Excel party xp calculator for 3.5e!

[Wonko the Sane]

Sure, where can it be found?

Right here.

 

[morpheous1777]

I asked basiclly the same question before, I can't search the forums, but I know its in here somewhere ?? It used the formula from the epic level handbook, and it calculated exp pretty good


Here is a visual basic function I use:

 

[Plane Sailing]

Thanks chaps, I'll take a look at these.

My working formula in the past (for reference) was

Character level * 300 * (square root of 2, raised to the power of (CR -character level)

IIRC this was spot on for the even numbers but slightly off for the odd CRs because the actual table figure looked as if it had been eyeballed as halfway between the previous and the succcessive CR rather than being truly mathematically devised. Also a forumula has to account for the strange fact that levels 1-3 all share the same table row...

Cheers

 

[morpheous1777]

Keep us updated if ya find anymore decent formulas (ones that are more better at calculating exp)

Thanks chaps, I'll take a look at these.

My working formula in the past (for reference) was

Character level * 300 * (square root of 2, raised to the power of (CR -character level)

IIRC this was spot on for the even numbers but slightly off for the odd CRs because the actual table figure looked as if it had been eyeballed as halfway between the previous and the succcessive CR rather than being truly mathematically devised. Also a forumula has to account for the strange fact that levels 1-3 all share the same table row...

Cheers

 

[morpheous1777]

On page 120 of the epic level handbook it describes how they calculated xp,

if the CR is equal to the party level, the exp point award is 300 x CR
if the CR is equal to the party level + 1 the exp award is 400 x CR
if the CR is equal to the party level - 1 the exp award is 200 x CR

for every 2 points the CR increases (such as from 42 to 44), multiply exp by 2
for every 2 points the CR decreases (such as from 44 to 42), multiply exp by 0.5

Example:
a CR 42 monster is worth 12,600 (42 x 300) to a group of 42nd level characters
the same monster would be worth 16,800 (42 x 400) to a group of 41st level characters, but only worth 8,400 (42 x 200) to a group of 43rd level characters. It would be worth 25,000 (42 x 300 x 2) to a group of 40th level characters, but only 6,300 (42 x 300 x 0.5) to a group of 44th level characters

 

[Davin]

I recently tried to come up with a formula for this stuff, and didn't do too badly for the bulk of the table, but I had a problem near the leading diagonal (not just the levels 1-3 which seemed to be handlable). Here are some hints for people to consider...

Begin by organizing the table (so we can use the same orientation) with Party Level down the left side and Challenge Rating across the top (different books orient this differently). Now look out in the middle of the table somewhere and compare nearby numbers that are on the same line. If you compare numbers that are two apart, you find that they are twice/half one another, as you would expect from the general definition (+2 CR = twice as difficult). However, this change is not a smooth curve. In order to get nice round numbers to come out in the table, they opted for a staggered increase. Therefore, if you check adjacent numbers, you'll see that the right-hand number is either 1.33333 (4/3) or 1.5 (3/2) times the left hand number! These multipliers alternate back and forth over most of the table, so that any two adjacent multipliers combine together to give a paired multiplier of 1.33333 (4/3) x 1.5 (3/2) = 2 (4/2). This is why even and odd columns appear to be in different patterns (usually also alternating on even and odd rows).

However, as you move toward the left across any particular line and approach the diagonal lower-left edge of the table (as defined by the 7-level reasonableness limit), they suddenly break the pattern and start applying the same 1.33333 & 1.5 multipliers (divisors) randomly rather than alternately. I can see no good reason for this, nor have I yet spotted a pattern that can let me predict which one they'll be using at any point. Can anyone spot what pattern is being used in these lower reaches?

BTW, another pattern that may have gone unnoticed is the lower-left edge values themselves. That diagonal line of numbers follows a separate (and simple) pattern of its own of 25 XP times the party level. Strange, huh? (You'd think that by using this diagonal and the main center-line computable diagonal [300 XP x PL|CR], we'd be able to compute the rest of the values. But I've been having trouble coming up with that curve formula, too.)

(I haven't checked out the code from earlier in this thread yet, but I expect it to be formula-extended lookup tables. Maybe some of you have gotten around to it before me and can enlighten me here?)

So, who can add to this body of knowledge?

 

[Fast Learner]

The spreadsheet you updated was mine, and of course you were absolutely welcome to do so. Glad it served as a useful baseline.

 

[Abraxas]

Nice spreadsheet. Any idea why it requires you to enter a 1 or 0 in the level column for party members 7 and 8?

Now I just need a sheet that can handle up to 10 PCs

 

[Kershek]

It's useful to have lots of "party member" slots. For instance, you might have some NPCs that come along to help you out, especially when you play with a DM who likes big battles. You may only give them half a share for XP since they're not permanent members. So then you have to put each of your normal PCs on two lines so you can create that effect. Pretty soon you could be looking at a good 10-15 "party member" slots.

 

[morpheous1777]

So, who can add to this body of knowledge?

I know what ya mean, I just created an excel sheet and tried the formula from the epic level handbook and got some strange results, it seems they went with the formula for most of the exp chart but not all of it, weird, i wounder if WOTC messed up somewhere ??

here are my results