I recently ran a game and at the end of the session, as with every session I've run for years, I stated "Now we come to my favorite part of the night: Fellowship." In this moment, I realized how important to me this weekly declaration is, and how much it holds power at my table. As soon as the words leave my mouth, everyone lights up. They sit forward, ready to reflect, not just on what they did, but on what each other did. Fellowship Experience is going to be what the soul of this post is but below that there is a list of other ways that I modify how I award XP at my table. Keep in mind this is for DCCRPG and the numbers talked about should be modified for the game you run.
This idea came to me when I went to my first ever Heroclix tournament. The players spent the night rating their opponent based on how fun it was to play against them and how much of a good sport they were when playing. Now at this tournament, this system turned into everyone saying their friends were the best and the strangers or people they didn't know were bad in every way that mattered for this rating system. At the end of the night the Judges would consult this rating collection and people who were rated well got an extra little prize at the end. I remember being really impressed at the time and talking to my friend about how cool that was. He explained the local politics and how it really worked - it was a little disappointing, but there were good bones there. So I left that tournament with a white lantern Martian Manhunter and a cool idea.
Even if it didn’t work perfectly there, the bones were good. And when I brought the concept to my own table, I had one of those moments where I genuinely thought: Why haven't i been doing this all along?
Fellowship Experience: The Best Part of the Night
At the end of every session, I tell my players that they each have a number of xp points that are equal to the number of players, including themselves (but they can't award any to themselves!). The goal is for them to award them to their fellow players, and say why.
Maybe they liked a bit of roleplay. Maybe someone saved their character’s hide in a close fight. Maybe a single moment cracked them up so hard they still can’t stop laughing. Whatever the reason, they share it out loud, and award their points accordingly
To set the mood and expectations, I go first. I pick one thing I liked for each of them and I give out a single point of experience for that moment - I also just really like being able to join in on this fun little wrap-up activity. It’s a small ritual, but it matters.
This has a few purposes.
First: It gets each of the players invested in the game - they know this time is coming later and they are looking for moments that they want to reward other players for. This gives the players a way to tell each other, "I saw what you did and it meant something to me."My final thoughts on fellowship are that, at least at my table, it has turned into this important ritual that tells us all that the game is over for the night and it's time to wind down. It's also helped build bonds and even helped me shape the game. I keep track of why people are awarding fellowship for; it says they liked something and want more of that thing. And yes, you will have nights where everyone dumps most of their experience into one person, but that is often the exception and not the rule and when it happens it feels earned. In the last game I ran at the time of writing this, a player confidently declared "we can take this fight" and the party decided on that player's word alone to stay and fight. When things went sideways in 2 rounds, that player pulled out Divine Aid and pulled the entire party out of the fire. During fellowship she was awarded a full half of the table's fellowship, not just for making the call but making the call and making sure no one went down for her decision.
For people who aren't running DCC, like 5e for example, I recommend giving players "tokens" which are worth a small amount of experience like 10 or 30 and letting them award those instead. The way I do it only works for DCC because experience is in such relatively small numbers compared to many other systems.
Judge's Helper:
Years ago, I played with a guy who awarded XP if you drew your character. I loved that, so I started doing it too. And over time, it grew into something more. Now I give out 1 XP per session for little things that contribute to the game, especially things that play to different players’ strengths. Not everyone is an artist. But maybe someone:
- Sketched a map or a scene
- Tracked the party inventory
- Wrote an in-character journal or a recap
- Made a dumb meme that had us all laughing
- Jotted good notes in a Google Doc everyone can reference
- Penned a poem, haiku, or short fiction about a moment from the game
Anything that helps the game run better or feel deeper, that's what I’m looking for. This bonus isn’t required, and it’s small enough that no one can abuse it. The goal is to reward investment not perfection. It’s a soft nudge that says: “Thanks for bringing a little extra.”
The real trick here is to stay flexible. If it’s something that helps the table or deepens a player’s immersion, even if I didn’t name it here, I try to recognize it. Because when players start contributing in their own voice, the game starts living beyond the table.
The B-Team Bonus:
This one’s short and simple.
At my table, I like players to use just one character at a time. It keeps things cleaner, fewer moving parts, fewer split scenes, less paperwork. To make that easier (and a little more fun), I award what I call the B-Team Bonus.
Any character a player didn’t play that session gets XP equal to half the session number, rounded up.
It’s not a huge amount not enough for a back-pocket character to leapfrog a main one. But it tells a quiet story: those characters didn’t just sit around drinking. They were out doing something. Something small. Something we didn’t see. But something.
Because in a living world, the camera’s not the only thing moving.
The other benefit is peace of mind. If a character dies, the player isn’t staring at their backups thinking, “What’s the point? They’ll die the moment they hit the field.” The B-Team Bonus keeps the bench warm.
Everything is an Encounter:
This one comes from Judge AMP over at Knights in the North. Be sure to check his house rules out because they are excellent! I use a lot of them at my table.
The idea is simple, but it reshaped how I think about awarding XP:
Anything that costs the party something is an encounter.
If it burns time, HP, spells, gear, gold, risk, or narrative leverage: it’s an encounter.
Disarming a trap? Encounter.
Good haggling? Encounter.
Moral quandary? You guessed it - Encounter.
You don’t have to get granular about it. The goal isn’t to nickel-and-dime every torch burned or every copper spent. Just ask yourself: Did this scene cost the party something real? If it did, then treat it like an encounter when it comes time to hand out XP.
It encourages thoughtful play, and it helps reward moments that matter: even if no swords ever get drawn.
Setting Investment:
This last one’s a little harder to pin down, but it might be the most meaningful of all.
Setting Investment is when a player shows you, through their play, that they live in the world. Not just that their character knows the setting, but that they do.
It could be a decision made from some quiet bit of internal logic that even you hadn’t considered.
It could be a sharp understanding of politics or history that shows they’re really paying attention.
It could be a moment when they catch a subtle implication and act on it, completely in character.
When it happens, it’s not just rewarding them, it’s a reward for you, the Judge. It means your world matters.
I don’t give XP for this all the time. It’s rare. It should stay rare.
Usually it’s a small bonus, just a single XP, given in the moment, or after the fact when I’m reviewing my notes. Sometimes another player will call it out, and I love when that happens.
Because when a player plays like they belong to the world, That’s when the world starts to feel real.
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