Dividing XP/Loot - BTB or Some Other Means?

[Ahriman667]

Feeling out how the rest of you dole out XP to your players. No agenda here, just for my edification

For myself I use Excel and...
-total up monster xp
-list ALL treasure (magical and mundane) after determining what they want to sell or keep
-convert all coinage to g.p. equivalent (for the 1gp:1xp ratio)
-total everything
-divide total by number of players
-factor in prime requisite bonus and viola...xp/player

if the player was not present but his PC is, I typically give him half-xp.

Bearing in mind that I'm not dealing with a bunch of grognards, and my players are quite happy to let me dole everything out (at least nobody has taken me to task on it), it seems to work fine for us. How do you guys do it?

FWIW, I also split the treasure evenly.

-Convert all non-magical to g.p. (just standard book value)
-Total all magic items sold
-Subtract a base 500gp/item identified
-Used to subtract the cost of any levelling training, but have pretty well dispensed with that.
-If required, subtract the cost of casting NPC magic (raise dead, etc)
-Add in coinage by type
-Divide all of the coinage by number of players
-Round down* and tell the players what they get

* Note, this helps to account for the 100gp/lvl monthly expenses and other minutiae that I hate to track (ordering pints at the tavern, etc).

At the beginning of every session, I'll tell them how much each player earned in coins, and if they have reached enough XP to level up. I used to give out xp before every session, so they could keep track, but have since opted for a simple "you have now reached enough XP to level!"

**Edit**
My multi-class PC's split the xp 50/50 as well (i.e. no class specific stuff).
I also don't award 'story xp', though if a PC is shy a couple of thousand xp (above 9th level, not a big deal as far as I see it), I'll let him advance if they are in town (or like the G series in the hidey hole).

[darnizhaan]

The way we have always done it is to sell the jewelry, gems, and other sundry valuables then divide coinage evenly. The magic items are then put on a list and the characters roll to see who gets to pick first, second, third, etc. Or maybe if you picked last the previous time, you could pick first the next time.

We never had a problem with the mu picking a magic sword or the thief picking the mace of disruption, the players pretty much sorted out who should get what based on class and need.

If there were not enough magic items to go around, a PC might get a larger share of the coin.

[Chainsaw]

Not BtB.

Once the party returns to town, the sum of the gold piece value of all items, XP for monsters and any other XP is divided equally among survivors. Any attribute modifier is applied individually as necessary. Party decides who uses any magic items. Disagreements settled by dice rolls (never had to go to dice though).

[Philotomy Jurament]

I divide the monster XP evenly.

The division of treasure I leave up to the players, which means the division of the treasure XP is up to the players.

[Falconer]

I let either the caller or the chronicler take care of recording and dividing up the treasure. They usually agree to divide it up evenly, even giving full shares to those who were “incapacitated or killed (but subsequently brought back to life)”.

I divide up monster x.p. evenly between the players and just tell them to add their g.p. share to their x.p. award.

0-level hirelings, skeletons, etc., absorb half-shares (but don’t improve).

If you weren’t conscious at the end of any given combat, you don’t get any of the x.p. from it (it’s divided amongst the survivors).

I sometimes throw in an additional award or penalty, but it’s essentially as described above.

[DrSkull]

I divide the total Monster XP by the number of PC's alive at the end of the gaming session (unless there's so really serious solo side action). Henchmen get a half share.

Treasure is totally the province of the players, as a DM it isn't my concern. I tell them what they find and they record it and split it as they want. RIght now I'm not even sure how they split it up. I know the PC's end up with even shares, and the henchmen all get some, but I'm not aware of how they're awarding the henchman shares.

When I play, I always demand that we have a treasure-split agreement before the expedition. It's usually split the money/gems evenly and dice for first dibs on the magic items. At low levels, it seems most common for magic to be spread around to who can use it, but at higher level, dicing for dibs I find to be more interesting and adds a little excitement to the game.

