One thing I like about 5e is that higher level characters do not necessarily become "untouchable", and as a result, it's more feasible to have interactions between characters of different levels (and some people talked about this with regards to sandbox style gaming). So suppose I am DMing a group of 3 lvl 1 PCs that are traveling with a CR 5 NPC, as if they are apprentices learning the ropes. How should I be dividing an encounter that is worth 1000 xp? Should it be even distribution (each gets 250 xp) or should the CR 5 NPC weigh more (and if so, how much more?)?
D&D 5E Splitting xp between characters of different lvls?
Warmaster Horus
Explorer
Evenly, especially if they contribute.
Ok, but if we put it more extremely, say a lvl 1 char and a lvl 18 char facing off a CR 10 foe with 5900xp. If it's even distribution, lvl 1 character will gain 2950xp, which is up to lvl 4 at the very least. That said, having a high level companion far exceeds the benefits of having a magic item then --- and every party should be out there seeking such a benefactor to join their group. If we weigh them by the amount of xp they need to gain a lvl (300 for lvl 1 and 40000 for lvl 18) then the lvl 1 char would gain only (300/(40300))*5900 = 44xp, which seems like a more meaningful allocation. A lvl-based weighting would have 1 vs 18, so lvl 1 char in that case would gain (1/19)*5900 = 311xp, which also seems more meaningful to me.
Rod Staffwand
aka Ermlaspur Flormbator
Question: Why would a 1st level character engage in a potentially deadly combat worth 5900xp for a measly 44xp when they could just grind on goblins to level safely?
Because after the previous character death Heironeous decided that the new team member had to start at the bottom.
You can do it that way if you want to, but higher level NPCs generally don't do that. They give quests or information, and they have powerful enemies. If they get involved in the matters of the PCs, then you will have powerful enemies crashing the party who can kill the PCs outright.
The xp weighted by level means that the lower level character will never catch up to the others, and this can create problems at the table.
Rod Staffwand
aka Ermlaspur Flormbator
Oh, I see. So if Captain America bites it, the Avengers go get Paul Blart: Mall Cop?
Fralex
Explorer
Wait til you see what they've installed in his segway.
the Jester
Legend
The problem here isn't even xp distribution, it's the nature of the encounter. IF you're going to have that kind of setup, be aware of and prepared for that kind of quick-leveling effect and decide how you'll deal with it. Let it stand, only one level at a time, bank the xp and award them over time- there are a ton of ways to handle this, and many of them keep such crazy multiple-level-jumps from happening.
The key here is to decide how quickly you are comfortable with pcs leveling in a party with a wide disparity of levels.
If you're going to run ES@1 (Everyone Starts At 1st Level), in my opinion, you're best off letting the pcs choose their adventures and how difficult they are. In such a case, the party is very likely to go for easier (though not necessarily easy) adventures first, and they can still be challenging for a high-level pc! A large group of goblins or hobgoblins is still a threat at high levels, especially if they are at all tactical, yet such an encounter is not an instant death for the low level guys waiting to happen. It rapidly becomes obvious to the bad guys who the deadly enemy that needs to be taken down is (hint: not the 1st level guy), so they may tend to focus largely on that enemy, with only a couple goblins (or whatever) at a time focusing on the low-level guy, since it takes him 2 rounds to drop one of them. (OTOH some savvy monsters might go the opposite way, choosing to weed out the weaklings first....)
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