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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mustrum_Ridcully" data-source="post: 2860047" data-attributes="member: 710">Even with a slow advancement, low CR monsters will feel inadequate against higher level PCs. Even if it takes longer to get to a certain level, the PC still has the power of its level, and even if he still gains XP for weak monsters (which he does even in the standard system for very weak creatures), the fight usually won't be very exciting or interesting for the PCs.That might indeed be an advantage. I used to precalculate the XP rewards for characters (since I knew their levels) while designing an adventure. It had the advantage of me being able to predict their next advancement and preparing the next one in advance, too. But I have given it up, since we had a considerable player number fluctuation (2 of our players are only available every other game). All in our group have now gone to give out the CR after each encounter. One of the players takes the CRs down, and after some time (usually at some "breaks" in-game, especially when a level-up is nearby), the player calculates the XP and they are given out. Maybe our group is unique in that we can do that, since everyone is familiar with the rules and also masters his own campaign. But for us, it works fine.Addendum (forgot to post that): One problem with changing the XP system alonen is the PC's treasure. They might have a lower level, but if you continue to use regular treasure ratings and NPC gear value, you wil run into the problem of the players amassing wealth. If it is difficult to shop for expensive items, you might reduce a few of the probems, but note that even a lot of cheap items can cause trouble. Since weak NPCs will not require a lot of (consumable) resources, either, this effect could increase exponential.As a result, it might become very difficult to use CR and EL as a guideline on encounter difficulty, since the characters are probably stronger than indicated by their level. And once you have reached that point, you lost most of the advantages, and could reach the same results with using purely story award XPs.</blockquote>

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