[Ahriman667]

The way we have always done it is to sell the jewelry, gems, and other sundry valuables then divide coinage evenly. The magic items are then put on a list and the characters roll to see who gets to pick first, second, third, etc. Or maybe if you picked last the previous time, you could pick first the next time.

Did the player that got the item receive the xp, or was it split? I read your post as the former...just want to clarify

[Ahriman667]

Treasure is totally the province of the players, as a DM it isn't my concern. I tell them what they find and they record it and split it as they want. RIght now I'm not even sure how they split it up. I know the PC's end up with even shares, and the henchmen all get some, but I'm not aware of how they're awarding the henchman shares.

I tried this at first, but some of my guys seemed leery of the book keeping required, and I do (sometimes) have to remind them to pay their henchmen from their shares. Between trying to track the percentage for the money-changers and the haggling to get prices, I just tally everything and split it. I do have the party secretary right down the finds, so the option is there to keep a mundane item if desired (i.e. fancy ring for a future magic item, etc), but the rest gets split the money I rounded off goes to pay off most of that minor day-to-day stuff.

When I play, I always demand that we have a treasure-split agreement before the expedition. It's usually split the money/gems evenly and dice for first dibs on the magic items. At low levels, it seems most common for magic to be spread around to who can use it, but at higher level, dicing for dibs I find to be more interesting and adds a little excitement to the game.

My players have never had to dice for a magic item, and let the choice items go the PC that could benefit the most from it.

[DrSkull]

[/quote]
My players have never had to dice for a magic item, and let the choice items go the PC that could benefit the most from it.[/quote]

Sounds like Bolshevism to me

[Flambeaux]

None of my players have ever wanted to throw dice for magic items. In fact, any time I've suggested they sort out rescue division they tend to look at me quizzicaly.

[AxeMental]

Not BtB but give one EXP per GP found (regardless of level). And I typically reward EXP for monsters in the total of completing an adventure/module/dungeon (its always more then what it would be if you totaled the monster EXP).

Magic item EXP (listed in the tables) goes to the person who becomes its owner. If its sold then the gold value in EXP is divided equally. We don't divide EXPs points differently for higher level PCs (ie. a 5th level fighter will earn the same EXP as a 1st level fighter if they are all playing their best).

[Blackadder23]

I divide the monster XP evenly.

The division of treasure I leave up to the players, which means the division of the treasure XP is up to the players.

That's what I do. Everybody gets an even split of the monster XP, and the treasure XP is based on how the players decide to divide it. I don't divide the treasure XP evenly (although I have heard of DMs doing that); you only get experience points for the treasure that actually ends up in your possession.

[Ahriman667]

On a related note, do any of you give out 'story xp' or xp for individual feats? I'm thinking of a fighter/thief getting extra xp for one of his classes because it did something exceptional.

[AxeMental]

I divide the monster XP evenly.

The division of treasure I leave up to the players, which means the division of the treasure XP is up to the players.

That's what I do. Everybody gets an even split of the monster XP, and the treasure XP is based on how the players decide to divide it. I don't divide the treasure XP evenly (although I have heard of DMs doing that); you only get experience points for the treasure that actually ends up in your possession.

Actually, come to think of it, that's how we do it as well (XPs depends on your take of the loot) that's how a 5th level guy would earn more XP then a first. It just happens very rarely that the group would be so lopsided.

[Blackadder23]

On a related note, do any of you give out 'story xp' or xp for individual feats? I'm thinking of a fighter/thief getting extra xp for one of his classes because it did something exceptional.

Definitely no "story awards" or "roleplaying awards" for me; I find they encourage the type of histrionics that slow the game to a crawl and my top priority is to keep the game moving. I also prefer not to give out bonus xp for "heroic feats" or whatever. To me the best feature of the AD&D experience system is that it's objective: 1 XP for 1 gp, a set amount for each monster killed, and no DM fiat required. Once you start getting into handing out extra XP for purely subjective reasons, I personally get uncomfortable. I don't mind making judgment calls when necessary, but I don't fancy adding them to a facet of the game that is fairly clear and objective as written. YMMV of course.