Game Time & Experience pts.

[Fryguy]

Recently we had a group of 7 people (6 players & GM) play a game of Champions (5ed). The scenario took about 6 hours to complete. The scenario was some prologue and then the actual fight (about 1 hr prologue and 5 hr combat). At the end 3-4 exp. was awarded.

 

Now, there was a completely new guy who played; never played and superhero game before but has exp. with AD&D (he did quite well for his first time BTW). He commented to me about the length of game time and the lack of exp for playing 6 hours. I explained this is normal for the group I game with but his comments left me thinking...is this really normal for a game of Champions?

 

I've never played at tournaments, conventions, & such so I have no outside experience to draw from. I'm not a gaming "snob" or anything but actually I have never seen Champions run at any local gaming conventions and I go to several yearly (in Memphis, TN). Our core group has been together since 1982 and when Champions was run at a game shop WE were the one doing the running because there was; I am sad to say, not a lot of interest in Champions...except us (our group is 4 members strong from '82-'10).

 

My question is this: What is an average amount of time your gaming group spends on an adventure and what is the average exp. awarded after an adventure?

[hfergus]

Re: Game Time & Experience pts.

 

My scenarios tend to take quite a while to play. 24+ hours are normal for them. However, that includes chit-chat, breaks to eat, role playing, etc. Actual gaming, including roleplaying about 1/2 that. I give 1 or two points about every time actual powers/skills are used, with bonuses for good roleplaying per game session. (which is 2-3 hours actual playing.)

[Guest steamteck]

Re: Game Time & Experience pts.

 

I've got a system set up in which 10 experience points equals 1 character point. my adventures typically take 3-5 sessions and they get maybe 15-25 experience for the whole adventure depending on how they play. This allows me to give XP for indivudual acts and bits they do as well as playing out disadvantages well.

[Fryguy]

Re: Game Time & Experience pts.

 

I've got a system set up in which 10 experience points equals 1 character point.

my adventures typically take 3-5 sessions and they get maybe 15-25 experience for the whole adventure depending on how they play. This allows me to give XP for indivudual acts and bits they do as well as playing out disadvantages well.

 

An interesting concept. Are they allowed to carry over fractional exp from adv-adv?

[BoloOfEarth]

Re: Game Time & Experience pts.

 

I tend to give out 3-4 experience points per game session, though with a multi-session arc it would instead be 4-5 for the combined sessions. Most of our gaming sessions run 4-5 hours.

 

As to convention games, almost all the ones I've played have used pregen characters, and therefore no XP were awarded.

 

Regarding the player mentioned in the OP, it should be noted that in the Hero System 3 XP could buy a new skill, a combat skill level, or a (low-level or somewhat-limited high-level) slot in a multipower. Sure, in D&D you can get hundreds of XP per session, but this is balanced by the fact that, in levels beyond the very lowest ones, it takes numerous (sometimes many) sessions to actually go up a level (and thus gain new skills, feats, spells, and characteristic points).

[Querysphinx]

Re: Game Time & Experience pts.

 

When I GM, I give out 0.1 XP on the spot for good roleplaying (sometimes as much as .3) Then it's 2-3 pts per session. Sometimes, as an end of plot bonus I'll give out specific awards like contacts or a mystery power.

 

Mystery powers are fun. The player doesn't know what they do. They just know they have this weird tension, like a violin string in the back of their mind. They don't know what plucking it will do. When they pluck the string It may not do anything at first, except maybe throw off some funny colors sparks. They may have to dump several XPs into the power before it will have an effect that big enough to measure in game terms. The upside is, once the mystery power is paid for in full, it may be a game changer or a unique ability that is not technically allowed by the rules but fits the concept and wont break the world.

[BoloOfEarth]

Re: Game Time & Experience pts.

 

Mystery powers are fun. The player doesn't know what they do.

 

I did that in an early Champions campaign, but they never put points into them (I just did that behind the scenes). The team cyborg discovered the ability to bypass power-regulating switches on her hydraulics (a super-Push on her STR), the spider-powered character got a danger sense, and I can't recall the other characters' mystery powers off the top of my head. I know that the super-Push became a game changer when the cyborg used it, and then rolled a critical success on her punch to accidentally kill a villain.

[teh bunneh]

Re: Game Time & Experience pts.

 

When I started up my Fantasy Hero game (right after finishing a year-long D&D4 game), I awarded the PCs with 3-4 XPs for the first session. The new player (who had only played D&D previously) said, "Wow, now I only need 996 more XPs to level!"

 

He was joking, of course, but maybe it's just a disconnect in your player's mind. In other games (D&D, to name one), you need hundreds or thousands of XPs to get any benefit. In Hero, it's much different -- just a few XPs can mean whole new powers and skills. Maybe he just needs some time (and some good examples) for this fact to sink in.

[Certified]

Re: Game Time & Experience pts.

 

Part of the breakdown in perception is between the types of advancement. D&D is a level based while Hero System uses a point buy. This is no big surprise but it is at the heart of the disconnect. People who are accustomed to D&D often see advancement as a major event, something that effects multiple aspects of the character if not all of them. On the other side of this Hero players are used to getting a more granular improvement.

 

It can be difficult for players accustomed to level based systems to really put this granular advancement into perspective. This tends to be true even if overall time remains roughly the same. For Example lets say it takes 3 sessions to gain a level in D&D (at least past those first few) when you level you gain an attack bonus, hit points, defense and possibly a new ability, in a hero campaign one buy a CSL the first session some Body the second and a new slot for a multipower the third. However, because game sessions are typical a week or two apart people might not be putting those all together for an overall improvement that's about the same.

 

In face to face games what I like to do is take some from both worlds offering some experience per session then a larger reward on top of this at the end of a story or chapter in protracted arcs. This is to simulate the same reaching a major accomplishment for the character. In my play by post game it's actually much closer to a leveling experience because I give the sum total of accumulated experience at the end of the story, sometimes 20+ depending on the length of the adventure, difficulty and time it took to complete. In both instances I offer a narrative award what's roughly the same as one or two sessions for stories set in the world or about their character. This is more to draw people into the setting than it is anything else though.

[The Main Man]

Re: Game Time & Experience pts.

 

My group and I play rotate games/GMs every three weeks. When I run, my players and I rate the game on a ten point scale (we're all honest) and I average the results at the third session. I sometimes halve the result for Heroic campaigns. It's worked nicely for me for the past couple of years.

[Core-fire]

Re: Game Time & Experience pts.

 

I usually only give 2 to 3 pts per game session which can last 3 to 6 hours. Of course I also give extras as well such as contacts or favors if a player did an excellent job roleplaying with an NPC or even power adjustments if a player has used a power in an interesting new way. At the end of a story arc I give 1 pt per game session that was involved. However I also take away points for exceptionally bad acts or role playing by players.