Session experience, which is gained simply for being in the campaign.  Note, it is not necessary to attend a session to receive session experience.  Although this may seem unfair, it is done to keep all characters at a similar level, so that no one character drops so far behind the others as to end up feeling useless.

Bonus experience, which is defined a bit less specifically.  Basically, a character can receive experience for anything the DM deems worthy.  Obviously, if you miss a session, you are not entitled to any bonus experience given out in that session.  Reasons for receiving bonus experience include, but are not limited to:

• Exceptional roleplaying
• A clever battle strategy
• Solving or helping to solve a puzzle
• Constant punctuality and courtesy to the DM and fellow players
• Succeeding in an important skill role
• Consistently assisting the party in a unique way (such as unlocking doors, disarming traps, etc.)
• Exceeding expectations in terms of fictional consistency of a character
• Consistently providing constructive feedback to the DM

More things may be added to this list as I think of them.  You may notice a few of the items listed above to be out-of-character or out-of-game; they are there as a small, tangible benefit for acting in ways I hope all my players would.  Note that bonus experience gained from a single in-character activity will always be significantly greater than any gained from a single out-of-character activity. 

Much more rarely, I may find that I need to slightly penalize a player for some reason.  I will not remove experience for the first 'infraction', I will simply tell the player what they did and that, if it happens again, they can expect a slight experience penalty.  If it does happen again, the penalty will be applied and the player will be informed as to why.  Small mistakes will never result in a penalty; we all make mistakes sometimes.  However, constantly and repeated violation of accepted roleplaying standards or blatant violation of The Fallen campaign fiction will result in an experience deduction.  Hopefully, this will never be necessary.

I will do my best to keep exact records on who received experience and why, in case a player requests a breakdown of their experience.  While some DMs might consider such information secret, I believe that if I can ask for feedback on how my DMing is, then a player has the same right to ask for feedback on how their playing is. 

There are a few exceptions to these basic rules.  In general, any bonus experience for a given session will be capped at 1/4th the session experience for that same session.  This is to keep bonus experience from being somewhat substantial, without being completely unbalancing.  Also, if you are the highest level in the campaign and are two levels higher than the next closest person, you will not receive bonus experience.  This is not a punishment, but is done to preserve balance and keep the campaign as fun as possible for everyone involved. 

Last Update: 5/10/04