There are several ways of doing experience points. Here are some alternatives that we could explore in the game. We should decide this at session 0 and can of course be changed as we go:
Milestone:
The DM decides the proper moment for the party to gain a level. This usually happens after a significant event happens in-game. This doesn’t mesh well with open-world/sandbox/player driven kind of games and is better suited for narrative driven games like modules or stories about “big damn heroes”.
Goal oriented:
Using the goal system, we add on top of it the chance to gain experience points. The GM assesses the difficulty of the goal, and assigns it a category; “Easy, Medium, Hard, Deadly” based on narrative likelihood they’ll succeed, obstacles in the way, etc. Category of the goal is equated to an XP value. Achieving the goal means getting the XP.
Easy: 25 x your level in XP
Medium: 50 x your level in XP
Hard: 100 x your level in XP
Deadly: 200 x your level in XP
You get 3 goals to try and accomplish. If you work towards it during the session, you get half of that XP. Working towards the goal involves at least 1 roll (some risk is taken).
This system work well in sandbox games/player driven games. I think the hardest part will be for the players to figure out how to phrase their coals correctly in order to get experience points consistently, especially in the beginning when the characters are still relatively unknown to all and the orientation of narrative is unknown. It is a benefit for me in that the weight of directing the game is moved onto the players shoulders but it also refocuses the game. Prep becomes easier as well because I know ahead of time what the players are interested in.
Easy XP:
Moves back the weight of directing the adventure more towards the DM but greatly simplifies the calculating of when you level up. It constrains a little bit more what you get experience points for and demands more work at the end of a session to figure out what happened, how many times, did you actually accomplish that were the things from the last bullet point worhty of XP and so on. This system also benefits shorter narratives that have a concrete ending.
XP Required to Level
- For levels 1 and 2, it takes 10 XP to level up.
- For level 3, it takes 20 XP to level up.
- For levels 4 through 10, it takes 30 XP to level up.
- For levels 11 through 20, it takes 20 XP to level up.
XP Granted
- For every encounter that is designed to challenge the party (medium to hard,) grant 1 XP.
- For every encounter that is particularly dangerous and life-threatening (deadly,) grant 2 XP.
- For climatic encounters designed to end a story arc, grant 3 XP.
- Depending on your whims as a DM, you may grant XP based on player merits, story progression, circumventing encounters, disarming traps, or anything else your heart desires.
| Level | XP | XP to Level | Encounter XP | Encounters | Simple XP | XP to Level |
| 1 | 0 | 300 | 50 | 6 | 0 | 10 |
| 2 | 300 | 600 | 112.5 | 5.333333333 | 10 | 10 |
| 3 | 900 | 1800 | 175 | 10.28571429 | 20 | 20 |
| 4 | 2700 | 3800 | 275 | 13.81818182 | 40 | 30 |
| 5 | 6500 | 7500 | 450 | 16.66666667 | 60 | 30 |
| 6 | 14000 | 9000 | 575 | 15.65217391 | 90 | 30 |
| 7 | 23000 | 11000 | 725 | 15.17241379 | 120 | 30 |
| 8 | 34000 | 14000 | 975 | 14.35897436 | 150 | 30 |
| 9 | 48000 | 16000 | 1250 | 12.8 | 180 | 30 |
| 10 | 64000 | 21000 | 1475 | 14.23728814 | 210 | 30 |
| 11 | 85000 | 15000 | 1800 | 8.333333333 | 240 | 20 |
| 12 | 100000 | 20000 | 2100 | 9.523809524 | 260 | 20 |
| 13 | 120000 | 20000 | 2500 | 8 | 280 | 20 |
| 14 | 140000 | 25000 | 2875 | 8.695652174 | 300 | 20 |
| 15 | 165000 | 30000 | 3250 | 9.230769231 | 320 | 20 |
| 16 | 195000 | 30000 | 3750 | 8 | 340 | 20 |
| 17 | 225000 | 40000 | 4500 | 8.888888889 | 360 | 20 |
| 18 | 265000 | 40000 | 5000 | 8 | 380 | 20 |
| 19 | 305000 | 50000 | 5500 | 9.090909091 | 400 | 20 |
| 20 | 355000 | 420 |
The first few columns of the spreadsheet are self-explanatory. There’s player level, aggregate XP, and XP required to go from one level to another. In the Encounter XP field, which is admittedly poorly calculated, I took a monster of a CR equal to the character level and divided by 4 to determine how much XP should be earned per player (in a party of four); for the most part, this puts encounter budgeting in the DMG a bit above Medium, but not above Hard. In the Encounters field, assuming players only ever earn experience from the Encounter XP field, this lists the number of encounters it would take for a player to level up. This is derived explicitly by dividing XP to Level by Encounter XP. The final column lists how much XP it takes to level in this new XP system, which is derived from the Encounters field, multiplied by 2, rounded to the nearest ten. The Simple XP field lists how much aggregate XP a player will have at each level from this system.
À partir de l’adresse <https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/3adu31/alternative_xp_system_5e_simple_xp/>
Mark Hulmes experience system:
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All characters gain xp equal to 100*their level
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Characters gain exp determined by the dm for any encounters
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All characters gain xp equal to 200*their level if they completed a short term goal
Their level*25 if:
- Attuned to a new magical item
- Invoke bond, ideal or flaw to make a meaningful impact
- Developed an new or existing relationship in a meaningful way
- Use a skill or spell to solve a problem in an interesting or meaningful way
- A character discovered a piece of interesting or useful lore about the world or an NPC
- Undertook a perilous journey that took time to accomplish
- A character failed a roll that resulted in wasted resources or a negative relationship or an injury or some other major drawback
- A character took action that affected the world (local area) in a major way for better or for worse