Spark's Awarding XP

## Awarding Experience
In fifth edition Dungeons and Dragons, there are 3 pillars of gameplay. These pillars are **Combat**, **Exploration**, and **Roleplay**. However in the original rules, only one of these three pillars actually awarded experience to the players. The alternative was milestone, however it was never stated what a good rate for that was. Another alternative was session based levelling, though beyond level 4 it wasn't consistent to a scaling length for more experience.

Under my system, I have devised a streamlined way to award experience points to players that feels steady, and consistent across all pillars of the game. The table below details the amount of experience you should award for efforts based on DC. This table is referenced in each section of this document.

##### Experience Awarded for Difficulty Class
| Level  | Easy (DC 10) | Medium (DC 15) | Hard (DC 20) | Daily Budget |
|:---:|:-----:|:-----:|:-----:|:-:|
|  1  | 25 xp | 50 xp | 75 xp | 300 xp |
|  2  | 50 xp | 100 xp | 150 xp | 600 xp  |
|  3  | 75 xp | 150 xp | 225 xp | 1200 xp |
|  4  | 125 xp | 250 xp | 375 xp | 1700 xp |
|  5  | 250 xp | 500 xp | 750 xp | 3500 xp |
|  6  | 300 xp | 600 xp | 900 xp | 4000 xp |
|  7  | 350 xp | 750 xp | 1100 xp | 5000 xp |
|  8  | 450 xp | 900 xp | 1400 xp | 6000 xp |
|  9  | 550 xp | 1100 xp | 1600 xp | 7500 xp |
|  10 | 600 xp | 1200 xp | 1900 xp | 9000 xp |
|  11 | 800 xp | 1600 xp | 2400 xp | 10500 xp |
|  12 | 1000 xp | 2000 xp | 3000 xp | 11500 xp |
|  13 | 1100 xp | 2200 xp | 3400 xp | 13500 xp |
|  14 | 1250 xp | 2500 xp | 3800 xp | 15000 xp |
|  15 | 1400 xp | 2800 xp | 4300 xp | 18000 xp |
|  16 | 1600 xp | 3200 xp | 4800 xp | 20000 xp |
|  17 | 2000 xp | 3900 xp | 5900 xp | 25000 xp |
|  18 | 2100 xp | 4200 xp | 6300 xp | 27000 xp |
|  19 | 2400 xp | 4900 xp | 7300 xp | 30000 xp |
|  20 | 2800 xp | 5700 xp | 8500 xp | 40000 xp |

This table is based entirely off of combat experience based on the encounter difficulty. This table is meant to be used as a benchmark for what players should get at each level. The important part is to use this table to bridge all columns of play into one cohesive and equal play experience.

You can give more or less are your discretion but I have found that granting xp for each check towards a goal and each combat equally to be the most successful. This system does not conflict with running mostly combat, mostly roleplay, or any mix between, as the players only recieve an equal amount of experience per encounter.

\columnbreak

\pagebreak
## Social Encounters v2

Social encounters are primarily governed by your Charisma score. When you engage a creature in a Social Encounter, the character you engage is rated as either **Friendly**, **Indifferent**, or **Hostile**.

**Friendly** creatures want the character to succeed, and often will try to help.

**Indifferent** creatures will most often only help the character if they perceive that helping the character benefits them.

**Hostile** creatures will most often hinder the character.

## What is a Social Encounter?
To engage in a conversation is to engage in a verbal combat of sorts. You begin a Social Encounter when a player asks an NPC to do something they are not innately inclined to do.

When engaged in a social encounter you must make 3 successes in order to win over the character. 3 failures result in failure. This operates in a “Best of 5” check, where you explain what you want to say before making the Charisma check and the DM determines whether the character must roll Deception,  Intimidation, or Persuasion.

A single critical success moves the disposition of the character up by 1 temporarily, while more than one will permanently improve your relationship by 1 step. A critical failure will reduce your relationship status 1 step, while more than one will do so permanently.

## How do i run a Social Encounter?

When making a Charisma check in a social encounter the DC is determined by the creature’s current standing with the participating characters, taking the lowest standing of all participating characters. **Friendly** creatures have a DC 10, **Indifferent** creatures have a DC 15, and **Hostile** creatures have a DC 20.

