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Message: <blockquote data-quote="fuindordm" data-source="post: 9798905" data-attributes="member: 5435">I would calculate the XP of the party by reverse-engineering from the intended outcome, not from the flawed foundation of the rules and examples in the DMG. Let me explain:What is the intended reward for the PCs to defeat this formidable group? They are likely the lieutenants of the big boss, or else an elite strike team sent by the Big Bad to remove the party from play before they muck up its Evil Plan. An arena-style combat, if it happens, is the set piece of the penultimate chapter of the campaign. More likely, they party will find themselves harassed and attacked repeatedly, and they will need to discover and research their opponents to survive, over several sessions.The party is probably around 7th level, with their own array of magic items.  So let's say the intended reward is about 50% of the XP necessary to tip them to 8th level in preparation for the next chapter of the campaign: the lieutenants have been defeated, dropping vital clues, and the newly promoted party will move on to face the Big Bad in its lair.So where does this leave us?Fighter and cleric both need 55000 xp to advance from 7th level to 8th level, so assuming the party is partway there we are aiming for a total XP reward of 25000 xp per PC for this challenge (about half).Then I would add up the XP value of the NPC magic and treasure that the party is likely to recover if they win a fight. That "unholy avenger" magic sword (the girdle of giant strength is probably overkill!) is worth a hefty chunk of XP because it raises the challenge of the fight significantly, but only in the sense that the party earns its XP value on the treasure table, not in the sense of adding an EAXPB to the calculation. I would certainly give a good-aligned party the full XP reward for figuring out a way to destroy it.Finally, subtract the treasure XP from the 25000. Distribute the remaining XP among the NPCs weighted by levels to get the "monster value" for defeating them in a fight.</blockquote>

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