Does a cohort earn XP for doing nothing?

[Ravingdork]

A cohort does not count as a party member when determining the party's XP. Instead, divide the cohort's level by your level. Multiply this result by the total XP awarded to you, then add that number of experience points to the cohort's total.

The above rule under the Leadership feat seems to indicate that the cohort gets XP whenever you get XP, regardless of whether or not the cohort partook in any encounters.

If that's the case, then it is no wonder so many people are willing to attach themselves to powerful adventurers--they become more powerful by mere association.

Is this really the way it was meant to work?

[Captain Xenon]

the cohort is a feat-related ability. as such, this ability needs to increase with the characters level. they must get xp when you do in order to stay relevant, otherwise you would need to replace them fairly quickly.

so, if a PC reaches level 7, and gets a lv5 cohort. the cohort earns 5/7ths of your xp, or 71.4%. he will stop gaining xp 1 short of 6th until you reach 8th, so the cohort should remain at 2 levels below you at all times once they reach that point.

on the other hand, if your a charisma 5 dwarf with an animal companion, you could get a 1st level cohort at lv 7. so on the medium xp chart, the first 14k xp gets him to level 2. 9715xp into lv 8 he gets lv 3, and will reach 4th before you level to 9th. he reaches 5th at 9430xp into 9th level, and reaches 6th before you level to 10th. so, starting at 6 levels below, the cohort raises to 4 levels below and seems to stay there. which makes leadership a sub-optimal choice for very low leadership scores.

[Louis Lyons]

Is the Cohort actually doing nothing? Are you keeping her locked in a cell? Or are you having her do things that would normally grant a person experience such as helping defeat encounters and overcome obstacles, generally assisting the leader PC and the party as a whole?

I guess if you look at it from a purely mechanical standpoint, then yes, perhaps you could loophole it by leaving the Cohort in a box somewhere and they will slowly gather experience in relation to the party.

However, please keep in mind the warnings given to us in Ultimate Campaign: A cohort is a living, breathing, feeling, thinking person and should be handled as such. The Cohort is not an ambulatory mannequin bereft of any agency. The Cohort joined the PC to help him on his journey, not simply to be left in a closet somewhere to be taken out at the player's convenience. While a cohort does not gain experience in the same manner as the party, a Cohort who isn't allowed to share in the party's actual experiences and adventures is no real Cohort, is she? If the party sails off to adventure in Qadira and leaves the Cohort in Varisia, how exactly is that NPC being a Cohort? If a PC were to simply leave the Cohort in order to gain experience over time, the Cohort will feel abandoned and end up leaving the PC.