For exampe (assuming CapnZapp’s absolute XP scale): If the PCs are out looking for bum fights, they only get 2 XP for every beggar they kill. If they best the beggar in a trivia challenge regarding fortified wines, then they get 10 XP.
Well...
This requires clarity. Kenada is mixing beggars with merchants here. Unfortunately both can yield a 10 XP reward, so let's be more precise.
First off, Kenada references my scheme found here:
Pathfinder 2E - Absolute XP
Now, defeating a level 1
creature gives 2 XP, completing a level 1
challenge or quest gives 10 XP.
Second, the
official beggar is not a level 1 creature (as we've all assumed so far). It is a level -1 creature. Just sayin'...
Defeating a level 4 creature also happens to give 10 XP. Defeating a level -1 creature gives 1 XP (because I don't want to give out half of an xp).
So if you are accosted by a level 1 creature, say an escaped
prisoner, and manages to beat him off, or turn him in to the city guard, or leave him lifeless in the gutter, you and your friends gain 2 XP each. But if your quest is to find out which of the prisoners knows the real identity of the king, and that is a level 1 quest, you gain 10 XP.
If you manage to escape with a bottle of Booger Swamp White Wine guarded by four merchants shooting crossbow bolts at you, you gain 1 XP for each. If on the other hand you're challenged by a merchant, not to single combat, but to a game involving Mercantile Lore, you gain 10 XP. But if you are on a quest to replace valuable wines with cheap fakes during a wine tasting without anyone knowing, and that constitutes a level 4 quest, then you'd get 50 XP.
Hope that clears up everything!