E8 XP required for new feat? Suggestions?

[Robert Carter 58]

Hello all,

My very first thread! So, I'm contemplating setting up an E8 game (rather than E6) for a variety of reasons (I just prefer that power level). Now after a PC caps at level 6 with E6 every 5000 xp they gain a feat. My question is this: if the level cap is 8, should the PCs gain a feat every 5000 xp or should that bar be raised a little? If so what should that benchmark be? 6000 xp? 8000 xp?

I'm looking for fun, but a slow and steady advancement (confession: I have never been too great at the xp number crunching... always found it tedious... )

So, I'd see what the community perspective is. If it matters, I will probably be using 3.5 rather than Pathfinder. I have a few Pathfinder books, but I have ALL the 3.5 books, and ALL the Dragon mags and I'd like the players to have a wide variety of feat selection. My goal in using E8 isn't so much power limitation, it's ease of GM prep, limitation of higher level spells, and faster combat. I know the players will eventually feel like 10th level or so if the game goes long enough, which is fine by me.

[Robert Carter 58]

Bump. Any E6 or E8 players out there?

[Fake Healer]

E6 is listed as gaining a feat every 5000 xp past 6th level which I believe was set up due to that being the difference between 5th and 6th level in 3.5 D&D....
For setting up an E8 I would look at the XP chart for Pathfinder, pick which advancement rate you are going with (slow, medium, or fast) and use the difference between 7th level xp total and 8th level xp for your benchmark.
So for slow it would be 24,000xp, medium would be 16,000xp, fast would be 11,000xp.
Incidentally E6 for pathfinder would be 12,000xp, 8,000xp, and 5,000xp in the same order which would make the Fast Advancement chart line up with E6's leveling...I however prefer the slow advancement on an E6/E8 game.

[Cap. Darling]

Fake Healer wrote:

E6 is listed as gaining a feat every 5000 xp past 6th level which I believe was set up due to that being the difference between 5th and 6th level in 3.5 D&D....

For setting up an E8 I would look at the XP chart for Pathfinder, pick which advancement rate you are going with (slow, medium, or fast) and use the difference between 7th level xp total and 8th level xp for your benchmark.
So for slow it would be 24,000xp, medium would be 16,000xp, fast would be 11,000xp.
Incidentally E6 for pathfinder would be 12,000xp, 8,000xp, and 5,000xp in the same order which would make the Fast Advancement chart line up with E6's leveling...I however prefer the slow advancement on an E6/E8 game.

Listen to this guy. He is smart!

[Tacticslion]

If you're using 3.5, it's 7,000 XP to go from 7th level to 8th level, thus for each feat after 8th level, it would be 7,000 XP (by base presumption).

If you wanted to go slower, either decrease the XP gained by 10%.

Thus, a typical CR 8 encounter v. 8th lvl players would net (2,400 XP - 10%) or (2,400 XP - 240 XP) or 2,160 XP (which is then divided between the players); instead of the 2,400.

Use the same method with all the XP charts for 8th level encounters.

CR 1: (200-10%) = 180 XP
CR 2: (300-10%) = 270 XP
CR 3: (400-10%) = 360 XP
CR 4: (600-10%) = 540 XP
CR 5: (800-10%) = 720 XP
CR 6: (1,200-10%) = 1,080 XP
CR 7: (1,600-10%) = 1,440 XP
CR 8: (2,400-10%) = 2,160 XP
CR 9: (3,600-10%) = 3,240 XP
CR 10: (4,800-10%) = 4,320 XP
CR 11: (7,200-10%) = 6,480 XP
CR 12: (9,600-10%) = 8,640 XP
CR 13: (14,400-10%) = 12,960 XP
CR 14: (19,200-10%) = 17,280 XP
CR 15: (28,800-10%) = 25,920 XP

The DMG recommends that you do not give CR 16 or higher encounters, although, since they'll have so many feats, they should be able to take them, there's just no direct entry for such things in the book.

Remember to divine the XP rewards among all the players! (So 2,160 XP in a four-person party becomes 540 XP each).

I... don't feel like converting all the XP charts for levels 9 or 10 though. Enjoy, if you care to! :)

Another option is choosing a higher "window" - instead of the XP of going from 7th to 8th (7,000 XP) is the amount to go from 8th to 9th (8,000 XP).

One thing you can do, if you like, is to ignore XP altogether.

How?

Well, XP is generally awarded after combat - or after RP encounters. How many?

Looking at the amount of XP you would normally attain (2,400) divided by the base presumption of the four-person party (which 3rd and 3.5 were built around) nets you 600 XP. Since it takes 7k XP to level up, that's about 7,000/600 = 11 and two-thirds of an encounter or roughly 12 encounters (or 12.96296296... encounters - roughly 13 encounters - if you use the 10% reduction of XP). If you go with the 8k XP to gain a level instead, it'll be 13 and one-third encounters - about 13 encounters. If you combine the 10% reduction of XP gained with that, it'll be 14.81481481... or roughly 15 encounters.

So: 12, 13, or 15 encounters (including significant RP encounters) should happen between "level ups" (or, in this case, between acquiring feats).

Should you wish to partition this further (allowing minor choices to also gain "pseudo-XP" instead of the full XP progression) double or triple (or quadruple or whatever) the number of "encounters" you need and have most count as two or three (or four or whatever) "encounters" with minor things counting as only one, and major things counting as additional amounts of this psuedo-XP system.

So, for example, let's just say that you want the slowest possible progression that I listed (15 encounters) but wish for a more refined selection of elements instead of just "15 encounters".

So, in this system, let's presume you'd triple the number of "encounters" required, to 45 - and you rename them from "encounters" to "quasi-XP or "QXP". Now, most combat encounters will net 3 "QXP", while exceptionally easy encounters might net 2 or even 1 QXP instead, while harder encounters might net 4 or 5 or more, depending.

That's just a few examples; feel free to work out for yourself what feels right and works right for your group. I just hope this stuff helps!

:D

[Fake Healer]

The OP posted in Pathfinder RPG/Houserules....I assumed that he isn't using 3.5 rules and that he is converting the E6 rules from 3.5 to Pathfinder. If so all the XP for encounters and such are much easier.

[Robert Carter 58]

No I'm using 3.5, posted in the wrong section- TBH wasn't sure where to post this. But what you guys have given me has been really useful. Looks like 7,000 xp is the way to go. Never cared much for the XP system but players expect it...

I always figured out XP after the session and then sent an e-mail to the players (or waited until the beginning of the next session to give them their totals). I may import Pathfinder XP chart for the E8 game but otherwise keep it 3.5, however (so I have a slow advancement option).

[Tacticslion]

Fake Healer,

OP wrote:

I will probably be using 3.5 rather than Pathfinder

... made me presume 3.5 instead of Pathfinder (thus the secondary set of suggestions). And, especially since you'd covered the PF side of things, I just went whole-hog on the 3.5 side. :)

The Pathfinder XP chart is slower, however be aware that Pathfinder gives out more XP than 3.5 did, so leveling up is effectively equivalent, despite requiring larger XP amounts (it's balanced around creatures' individual XP awards instead of CR-based as 3.5's was).

If you stick to 3.5 XP donations and use PF level charts, the PCs will increase very slowly indeed - perhaps too slowly.

Fifteen encounters doesn't sound like a lot... but it really, really is.

Regardless, I hope you have fun! That's the important thing. :D