XP As It Is

[oldkat]

The basic formula is this:

Gains in experience points will be relative; thus an 8th level Magic-User operating on the 5th dungeon level would be awarded 5/8 experience. Let us assume he gains 7,000 Gold Pieces by defeating a troll (which is a 7th level monster, as it has over 6 hit dice). Had the monster been only a 5th level one experience would be awarded on a 5/8 basis as already stated, but as the monster guarding the treasure was a 7th level one experience would be awarded on a 7/8 basis thus: 7,000 G.P. + 700 for killing the troll = 7,700 divided by 8 = 962.5 x 7 = 6,037.5.

Is it just me, or is that description saying the dungeon level actually doesn't count, as it is the level/HD of the monster guarding the treasure that is used to determine the fraction on which the XP is derived? I mean, the 5th dungeon level is not even used in the computation. So why is it even brought up? It is clear the 8 represents the level of the Magic-User, and the 7 the troll. So what's the dungeon level got to do with it?

I'm sure this has been explained over and over and over, maybe in the SR or Dragon magazine, or by the sages still among us. But I'm just going off the printed text above, as I do not own a single SR or Dragon magazine explaining all this; nor do I recall seeing it explained in a forum by one of the High Sages.

So here's the thing--in single character exploration all the above seems pretty straight forward. But what happens when multiple characters of various levels are involved? Worse still, who gets the "Kill Credit" if multiple characters of low/lower levels whittled the creature's hit points down, and then some high level character steps in for the finish? The fraction changes according to those involved, and could substantially, one might think, reduce the XP earned to the group.

Clearly, I must be misunderstanding the simplicity of this mechanic.

Has this ever struck anyone else as being...odd?

[Scott Anderson]

Mike Mornard explained it a while ago. XP gained is dependent on monster level but also on player level. Too complicated for me.

[Deleted]

1 XP = 1GP (monster level/player level)

Hardly what I'd call complicated.

The idea is to make sure Wizards, Lords, and Patriarchs don't try slaughtering nations of kobolds to level up.

[Deleted]

And with a multi player multi level group, you wing it. Were most of their opponents approximately equal level or higher? Then it's 1 XP per GP. If a bunch of 5th and 6th level PCs were dinking around on the second level, give them 1/3 XP per GP.

Don't make it harder than it has to be. These are guidelines, not commandments set into tablets of stone.

[Scott Anderson]

I like to split XP evenly. That way groups of varying level tend to converge faster.

[Deleted]

I prefer not to have everyone at the same level if possible. That gives rise to a natural occurrence of a stable of characters; if you have a seventh level character and you're playing with a second level character, create a new PC.

[howandwhy99]

I think individual XP awards are a keystone of the game design. But so is cooperative play. So working together splits XP evenly, regardless of level.

Level needs though remain logarithmic.

[talysman]

For the specific question of dungeon level vs. monster level: I think "dungeon level" is the default. There are some hidden or trapped unguarded treasures, so those would use the formula (dungeon level/player level) * GP = XP.

Similarly, if you encounter monsters of a lower level than dungeon level, use dungeon level as long as there are more than the usual number of monsters. Frex, if the characters are on dungeon level 2 and encounter kobolds, you can just use dungeon level as long as the kobolds outnumber the PCs 4 to 1.

If it's a smaller number of weak monsters, use their actual level. If it's a stronger monster than the average for that dungeon level, use its actual level. Pretty straightforward, and seems in keeping with the book.

For parties of mixed level, treasure XP is going to work out the same. However much treasure a PC gets personally, adjust the GP value based on either monster or dungeon level. XP for monsters might be a little harder, depending on how you prefer to record kills and when you award the XP. I prefer to adjust the monster's effective hit dice, so a 2nd level warrior is going to get 1 hit dice worth of XP for every 4 kobolds killed, while the 4th level hero will get 1 hit dice per 8 kobolds. But I use the 100 xp per hit dice, which I know some say is unreasonable, but I like its simplicity. It might actually be better to drop monster XP entirely and just stick with gold.

I guess it depends on how you divvy up XP. I take the number of creatures a PC fights in a given battle and