In 3.5 edition, lower level characters got more experience from encounters which helped them catch up to their higher level party members.
On the surface it looks like to me that once you are lower level, you are always going to be stuck further behind in experience progression.
I suspect that Pathfinder may have mathematically taken this into account by making each level exponentially greater than the previous level. I am curious if any one has ever worked the math out on this?
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In 3.5 edition, lower level characters got more experience from encounters which helped them catch up to their higher level party members.
On the surface it looks like to me that once you are lower level, you are always going to be stuck further behind in experience progression.
I suspect that Pathfinder may have mathematically taken this into account by making each level exponentially greater than the previous level. I am curious if any one has ever worked the math out on this?
Jason has, fortunately! Basically, a lower level PC in a group of higher level characters will catch up over time—while all of the PCs get the same XP, the lower level ones have significantly less XP needed to gain a level. Lower level PCs will never "catch up" to the higher level PC's exact XP totals (unless they go on additional adventures, of course), but since the range of points needed increases, eventually the lower level PCs will eventually end up in the same band and being equal level.
Anyone out there care to run the numbers and see where the cut off point is for character catch up is? By that I mean what level a player can be at and still 'catch up' to a party of some levels higher (example: Could a 7th level character 'catch up' to a 9th level party and at what level would he do so?)
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Anyone out there care to run the numbers and see where the cut off point is for character catch up is? By that I mean what level a player can be at and still 'catch up' to a party of some levels higher (example: Could a 7th level character 'catch up' to a 9th level party and at what level would he do so?)
A 7th level character joining a party of 9th level characters would reach 10th level before they reached 11th. The lower level character would reach 11th level before the others reached 12th. The higher level characters would continue to level up a bit earlier but they would spend most of their time at the same level from here on out.
I'll also point out that since death and ressurection no longer cost levels and XP costs are gone, it is much less likely that members of the same party will have differing levels.
With the only possible exception now being missing sessions. But it could still come up other ways too. A wizard might miss part of an adventure to make a magic item the party needs, or something along those lines too. I was just wondering how much of a difference level would really make in chancing up.
I'll also point out that since death and ressurection no longer cost levels and XP costs are gone, it is much less likely that members of the same party will have differing levels.
Unfortunately I am an evil DM who does not award experience to absent players. (I'm fairly generous in that I give them 2 options: #1 - provide a copy of your character so someone else can run them and thusly gain full exp, since that character faces the same risks as everyone else; #2 - opt out of the adventure for the missed session, thusly gaining 1/2 the exp the party gains in your absence)
I'll also point out that since death and ressurection no longer cost levels and XP costs are gone, it is much less likely that members of the same party will have differing levels.
I had a player die and then before he was rezzed the remaining PC's continued long enough to level, thus leaving me with multiple level PC's....damn it!
Anyone out there care to run the numbers and see where the cut off point is for character catch up is? By that I mean what level a player can be at and still 'catch up' to a party of some levels higher (example: Could a 7th level character 'catch up' to a 9th level party and at what level would he do so?)A 7th level character joining a party of 9th level characters would reach 10th level before they reached 11th. The lower level character would reach 11th level before the others reached 12th. The higher level characters would continue to level up a bit earlier but they would spend most of their time at the same level from here on out.
The most extreme example: A 19th level character who died and was replaced by a 1st level character would reach level 16 by the time the rest of the party reached level 20 (using the Fast track).
We've been using the medium track.
And if someone falls behind in XP, we put them on the fast track until they hit the same level as the rest of the group then they go back to the medium track.
This lets them catch up much faster.
This is a really cool idea.We've been using the medium track.
And if someone falls behind in XP, we put them on the fast track until they hit the same level as the rest of the group then they go back to the medium track.
This lets them catch up much faster.
Thanks!
We've been using the medium track.
And if someone falls behind in XP, we put them on the fast track until they hit the same level as the rest of the group then they go back to the medium track.
This lets them catch up much faster.
I also like this idea. I had been thinking of just granting 20% extra exp until they caught up. Fortunately we use the average experience progression, so the option to use the fast experience progression is a possibility.
Well I have crunched some numbers, here are my results:
I compared exp progression of 3.5 to PFRPG. For both samples I tested a level 1 character and a level 5 character versus some solo encounters (not realistic, but I needed some quick numbers). I then compared them against the following:
Encounter 1 - CR4
Encounter 2 - CR4
Encounter 3 - CR6
Encounter 4 - CR6
Encounter 5 - CR8
Encounter 6 - CR8
Encounter 7 - CR10
Encounter 8 - CR10
Encounter 9 - CR12
Encounter 10 - CR12
3.5 edition
The level 1 character ended with 48600 exp, making it level 10.
The level 5 character ended with 52500 exp, making it level 10.
PFRPG
The level 1 character ended with 74400 exp, making it:
- level 7 with slow progression
- level 8 with medium progression (600 exp shy of 9th)
- level 9 with fast progression
The level 5 character ended with:
- 84400 exp, making it level 8 with slow progression
- 89400 exp, making it level 9 with medium progression
- 97400 exp, making it level 10 with fast progression
Summary:
In 3.5 exp scale does allow a character to catch up (at least in this example with a character 4 levels behind). In the PFRPG exp scale it appears that a lower exp character trails a little more than 3.5 edition, but only by 1 level.