Fun with XP -- let's make up a reward that fits

[aboyd]

So, I'm juggling the effects of the apocalypse, and I need some opinions.

My players decided to head straight into the devil's lair, so to speak. This was portrayed to them as horrifically stupid and almost certain death -- I even gave the cleric a warning from his god to flee flee flee. I imagined in my mind that at this point, epic characters had to take over and even they would likely fail. So certainly, the 7th & 8th level PCs would be rather ineffective.

Yet they went to it. I felt that since this was ill-advised and surely a TPK, I wouldn't hold back. I let them get deep into the storm before surrounding them on all sides with 39 CR 6 Storm Spirits. In addition, as they began to engage these spirits they realized that I had been describing them all along their journey, every time I referred to the "strangely moving storm clouds." Suddenly it dawned on the players that the 39 in front of them were merely a small unit of what was likely thousands of Storm Spirits on all sides.

Anyway, 5 spirits got surprise and used lightning strikes, but no PCs died. I assumed on the first full round that everyone would be killed before the round ended. However, one player managed to gather everyone within 10' of him, and then he cast Invisibility Sphere. I nodded, completely missing what he'd done, and stood up from my seat. I proceeded to walk around the table to an open spot, and said with a wistful look on my face, "I'm sorry guys, but this is probably going to be a TPK." I then started counting off spaces as I moved the first of the 39 spirits in for the kill.

The player says, "How do they know where to attack? We all just disappeared."

Suddenly I realized what the player had done. The invisibility hadn't even registered. I started looking up the elemental traits of these spirits in the back of the Monster Manual, just to see if they had a way to see invisibility. They don't. At this point I'm thinking the player probably held off death for a round, but even that was surprising. So instead of having the spirits attack, I moved all 39 into a swirling storm around where the players appeared to be. My thinking was that they would begin swarming through the area where the PCs once stood, attempting to ram anything hidden there. But I didn't do that right away. I should have.

In round 2, the players surprised me again by casting rope trick twice, getting the entire group of 10 into safety. I didn't realize they had that spell. They had leveled up, and they had fairly and legitimately posted their new spells online, but I had been lazy and not checked.

So now I've got my spirits diving through the spaces, but the PCs are now not only invisible, they are also actually gone. The PCs stay like this for hours, including an invisible re-casting of the rope tricks to make doubly sure that the spirits have moved on.

At this point they go on to have additional encounters and implausibly survive. But I'm stuck on this encounter. Frankly, I think it's brilliant, and I want to award something big. However, I'm having a very difficult time awarding them full XP for "defeating" 39 spirits who are even now just waiting for the PCs to come back.

One player has suggested that they receive full XP for defeating all 5,000 or so Storm Spirits that are in the skies, as they technically did manage to get past all of them.

What can I do that will say, "You did something awesome and this should seem like a good reward," without giving them inappropriate amounts of XP?

(Also, as an aside, these spirits can cast Fog Cloud, which they have used to fog in an entire city. My problem is that the spirits themselves don't seem to have a way to see through it (they have elemental traits, very much like air elementals). So they cast it and then basically their prey can use the cloud as cover to escape. So stupid. Why would a Storm Spirit ever cast it if it works against them? I could use advice on how to use Fog Cloud effectively.)

 

[Jack Simth]

If you look hard enough, there's a little-known rule that says you can't get enough XP at once to level twice - any excess is wasted unless immediately spent it on crafting, XP-costing spells, or similar (but regardless, you're not leveling twice).

So defeating 5,000 CR 6 beasties all at once when you're 7th or 8th? You level to 8th or 9th, and are 1 xp short of 9th or 10th.

 

[irdeggman]

If you look hard enough, there's a little-known rule that says you can't get enough XP at once to level twice - any excess is wasted unless immediately spent it on crafting, XP-costing spells, or similar (but regardless, you're not leveling twice).

So defeating 5,000 CR 6 beasties all at once when you're 7th or 8th? You level to 8th or 9th, and are 1 xp short of 9th or 10th.

Yup pg 58 of the PHB

A character can advance only one level at a time. If, for some
extraordinary reason, a character’s XP reward from a single
adventure would be enough to advance two or more levels at once,
he or she instead advances one level and gains just enough XP to be
1 XP short of the next level. Any excess experience points are not
retained. For example, if Tordek has 5,000 XP (1,000 points short of
4th level) and gains 6,000 more, he would normally be at 11,000
XP—enough for 5th level. Instead he attains 4th level, and his XP
total stands at 9,999.

