Exp. Awards - Formula?

Scupper

First Post
Is there a formula for the experience awards table in the DMG (3.5)?

I can't seem to figure out whether the numbers are arbitrary or based on some kind of consistent method and I'd like to use the formula (if any) in an Excel sheet rather than keying in the table.

Thanks
 

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I worked out a basic formula, but it breaks down for 1st and 2nd level (which is why they both use the 3rd level row, I presume!), and it also doesn't work properly for matching even & odd CR/levels. This is because the exp award doubles every two increases in CR, so using sqrt 2 (referred to here as 1.414) seemed a good approximation but it is not one that they stick to! Not neat enough I guess! There is also an arbitrary cap of no more than 300xp for CR1 critters and no more than 600xp for CR2 critters.

The chart is based on the 13.33 encounters to go up a level policy, and remembering that the chart is for experience for a party of 4 by default.

I have heard that the basic value of 300xp was chosen because it is easy to divide by 2, by 3, by 4, by 5 and by 6.

The basic formula (which is true if both CR and level are odd, or both are even) is

level * 300 * 1.414 ^ (CR-level)

e.g. if level = 6 and CR = 6 it works out as
= 6 * 300 * 1.414 ^ 0
= 6 * 300
= 1800

if level = 6 and CR = 8 it works out as
= 6 * 300 * 1.414 ^ 2
= 1800 * 2
= 3600

The calculated value if level = 6 and CR = 7 would be 2546, but what they actually do is take the average of the values either side (1800 + 3600)/2 = 2700.

Knowing this, you could create a more complicated formula such that if CR-level is even use as above, if CR-level is odd then perform the calculation for CR+1 and CR-1 and average them. I never bothered to specify this expanded version in an actual excel formula, although you might find it an interesting task.

Let me know if this is any help (or if it needs explaining further!)

Cheers
 

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