CR 9 vs CR 18 ... EP?

[Eolin]

Ok, so I was misusing a bit of terminology. But here's what i reckoned:

If you have 4 X-level party members, when it comes time to assign EP you take a look at what it is for that X level and divide by four. I thought that since we had 2 PCs, you'd use an equivilent of the "double the number of monsters and the CR is +2" rule and look at the X-2 level for EP and divide by two. No?

 

[FireLance]

Ok, so I was misusing a bit of terminology. But here's what i reckoned:

If you have 4 X-level party members, when it comes time to assign EP you take a look at what it is for that X level and divide by four. I thought that since we had 2 PCs, you'd use an equivilent of the "double the number of monsters and the CR is +2" rule and look at the X-2 level for EP and divide by two. No?

The usual method to figure out the XP for a party of 2 X-level characters is to check the X level in the table, add up the XP earned for each encounter based on the CR of each individual creature or challenge, and divide by 2.

Each character already gets more XP because the XP award is divided by 2, not 4. To use the X-2 level may be too much of a reward.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Furthermore, the DM decides the xp award, not you, not a calculator. He may increase or decrease the base suggested reward depending upon factors that affected the combat or *anything else he chooses*. He may have decided to switch to a lower rate of xp gain now you are at a higher level.

The DM decides how much xp you get, not the books.

 

[Darklone]

Now entirely right, PS

The books say: The DM decides how much XPs you get. So the books are right as well

 

[Squire James]

Two level 11 PC's should be encountering challenges that a party of four level 9 PC's would normally face. Facing mirror images of themselves is an EL 13 encounter, which should result in a 50-50 chance of each PC dying (which makes sense if they're facing themselves).

Four CR 14 monsters should have been a TPK. It sounds like the DM isn't using their special abilities to the fullest. None of my business, though. You won, and you just want the XP, right?

(looking in DMG tables) That's 19,200 xp each (39,400 xp divided by 2). Welcome to level 11. The dead guy, having participated in the combat, is entitled to his share of the XP (though it obviously don't matter unless he's raised).

 

[the Jester]

So guys, do i owe myself 5000 EP, or should we have gotten less/more/what?

When it comes to xp, you don't decide how many you get. Try awarding yourself extra and you may find the dm gets very cross with you.

 

[Matafuego]

My notes say we got 21k, the game master says it was 39, and judging from how many I've got and how many i must have had then, it was between 23000 and 34000. So guys, do i owe myself 5000 EP, or should we have gotten less/more/what?

From this Quote I read his DM gave him way lot more XP (although I don't get the 5k reference).

And I also agree that it should be the DM judging the actions and the current XP asigning method is a very poor one IMHO, that's why I always give them what I think they deserved for the game (and tell them that's exactly what the book says since they all know how to calculate XP but don't know the CR's they are facing and those horrible AD-Hoc thingies...)

 

[Artoomis]

You really seem to be strugging with the experience award system. The book gives a method of figuring the base experience for encounter which the DM modifies as he sees fit.

Step 1. What is the average level of the party (Answer: 11)

Step 2: What is the CR of EACH CREATURE they fought. (Answer, 4 creatures at CR 14)

Step 3. Go to the table and add up all the experience awareds for each creature (Answer: 4 x 9,900 = 39,600)

Step 4. Divide the result of step 3 by the number of characters in the party. (Answer: 39,600/2 = 19,800)

Simplicity itself.

There are some suggested variations to that for unequal party levels, but they don't apply here anyway since you were both 11th level.

As to the dead guy, I'm not exactly sure what the DMG says about that, so I won't comment on that right now.

 

[DarkMaster]

You really seem to be strugging with the experience award system. The book gives a method of figuring the base experience for encounter which the DM modifies as he sees fit.

Step 1. What is the average level of the party (Answer: 11)

Step 2: What is the CR of EACH CREATURE they fought. (Answer, 4 creatures at CR 14)

Step 3. Go to the table and add up all the experience awareds for each creature (Answer: 4 x 9,900 = 39,600)

Step 4. Divide the result of step 3 by the number of characters in the party. (Answer: 39,600/2 = 19,800)

Simplicity itself.

There are some suggested variations to that for unequal party levels, but they don't apply here anyway since you were both 11th level.

As to the dead guy, I'm not exactly sure what the DMG says about that, so I won't comment on that right now.

Actually the technique in the DMG is the following

Look at the CR of the enemies, for each of them cross reference them in the table with the level of the PC, add them all and divide the result by the number of PC. Repeat for each PC. This allow lower level PC to catch up with higher level one.

This makes a lot of senses, I usually learned more quickly (in any field) when I pratice with an expert.

 

[Eolin]

Let me interpret myself ...

"My notes say we got 21k, the game master says it was 39, and judging from how many I've got and how many i must have had then, it was between 23000 and 34000. So guys, do i owe myself 5000 EP, or should we have gotten less/more/what?"

Since the GM said 39 and I'd written down somewhere between 23k and 34k, i was going to err on the side of caution and have it be another 5k -- the minimun difference between where i was and where i am now.

As for why it wasn't a TPK ...

The other party member is a ftr 1/forsaker 11 (extrapolation, i know, not by the RAW) with the Vow of Poverty feat. The game is in Kalamar, where Lightning Reflexes is a fighter bonus feat. With all the bonuses his con right now is around 30, and his AC is around 40.

My poor cleric had destruction cast on him in the first round after disabling one of the four guys with Greater Command. I could only have succeeded on a nat20, and didn't make that -- just a 15. Apparently I'll be coming back as a risen martyr. Even without me, our super tank friend destroyed the bad guys ... but got feebleminded. Since he's feebleminded, he doesn't know where the temple of our god is and so can't exactly get me Res'd, hence the need for the Risen Martyr class.


Squire James seems to be saying the EP rules work like i thought they did -- that we're EL 9. Everybody else is saying EL 11 and the bonus is that you get twice the EP. Also, I was pretty sure that since we fought them a the same time, we looked at the CR of the encounter -- by which since it was 4 CR 14, each double adds +2 to the CR and we get CR 18. What do the RAW say?

Hope that clarifies the questions and what happened for those interested. Thanks.