|
Ok, I've been playing this game for 10 years now and I encountered something I've never thought about. Most of my gaming career has been GMing, rather than playing. My question is thusly: When a PC gains a level, do their experience points reset to 0 or do they cumulate? I have always had players exp reset to 0 upon gaining a new level. It made making a new level a big deal. But recently someone told me I was doing it wrong but I can't find it in RAW or anywhere on the interwebs. Help is appreciated. Thanks all.
Yeah, XP is supposed to accumulate. The math works out so that roughly every 7 on-level encounters the party levels up (I think that is what it is at least. Something like that).
Your method is an interesting way of slowing down leveling, but the result is that levels will not be gained linearly, but geometrically. The amount of time between each level will increase with each successive level. If you want that, then alright, but I think a better method would just be to give out less experience reduced by a flat fraction (after dropping down to the slow track and seeing if that fits your needs), or leveling by fiat.
Nothing in the RAW tells you to reset it either. It would take forever to level up if your resetting each level. The only real proof I can give you is Model series like the Adventure Paths. If you do the math; you never reach the approit levels at the given spots 'in time' if your resetting XP amounts.
|
Yeah, XP is supposed to accumulate. The math works out so that roughly every 7 on-level encounters the party levels up (I think that is what it is at least. Something like that).
Your method is an interesting way of slowing down leveling, but the result is that levels will not be gained linearly, but geometrically. The amount of time between each level will increase with each successive level. If you want that, then alright, but I think a better method would just be to give out less experience reduced by a flat fraction (after dropping down to the slow track and seeing if that fits your needs), or leveling by fiat.
While true, the XP gained is itself geometric. At high levels the two progressions have the same base. This means that past the first half of the campaign the distance between levels would, time-wise, even out.
|
|
By RAW, experience points accumulate, and do not reset to 0. However, this doesn't mean you're doing it wrong, whatever way you and your players want to play is RIGHT!
Personally, I like resetting XP to 0 after each level. Makes it feel like you're making more progress. That said, using it with the tables set up in CORE would be slooooowwww....
Hmmmm.. when will you be informing your players you've been doing it wrong? I may want to open a torch and pitchfork stand.
While true, the XP gained is itself geometric. At high levels the two progressions have the same base. This means that past the first half of the campaign the distance between levels would, time-wise, even out.Yeah, XP is supposed to accumulate. The math works out so that roughly every 7 on-level encounters the party levels up (I think that is what it is at least. Something like that).
Your method is an interesting way of slowing down leveling, but the result is that levels will not be gained linearly, but geometrically. The amount of time between each level will increase with each successive level. If you want that, then alright, but I think a better method would just be to give out less experience reduced by a flat fraction (after dropping down to the slow track and seeing if that fits your needs), or leveling by fiat.
XP gained is geometric, yes. So it would not be as slow as if XP gained increased linearly as well. However, you still have to work your way back up to whatever XP amount you were at before, which will be a gradually increasing amount of time. Did the math on a few of the levels. It isn't a clean growth in encounters per level, and there are some where it decreases, but here is the sample I did. Asssuming 4 person party, on medium advancement, all encounters are for the level the party currently is.
So (assuming medium advancement table):
Level --- xp total to reach it ---- xp difference from previous level --- xp per encounter
5 --- 15,000 --- 6,000 --- 300
6 --- 23,000 --- 8,000 --- 400
7 --- 35,000 --- 12,000 -- 600
8 --- 51,000 --- 16,000 -- 800
9 --- 75,000 --- 24,000 -- 1,200
Thus, on medium advancement, you gain a level every 20 on-level encounters, assuming a party of 4 members.
However, if you are resetting to 0 every time, then you gain level 5 after 50 encounters, level 6 after 57.5 encounters, level 7 after 58.3 encounters, level 8 after 63.75 encounters, level 9 after 62.5.
You gain level 20 (3,600,000 exp) after 70.3125 encounters at 51200 exp each, so it is a gradual trend upwards.
|
|
While true, the XP gained is itself geometric. At high levels the two progressions have the same base. This means that past the first half of the campaign the distance between levels would, time-wise, even out.Yeah, XP is supposed to accumulate. The math works out so that roughly every 7 on-level encounters the party levels up (I think that is what it is at least. Something like that).
Your method is an interesting way of slowing down leveling, but the result is that levels will not be gained linearly, but geometrically. The amount of time between each level will increase with each successive level. If you want that, then alright, but I think a better method would just be to give out less experience reduced by a flat fraction (after dropping down to the slow track and seeing if that fits your needs), or leveling by fiat.
XP gained is geometric, yes. So it would not be as slow as if XP gained increased linearly as well. However, you still have to work your way back up to whatever XP amount you were at before, which will be a gradually increasing amount of time. Did the math on a few of the levels. It isn't a clean growth in encounters per level, and there are some where it decreases, but here is the sample I did. Asssuming 4 person party, on medium advancement, all encounters are for the level the party currently is.
So (assuming medium advancement table):
Level --- xp total to reach it ---- xp difference from previous level --- xp per encounter
5 --- 15,000 --- 6,000 --- 300
6 --- 23,000 --- 8,000 --- 400
7 --- 35,000 --- 12,000 -- 600
8 --- 51,000 --- 16,000 -- 800
9 --- 75,000 --- 24,000 -- 1,200Thus, on medium advancement, you gain a level every 20 on-level encounters, assuming a party of 4 members.
