Awarding XP for defeating strong opponents

[RogueSensei]

I know there's a vast array of opinions on this, but I'm a new GM and I wanted to get some feedback on this topic. We typically run high powered campaigns and we're very generous with awarding experience (it's not uncommon to get 8-10k experience for an 8 hour session).

What's a good rule of thumb for awarding experience for finally defeating that "main enemy"? Obviously you've gained exp all along the way, but I like the idea of giving a sizable boost to the players for finally accomplishing that goal. I'm thinking something along the lines of "X" exp per level of the NPC, or something like that. Does anyone do anything similar? Do you grant anything special for taking out the "final boss of the chapter"?

I look forward to hearing how others handle this sort of thing. Thanks in advance!

-Sensei

[glitterboy2098]

the main book of palladium RPG's usually details suggested amounts for Xp, both for defeating opponents (which is based more on the reletive strengths of the opponent compared to the party), and for rleplay aspects (for example, they'd get XP for coming up with the plan to defeat the badguy, even if it fails, they'd get XP for appropriate use of skills in said plan, etc)

[mrloucifer]

I advise against giving anymore than the XP notes say... my lord, giving out 8- 10k every session is gonna put your player characters at a max of level 15 in a matter of weeks!

The players should feel like they earned the large amount of xp they get and xp should only be given when their efforts support the progression of the adventure.

[The Dark Elf]

I only give the full quota suggested by the experience points table. they get xp along the way and not on the final boss.

I do have a nasty habit of awarding xp depending on the encounter (so if it was easy for them cos theyre high level then its classed as an easy foe (25-50xp) even though the same foe may be tough for level one characters and worth 100-200xp).

[Aaryq]

I like to give 250-1000 (depending on the size of the party and the difficulty of the battle) for defeating the head bad guy. It's a lot but it doesn't go to one guy. It's first divided up evenly before the battle (on paper), then as the battle progresses, I subtract from some guys an add to others (keeping the same grand total) so the more productive party members get a little extra (smart thinking, most damage, super in-character play, etc) while the less productive members get a little less.

[RogueSensei]

Thanks all for the replies. We've put together a slightly modified EXP chart that seems to be working fairly well. Mostly we just bumped up the combat-oriented values and added in an extra category for "very difficult" battles. I know people say this game's not all about combat...but I say this game is whatever you want it to be. And we all enjoy combat, so that becomes a major part of what we do when we play. To reflect that, we decided to put some more weight behind combat experience.

In response to the posts that 8k is too much for a single session, I guess it's all relative. We all enjoy the opportunity to advance our characters, so imho it's not obscene to level up your character after a month of solid adventuring. I understand that's not the norm, but it's what we have fun with.

Anyway, thanks again for the feedback!

-Sensei