Every roll can be modified by adding or subtracting 5 to the roll based on the creature’s natural reaction to the statement made for the check. This is based on the **Ideals, Bonds or Flaws** of the creature the character is interacting with.

For example, if a character is in parlay with an enemy general who does not respect magic and the character wants a ceasefire, and the character says that they should call a temporary ceasefire while their wizards recover and the general’s soldiers regroup, that would be a -5 to their check towards their desired ceasefire due to the General’s belief on magic.

Gaining knowledge of a creature’s dispositions based on their **Ideals, Bonds, or Flaws** requires a Wisdom (Insight) check against the creature’s passive Deception, which is 10 + the creature’s bonus to deception. If a character fails a check by 10 or more, they run the risk of obtaining a false interpretation of one of their characteristics.

Additional characters participating in the encounter may roll for the encounter using their own skills and their roll is then added  to the total successes and failures.

Award experience according to the **Experience Awarded for Difficulty Class** table for each of the characters that successfully participated in completing the encounter.

<div class='descriptive'>
 
 ##### Group Experience
 Alternatively, you may instead have the party all gain experience equally instead of individually. Simply halve all awarded experience rounded down during this step and grant it to all players. If a player is to level up with this experience, remember that you do not gain your next level features until you have completed a long rest. 
 </div>

\pagebreak

## Exploration Encounters
Exploration is one of the three main pillars in Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition. It is also the most diverse, and yet the most underused reward loop in common practice. With these new guidelines and rules you should be able to reward players with both a compelling narrative for your main story and side quests as well as rewarding them with experience and loot in a streamlined gameplay loop that will allow them to feel progression more smoothly.

### Step One: Finding the Discovery
When the players encounter something of interest, the players will be immediately aware of what makes this Object, Person or Location unique. We will be calling this a **Discovery**. Be ready to have **Discoveries** readily available for your players to encounter them, and place them in places where they are, or where there are going to be. If they don't end up going where you thought, simply move the discovery to a new location.

For example, While traveling on the road towards the next town for their current quest, they discover a strange book.

### Step Two: Unusual Properties
The **Discovery** needs to have at least 2 unusual things about it in order for it to catch the attention of the players. These 2 or more unusual things should be abundantly obvious to the party, as that is what will make them interested enough to investigate it. Be ready to have each unusual part of the discovery be investigated.

Players will often latch on to one part of the weirdness, and will want to investigate further.

Following our example, the book has bite marks in it, and it is in the middle of the road.
We know this object is strange from the onset because a book in the middle of the road is strange, and we know that bite markings across the surface is also strange.

### Step Three: Investigation

When players investigate the Discovery, they have to make a check in order to find more information about the properties that are involved. This is always awarded with information, but a failed check might not give them the information they wanted, but it will direct them into a different unusual property that they may want to investigate.

Any player may only make a check to find clues about a particular discovery only once. The check involved is based on what the DM deems appropriate, but the Difficulty Class is determined by the **Experience Awarded by Difficulty Class** table, where **Easy** is 10, **Medium** is 15, and **Hard** is 20.

Upon a successful investigation of an Unusual Property of the Discovery, the player who made the successful check is awarded with an appropriate amount of experience based on the table mentioned above. In addition they are also awarded any information they uncovered with their check, which is called a **Lead**.

Furthering the story from our example, Ryn the Bard makes an Intelligence (History) check to recall any information she knows about the book. With an Easy Difficulty Class of 10 and a roll of 14 she was able to figure out that the book was written by a man named Caranion Flamel, and it was a Cookbook. The DM would then award her with Easy experience based on her level which is 4, granting her 125xp. She could then pass the book to Roland the Rogue, who has thieves cant, and making an Intelligence (Investigation) check against a Hard DC of 20, was able to determine that the book is actually an Alchemy Handguide written in thieves cant about curing lycanthropy. He would then be awarded 375xp as per the table.

### Step Four: Follow your Lead

Now that you have a **Lead**, following it will bring you to your next story beat, whether that ends up being the climax, or just a new clue is determined by the DM. This is where the party is headed should they choose to follow this Lead, or continue down their existing path if they have one. In either case, be ready for what that may hold.

