Does defeating an NPC's cohort grant additional XP?

[Infiniti2000]

Seems like a decent way to occaisionally balance out the PC's cohorts. The cohort doesn't figure into the party's ECL, doesn't eat up XP, and makes encounters quite a bit easier. Seems like a little weight on the other side on occaision is perfectly acceptable.

If a DM has to screw over the party to balance out their cohorts, there are more problems going on than meets the eye. I hope you were not seriously condoning that action.

 

[IcyCool]

If a DM has to screw over the party to balance out their cohorts, there are more problems going on than meets the eye. I hope you were not seriously condoning that action.

You bet. Of course, I don't see it as screwing the party over. More like equal use of the feat. The same goes for Mord's Disjunction. If the party can use it, so can the GM. Would you likewise accuse the GM of screwing the party then?

*shrug* At any rate, after a couple of abuses, I've pretty much decided to remove leadership as an available feat or modify it in any subsequent campaigns I run. If I change it, the cohort will get his own share of the party xp, just like a member of the party. Which would mean that on the other end, a villan with a cohort will provide xp, just like a normal critter. It would also mean that it will be an unpopular feat choice for powergamers, which suits me just fine.

 

[RigaMortus2]

Wait a minute... Can Cohorts take the Leadership feat? What about Cohort's of cohorts?

Would you award extra XP if a party defeated a Shadowdancer and his 3 Undead Shadow minions?

 

[FireLance]

So, to count the cohort or not, that is the question. Take this extreme encounter as an example:

Entering the tower of the Gnoll G'ther Stoneleaf
G'ther Stoneleaf, 8th Gnoll Sorceror (feat leadership, Cloak of charisma +2, Chr 20)
- Apprentice T'the Yeeks, 6th Gnoll Sorceror (feat leadership, Chr 16)
-- Under apprentice Rithik Worgrider, 4th Gnoll Sorceror
-- 5 Gnolls
- 2 Gnoll Favored Souls level 1
- 1 Gnoll Favored Souls level 2
- 20 Gnolls

Experience for party of four 8th level characters?

No cohort: 900 exp each
With Cohorts: 3050 exp each

Which would you consider correct.

I would consider this to be a flawed example . A gnoll is CR 1, but an ECL 3 character (2 humanoid HD +1 LA). G'ther, with a Leadership score of 15, can only attract 1 gnoll follower. Let's try this again using humans.

Gunther Stoneleaf, 9th level Human Sorcerer (feat leadership 14, Cloak of charisma +2, Chr 20)
- Apprentice Tethe Yeeks, 7th Human Sorceror (feat leadership 11, Cloak of charisma +2, Chr 19)
-- Under apprentice Rithik Wargrinder, 5th Human Sorceror
-- 6 Human Fighter 1
- 1 Human Favored Soul 2
- 15 Human Fighter 1

No xp for cohorts and followers: 900 xp each
XP for cohorts and followers: 2625 xp each

This has to be done for 8th-level PCs, though, because 9th-level and up PCs don't gain XP for CR1 opponents. For 9th-level PCs, the disparity in xp works out to:

No xp for cohorts and followers: 675 xp each
XP for cohorts and followers: 1237.5 xp each

But really, at the end of the day, it's an academic exercise because each individual DM will define his own risk/reward ratio. If a DM wants to increase the risk and reward less, he can always send the PCs against opponents that are at the higher-end of the CR, or opponents that are specially designed to take advantage of the party's weaknesses. If a DM wants to reduce the risk and reward more, he can send the PCs against opponents at the lower end of the CR, or opponents that are especially vulnerable to the party's strengths.

Consider the extreme example on the opposite end of the scale. A 1st-level PC is on a solo adventure. The DM knows he has at least 12 hp (e.g. he's a barbarian, or a fighter or paladin with 14 Con). The minute he opens the first door of the adventure, he gets hit with a fire trap cast by a 7th-level wizard which deals 1d4+7 points of fire damage (DC 16 Reflex half). Even if he fails the saving throw, the trap deals at most 11 hp of damage, so the PC will certainly survive. A wizard's fire trap is a CR 5 trap, so the 1st-level PC earns 1,800 xp for surviving it and immediately earns enough xp to make a level. If he does it again in a week's time, he earns enough xp to make it to level 3.

A Dungeon of Infinite Fire Traps could make a pretty good xp mill for a low-level PC.

 

[Mistwell]

Seems like a decent way to occaisionally balance out the PC's cohorts. The cohort doesn't figure into the party's ECL, doesn't eat up XP, and makes encounters quite a bit easier. Seems like a little weight on the other side on occaision is perfectly acceptable.

The cohort does figure into the Partys's ECL I think, just not XP anymore. I don't recall any change in the ECL portion fo the rules for cohorts.

I again say all this wonkiness is coming from NPCs having the Leadership feat. The feat looks to be a intended for PCs only.

 

[Infiniti2000]

At any rate, after a couple of abuses, I've pretty much decided to remove leadership as an available feat .... It would also mean that it will be an unpopular feat choice for powergamers, which suits me just fine.

Hey, we're in agreement!

 

[Artoomis]

At any rate, after a couple of abuses, I've pretty much decided to remove leadership as an available feat .... It would also mean that it will be an unpopular feat choice for powergamers, which suits me just fine.

Hey, we're in agreement!

I'm right with you, too. I think it might be okay if DMs would take charge of the cohort, but all too often the player does, and that get's all kind of wonky. I don't like it.