Advice: How to handle a party of mixed levels?

[ced1106]

Offer XP awards for between game write ups, background work etc...and hope the lower level players take the hint. It's been working for me in S'mons game, that's one of the main reasons I do the Story Hour!

Or bring this stuff into play by running more roleplaying sessions, and less combat. In a city adventure, combat isn't important, it's interacting with NPCs, coming up with unusual ideas, and trying not to p*ss of the wrong parties.


Cedric.
aka. Washu! ^O^

 

[Bendris Noulg]

I'd suggest side treks; Let the top-2 go into something more RP-centric, keeping them from advancing during the time. Your 9th Level needs a shorty (up a level). The bottom-2, however, need a little more drastic measure, possibly even allowing the other 3 to make short-term characters so they can join in the fun. When everyone's in the 9-11 range, bring 'em back together. That's how I've always handled such except for one case (which was military-focused, so their rank in the mercenary company provided for suitable adjustments naturally).

 

[Zhure]

Here's how I handle it. Not by the books, but this isn't the Rules Forum, so it should be fine.

I calculate experience for each character seperately based on their level as if the entire party were composed of n level characters.

Example:
Using the chart from the DMG, and the group you listed.
11th level character
10th level character
9th level character
7th level character x2
6th level character

.. 6 characters, overcoming a CR 9 encounter.
The 11th level character receives 275 (1650/6) XP.
The 10th level character receives 333 (2000/6) XP.
The 9th level character receives 450 (2700/6) XP.
The 7th level characters receive 700 (4200/6) XP each.
The 6th level character receives 900 (5400/6) XP.

... the same 6 characters, overcoming a CR 11 encounter.
The 11th level character receives 550 (3300/6) XP.
The 10th level character receives 750 (4500/6) XP.
The 9th level character receives 900 (5400/6) XP.
The 7th level characters receive 1400 (8400/6) XP each.
The 6th level character receives 1800 (10800/6) XP.

The 6th level character ears XP at about 3 times the rate of the 11th level character. After 40 encounters (assuming all CR 9 encounters), the 11th level character is ready for 12th. The 6th level character earns enough after 7 adventures to level up to 7th. After 10 adventures, he is now ready to be 8th. After 13 encounters, he is ready to be 9th. He'll be about halfway through 9th when the lead character levels to 12.

While this is inherently unfair to the high level characters, the high level characters are vastly more powerful and won't feel as challenged. It's a tough situation to overcome, once level differences start to exceed two or three, for the lower level characters to even make appearances in a fight geared for CRs well above them.

Greg

 

[Eternalknight]

Re: Re: Advice: How to handle a party of mixed levels?

frankly, if you let things get to this point to begin with, most of my advice wouldn't help... I don't do this sort of massivly unballanced campaign at all.

What is the reason for the disparity? Not, 'people missing sessions' but why does your party dock xp for missed sessions? Does your group have internal competition for the 'best' character where they want to have the winners have the cool characters and the losers not? Or was this just a result of following the rules as written and not liking the consequences? The answer to that changes how to handle these situations and whether you want a fix or not.

-Kahuna Burger

Yes, it was because of players missing sessions. We don't dock XP for them missing them, but they don't earn any when their characters aren't there.

I tried running their characters for them when they were not missing, but if anything slightly bad happened, they cracked it. So I left their characters out if they weren't there.

 

[Eternalknight]

Actually, I didn't think of using the FR system.... that would certainly help alot!

 

[applenerd]

Take the average of your group, and use that to form up your ELs. In your case the average is 8.333. Make most of your encounters around EL 8-9, and progress from there. In time the lower levels will catch up( maybe mid teens). Throw in the occasional EL 10, 11 to keep the balance, and throw a little fear. As the party gains in levels, boost up the EL to reflect the new party average. This would be the easiest way to do it, without throwing the game too far off balance.

Basically at this point you want to slow down the upper level PCs so the others can catch up, without hurting the campaign. We've run a couple adventure like this, for nearly the same reasons, and it worked out ok. Just be sure not to throw more than 1, maximum 2 EL 10+ at the group in any short period of time.

Good Luck!

This is the best suggestion I've heard so far. I'm currently running a group and we have the same problem (to a lesser degree) with players ranging from 6th to 9th level. It seems to work out reasonably well and the way the levels are scaled (via the xp chart) the guys in the back catch up ok eventually. Plus it penalizes people for missing sessions!

 

[Fenes 2]

My advice is along the lines of Kahuna Burger's: Just give every PC, no matter his player's attendance, the same amount of exp, so that everyone has the same level.

One of my players is currently in the army. Just the fact that he has not been able to attend for close to a year will not "doom" his PC to lower leves compared to the party. As soon as he is back at the gaming table his PC will be the same level as everyone else.

If people want more of a "reward" for attending more often than having fun while playing (and getting their PCs more involved in plots etc.) I don't think I'd like to play with them.

 

[S'mon]

I'll never use an 'everyone gets same XP even if their PC isn't there' approach - it actually penalises the risk-takers, whose PC might well be killed (and lose a level, even if raised) over those who seldom turn up & do little when they do.

I like the idea of giving individual XP awards according to the level of each character though, so 11th levellers get more than 13th levellers for the same encounter (assuming they contributed a similar amount) - I may switch to something like that, away from the usual 'total all the XP then split' approach.

 

[Voadam]

I would second going with teh FR xp chart and having big and small challenges at the same time so everybody has things to do.

For roleplay intensive adventures a 6th level adventurer is just as viable as an 11th level, it is just characterization, thinking and interaction, not level based power that determines success. However, characters who have been there consistently are more likely to immediately be into the plot if it is a continuation or builds heavily off of what has gone before.

 

[Lazybones]

To those who suggested the awards that calculates CR individually based on each PC's level: that's the FRCS system.