In our example, we see that the book is about lycanthropy and that it was written in a way to hide what it was about. They also know that it has bite marks in it. They follow their lead by looking for the author, which leads them to a social encounter with the author.

### Step Five: Finding the End
Your **Lead** will lead them to either a new lead, or an encounter. In this situation, either return to step 1 or engage the party in an encounter. The kind of encounter is up to the dungeon master, and should be handled appropriately. A social or combat encounter will result in awarding XP and some possible loot.

In our example, Ryn and Roland find the author of the book’s home, where they find a werewolf, and a ragged scholar on the ground. After slaying the werewolf, the party examines the house, finding all the evidence that this werewolf was the one wanting to be cured from this scholar’s book, but wasn’t satisfied with the answers given. Poor soul.

### Step Six: The Crossroads
Finally, when you come to the end of the adventure, you can either let your party have downtime as outlined in Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, or set them up for yet another adventure. Maybe the ending wasn’t the real ending, maybe there is more to that story, or maybe there is a whole new adventure to uncover.

\pagebreak

## Exploration: Tools
When exploring you may encounter an obstacle that is simply unsolvable with some smarts and your physical body. That is where Tools come in. When you need to accomplish a task using tools, be sure to use your proficiency with those tools in applicable.

Every set of tools can be used with many different ability scores, but every check will be 10, 15, or 20 as the DC. Refer to the Experience Awarded for Difficulty Class table in order to see the appropriate XP to award for each check. Below are some tests you can make with tools in order to achieve these checks. Additional tools and their appropriate checks are found in Xanathar’s Guide to Everything starting on page 78.

## Tool Skills
##### Crowbar
| Action | DC |
|:----|:-----|
| Pry open a sealed wooden crate| 10 |
| Dislodging a Large object | 15 |
| Prying open a steel padlock, or steel door.| 20 |
##### Rope
| Action | DC |
|:----|:-----|
| Tying a Knot | 10 |
| Devising a simple pulley system | 15 |
| Constructing an advanced pulley system | 20 |
##### Tinderbox
| Action | DC |
|:----|:-----|
| Start a small fire (candles, Torches) as an action | 10 |
| Lighting a Campfire in a Minute | 15 |
| Staring a Large Bonfire hot enough to work metal | 20 |
</div>

Award experience to the character that successfully completed the task, as per the **Experience Awarded for Difficulty Class** table.

\pagebreak

<!---
## Exploration: Crafting
Lorem Ipsum - Crafting doesn't exist rn. I make crafting.

#### Artisan Crafting
Artisan Crafting permits you to create items that exist in Chapter 5 of the Player's Handbook.

The process of creating items is performed over 5 workdays (or one workweek) where each workday consists of a roll in a best of 5. Make a skill check using the appropriate tools and ability score for each day of the workweek. Each workday consists of 8 hours of work. The difficulty of the check is based on the complexity of the item(s) being made, which is determined by its gold value. It will be either 10, 15 or 20 and success in the best of five results in the successful craft of the item(s).

When you make this check, you don’t benefit from any bonuses (such as Bardic Inspiration) except your own ability score and proficiency bonus, unless you benefited from the bonus for the entire duration of the crafting period.

The DC for Artisan Crafting is determined by the value of the item desired in Gold. See the table below for details to the thresholds of each DC for this crafting step.

| Cost in Gold/Silver/Copper | DC |
|:---:|:-----------:|
| 0/0/1 to 4/9/9 | 10 |
| 5/0/0 to 100/0/0 | 15 |
| 100/0/1 or more | 20 |

You may attempt to extend the duration of crafting by one additional work week in order to reduce the difficulty class of the craft by one step down to a minimum of DC 10. For example, crafting a suit of splint armor would normally take a DC of 20 in a best of 5, but instead making it 15 but the time taken is doubled.

On a success, the product is produced successfully and becomes usable, though some costs are increased with increased failures. Consult the **Increased Cost Table** to see how much more you need to pay. The percentage is of the total cost of the item, for instance, a 25% cost increase to a 50 gold item (for which you spent 25 gold to begin crafting) would be 12 gold and 5 silver, whereas a 50% cost increase would be 100% of the cost of the item to make it.

