Effect of Ally NPCs/Monsters on Encounter XP?

[inkpenavenger]

Here's how I would think to handle it, but I want to see what others think about it.

Subtract the XP of the ally or allies from the total XP reward of the encounter. So if the party is aided a group of 1st level soldiers, they would each effectively "cancel out" 100 XP worth of monsters.

For monsters in the encounter that attack indiscriminantly, add only half the XP value of the monster in question. Ex: A Bloodspike Behemoth goes on a rampage through the middle of the PCs' battle with some orcs. The behemoth attacks whatever it sees, so it's just as likely to kill orcs as it is to kill PCs, and the orcs may try to kill the behemoth as well, so only award the PCs 200 XP for defeating it.

What do you think?

 

[Mr. Teapot]

"Subtract your ally's XP value from the Encounter's XP reward" is the guideline given in the mount rules. I have been using that as the rule for our solo game, where NPCs and allies help round out an extra small group.

It works well, in my experience: it keeps the encounters roughly balanced, so long as the PCs outnumber the NPCs and alied monsters. If the NPCs outnumber the PCs the encounter can get unusuaolly tough for its level, since PCs of a given level are tougher than NPCs or monsters of the same level.

 

[Revinor]

I would just count them as extra PCs for xp division. So if you have 5 players and 3 NPCs, divide experience by 8 (so PCs as whole will get 5/8 of the total xp). This assumes NPCs are roughly same level. If they are a lot higher, you are doing it wrong - NPCs should NOT be higher level If they are lower, bad luck for PCs, next time they will know better than to expose poor, weak NPCs to dangers of real world.

 

[inkpenavenger]

Either way, putting allies into an encounter gives you more of an XP budget to work with, especially in low-level encounters.