Hello again,in this second post I'll bring up ine other problem I encountered: XP awards.
I don't know if there is a topic about this ,and if there is please give me the link.

Anyway,my problem is that I am afraid that I give to much xp.I basically give a minimum of 200 xp per session ,usually more.
We've only done two adventures but we're already rank 5.The adventures are long ,and there is often a lot of fighting .But then againt they are short (two weeks in-game max) ;which means they don't get to have really good equipment and they don't role play much.
How do you award XP?
Thanks,
B.Kaedran

I have found a basic XP formula in the book BUT...i will append a previous comment as to explain how i handle things for my groups for XP as follows:

As for the general idea...here are a few of the ones i use

Some personal changes ive implemented are thus

1) ALL homeworlds EXCEPT for feral automatically gain Literacy , Common Lore ( Imperium , War ) as well as ANY of the skills they listed individually under the homeworld traits.

2) I automatically have all my PCs start with Max Wounds ( i dont have issue with killing PCs if they dont pay attention to whats going on and simply beef up the opposition numbers and or skills/talents to suit whatever my needs are at the time for each encounter )

3) I have the players actually RP alot as well as "hack and slash" to achieve their goals and give them ( usually ) several ways to achieve the target set them by their Inquisitor. But i emphasize good roleplay always and can and will reward with extra XP and/or a FREE skill/talent IF they do very well ( for example they see a random mugging attempt by some ganger scum and they actually feel nice and assist the would-be victim....they might just be saving the arbites wife or nobles son from assassins etc...you never know...and if they are polite enough afterwards to the victim ( escorting them safely back wherever ) then they can easily earn a Peer or Contact talent out of it.)

My standard for extra rewards is as follows:

10-20xp for clever idea to solve an issue ( 50 if its a bloodless solution )

+1% to associated skill for each Critical success ( in this case i mean ONLY when a Natural 01% is rolled on a check and Yes this includes WS and BS traits as well )

200xp for playing in character ( awarded at end of each game session )

200xp per 4hrs of game session ( actual game time NOT including breaks etc...)

10-20xp for killing / subduing a minor threat ( Threat rating: Minima )

20-40xp for killing / subduing a moderate threat ( Threat rating: Minoris )

50-100xp for killing / subduing a major threat ( Threat rating: Majoris )

100-400xp for killing / subduing a extreme threat ( Threat rating Extremis )

Potential " good samaritan" rewards include gaining Peer and Contact talents for free ( in addition to whatever XP you get from "handling the situation" that brings you into contact with said individual(s)

Ive found that handing out these extra rewards helps to keep the game running smoothly by keeping the players happy as well as encouraging them to actively RP the situations and try to find alternative solutions ( bloodless when possible ) to gain more XP as well as to help maintain their cover identities as members of the Inquisition by NOT attracting undue attention to themselves by starting fights arbitrarily

Hope this helps...

Hi,

if you award more then 200xp per session (the "flat rate system") your characters will grow quickly. Since a lot of our game time is consumed by in-game discussions & roleplay (which I love my players for) and for out-of-game discussions about what to do (yoiks!) I stopped to use the flat system if possible.

Because the other options needs preparation!
Each sessiosn, they get an amount of xp for RPG & in-character gaming (20xp if the did not paid much attention to this, 50xp if they performed well, more for truly awesome stuff). Since RPG is a group effort to me, everybody gets the same & I judge their overall performance.

In addition, I hammer an "xp tag" on every task the need to achieve. And if cannot do this, I take my time between session to think about what they truly ACHIEVED (plot wise!) and then award XP as mentioned in the detailed system.


It helped me alot to stop handing out XP at the end of a session but awarding them at the beginning of the next session. Keeps me from hasty decisions

I use the 'flat system' from the Rulebook (200 xp per session, period), and my players have advanced in level slightly faster than I expected; knowing what I know now, I certainly wouldn't increase that basic rate if I were starting from scratch.

My characters don't gain a set amount per session, I award 20xp for a kill, 25 for an elite kill and 30 for a boss /major NPC kill. If they pass a test, they gain 5xp and they get XP for each objective they complet, usually around 75 - 200, depending on the difficulty of the objective. I also have implemented a star system. I have a little book of gold stars which I give out if I decree that something someone did was suitably epic, for example: rolling a -20 acrobatics to leap over a small fence while running away from a group of stub revolver wielding gangers they just pissed off, or convincing an Imperial Guard Quartermaster tha 'standard equipment' does in fact include that melta gun. each star awards 75 XP and they are awarded approximately once to twice per session.