##### Increased Cost Table
| Number of Failures  | Cost Increase |
|:---:|:-----------:|
|  0  | 0% |
|  1  | 25% |
|  2  | 50% |

On a failure, the number of successes reduces the amount of  ingredients destroyed. Consult the **Materials Lost Table** to see how much money worth of materials you lose per circumstance. Materials Recovered column detailed the percent of gold you spent to craft returned to you. For example, when failing on a 50 gold item (which you spent 25 gold to begin crafting) with 1 success, you would recover 12 gold and 5 silver.

\columnbreak

##### Materials Lost
| Number of Successes | Materials Lost |
|:---:|:-----------:|
|  0  | 100% |
|  1  | 50% |
|  2  | 0% |

#### Making multiple Items
You also may make more than one item at a time, so long as they are collectively worth at most 100 gold pieces. For example, you can make 50 Ladders in a workweek as they are not that complex, and total up to beyond 100 gold pieces.

#### Artisan's Tools
Artisan tools are listed in the **Artisan Tools** table. They each have a listed favored ability score used for most checks involving the tool when using **Artisan Crafting**, as well as a list of items they contain. In addition, this table also lists whether or not it has a pool of items from the Player's Handbook that they can craft. There is a table for each item, items in the Poisoner's Kit can be found in the Dungeon Master's Guide on page 257, and their effects on page 258.

\pagebreak

## Artisan Tools
| Tool | Favored Ability |  Crafting | Components |
|:---|:---|:---:|:---:|
| Alchemist’s Supplies | Intelligence | Yes | Two glass beakers, a metal frame to hold a beaker over an open flame, a glass stirring rod, a small mortar and pestle, and a pouch of common alchemic ingredients |
| Brewer's supplies | Wisdom | No | A large glass jug, a quantity of hops, a siphon, and several feet of tubing |
| Calligrapher's supplies | Dexterity | No | Ink, a dozen sheets of parchment, and three quills |
| Carpenter's tools | Strength | No | A saw, a hammer, nails, a hatchet, a square, a ruler, an adze, a plane, and a chisel |
| Cartographer's tools | Wisdom | No | A quill, some ink, parchment, a pair of compasses, and a rule |
| Cobbler's tools | Dexterity | No | A hammer, an awl, a knife, a shoe stand, a cutter, spare leather, and some thread| 
| Cook's utensils | Wisdom | No | A metal pot, knives, forks, a stirring spoon, and a ladle |
| Disguise Kit | Charisma | No | Cosmetics, hair dye, small props, and a few pieces of clothing |
| Forgery Kit | Intelligence | No | Several types of ink, a variety of parchments and papers, several quills, seals and sealing wax, gold and silver leaf, and small tools to sculpt melted wax to mimic a seal|
| Gaming Set | Intelligence | No | Has all requisite pieces to place a specific game, such as playing cards, dice, and a playing board with tokens |
| Glassblower’s Tools | Constitution | Yes | A blowpipe, a small marver, blocks, and tweezers |
| Herbalism Kit | Wisdom | No | Pouches to store herbs, clippers and leather gloves for collecting plants, a mortar and pestle, and several glass jars |
| Jeweler’s Tools | Wisdom | Yes | A small saw and hammer, files, pliers, and tweezers |
| Leatherworker’s Tools | Strength | Yes | A knife, a small mallet, an edger, a hole punch, thread, and some leather scraps |
| Mason's tools | Strength | No | A trowel, a hammer, a chisel, brushes, and a square |
| Musical Instrument | Charisma | No | A single instrument, with the needed components such as spare reeds, or strings. |
| Navigator's Tools | Intelligence | No | A Sextant, a compass, calipers, a ruler, parchment, ink, and a quill |
| Painter's supplies | Dexterity | No | Easel, canvas, paints, brushes, charcoal sticks, and a palette |
| Poisoner’s Kit | Intelligence | Yes | Glass vials, a mortar and pestle, chemicals, and a glass stirring rod |
| Potter's tools | Wisdom | No | Potter's needles, ribs, scrapers, a knife, and calipers |
| Smith’s Tools | Strength | Yes | Hammers, tongs, charcoal, rags, and a whetstone |
| Thieves' Tools | Dexterity | No | A small file, a set of lockpicks, a small mirror mounted on a metal handle, a pair of narrow bladed scissors, and a pair of pliers |
| Tinker’s Tools | Intelligence | Yes | A variety of hand tools, thread, needles, a whetstone, scraps of cloth and leather, and a small pot of glue |
| Weaver’s Tools | Dexterity | Yes | Thread, needles, and scraps of cloth. You can work a loom, but it is too large to transport reasonably|
| Woodcarver’s Tools | Strength | Yes | A knife, a gouge, and a small saw |

