[3.5] Cohorts no longer gobble up party XP

[Philip]

Under the new rules, Cohorts no longer dip into the party XP pool. They get their own share, which isn't subtracted from the party's share.

The Cohort's share of XP is now tied to the progression of his master. He gets an XP share equal to his master's times his level divided by the master's level in XP.

For Example: Character gets 1,000 XP
Character is 10th lvl, Cohort 8th lvl
Cohort gets 800 XP (80% or 8/10 * 1,000)

A Cohort that comes within one level (or better) of his master for any reason stops gaining XP until his master is at least two levels higher again.

That not only saves a lot of calculation, makes it easier for Cohort to keep up with their master's, but also eliminates a lot of potential bad feelings among party members about bringing along a Cohort. Good change, I say.

 

[youspoonybard]

Good to hear, especially now that I'll get Leadership for my Awakened (Ex) Animal Companion.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

*sigh* This sounds a tad too complicated for my tastes. I'd like something along the lines of:


The cohort levels whenever the master does.


Short, simple, sweet. In essence, the cohort is getting less xp (because if it were gaining the same xp as the master, it should level slightly faster) but without the need to calculate anything. A new cohort's starting level must be calculated based on the leadership rules. (so the new cohort may be lower level, since killing a cohort lowers once's leadership score.)

And the deal with the cohort not gaining xp if the cohort comes within one level of the master...has the cohort chart changed? 1 level lower used to be legal.

 

[PaulGreystoke]

*sigh* This sounds a tad too complicated for my tastes. I'd like something along the lines of:


The cohort levels whenever the master does.

[snip]

And the deal with the cohort not gaining xp if the cohort comes within one level of the master...has the cohort chart changed? 1 level lower used to be legal.

Your proposed rule sounds like a more elegant way to accomplish what the rule is trying to do.

It was confirmed earlier that a master can no longer gain a cohort who is only 1 level lower than the master. The cohort must be at least 2 levels lower than the master.

 

[Nifft]

IMC, the Cohort levels as the Leadership score dictates, OR the Cohort levels as a PC and leaves when he's too powerful for the PC's Leadership score.

-- Nifft

 

[Dr_Rictus]

Did anyone ever actually consider a half-share to be "gobbling up party XP"?

 

[Dr_Rictus]

That not only saves a lot of calculation....

Bwahahaha ha ha ha!

That's a pretty good one.

 

[the Jester]

I actually like this one.

 

[Belphanior]

*sigh* This sounds a tad too complicated for my tastes. I'd like something along the lines of:


The cohort levels whenever the master does.

While this sounds good in theory, it is in fact horribly broken.
This would be an open invitation to take spellcaster cohorts and letting them make magical items 24/7. After all, they'll neatly level up regardless of their xp anyway.

We can also reverse this. Poor little fighter cohort never gets to level up ever again, because his stupid wizard master keeps making expensive items.

See the problem?
You need to keep track of your cohort's xp.

 

[Pax]

Did anyone ever actually consider a half-share to be "gobbling up party XP"?

Sure.

Picture a party of four -- iconic characters, all. They're all LEvel 10; they slay a CR10 baddie of some sort or other. The XP award is 3,000 total, for 750XP per player.

Noone levels, but before the next encounter, player #1's cohort finally shows up. The party, cohort in tow, encounters another CR10 baddie, same exact type as the first. Again, they win the battle. Same XP award in total, 3,000 of 'em.

But wait ... this time, instead of 4 shares, there're 4.5 shares. Each share is worth ABOUT 666 and 2/3 XP.

The cohort gets half that much, or, 333XP.

Each of the four PCs gets 666XP.

So, Players 2, 3, and 4 LOSE XP, because Player #1 took Leadership. They amortise his special ability.

That's not fair to them. A share of XP drawn from the common "teat", as it were, only remains balanced if EVERYONE has a cohort.