xp from at LEAST two of those three pretty much every week and some weeks from all three, But here's my complaint. We don't use 5e feats. We use Alexis Smolinski's Sage Knowledge System. Only my players don't "use" it NEARLY as often as I'd like them to. They've earned/learned/acquired some really cool stuff but they're still playing characters like they're 3rd level but with more HP and doing more
damage.
I HATE playing the PC's ("hey remember you can X" when a great opportunity to X presents itself.) and as DM I don't want the cognitive load of running NPC's, BBG's, the WORLD, AND PC's. Don't think that's too much to ask!
Morning after every session I send an email to the party breaking down xp earned. Day after that I send an email to each player detailing and Sage knowledge learned and/or any level advancement. So here's what we're going to change. The morning after email will include two additional sections. I'll be awarding XP for skill use (see below) AND I'll point out (to each PC) missed opportunities. "Ranger, you're an expert horseman AND and expert falconer, yet both were ignored the entire session. Cleric, your knowledge of beasts could've really assisted those villagers who didn't know what was killing their livestock and when you DID finally find that owlbear you might have used your 'forfeit self' skill to worsen your (already high) AC allowing the fighter (or maybe even the bard) to get a nice +6 to hit. Sorcerer you STILL haven't told me what language you'd like to start learning and you might have taken some time in the village to help that old monk decipher that mouldy text he'd found." And so on.
Anyway.
To take a page from three pillar experience we're going to try this: using a skill commensurate with your level earns you 5 points (once per session. Building a bivouac every night of a ten-day journey will NOT earn you 50!) Using a skill below your current level earns you 1 point per level of the skill. Once you're an authority all amateur skills are then worth one. For an expert, amateur skills are worth 1, authority skills are worth 2 and expert skills are worth 5. When you're a sage ("you're a sage all the way from your first cigarette to" .....ooops ..... sorry) sage skill usage is worth 5 expert skills 3, etc.
Hopefully these two changes will lead to some PC diversity and interesting play and world interaction. What am I missing?
