My comics are beginning to predict real life games. I wrote the script for this one on a Sunday. The following Tuesday a buddy of mine ended a Pathfinder session just 50 XP short of level-up. While my newfound predictive powers are neat, I think that the call our Tuesday night GM decided to make was even more interesting.

“What,” he asked, “Did you do during the session to earn those 50 XP?”

We looked around wildly at one another. We all began talking at once.

“His RP was on point!”

“He intimidated that kobold by threatening to turn it into shoes. He had measuring tape and everything!”

“I thought it was cool when I shot that thing.”

Begging the GM, killing innocent halflings, and boiling ant hills are all time-honored methods for squeezing out bonus XP. However, the experience in that recent Pathfinder session reminded me of one of my favorite practices from Exalted 2e. For those of you who aren’t familiar, the game gives you a flat 4 XP per session. We’ve added a homebrew rule as well. After each session we take it in turns to vote on the following: Best Stunt; Best RP; Best WTF Moment. If you win any of those votes you walk away with one free bonus XP.

In the wrong group I suppose it could lead to jealousy or resentment, but that’s never been the case for us. Instead it’s a post-game opportunity to tell players how awesome they are. So many of us take it in turn to say “thanks for running” to our GMs. But when was the last time you let a player know that their triple flip full attack off the chandelier was the best moment of the evening? Or that their acting gave you goosebumps? Or that you’re impressed they finally found a use for the vial of nail clippings they’ve been carrying around since level 1?

We all put a lot of ourselves into these games. Whether you’re a GM or a player, it’s nice to hear it every once in a while.

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