There is no single correct way to hand out experience points. The right method depends on your table, your campaign, and how much bookkeeping everyone is willing to tolerate. Below are three strategies. Pick one, or combine them. The only rule is that your players know which approach you are using before the campaign starts.
Award a flat amount of XP to every player at the end of each session. The amount is up to you — a few points per session keeps growth slow and deliberate, a larger amount accelerates progression. Everyone gets the same number regardless of individual performance.
Session XP is simple, predictable, and keeps the group at roughly the same power level. It rewards showing up and playing. The downside is that it has no connection to the narrative — a session where the party argued about lunch nets the same XP as a session where they overthrew a district governor.
Award XP when the group achieves something significant: completing a quest, surviving a major event, resolving a faction conflict, or reaching a story turning point. The amount reflects the scale of the accomplishment.
Milestone XP ties progression directly to the narrative. Players feel their characters growing because of what they did, not because another Tuesday passed. The downside is that it requires the GM to judge when a milestone has occurred and what it is worth. Campaigns with long arcs between milestones can leave players feeling stagnant.
Instead of awarding points, the GM tells a player directly: “Add a dot to Melee” or “Your Persuasion goes up.” The GM chooses both the skill and the timing based on what happened in the session.
This approach is not recommended. It removes player agency over character growth. A player who has been planning to invest in Medicine may not appreciate being told their Brawl went up because they got into a bar fight. That said, some tables genuinely prefer it — it keeps progression tightly tied to the fiction and eliminates spending decisions entirely. Know your group.
Whichever strategy you choose, discuss it with your players before the campaign begins. Progression affects how players plan their characters. A player building a long-term specialist needs to know whether XP arrives in drips or floods. A player who enjoys spending decisions needs to know whether those decisions exist at all. This is a table decision, not a GM-only decision.
XP earned during play follows the same rules as character creation, with some important boundaries.
XP buys skill dots. The cost follows the same triangular curve used during character creation: the first dot in a skill costs 1 XP, the second costs 2, the third costs 3, and so on. Raising a skill from 2 to 4 costs 3 + 4 = 7 XP. No skill can exceed 5 dots.
The full cost table is on the character creation page.
Fame increases are not purchased with XP. When a character does something that earns recognition — saving a district, publicly humiliating a rival, or becoming the subject of tavern songs — the GM awards a fame point at no cost. Fame is a narrative reward. It reflects what the world thinks of the character, not what the character spent on themselves.
Caste changes cannot be purchased. A character who starts as Lower Caste does not buy their way to Upper Caste with experience points. Caste changes are major campaign events — marriage into a noble house, a political appointment, a public fall from grace — requiring narrative justification and GM approval.
Wealth changes happen in the fiction. Characters earn money by working, looting, trading, and stealing. They lose it by spending, gambling, getting robbed, and paying rent. XP has nothing to do with it.
The character creation page has the full cost tables, background dot values, and the triangular cost curve in detail.
The GM Guide covers the broader philosophy of running Soltherra, including how narrative rewards and mechanical rewards interact at the table.
© Soltherra RPG System