Depends what system I'm running
For RM I was as detailed as the system. What can I say... I liked the complexity!
We kept a record of:
The hits caused/suffered.
The crits caused (per different type of Creature) and suffered (by Type)
Significant skill use (by difficulty).
Loads of other stuff..
What the players earned as individuals they received.
I then totalled the total xp for the session and allocated this as "bonuses"
50% was shared evenly between all the characters that participated.
50% was based on Role-playing and ideas.. (this bit was subjective but gave the unlucky but inventive players a reward). Quite often I'd let the players chose how this was divided...
Also, since I was using the original RM diminishing XP returns method of the awards, continued success in specific xp areas tended to be accelerated at the beginning of a characters career and reduced markedly in the mid-levels. Generally, players quickly progressed to 4-6th level. (which is my favourite Level
)
Rather than have players effectively pre-select and allocate skills on which their DP would be spent when they increased level, I allowed players to earn DP with the XP they had earned each session.
Each character could pre-select up to 10 specific skills which their characters *wanted to improve*, as they earned xp.
The total number of DP that could be earned in a level was divided by the number of XP required to achieve the next level.
This gave a XP = DP number so, that when players earned XP, they would also gradually be able to "spend" it on DP, reducing the DP they gat when they achieved the next level.
They could only spend XP to get the DP early, if it was on this list
or was actively used in that session..
If the DP earned wasn't used, then once the level was achieved (and a period of rest/recuperation/training was available) they could spend any remaining DP however they pleased. Characters still couldn't earn more skill levels than they would normally though... so a fighter with a 1/2 skill could still only earn 2 ranks etc.
Therefore the acquisition of skills would be a relatively gradual affair, rather than a "lump" when they went up a level.