XP for defeating someone with the leadership feat & followers.

[frankthedm]

I have been wondering about whether or not the cohorts and followers are worth xp beyond the award for defeating the possessor of the feat. Ok we have all heard the bit that summoned creatures don’t count for more xp since those are factored into the into the CR of the demon or spell caster but what about feats? Normally the cohorts and followers are not too major for when you fight them compared to the holder of the feat. but there are times when leadership can have a lot more bodies on a side. On the other hand do you give out mor xp cause a fighter took improved crit?
examples
A 10th level paladin, bard or sorcerer with a 20 charisma will likely have a 9th level cohort along with a unit of 20 first level followers with 2 2nd level officers. Unless your dm forgets about the rules for tripping, fanking and aiding another the unit sof foes may complicate things severely.
Most higher HD intelligent dragons bury the needle on the Leadership Score meter even after you double the cruelness and aloofness penalties for the evil ones. At least the dead cohort penalties stack [burp!] Dragons seem under costed CR wise already, but after leadership…

from the srd
Leadership [General]
Prerequisites: The character must be at least 6th level.
Benefits: Having this feat enables the character to attract loyal companions and devoted followers, subordinates who assist her. See Table: Leadership for what sort of cohort and how many followers the character can recruit.
Table: Leadership
Leadership Cohort -- Number of Followers by Level --
Score Level 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th
---------- ------ --- --- --- --- --- ---
1 or less - - - - - - -
2 1st - - - - - -
3 2nd - - - - - -
4 3rd - - - - - -
5 3rd - - - - - -
6 4th - - - - - -
7 5th - - - - - -
8 5th - - - - - -
9 6th - - - - - -
10 7th 5 - - - - -
11 7th 6 - - - - -
12 8th 8 - - - - -
13 9th 10 1 - - - -
14 10th 15 1 - - - -
15 10th 20 2 1 - - -
16 11th 25 2 1 - - -
17 12th 30 3 1 1 - -
18 12th 35 3 1 1 - -
19 13th 40 4 2 1 1 -
20 14th 50 5 3 2 1 -
21 15th 60 6 3 2 1 1
22 15th 75 7 4 2 2 1
23 16th 90 9 5 3 2 1
24 17th 110 11 6 3 2 1
25+ 17th 135 13 7 4 2 2
Leadership Score: A character's Leadership score equals his level plus any Charisma modifier. In order to take into account negative Charisma modifiers, Table: Leadership allows for very low Leadership scores, but the character must still be 6th level or higher in order to gain the Leadership feat and thus attract a cohort. Outside factors can affect a character's Leadership score, as detailed in Table: Leadership Modifiers.
Cohort Level: The character can attract a cohort of up to this level. Regardless of the character's Leadership score, he can't recruit a cohort of his level or higher.
Number of Followers by Level: The character can lead up to the indicated number of characters of each level.
Table: Leadership Modifiers
General Leadership Modifiers
The Leader Has a Reputation of Leadership Modifier
------------------------------ -------------------
Great prestige +2
Fairness and generosity +1
Special power +1
Failure -1
Aloofness -1
Cruelty -2
Cohort-Only Leadership Modifiers
The Leader Leadership Modifier
---------- -------------------
Has a familiar/paladin's warhorse/ -2 animal companion
Recruits a cohort of a different alignment -1
Caused the death of a cohort -2*
*Cumulative per cohort killed.
Follower-Only Leadership Modifiers
The Leader Leadership Modifier
---------- -------------------
Has a stronghold, base of operations, +2 guildhouse, and so on
Moves around a lot -1
Caused the death of other followers -1
Special Cohorts: With the DM's permission, a leader may seek out a special cohort who is not a member of the standard PC races (the common races).
Followers: A leader attracts followers whose alignments are within one step of his own. These characters have gear appropriate to NPCs of their level. As the leader's Leadership rises, he can attract more followers. If his Leadership goes down, followers may desert.
Replacing Cohorts and Followers: If a leader loses a cohort or followers, he can generally replace them, according to his current Leadership score. It takes time (1d4 months) to recruit replacements. If the leader is to blame for the deaths of the cohort or followers, it takes extra time to replace them, up to a full year. Note that the leader also picks up a reputation of failure, which decreases his Leadership score.