</div>

\pagebreak

## Artisan Crafting
##### Alchemist's Supplies
| Item | Cost | Weight |
|:----|:--|:-:|
| Acid (vial) | 25 gp | 1 Lb. |
| Alchemist's Fire (Flask) | 50 gp | 1 Lb. |
| Candle | 1 cp | - |
| Chalk (1 Piece)| 1 cp | - |
| Ink (1 ounce bottle) | 10 gp | - |
| Oil (Flask) | 1 sp | 1 Lb. |
| Perfume (vial) | 5 gp | 1/2 Lb. |
| Sealing Wax | 5 sp | - |
| Soap | 2 cp | - |
##### Glassblower's Tools
| Item | Cost | Weight |
|:----|:--|:-:|
| Arcane Focus (Orb) | 20 gp | 3 Lb. |
| Bottle, Glass | 2 gp | 2 Lb. |
| Flask, Glass | 1 gp | 1 Lb. |
| Hourglass | 25 gp | 1 Lb. |
| Pitcher, Glass | 25 gp | 10 Lb. |
| Magnifying Glass | 100 gp | - |
| Mirror, Glass | 15 gp | 1/2 Lb. |
| Spyglass | 1000 gp | 1 Lb. |
| Vial | 1 gp | - |
##### Jeweler's Tools
| Item | Cost | Weight |
|:----|:--|:-:|
| Arcane Focus (Crystal) | 10 gp | 1 Lb. |
| Holy Symbol (Amulet) | 5 gp | 1 Lb. |
| Holy Symbol (Reliquary) | 5 gp | 2 Lb. |
| Signet Ring | 2 gp | - |
##### Leatherworker's Tools
| Item | Cost | Weight |
|:----|:--|:-:|
| Backpack | 2 gp | 5 Lb. |
| Bedroll | 1 gp | 3 Lb. |
| Book Binding | 1 gp | - |
| Bit and Bridle | 2 gp | 1 Lb. |
| Case, Crossbow Bolt | 1 gp | 1 Lb. |
| Case, Map or Scroll | 1 gp | 1 Lb. |

</div>

\columnbreak

## Artisan Crafting Cont.
##### Leatherworker's Tools Cont.
| Item | Cost | Weight |
|:----|:--|:-:|
| Pouch | 5 sp | 1 Lb. |
| Quiver | 1 gp | 1 Lb. |
| Saddle, Exotic | 60 gp | 40 Lb. |
| Saddle, Military | 20gp | 30 Lb. |
| Saddle, Pack | 5 gp | 15 Lb. |
| Saddle, Riding | 10 gp | 25 Lb. |
| Saddlebags | 4 gp | 8 Lb. |
| Spellbook Binding | 2 gp | - |
| Tent, Two-Person | 2 gp | 20 Lb. |
| Vellum (One Sheet) | 4 sp | - |
| Waterskin | 2 sp | 5 Lb. |

##### Poisoner's Kit
| Item | Cost | Weight |
|:----|:--|:-:|
| Antitoxin | 50 gp | - |
| Assassin's Blood | 150 gp | - |
| Basic Poison | 100 gp | - |
| Burnt Othur Fumes | 500 gp | - |
| Carrion Crawler Mucus | 200 gp | - |
| Drow Poison | 200 gp | - |
| Essence of Ether | 300 gp | - |
| Malice | 250 gp | - |
| Midnight Tears | 1500 gp | - |
| Oil of Taggit | 400 gp | - |
| Pale Tincture | 250 gp | - |
| Purple Worm Poison | 2000 gp | - |
| Serpent Venom | 200 gp | - |
| Torpor | 600 gp | - |
| Truth Serum | 150 gp | - |
| Wyvern Poison | 1200 | - |

