experience awarding for party with mismatched levels

[celeborn67]

if you had a party of 3 6th level and 1 10th level characters
would you breakup expereince for and encounter and reward the 6th levels with out the 10th level count in toward the party level and the 10th without the 6th levels.


the average party level here would be a 7
if you add a 1 more 6th level it would be a 9

 

[kreynolds]

The DMG XP method penalizes everyone in the party when you have mismatched levels, IMO. I prefer to use the FRCS XP system, which gives more XP to lower level characters than it does to higher level characters. It works out nice when you introduce a new player to the group that is lower level because with every encounter, he will get slightly more than those higher level than him. This means that he will eventually "catch up" to the higher level party members. Once he reaches the same level, he earns XP at the same amount and rate as everyone else. The method is as follows.

You figure up XP for each party member one at a time. Use character 1's level to determine how much XP he would earn from each individual monster in the encounter. Then divide the total amount of XP by the number of members in the party (including him) and this is how much he gets. Follow this method for each member of the party.

 

[Mark]

6 + 6 + 6 + 6 + 10 = 34 divided by 5 = 7 (6.8)

How'd the one character get so far ahead of the others? He'd have to have over twice as much, and as much as three times as much, experience than the other characters. You might want to find a way to even out this disparity.

If it's an NPC you threw in to "help" out the party, give him his walking papers and tone down the encounters until the group can handle more. They'll get up high enough to get to those tougher encounters later, down the road.

Just two cents...

 

[celeborn67]

discount the ten level character being four levels higher than rest.
The issues is not why this character is with the party.
The issue is how would you distribute the exp...

a 6.8 adverage party level would you round that down or up?

i think if they are using just 20% or more of their collective resources round down. if not then party is having to easy of a time....

 

[Mark]

discount the ten level character being four levels higher than rest.
The issues is not why this character is with the party.
The issue is how would you distribute the exp...

Uh... OK. DMG page 165

a 6.8 adverage party level would you round that down or up?

By the book, round down. DMG page 6 right column (middle) Rounding Fractions

i think if they are using just 20% or more of their collective resources round down. if not then party is having to easy of a time....

Your game. Do what you think is best. *shrug*

 

[celeborn67]

On a Side note say an enounter is 2 cr6, 1cr5, 1cr4, 1cr3
what is the encounter level?

I would say a el 9 or 10..

Thoughts

 

[shilsen]

On a Side note say an enounter is 2 cr6, 1cr5, 1cr4, 1cr3
what is the encounter level?

I would say a el 9 or 10..

Thoughts

Between 9 and 10. Here's the calculation:

CR5 + CR3 = CR6
CR4 + CR6 = CR7
CR6 x 2 = CR8

So what you have is effectively a CR8 and a CR7. Since two CR7s make a CR9, and two CR8s make a CR10, this is a little below 9.5 on the EL scale.

 

[celeborn67]

cr6 + cr6 = cr8
cr5 + cr3 = cr6

cr8+c6 = cr9
cr9+cr4 = cr9.5

Jus wonder if there is formual to applie to this, that figures the CR better

 

[CuriousBard]

Concerning how you destribute xps to a mismatched party:

I usually figure the table based on the nearest whole number. This might mean rounding up on a .5 or more, but hey.....I'm just a rebel I guess.

When dealing with a party that has both high and low level characters, though, I don't scale differently for different PC's based on level. Meaning I don't give the lower level characters a larger split of the xp pool. I understand the chart's philosophy is "Lower level characters will earn more xps for a specific encounter than a higher level character would for the same encounter." But in a mixed group the lower level characters don't contribute as much to the encounter. They are hitting less often, doing less damage, dropping unconscious or dead more readily, throwing softer spells, etc.

So in my mind the chart philosophy is countered by the character's inability to contribute as much as his higher level friends. Some 1st level guy can get tons of xps for helping to kill the Red dragon along with his seven 20th level friends. But quite honestly, how much did that 1st level guy REALLY contribute? He was more of a spectator, if that even.

 

[Shin Okada]

My playing group have just start to use FRCS xp system from few sessions ago. It is working very well for us.

Pros.

_ Mixed level party can become more playable.
_ Level loss from resurrection or energy drain is compensated.
_ Encourages to spend XPs to create magic items. (you can get it back!)


Cons.

_ DM need more complex calculations than usual.