So IMO I would find a way to award them some "special" items instead - maybe something akin to a weapon of legacy that gets better as the PC gets better.

Regardless - per RAW you can't gain more than 1 level at a time.

 

[Blackbrrd]

They "only" interacted with 39 of the mobs.

To me it didn't sound like they got past any of the storm spirits, only temporarily postpone the fight.

I usually only give "defeat" xp if the: Players kill all the monsters, or the monsters run away.

By the logic above, teleporting past a dragon should give the same xp as defeating it - no way I would do that.

An apporpriate reward is their characters life (which they still have), and xp as if they had defeated an encounter of their level. (EL8).

Invisibility doesn't btw grant total silence or - that you are actually gone. It only ups the DC to notice where you are to 30 if you are moving or 40 if you are standing still. Their listen check to notice the characters is equal to their move silently roll.

 

[Gregor]

Hey Aboyd,

Personally, I would not want to give out that much XP in one go, regardless of the fact that they pulled some pretty clever moves.

Are the PCs currently sitting in their extraplanar rope trick hideout?

Why not try something like this:

Due to some D&D reasoning, when the PCs used the ropetrick spell, they actually pierced a demi plane that the Storm Spirits (or whoever is commanding them) uses as a prison for its enemies, and now they are sealed inside the demi plane. Inside the prison are a few baddies that the PCs can legitimately handle, maybe one boss monster, and then some loot. One item, and this is the true reward, is an ornate glass bottle with a miniature storm being magically contained within. When the PCs touch the bottle, they learn that the storm is intelligent and was someone prominent (perhaps a dissenter) in the Storm Spirits' society. He was banished and imprisoned in the demi plane. The storm can show the PCs the way out, and it can become an NPC in the party that can provide mission critical information. The Storm may even give them quests to complete to help fight the enemies and as the PCs complete them, the Storm gains powers it can manifest (mostly utility, like fog, change weather, etc.) Now your 7th and 8th level PCs are more important in this fight, maybe even enough to command the attention and obedience of higher level NPCs (as they have crucial information and insight into the enemy), an item that gives utility powers, and some interesting roleplaying.

Just some thoughts over my morning coffee.

 

[the Jester]

I'd give them the xp for the 39 storm spirits (with the caveat of "1 xp shy of 2 levels"), but not the 5000.

Good luck to them, but they're still prolly bound for a tpk.

 

[Herobizkit]

It does give them a reason to carry on. Nearly two levels closer to their next tier... that's when they can start breaking out the awesome.

I say keep the pressure high, weigh each combat and make it just slightly tougher than they can handle. If they survive the apocalypse, they'll be talking about it for months.

 

[Jeff Wilder]

I'd give them 1000 xp or so for cleverly defying near-certain doom, assuming they actually learn from the encounter. (In practice, that means "running away (for now).")

Out of curiosity, why not blanket-nuke the entire area with lightning bolts? Rope trick does have a Verbal component, BTW, which makes it a base DC 0 for Listen. Even assuming you bump the DC by 20 to pinpoint the caster's square ...

I think you went easy on them, likely unintentionally. There's nothing wrong with that (in fact, I would have suggested it and would have done so myself), but nor does it make the PCs deserving of a huge XP award.

 

[aboyd]

Thanks everyone. I started giving out XP but ran out. A couple of you I've given too much XP to, so you'll have to just enjoy my thanks.

I have a follow-up question. These characters might level up in the midst of an apocalyptic storm. Can they fully level up? I mean, do the wizards suddenly pen new spells into their books? If the ranger decides to summon an animal companion (which he hasn't before), does it arrive despite the fact that any living creature coming within miles of this place is struck dead?

 

[aboyd]

I'd give them 1000 xp or so for cleverly defying near-certain doom, assuming they actually learn from the encounter.

Thanks. Yes, I sorta took your idea and Blackbrrd's together -- I gave them XP for escaping a CR 8 "trap" (about 500 XP) and then gave them another 500 XP as a teamwork bonus.

Out of curiosity, why not blanket-nuke the entire area with lightning bolts?

The Storm Spirits only have 1 lightning bolt per day. Since they had been killing everything* in the area, I rolled 2d20 to see how many of the 39 still had their lightning bolts available for use. Five did. So that's why 5 bolts were used to open combat, and then no more.

They do get shock damage attached to their slam attacks, though, so that's why I was planning to have them ram into the invisible characters.

* = Yes, I described the area as covered with dead animals & humanoids. I even gave them a few magic potions as they moved through and scanned corpses with Detect Magic.