Spending XP Realistically

Hey all,

Last game several of you raised some questions about the XP system and how it seems a bit unrealistic being able to spend it at a whim between every session. I'm still not entirely sure how to deal with this but the group's concensus was that we should impose a sort of XP spending limit.

The idea currently is this: XP is still accumulated as normal when I dole it out but XP can only be spent during downtime periods (i.e., when, in game, the characters have 'time off' for a period of days at least) and only in certain amounts. So that means if a session ends mid-scene and picks up at the same time it left off (like last time where we resumed the investigation of Elysium scene) no XP can be spent. And when actual downtime does occur for a specified period (days or weeks, which is probably relatively rare), XP can be spent only up to a certain maximum based on the amount of downtime. So for example, we break and the characters have lets say 5 days downtime. For that period, a maximum of say 5 XP can be spent (no limitations on what it can be spent on, just how much). There would of course be rollover (e.g., if you don't spend all 5 XP during that downtime you can carry the spending limit over to the next downtime).

What do you all think? Last Sunday's group kind of liked this idea in the interest of keeping things realistic. The alternative is of course that I just give dramatically less XP (on the level of what Chris gives at Changeling, maximum of like 2 per person per session and often nothing). Or if you all don't care we can leave things as is. I bring it up only because you did.

Thoughts, opinions are welcome. I'll go with consensus.

Or, actually, another idea I just thought of is to institute the Practical XP system of Hunter where the GROUP (i.e., the coterie) gets a pool of XP that can be spent on group merits like Haven, Resources, or even coterie Status (everyone would have to agree of course on what to spend it on unanimously). Could even be used to buy group rituals led by Eleazar or Russell (Jewish and Vodoun, respectively).

In this case, I'd give very little personal XP but reward group efforts with Practical (Coterie) points which can be spent whenever the group wants (easier to justify).

Just a thought.

How many XP did we get last game?

I like the downtime based idea, personally.

4 all around.