D&D 5E XP For NPCs With Class Levels

[Falstaff]

Hello - I have read through the playtest materials, but I could be just overlooking the rule, but is there a guideline on how many XP an NPC with class levels is worth? I want to create a 3rd-level Mage villain for my campaign, but I'm not sure how much XP he'd be worth if/when the PCs defeat him. Any help?

 

[Falstaff]

Hrmm, okay.

 

[the Jester]

AFAIK there are no guidelines for figuring xp values yet.

 

[Falstaff]

Yeah, I was starting to figure as much. Oh well, guess I'll ballpark it as best I can. Thanks.

 

[Actoba]

The Drow in the Bestiary is a 3rd level spellcaster so maybe thats at least a baseline to work from? It's listed as a Level 4 encounter for 160 xp though. Possibly the Dark acolyte/priest stat blocks too might help.

 

[the Jester]

Actually I would love to see not just the xp charts but the monster creation system- custom critters are one of my very favorites things to stat up in D&D.

 

[MerricB]

Actually I would love to see not just the xp charts but the monster creation system- custom critters are one of my very favorites things to stat up in D&D.

Indeed. Unfortunately, creating that is a bit tricky when the maths isn't pinned down!

Cheers!

 

[lkj]

There might be some insight in one of the bestiaries. My recollection is that the Slavelords bestiary has a number of humanoids with levels and assigned XP scores. My suggestion would be to go through those and see if you can discern a formula (or a way of hitting the ballpark).

AD

 

[MortalPlague]

My recollection is that the Slavelords bestiary has a number of humanoids with levels and assigned XP scores.

Yeah, this is true. That might be the best way to do it. In addition, you might find an NPC who already casts spells around the same level, which could save you some work.

I've been tinkering a little bit with monster design, and so far, modifying existing beasties has provided the best results. Changes in hit points and damage have been relatively minor, but changing the attack bonus can be pretty dramatic.

 

[jamesmanhattan]

My conjecture, is they made the "Average" encounter equal to 50% of the power of the players. They made a "Tough" encounter equal to 100% of the power of the players.

So if you look at the XP chart in the "DM Guidelines", a Level 3 Tough Encounter for 1 player is 120. So a level 3 NPC caster would be around 120XP.
(This assumes you maximize the first hit die like you would for creating a player character, and you give them ALL of the class features, otherwise it seems you subtract 1 from its level, then look it up in the XP table)