I was doing this when I started my recent campaign. However, after a while I found that everyone was getting a pretty decent chunk of bonuses, about 10%. So what I finally did was just give everyone a 10% and called it good! On top of the bonuses for prime requisites, people were basically getting 20%. Since I try to be stingy on money and magic, I started upping exp further, to make up some slack. So, now they just get a huge bonus, which amounts to about 25%, and I don't really have to figure anything out. It's a lot easier!
I give XP in a few ways (these are always where applicable and are not given every time)
1. Based on class actions/performance for a specific adventure or episode. Fighters get a bonus if combat went exceptionally well for them; i.e. many hits, crits (yes, I use them in 1e!) and tactics, rush to the front, take a hit for the mage, etc.. Magic-users get a bonus for casting spells successfully, even moreso if it was a clever use. Priests for turning undead, casting spells, etc. Assassins for using disguise successfully and so on.
2. Based on group performance - if the group worked together well meaning they overcame something together or in the case of an evil group, they tried to get each other killed off - so much the better. This award is minor and really up to my whim.
3. Bonus for good roleplaying.
4. +10% bonus for ability score...but of course!!
I usually don't break it down for players, just give them a lump sum and say "that's for x, y and z". That way everyone gets slightly different and the situations feel a bit more custom because everyone will shine at one time or another.
Now, that is one bonus to experience points I never understood. I mean, the PC with a low prime ability score that survives an encounter/adventure had to work even harder to do so than the adventurer with a high prime requisite ability score. It seems to me that the PC with a low prime requisite should be awarded a bonus to experience while the PC with a high prime requisite enjoys that as its own reward.
I hadn't really even bothered to think about the sense of the +10% xp bonus but actually I think I have to agree with BlueWitch and SirXaris.
In future I'll either scrap the +10% or award it for PCs with lower stats! I might implement the changes now but my higher prime stat players would be pretty narked if they found out!!
Now - on a tangent, albeit a closely related one, when it comes to multi-class characters, how do you assign the class secific xp?
So far I just tally up all the class specific bonuses then split the xp equally between the two classes. I know arguments against are that xp earned in one class maybe shouldn't improve the other but I do it mainly for ease of calculation. Also I like the idea that the PC is blending their knowledge of the two (or three) classes together and thus benefits more holistically. What do the rest of you do regarding this?
Now, that is one bonus to experience points I never understood. I mean, the PC with a low prime ability score that survives an encounter/adventure had to work even harder to do so than the adventurer with a high prime requisite ability score...
-I remember seeing a variant which based it on INT (ability to learn) or WIS (discipline and insight) for all classes, which makes more sense.
I believe the reason for the +10% was partly as a reward system for high statistics (yes, they are benefits unto themselves, for sure) but also to denote the extra 'ease' with which such abilities convey for a learning curve. That is the only rationale I can provide.
As for multi-class, I used to divide straight down the middle in the past. Now I only grant XP for the appropriate class that is used. Let us take my elven bladesinger, "Lanthorn," as an example:
Should he dispatch a foe using magic, then his mage class gets the points. If he hews the enemy with his sword, then his fighter class garners the points. The 'tricky' point comes when he uses BOTH to defeat a foe. In this case, I keep track what is used and calculate accordingly. Yeah, perhaps that is a bit more painstaking than some DMs are willing to do, but I don't mind the number crunching. I kinda like it, actually, and I think it is more accurate.
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