Plane Sailing
Astral Admin - Mwahahaha!
I've found it quite difficult coming to a good decision on dividing up xps amongst party members.
I decided that I didn't like the standard DMG method (average party level) at a very early point - mostly because of the so-called "squire factor", which gives a high level character bonus xps for taking a low-level companion along with them
e.g Arkat, 9th level fighter defeats a Remorhaz (CR7). If he is on his own he gets 1350xp. If he has a 1st level squire with him average party level goes down to 5 and he gets 3000/2 = 1500xp. Excellent bonus! Too excellent, methinks, since his risk was substantially less with even one extra target for the creature to aim at
The squire, if he survived, instantly makes it to 2nd level, so he's laughing too. Maybe he's just laughing because he survived? Dunno
So I moved on to the FRCS method (which Monte has said on his boards is the method he now uses, and he wishes it had been put in the DMG). In this method everyone gets xp according to their level, so Arkat plus squire defeat the creature and Arkat gets 1350/2 = 675xp, the squire gets 3600/2 = 1800xp. This method has the benefit of tending to bring lower level characters up to the same level as the highest level characters, but there is a slight problem with the possibility of overshoot (one just below a level, one just over a level, the former then overtakes the latter). It is also a right royal pain to work out, since you have to make a separate table lookup for each party level against each CR.
OK, to those who are still with me, and have made it this far, what is my current solution?
Instead of average party level, I use maximum party level. If everyone is the same level, it works just like normal. If there is a squire around, then in the aforementioned case both Arkat and squire get 1350/2 = 675xps. Arkat isn't getting bonus xps from sharing the work with a lower level colleague, the squire isn't getting a massive xp boost from being along for the ride (but he *is* still getting exp more quickly than he would if he was with a a 1st level party chasing goblins!).
So far this method seems fair and equitable, and has the advantage of being really easy to calculate once more.
For many people this won't be an issue because (a) they use a different means of xp anyway (b) all their players are the same level.
I'd be interested to know how others who have wrestled with this have tackled the "problem" though; and perhaps my current solution will be useful to some people.
Cheers
I decided that I didn't like the standard DMG method (average party level) at a very early point - mostly because of the so-called "squire factor", which gives a high level character bonus xps for taking a low-level companion along with them
e.g Arkat, 9th level fighter defeats a Remorhaz (CR7). If he is on his own he gets 1350xp. If he has a 1st level squire with him average party level goes down to 5 and he gets 3000/2 = 1500xp. Excellent bonus! Too excellent, methinks, since his risk was substantially less with even one extra target for the creature to aim at
The squire, if he survived, instantly makes it to 2nd level, so he's laughing too. Maybe he's just laughing because he survived? DunnoSo I moved on to the FRCS method (which Monte has said on his boards is the method he now uses, and he wishes it had been put in the DMG). In this method everyone gets xp according to their level, so Arkat plus squire defeat the creature and Arkat gets 1350/2 = 675xp, the squire gets 3600/2 = 1800xp. This method has the benefit of tending to bring lower level characters up to the same level as the highest level characters, but there is a slight problem with the possibility of overshoot (one just below a level, one just over a level, the former then overtakes the latter). It is also a right royal pain to work out, since you have to make a separate table lookup for each party level against each CR.
OK, to those who are still with me, and have made it this far, what is my current solution?
Instead of average party level, I use maximum party level. If everyone is the same level, it works just like normal. If there is a squire around, then in the aforementioned case both Arkat and squire get 1350/2 = 675xps. Arkat isn't getting bonus xps from sharing the work with a lower level colleague, the squire isn't getting a massive xp boost from being along for the ride (but he *is* still getting exp more quickly than he would if he was with a a 1st level party chasing goblins!).
So far this method seems fair and equitable, and has the advantage of being really easy to calculate once more.
For many people this won't be an issue because (a) they use a different means of xp anyway (b) all their players are the same level.
I'd be interested to know how others who have wrestled with this have tackled the "problem" though; and perhaps my current solution will be useful to some people.
Cheers
