Please Confirm XP calculations

[Stormborn]

To settle a small discussion, please confirm or deny the verasity of the following:

A single PC of 4th level fights a single NPC with 4 levels of Core Class.
CR 4? And PC gets 1200 XP?

A single PC of 4th level fights 4 NPCs, all with 1 level in a Core Class.
CR 4? And the PC gets 1200 XP?

4 PCs of 4th level fight a single NPC with 4 levels of a Core Class.
CR 4? And each PC gets 300 XP?

4 PCs of 4th level fight 4 NPCs, all with 1 level in a Core Class.
Cr 4? And each PC gets 300 XP?

Thanks.

 

[drnuncheon]

To settle a small discussion, please confirm or deny the verasity of the following:

A single PC of 4th level fights a single NPC with 4 levels of Core Class.
CR 4? And PC gets 1200 XP?

If that's the number on the table, then yes. I don't have the XP table in front of me, so I can't be sure.

A single PC of 4th level fights 4 NPCs, all with 1 level in a Core Class.
CR 4? And the PC gets 1200 XP?

Negative. It is 4 CR1 creatures, which is an Encounter Level of 5 (IIRC, x2 creatures = +2 EL). A 4th level character gets something like 263 XP from a CR1 creature - again, no table so I don't recall the exact number - granting them roughly 1052 xp (assuming my 263 wild guess was accurate).

4 PCs of 4th level fight a single NPC with 4 levels of a Core Class.
CR 4? And each PC gets 300 XP?

Right.

4 PCs of 4th level fight 4 NPCs, all with 1 level in a Core Class.
Cr 4? And each PC gets 300 XP?

Nope. 4 x CR1, EL 5, and each PC gets 1/4 of whatever the real answer to #2 was.

 

[Trainz]

To settle a small discussion, please confirm or deny the verasity of the following:

[Scotty] I'll do my best [/Scotty]

A single PC of 4th level fights a single NPC with 4 levels of Core Class.
CR 4? And PC gets 1200 XP?

Yes.

A single PC of 4th level fights 4 NPCs, all with 1 level in a Core Class.
CR 4? And the PC gets 1200 XP?

Not CR 4, but 4 times CR 1, or EL 5. XP reward is correct.

4 PCs of 4th level fight a single NPC with 4 levels of a Core Class.
CR 4? And each PC gets 300 XP?

Yes.

4 PCs of 4th level fight 4 NPCs, all with 1 level in a Core Class.
Cr 4? And each PC gets 300 XP?

Not CR 4, but 4 times CR 1, or EL 5. XP reward is correct.

It is important to note that CR and EL are not the same thing. 16 CR 1 critters don't equal a single CR 16 critter. It equals a CR 9 critter or EL 9 encounter.

Someone correct me if I gave out false info.

Thanks.

Look at my avatar's tag.

 

[Trainz]

If you have a problem calculating XP reward with the current cross-referencing level/CR thingy, I HIGHLY recommend that you use the alternative XP system in the Unearthed Arcana. Absolutely no cross-referencing necessary. Just add the XP value of each individual critter, and divide by the number of PC's.

 

[Stormborn]

OK, thats actually what I though. Thanks again.

 

[drnuncheon]

Not CR 4, but 4 times CR 1, or EL 5. XP reward is correct.

Ah, yes. I misremembered where the rewards for a CR1 creature started to decrease - it's at 7th level, not 4th. (But I got the 263 right - go figure.)

The situation is slightly misleading - the XP for one creature of level 4 vs 4 creatures of level 1 is the same, but it's just a coincidence. Had you chosen different numbers, the XP might be different. (If, for example, the party had been 5th level, they would have netted 1200 xp from the 4 CR1 creatures, but only 1000 from the single CR4.)

J

 

[svwilson]

I had a question similar to what's addressed in this thread, so maybe someone can answer. The EL/CR system seems to be saying that

1) a party of four 10th-level fighters would be a match for a single 10th-level fighter (CR 10, EL 10)

2) that same party would be a match for a party of four 6th-level fighters (CR 6, EL 10)

3) but that party would be overmatched by a party just like themselves (CR 10, EL 14).


Did I do that right? If so, why is this true?

 

[drnuncheon]

I had a question similar to what's addressed in this thread, so maybe someone can answer. The EL/CR system seems to be saying that

1) a party of four 10th-level fighters would be a match for a single 10th-level fighter (CR 10, EL 10)

2) that same party would be a match for a party of four 6th-level fighters (CR 6, EL 10)

3) but that party would be overmatched by a party just like themselves (CR 10, EL 14).


Did I do that right? If so, why is this true?

You did it absolutely right - the error is in your assumption that an opponent of CR = to party level is a "match". It's not. An opponent of CR = to party level should be defeatable with you expending about 20-25% of your resources, meaning that they are weaker than you.

Think about it - if CR equal to the party's meant equal power, then the party would have a 50/50 chance of losing every fight. You'd never get past first level.

Something with your CR + 4 should be about 50/50 on the chances of winning. Something with your CR, you should be able to handle barring unforeseen circumstances.