New DM's Question

[Regitnui]

Am I supposed to split encounter difficulty amongst players? For example, if 4 players defeat a 300 XP encounter, do they get 75XP apiece?

[Ninja_Prawn]

Am I supposed to split encounter difficulty amongst players? For example, if 4 players defeat a 300 XP encounter, do they get 75XP apiece?

That's what I do.

Hang on and I'll see if there's anything in the RAW...

Edit: yes, DMG page 260 says "they divide the total XP value of the monsters evenly among themselves."

[Regitnui]

No, I found it. I was looking under 'creating encounters' when I should have been checking 'experience points'. :smallsigh:

[Zman]

Just make sure you aren't awarding the encounter difficulty xp(which is multiplied by factor derived from number of enemies) and instead are awarding xp based upon the xp value of each individual monster. You multiply xp to determine difficulty, but do not award the multiplied amount.

[Regitnui]

Doh. Thanks for the tip...

[WereRabbitz]

What if you have a mixed group?

Say a Fighter 6, Wizard 6, Druid 6 and then you have a Ranger 1, Barbarian 1


Would you split 2000 exp between them all evenly or should you account for how much help a level 1 was in a CR 6 fight?

[Rysto]

I would split the XP evenly. That way the lower-level characters level up more quickly and catch up in power level to the rest of the group.

[Easy_Lee]

What if you have a mixed group?

Say a Fighter 6, Wizard 6, Druid 6 and then you have a Ranger 1, Barbarian 1


Would you split 2000 exp between them all evenly or should you account for how much help a level 1 was in a CR 6 fight?

Add up everyone's total experience that their characters have ever gained, then award xp based on each player's portion of that total pool. The low level players weren't contributing, anyway.

[Zman]

Add up everyone's total experience that their characters have ever gained, then award xp based on each player's portion of that total pool. The low level players weren't contributing, anyway.

Haha, not quite RAW and almost assured to keep lower level characters low level forever relative to the higher level characters. If you follow the default even split lower level characters will level up much faster and over the course of a couple sessions have closed much of that power gap without ever fully catching the higher level characters and eventually spending most of the time at the same level as them.

[WereRabbitz]

I would split the XP evenly. That way the lower-level characters level up more quickly and catch up in power level to the rest of the group.

If you got some new dedicated players this is fine to help them catch up and reduce the gap between the 2 sets of players (new / experienced) the experienced players will always have a bit of a edge to make them feel better.

Otherwise if your not sure the players will stick around i would % out the EXP to avoid penalizing the players who do.

[Easy_Lee]

Haha, not quite RAW and almost assured to keep lower level characters low level forever relative to the higher level characters. If you follow the default even split lower level characters will level up much faster and over the course of a couple sessions have closed much of that power gap without ever fully catching the higher level characters and eventually spending most of the time at the same level as them.

Yeah I know, I was kidding. The system I described was used for group xp in classic Everquest. Add experience penalties for certain classes and races into the mix, and jimmies were rustled.

[Zman]

Yeah I know, I was kidding. The system I described was used for group xp in classic Everquest. Add experience penalties for certain classes and races into the mix, and jimmies were rustled.

I missed the blue=sarcasm. I can't imagine anyone getting upset over that... haha

[R.Shackleford]

Am I supposed to split encounter difficulty amongst players? For example, if 4 players defeat a 300 XP encounter, do they get 75XP apiece?

Yes, however after your first or second campaign I don't think you should split the XP until level 3 or 5. The early levels of D&D are quite... Repetitious... The game doesn't really start until 3rd to 5th level.

[Ninja_Prawn]

Add up everyone's total experience that their characters have ever gained, then award xp based on each player's portion of that total pool. The low level players weren't contributing, anyway.

Also, 50% of the XP from any monster of CR10 or higher should be ring-fenced and awarded to whoever dealt the killing blow.

And you can't gain XP if you're unconscious when the fight ends.

But you gain double XP if you play the Final Fantasy victory fanfare on your phone at the moment of victory!

[Mafilux]

I've just been awarding full experience to all players involved, since there are only three characters. This helps me to progress the campaign more quickly with little down time in the story, so they'll be powerful enough to meet the challenges I'm setting for them.

I made a post similar to this when I joined, essentially 'it's up to the DM,' was the recurring theme. I mean by level 5, it take 14 000 experience to get to level 6 - so by awarding full experience my players feel like they're progressing at a good pace while not being entirely overpowered for the challenges I've been giving them (besides, I want to keep the campaign I'm doing fairly short, so we can move on to a new one in a reasonable amount of time). Do what feels right I suppose, I like Shackleford's idea of having that 'newbie' exp boost until level 3 or 5, so new players/DM's can get used to how levelling up works and to get players feeling decently capable earlier on.

[uraniumrooster]

Yeah I know, I was kidding. The system I described was used for group xp in classic Everquest. Add experience penalties for certain classes and races into the mix, and jimmies were rustled.

Haha, yep. Got a ranger in the group? Half XP for everyone.

[Foxhound438]

But you gain double XP if you play the Final Fantasy victory fanfare on your phone at the moment of victory!

they'll need the skyrim level up to survive the meteor swarm I throw at them for doing that

[huttj509]

Doh. Thanks for the tip...

Yeah, if it feels confusing I find it helps to remember that it encourages managing to split up a group and tackle them separately.

8 goblins rewards the same XP if you manage to fight them in 4 groups of 2, even though the latter is *much* easier. Avoids punishing the party for good survival tactics.