I should probably mention that the stars are awarded once to twice per session, not once to twice per character per session XD

I also have given my roleplayers a little A5 notebook each and they use these for marking down kills, passed tests and any other important infomation, not that I tell them what to write of course. More than once they have cursed themselves for not writing down the name I that NPCs ex girlfriend that they found out in a data slate or the number hastily scrawled in the back of the book placed conspicuously in the middle of the desk. One of my PCs set up what is basically a bank account with the Ordo Calixis that he could use to access his wages on any planet with a Ad Min building, and then consequently forgot the password he had set up and I refuse him access to the funds until he remembered it XD

As I hate book-keeping, I aware a flat fee for every session. 200 seems too much for me (You get level 8 in no time). And I like the PC to enjoy each level, each new skill/talent/... Well, I do 100 xp for each session (4 hours). We played 3 adventures and they are already level 3. My players are happy, nothing alse matters.

Granting XP pr kill is a sure way to create psycho-killer player characters.

How about the Adept who specializes in knowledge and healing? You know, the guy who is indispensable to any investigation, but who will keep his head down in combat?

Darth Smeg said:

I agree. that is the reason for a plain 100 xp per session. If you give xp for kill, PCs will shoot everything. If it is for role play, they might overreact.

And if you want to play a taciturn Adepte, good-by xp.

I was used to the warhammer 2nd edition system, so much of my experience comes from there.

I have decided that it would be coolest if my players progressed fast and could handle some harder threats quicker. We also only play around six times a year, but for eight to ten hours straight. Therefor I let the players start with 500 xp (instead of the normal 400) and each play time untill recently they received 500 xp per session. Now I have increased it to 1000 xp per sessions.

If we should make the xp into a normal (four to five hours) sessions they would have gained 250 xp and know 500 xp.

But I also aim for them to advance quick, and being able to spend xp on something they find less important.

After readin this thread the other day I made some quick maths to see how fast player character go up in Rank if you five them 200xp per session. I found that they only go fast from Rank 1 to 5, but after that it gets really hard to get a new Rank, as you may see it by yourself:

Rank 1 to 2: 1 session

Rank 2 to 3: 2 sessions

Rank 3 to 4: 5 sessions

Rank 4 to 5: 5 sessions

Rank 5 to 6: 15 sessions

Rank 6 to 7: 10 sessions

Rank 7 to 8: 10 sessions

Rank 8 to Ascention-tier: 25 sessions

So, giving the standard amount of experience of 200xp and playing average sessions of 4 hours, you need 83 sessions to reach Ascention-level characters (which equals 21 months aproximately, playing every single week during that period).

Consedering that it takes you almost 2 years to reach Ascention level character (Rank 9+), I don't think that 200xp is too much experience, I think is fairly balanced.

If you want to make Rank progression a little bit difficult and smoother, do the following:

*Rank 1 to 4 characters get 100xp per session.

*Rank 5 to 8 characters get 200xp per session.

That way after they reach Rank 3 it takes an average of 10 session to reach a new Rank, and your players will still reach Ascention-tier characters within a 2 years period.

My chars did shoot everythng for a while, until they shot a latent psyker and his latent powers protected him with Catch Projectile. the sudden and unexpected use of psy powers turned him into a Daemon Host and he Firestormed two players to death instatnly and nearly killed teh rest of th egroup before they took him out. Now they only kill things AFTER they are either shot at or have discovered that the person is irrevocably bad XD

well i don't normal give xp out till the end of the mission, This does mean that i have to book keep what people do and how much extra xp they get.

but i normal have a set amount for the mission say 1000xp they can get less for the mission if they missed things or took a long time working something out and who they where fighting got the upper hand, but then the rest of there xp will come from how the role play or what sort of idea or plans they come up with in the mission that sort of thing.

I used to book-keep, and differentiate between my players based on how "well they roleplayed", etc.

But it just became a chore, it stimulated stage-hogging and always seemd to favour the most vocal player. Not fun.

Then I tried letting each player nominate another for a bonus, basically democratizising part of the XP distribution process, but it didn't really add value to our playnights.

So now I just hand out a flat 200XP per evening to everyone. Sometimes they get more (if we played for longer, or they achieved something important), but they all get the same. Keeps it easy. The GM has enough book keeping as it is

yes some players do stand out and can get a head, so thats when I will try and working in a side plot or even a main plot that will work around them to bring them out more and will mean they will get extra xp or if your party does like to split up now and then have something happen that will give them a little extra.

I guess i just like the idea that the players work for there xp, but if someone really pulls a head you could give them things that they can spend xp e.g one of my players got a puppy and can use some of his xp to train it in some skills,