 

[Harold Mayo]

I say yes. Although I don't play 3E (not exactly), the same sort of thing applies in any system or edition where there is a large force.

My own ruling is that the victorious force gets xp equal to having killed everything and looted (practically) everything in the opposing force. The leader of the victorious force gets a straight 10% of the total value if his entire force was in on the victory. If he had a plan that used nothing more than the position of his army or something else that didn't require much (or any) participation on the part of his force other than merely being there, then he would get a lot more. This is why, in D&D, leader-types are generally QUITE A BIT higher in level than their troops. The more enemy that gets defeated, the more xp there will be.

It's only right that xp be based on the TOTAL THREAT FACED rather than just a part of it.

 

[drnuncheon]

Consider it this way:

If the enemy did not take Leadership, and there were that many people there, the PCs would get XP for all of the foes.

Followers and cohorts, unlike summoned monsters, cannot be dispelled...do not cost a spell slot and a turn to summon...their duration does not run out...they aren't stopped by a magic circle...

In short, I'd say they're worth it.

J

 

[Anubis]

Yet you do not get XP for summoned creatures . . .

Are cohorts and followers any different?

 

[LokiDR]

The low level followers should be negligable for purposes of experience gained. The cohort is another matter. I would say if the cohort is equiped as well as a PC and has PC classes, the should figure into the EL. If not, lump them with the "controling" character and be happy they didn't take a broken feat

 

[Phaedrus]

I think you should get XP for summoned creatures, too... so I vote yes for XP on cohorts and followers.

Why XP for summoned? Because they consume resources to defeat. Summon Monster IX vs. Meteor Storm (or Pwr Wrd Kill). The damage spell is one-shot. The summoned monster has ongoing chances to do damage, consume spells, attacks, and other resources to defeat it. It adds another combatant, a distraction so the spellcaster can come after you with more attacks.

Yes the damaging spells consume resources (i.e., HP), but they don't continue to do so. Summoned monsters must be dealt with, and you should get experience for doing so. IMHO.

(Counter arg: You don't get XP for "defeating" a fireball, why get XP for defeating Summon Monster III?)

 

[magnas_veritas]

I think you should get XP for summoned creatures, too... so I vote yes for XP on cohorts and followers.

Why XP for summoned? Because they consume resources to defeat.

Summoned creatures also automatically disappear after a certain amount of time, whereas cohorts and followers don't. The leader doesn't have to do anything other than yell for them, if they're not already in attendance.

Cohorts and followers are no different than other monsters that just happen to hang around with the first. Therefore, the PCs should get XP for whacking the cohorts and followers.

Brad

 

[DM_Matt]

The guy with leadership would have one less feat than he otherwise would have. Then again, one feat is not going to make THAT much of a difference, considering that there are many feats that are not used in a given combat. Perhaps factor in the cohort but take a little bit off the total XP...Or just dont use leadership for NPCs and let them have friends/lackies, anyway. come to think of it, I dont think I have ever had an NPC need to take leadership.

 

[FreeTheSlaves]

Leadership can be a powerful feat but it is charisma dependant to a degree.

For a classed npc to invest in it I would not offer any xp by right. Maybe, say a 20% bonus to xp if there was a mechanic that offered greater advantage (like the noted charisma dependant classes).

For Dragons with their huge HD or a severely powergamed cohort I would change tack entirely and award full xp.

 

[FireLance]

I would not give extra XP for the followers since the leader gave up a feat to have them. However, if the leader is able to use them to good tactical advantage (to provide flanking, support fire, etc), I might increase the XP award for the leader by 10-20%.