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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dandu" data-source="post: 5515093" data-attributes="member: 85158">So,  upon first glance it seems odd that such being as Elminster and high  level fighters exist. Anyone who has actually seen Elminster’s build,  or, indeed, that of Drizz’t Do’Udren was surely shocked at the sheer  ineptitude which with they were designed. Drizz’t, master swordsman that  he is, cannot defeat a single CR 15 Fire Giant by himself according to  his build in the Player’s Guide to Faerun, while Elminster loses 3  caster levels in Fighter and Rogue, while having 3 in Cleric before  taking his Wizard and Archmage levels. He does not even have levels of  Mystic Theurge, which would make up slightly for the suck his build has.How  can we explain this odd phenomenon of very weak characters somehow  becoming the most powerful characters in land for their areas of  expertise? Perhaps the answer can be found in how experience is  distributed.Now,  we all know that when an enemy is defeated, experience points are  rewarded according to the enemy’s Challenge Rating, or CR. However, CR  is not a firm guide as to how tough a fight will be; some monsters are  under-CR’d while some monsters are too highly ranked. In addition, many  variables such as terrain and party preparations could also affect the  Encounter Level, or EL, of an fight. It is obvious that a smart party with savvy players will  go through encounters more easily than a less skilled group. It seems only logical to conclude  that the EL of a fight is a better basis for rewarding XP than CR, since it is a more holistic measure of the difficulty of a challenge. This would result in a game where weaker characters receive more experience for their troubles  while the stronger ones gets a smaller reward.This  explains so neatly how poorly made characters such as Elminster can be  of so high level; they succeed not because of their builds, but in spite  of them. By barely passing the hurdle, they gain more power compared to  powerful characters who blast through challenges but never get the same  kind of character building growth through adversity.It  also explains how optimized and unoptimized characters can exist in the  same party; while the strong character receive less experience, the  weaker ones level up faster until they are of high enough level that all  party members have roughly the same power. Thus everyone can feel  useful and contribute to the same degree with this fair and equitable  new means of experience distribution which rewards everyone equally.And  that is how such things as epic level fighters can come into being in a  game where hitting things in the face with a metal object becomes an  increasingly nonviable career choice as time goes on. </blockquote>

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