##### Smith's Tools
| Item | Cost | Weight |
|:----|:--|:-:|
| Caltrops (20) | 1 gp | 2 Lb. |
| Chain (10-feet) | 5 sp | 10 Lb. |
| Crowbar | 2 gp | 5 Lb. |
| Tankard | 2 cp | 1 Lb. |
</div>

\pagebreak

## Artisan Crafting Cont. 2
##### Smith's Tools Cont.
| Item | Cost | Weight |
|:----|:--|:-:|
| Caltrops (20) | 1 gp | 2 Lb. |
| Chain (10-feet) | 5 sp | 10 Lb. |
| Crowbar | 2 gp | 5 Lb. |
| Tankard | 2 cp | 1 Lb. |
| Grappling Hook | 2 gp | 4 Lb. |
| Hammer | 1 gp | 3 Lb. |
| Hammer, Sledge | 2 gp | 10 Lb. |
| Lamp | 5 sp | 2 Lb. |
| Lantern, Bullseye | 10 gp | 2 Lb. |
| Lantern, Hooded | 5 gp | 1 Lb. |
| Manacles | 2 gp | 6 Lb. |
| Pick, Miner's | 2 gp | 10 Lb. |
| Piton | 5 cp | 1/4 Lb. |
| Pot, Iron | 2 gp | 10 Lb. |
| Shovel | 2 gp | 5 Lb. |
| Spikes, Iron (10) | 1 gp | 5 Lb. |

##### Tinker's Tools
| Item | Cost | Weight |
|:----|:--|:-:|
| Abacus | 2 gp | 2 Lb. |
| Ball Bearings (Bag of 1,000) | 1 gp | 2 Lb. |
| Bell | 1 gp | - |
| Block and Tackle | 1 gp | 5 Lb. |
| Blowgun Needles (20) | 1 gp | 1 Lb. |
| Hunting Trap | 5 gp | 25 Lb. |
| Lock | 10 gp | 1 Lb. |
| Scale, Merchant's | 5 gp | 3 Lb. |
| Signal Whistle | 5 cp | - |

##### Weaver's Tools
| Item | Cost | Weight |
|:----|:--|:-:|
| Basket | 4 sp | 2 Lb. |
| Blanket | 5 sp | 3 Lb. |
| Clothes, Common | 5 sp | 3 Lb. |
| Clothes, Costume | 5 gp | 4 Lb. |
| Clothes, Fine | 15 gp | 6 Lb. |
| Clothes, Traveler's | 2 gp | 4 Lb. |

</div>

\columnbreak

## Artisan Crafting Cont. 3
##### Weaver's Tools Cont.
| Item | Cost | Weight |
|:----|:--|:-:|
| Robes | 1 gp | 4 Lb. |
| Rope, Hempen | 1 gp | 10 Lb. |
| Rope, Silken | 10 gp | 5 Lb. |
| Sack | 1 cp | 1/2 Lb. |

##### Woodcarver's Tools
| Item | Cost | Weight |
|:----|:--|:-:|
| Arrows (20) | 1 gp | 1 Lb. |
| Arcane Focus (Rod) | 10 gp | 2 Lb. |
| Arcane Focus (Staff) | 10 gp | 4 Lb. |
| Arcane Focus (Wand) | 5 gp | 1 Lb. |
| Barrel | 2 gp | 70 Lb. |
| Bolt, Crossbow | 1 gp | 1.5 Lb. |
| Case, Crossbow Bolt | 1 gp | 1 Lb. |
| Chest | 5 gp | 25 Lb. |
| Druidic Focus (Totem) | 1 gp | - |
| Druidic Focus (Staff) | 5 gp | 4 Lb. |
| Druidic Focus (Yew Wand) | 10 gp | 1 Lb. |
| Ladder (10-foot) | 1 sp | 1 Lb. |
| Pole (10-foot) | 5 cp | 7 Lb. |
| Ram, Portable | 4 gp | 35 Lb. |
| Sled | 20 gp | 300 Lb. |

</div>