Body+Count+XP-a+Proposal

Body Count XP: a proposal to bring caution into the fold
In many game sessions, players will often realize that a combat is avoidable or ill-advised but nonetheless pursue combat for the sake of experience.

Given the rubric used in many campaigns for the award of experience, players (though not their characters) are only following their self-interest, as one of the stated goals of the game is to advance one's character in experience and wealth. However, the **foremost** stated goal of the game is roleplaying, which means placing oneself into the persona of a person who likely (though by no means always) has survival and success at heart. 'Deathwish' characters, while an interesting roleplaying opportunity, often hinder roleplaying or even place the rest of the party at risk, and the player portraying such a character quickly learns (or should) that his choice is diminishing the fun of others. We can thus surmise that the advised group of characters, individually and collectively, wish to survive and succeed in their own goals.

So how do we reconcile the schism between the motivation for player advancement and the in-character wish for self-preservation?

I would like posit the following formula for a supplemental XP award, existing within the same XP space as BRP and MVP awards:

[//(Average Party Level)//x50]-50(number of enemies killed this session that might have been spared/avoided)-150(number of Player Character Deaths)] The maximum value of the award would be limited to 50xthe number of avoidable/spareable enemies.

This award would be available to all players at this level. Thus, the actions of one character could affect the XP award of the group negatively, providing an incentive for cooperation and in-character conversation.

this is merely one means of incentivising real-life prudence, which is sometimes deterred by the rules.