explain where I’m coming from is all. To put it clearly, I would give everyone equal XP for being at the table even if I tracked XP by scene.

Thx folks!! Love the collaborative feel of this site!

Try 5xp per hour at the table, plus maybe another 5xp bonus for good roleplaying or cool ideas.

All player characters at my table are at the same EXP, no exceptions. Doesn't matter if someone can't contribute to a scene, we are having two split scenes, or someone can't make a session. EXP is not a competition.