How do you calculate Encounter Level?

[tylermalan]

How do you calculate Encounter Level? I know all aspects of a given encounter need to be taken into consideration to determine how challenging it is (and thereby how much experience to give for successful completion), but how do you determine how much XP a unique and challenging environment is worth? Traps during combat and in rooms? Puzzles? I'm asking from an XP perspective, as in, I don't know how much more to give out for unfavorable conditions and the like in encounters.

If there are published rules out there, I'd like to know where they are, but otherwise I'm looking for how you do it in your games.

 

[seans23]

First off, you award XP by challenge rating, not encounter level. Encounter level is just a convenient way to determine how hard a particular encounter will be for your group.

You don't need to know how any of it works if you just go to http://www.d20srd.org/encounterCalculator.htm

and plug in your values there.

If you want to learn more about Challenge Ratings and Encounter Levels, go to pg 48 of the DMG.

If you think an environment is particularly difficult for your heroes, give them some more XP. It's at your discretion. Lots of published adventures will say things like "award 10% extra because of the unhallow effect."

 

[tylermalan]

I guess what I was trying to say is that if the EL is high, then it will be challenging, and the rating that tells you how challenging it is (the CR) should go up. Since you give out XP based on CR, it would follow that a higher EL = more XP.

Is there something somewhere in what you mentioned that will give me guidance about how to equate EL with CR for the purposes of determining how much XP to give out for higher EL encounters? Also, is there any guidance about how high to rate puzzles, or traps, or general other challenges that may come along with combat to make it more challenging, but are not by necessity combat themselves?

 

[seans23]

Is there something somewhere in what you mentioned that will give me guidance about how to equate EL with CR for the purposes of determining how much XP to give out for higher EL encounters?

Like I said, the EL isn't really a factor in allotting xp. That's all built into the system. It's why a 1st level character gets more XP for a CR2 than a 2nd level character. Just use the CR.

Also, is there any guidance about how high to rate puzzles, or traps, or general other challenges that may come along with combat to make it more challenging, but are not by necessity combat themselves?

Yep. This page has descriptions of traps, guidelines for designing a trap, as well as sample traps:

http://www.d20srd.org/indexes/traps.htm

 

[tylermalan]

What about puzzles and environments? Thanks for the help.

 

[seans23]

What about puzzles and environments? Thanks for the help.

Personally, I rarely adjust for different environments. I figure it all balances out after a while. Sometimes the enemy is well prepared or in an advantageous position, and sometimes they are not. As far as puzzles... that's really up to you. Just don't go overboard with awarding XP, or things will get out of balance. I don't think I've ever given XP for the group overcoming a puzzle. Usually there's some other sort of reward, like a special magic item or a shortcut, or something like that. I don't give XP for finding secret doors, either.

 

[tylermalan]

The secret doors thing is a good point. So let's say there's an encounter where you fight a cr 5 monster, 2 CR 7 monsters, and 2 CR 3 monsters on the edge of a cliff - you just calculate each monster individually for XP and forget the cliff?

 

[seans23]

The secret doors thing is a good point. So let's say there's an encounter where you fight a cr 5 monster, 2 CR 7 monsters, and 2 CR 3 monsters on the edge of a cliff - you just calculate each monster individually for XP and forget the cliff?

Personally, yeah, that's how I'd do it.

 

[Vraille Darkfang]

The secret doors thing is a good point. So let's say there's an encounter where you fight a cr 5 monster, 2 CR 7 monsters, and 2 CR 3 monsters on the edge of a cliff - you just calculate each monster individually for XP and forget the cliff?

I do it one of three ways.

1. If the Cliff really gave the monsters an advantage (say the had Climb, FLy Speeds, or used the Rocks to always gain cover fro Every Attack) I'd add 1 to the CR of each monster (In effect adding a Cliff-Template to give +1 CR.

2. If the Cliff was an opponent in its own right, I'd give it a CR of its own. Say they were climbing down on ropes & every round had to make a Ref save to avoid 1d6 subdual from banging against the cliff. The more Dangerous, the higher the CR (See DMG traps guidelines).

3. Story Award. I usually make Tick marks for each character over the course of the game. Each mark is worth 5*Level XP. I just give everyone 2-3 ticks for the cliff.

 

[tylermalan]

Hmmm... that third one's not a bad idea...