D&D 2E 2E xp or not 2E xp?

[Tarangil]

I've noticed alot of banter about the lower levels advancing rapidly in levels in 3 & 3.5E. I was wondering if anyone has used the Standardized XP for creatures and such from 2E and if they have, how did it work for you? I'm seriously considering giving it a try.

 

[Crothian]

They have rules for this in Unearthed Arcana. I didn't notice much of a change at lower levels but when using the CR system I never saw the PCs level too fast.

 

[was]

We use the XP tables from 3.5, but we halve the XP awards handed out. This was a group decision made to slow progression. If you want to use the XP tables from 2nd ed., I'd suggest picking just one and using it for all the pc's. Using a bunch of tables is really going to create problems figuring out appropriate encounters when you have pcs operating at multiple levels.

 

[Li Shenron]

I didn't used the UA charts, but as a DM I have often modified the xp given to suit the campaign. The CR system is very useful, but I have noticed too that it is faster than expected: I think it's because originally they thought a monster with CR = average party level was an "appropriate encounter", while it's a pretty easy encounter.

 

[Tarangil]

We use the XP tables from 3.5, but we halve the XP awards handed out. This was a group decision made to slow progression. If you want to use the XP tables form 2nd ed., I'd suggest picking just one and using it for all the pc's. Using a bunch of tables is really going to create problems figuring out appropriate encounters when you have pcs operating at multiple levels.

That's kinda the way I was going to go. Just standardize the xp values. In 2E an Orc was 15-30xp whether you were lvl 0, or lvl 20. Even with creature xp being significantly lower, the 3.5 xp tables are much more forgiving when it comes to advancement. Who here remembers having to get 2500xp (with only 1spell/day) to gain the second level for a Wiz?

 

[TheGogmagog]

Who here remembers having to get 2500xp (with only 1spell/day) to gain the second level for a Wiz?

Ahh, the good old days of waiting till the fighter had the orc almost dead to decide to throw in your magic missile. We just made a 'you stole my kill' joke the other day.

 

[Orius]

Not familiar with the UA tables but I would not use the 2e system in a 3e game for two reasons:

First, the multiple XP tables. They weren't really a problem prior to 3e, but trying to use them with 3e's multiclass rules would be a huge pain. Also, XP doesn't progress the same way in 3e as it did in earlier versions of the game.

Second, I prefer how the 3e system award less or no XP for weaker foes and more XP for tougher foes. With the old 2e system, 20th level characters can still get XP for killing 1st level kobolds, which is just wrong.

Personally, I'm thinking of scrapping XP for klills entirely in my game and awarding XPs like story awards or such. I think it would be fairly easy to do this in 3e since the number of XPs need to level is always PC Level x 1,000.