Cohorts and Experience

[Corlon]

How do you deal with cohorts and experience?

do they just get an even share, do you divide it between the character with the cohort and the cohort, levle him up as the PCs level up without reguard to the experience.

I'd ASSUME the first one in most cases, which is why cohorts are generally an ill wanted commodity in most games I run.

Just wondering how everyone does it, seeing as how I've never used leadership.

 

[genjitsugaming]

XP for Cohorts.

From the SRD:

Cohorts earn XP as follows:

The cohort does not count as a party member when determining the party’s XP.
Divide the cohort’s level by the level of the PC with whom he or she is associated (the character with the Leadership feat who attracted the cohort).
Multiply this result by the total XP awarded to the PC and add that number of experience points to the cohort’s total.
If a cohort gains enough XP to bring it to a level one lower than the associated PC’s character level, the cohort does not gain the new level—its new XP total is 1 less than the amount needed attain the next level.​

You could also write that as, "Whenever a PC with a cohort earns XP, multiply that XP award by the cohort's level and divide the result by the PC's level to determine the cohort's experience award."

 

[apesamongus]

You could also write that as, "Whenever a PC with a cohort earns XP, multiply that XP award by the cohort's level and divide the result by the PC's level to determine the cohort's experience award."

Now, unless someone looses some XP from sonething (raise dead, item creation, etc), this essentially says "cohort goes up a level whenever you do."

 

[Corlon]

was that in 3.0?

 

[dcollins]

No, that was a change from 3.0. Previously, a cohort would get a half-share of XP from any distribution. (Example: 4 PCs + a cohort... divide any XP by 4.5). That's at the end of 3.0 DMG p. 147.

 

[Devilkiller]

Cohorts , even in 3.0, never sucked XP out of the PC or even the party. On the other hand, most groups don't give cohorts any share of the party's treasure, so the PC with the Leadership feat is probably going to feel a financial pinch if he or she wants the cohort to have reasonable equipment.

 

[Trainz]

Now, unless someone looses some XP from sonething (raise dead, item creation, etc), this essentially says "cohort goes up a level whenever you do."

That's interesting. IMC, we have cohorts gain the level AFTER the PC went up, meaning that the fight that makes the PC gain a level is not the one that also makes the cohort level, but the next fight right after.

Granted, it's easier to simply have the cohort level at the same time as the PC.

Have we been doing it wrong ?

 

[dcollins]

Cohorts , even in 3.0, never sucked XP out of the PC or even the party.

That's incorrect. As I said above, see 3.0 DMG p. 147. (In fact all editions prior to 3.5 sucked out XP to the cohort/henchman -- 1st, 2nd, and 3rd edition D&D.)

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

For the added punch of an extra body, shouldn't cohorts suck out XP? It becomes especially advantageous at higher levels to have an extra character in the group. For the price of a mere feat, a character gains the services of a character a few levels lower than his/her own...

 

[dagger]

We just keep the cohorts 2 levels behind the pc and when the PC levels, we level the cohort. This helps cut down on bookwork and keeps things even and simple. If the cohort has more than a two level gap, then we just give him XP equal to what the PC gets until he closes the gap. In our games cohorts that are 3 or 4 levels behind the party have a low survival rate. We don't pull punches and cohorts are treated just like PC's as far as monsters are concerned.