However, if you are resetting to 0 every time, then you gain level 5 after 50 encounters, level 6 after 57.5 encounters, level 7 after 58.3 encounters, level 8 after 63.75 encounters, level 9 after 62.5.
You gain level 20...
So after the level 8-9 transition it's an increase in time-between-levels of about 10% total for the next 11 (compared to the 525% increase from the level 1-2 to the level 8-9). That seems to fit pretty well with my guesstimate.
...While true, the XP gained is itself geometric. At high levels the two progressions have the same base. This means that past the first half of the campaign the distance between levels would, time-wise, even out.Yeah, XP is supposed to accumulate. The math works out so that roughly every 7 on-level encounters the party levels up (I think that is what it is at least. Something like that).
Your method is an interesting way of slowing down leveling, but the result is that levels will not be gained linearly, but geometrically. The amount of time between each level will increase with each successive level. If you want that, then alright, but I think a better method would just be to give out less experience reduced by a flat fraction (after dropping down to the slow track and seeing if that fits your needs), or leveling by fiat.
XP gained is geometric, yes. So it would not be as slow as if XP gained increased linearly as well. However, you still have to work your way back up to whatever XP amount you were at before, which will be a gradually increasing amount of time. Did the math on a few of the levels. It isn't a clean growth in encounters per level, and there are some where it decreases, but here is the sample I did. Asssuming 4 person party, on medium advancement, all encounters are for the level the party currently is.
So (assuming medium advancement table):
Level --- xp total to reach it ---- xp difference from previous level --- xp per encounter
5 --- 15,000 --- 6,000 --- 300
6 --- 23,000 --- 8,000 --- 400
7 --- 35,000 --- 12,000 -- 600
8 --- 51,000 --- 16,000 -- 800
9 --- 75,000 --- 24,000 -- 1,200Thus, on medium advancement, you gain a level every 20 on-level encounters, assuming a party of 4 members.
However, if you are resetting to 0 every time, then you gain level 5 after 50 encounters, level 6 after 57.5 encounters, level 7 after 58.3 encounters, level 8 after 63.75 encounters, level 9 after 62.5.
You
I agree. Your rough guesstimate was closer than my alarmist one, but it is still not as clean as a flat fractional reduction in all experience rewards, or flat increase to all experience levels gained.
And I know from my perspective as a player, it would be incredibly disheartening to have to erase my increasingly huge XP numbers and write a poor, sad looking zero there. I'd be leveling, of course, and that is fantastic, but it would add a twinge of pain.
If it works for the OP and his players, though, there isn't an obvious reason why it shouldn't be the way to go. (just be careful about WBL)
|
Ok, I've been playing this game for 10 years now and I encountered something I've never thought about. Most of my gaming career has been GMing, rather than playing. My question is thusly: When a PC gains a level, do their experience points reset to 0 or do they cumulate? I have always had players exp reset to 0 upon gaining a new level. It made making a new level a big deal. But recently someone told me I was doing it wrong but I can't find it in RAW or anywhere on the interwebs. Help is appreciated. Thanks all.
Technically: your doing it wrong.
However: if it's worked for you and you group all these years, go for it.
Personally: I've always believed in slow leveling. Slow enough where I tell my groups not to bother tracking xp, I'll let them know when they've leveled up.
|
|
Thanks for the help guys! I really appreciate such speedy feedback. I do have one final request though, could you please give me a reference from the core rulebook? Not that I disbelieve the last 9 posts, but it would be good to show my players. I've never been able to find it, even in the old materials. I think I'll switch for our new campaign to see how it works.
I've always told my players they should focus on their character and that the game isn't about "I got the next level!" it's about the experience. After all "The play's the thing", right?
EDIT: Also wanted to mention that it can take over a year (sometimes two) for my PCs to reach the 20th level. I hand out xp slow and make them wait to level. It's always made my groups be very careful with their characters. Giving a true consequence if they die at level 10.
I'm not sure it is spelled out explicitly. It's just a given of the game, carried over from edition to edition. The closest I can come is from the Classes chapter, under "Character Advancement," where it says "as these points accumulate, PCs advance in level and power."
Reply to EDIT: My group's been playing a campaign more than 2 years and just made 11th level, without resetting at zero. :)
Joana is correct, that is all I can find. The only other things I can offer is that Hero Lab (official character manager for Pathfinder) accumulates XP and again Adventure Path expected leveling.
|
|
Thanks for the info guys. That is a subtle hint at what the writers of RAW intended.
basically what you have been doing is similar to 2edition exp which took much longer to level. It never reset but it accumilated at a very slow rate. It took longer to level which I feel made the game more fun, because you were more engaged with the game itself and not the levels. You will never find a rule because the books declare that any rule in them is void depending on what the GM wants. It all comes down to the last line I bolded. if the group likes it and does not complain then stick to what you have been doing.
Kind of interesting, seeing as I started playing with AD&D 2nd ed. lol! That statment brought back some good memories.
Anywho, again I thank you all for the help. I will give this a shot with my players and see what they like.