Our group uses a slightly unorthodox method (it appears, from previous posts); ALL XP is shared.
Flat XP is awarded for manoeuvres, ranging from 5 for routine up to 500 for absurd.
Criticals delivered are based on crit level (e.g., 5 for A and 25 for E) multiplied by level of target, with no cap for total kill XP.
RAW XP for kills, spells, etc.
We do RR a little differently than the RAW, so XP is gained for a successful RR based on the target required.
Each player calculates XP gained in each session and then the mean is taken (and awarded) for each player present. Absent players gain half that XP. A final change is made if any characters have the memory XP award bonus (CoIII) for high memory stats.
This does mean an accelerated XP and level gain when compared to the RAW, but our group enjoys the more rapid evolution and power gain of their characters. Our current campaign has been played for around 200 hours and we have 2 characters at level 6.
We are mature players (aren’t all RM player nowadays?), so this sharing XP idea works really well. It avoids players feeling left out if they play the lesser XP battery characters or if whatever reason the character is left out of the XP action.
One thing that did evolve from our group, using this method, was something we know as the “Smung”. You see, our players always look to the player who has earned the least XP in a given session and regard him or her as a disappointment. One time a certain player calculated his XP at the end of a session and, as the pattern went, announced a low XP score, he appeared self-satisfied that others were gaining high levels of XP in which he would take his share. Another player, with a slight stutter, exclaimed that this self-satisfied player was indeed a ‘smug bastard’, but the word(s) that came out of his exasperated mouth was “SMUNG!”. Since that day we have, quiet seriously, when calculating group XP, asked ‘who was smung this week?’, even going so far as to create a smung list, so that we could easily see who has been smung the most over a period of time (I am toying with the idea of creating a smung t-shirt, to be worn by the ‘offending player’ during our annual Christmas outing).
It works. No bad feelings, no choosing XP battery characters, no feeling left out, no ‘getting the last kick in the head’, and of course the humiliation factor of the smung.