@Arkandel said:
The only type of Storytelling you don't want is the fake one. The non-plot things ("pizza party at my place!11!") made pretty much to squeeze XP out of the system.
Anything else - stuff ran for friends, for coteries, for whatever - still scales better than anything else. There is nothing you want less for your game than players sitting bored.
If you don't like the idea of handing out XP for balance purposes fine - come up with something else, such as social recognition or whatever else.
I like this, but I disagree on one point. 'Pizza party at my house' can just as easily be a good thing to have in your games. It gets players together, allows for character development to happen. Whole packs or cabals can be done around that. Same with beach parties, etc. So long as you can show that something relevant to the story happened, then I see no reason why not to allow something like this. Even at the table, not all scenes are action scenes, and those are awarded with a beat the same as any other. Not all plots need be action things, and not all of them need involve antagonists. Sometimes, creating those bonds is just as important.
If me and Maryanne get together for our weekly friday chess match and discuss the larger metaphysical aspects of the universe, and help each other solve our problems that we're actively discussing there in a way that helps move the story forward, then I don't call that fake.
So, you know. This is subjective. It won't get as many beats as the action packed thing where you whoop someone's ass, and so they'll grow slower, but they should still grow from this. Even Luke Skywalker had a few chats with Obi-Wan along the way.