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It's very hard for me to understand, after reading the adventure, when the PCs will earn enough xp to level.
Should I just allow them to level to 2 before part 2, and 3 before part 3? Of course, much depends on how much success there is in the encounters, but not all of the XP is accounted for in the module.
How are folks going about it?
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I'd like to see XP listed for everything that grants XP. No need to make it harder on the GM to calculate it by having to cross reference some book. This is the kind of thing that needs to be streamlined if we want to create and keep good GMs who can master rules knowledge and tell a good story.
The intent seems to be that the players will level up at the end of each part of the adventure.
However, I tried to add up xp listed and xp from encounters and always came up a few points short. I was also surprised that some skill challenges (and side quests from the toolbox) listed no xp reward at all.
For this reason, I'd probably opt for milestone leveling in this module. You can announce a level up at the end of each part (or when the module states that something is a major accomplishment and worth 80 extra xp, at least in this module).
I've been trying to do the math, and it seems difficult to make it match up, but feel the intent is to level up at the end of each part. From all I can tell, all of the encounters in part 1 seem to be Low 1 to Severe 1 encounters, assuming a party at level one. All encounters in part 2 are Moderate 2 to Severe 2, assuming a party at level 2. All encounters in part 3 are Low 3 to Severe 3, denoting a party at level 3. However, adding the math this way left me over 100 XP short in both parts 1 and 2, and then over 100 xp over in part 3. I just want to see someone who has figured it out to compare against to see where I'm off.
Moderate, Severe, etc are just guidelines. If you go according to the xp given by individual creatures, plus the stuff given by non-combat achievements, you'll be about 10 to 20 xp off, if I remember correctly (maybe 30 after the first level).
From here:
Now that the book 'n PDF're officially out in the wild, here's some Plaguestone XP spreadsheets!
This is a pre-filled reference sheet with numbers assuming your PCs encounter things basically in the order the book presents them.
And here's a link that'll copy an independent, editable version to your Google Drive account!
I am by no means a computer scientist, so I apologize for any clunky formulae :)
Before you follow the link, please note that there are SPOILERS for players, but by Andrew Mullen's calculations in the first link, the party should level up at the end of each part.
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I think any side quests would easily put them over. My group was within 40 xp at the end of part one, and they skipped two or three encounters. Assuming they are the expected level, it’s a pretty simple task to look up the XP award for an encounter difficulty level.
There are multiple severe encounters in Part 3; it looks like it is intended to be hard.
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Did you count the exp from stuff like chasing the goblin encounter?
Also, it’s possible to overlook these:
I totally miss an info on which level they might reavh by the end of the adventure. This alone would be helpful. I hope Paizo will include XP infos in future products, as they are needed, no matter if you count xps or do milestone leveling.
I also hope that a milestone leveling sidebar will be included in further Adventures releases; it's there in the Hellknight Hill in the Adventure Path line.
However, I believe you're supposed to be able to tell by the labeling on the encounters. For example, you go from encounter F8, which is labeled Severe 1, to G1, which is Severe 2, to H8, which is Moderate 2, to I2, which is Trivial 3. If the encounter has the numeral 1 in the label, it appears it's for a level 1 party, 2 for level 2, 3 for level 3. The numbers go up uniformly, which matches with the "parts" of the adventure.
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2e exp doesn't seem to be that hard when you learn how it works. Like it seems every time you see "difficulty/party level" in text, it means pcs get exp from it as it is an encounter, then pcs also get accomplishment exp.
The individual xp from creatures doesn't really matter because xp you get(which is always same regardless amount of player and adjustments to encounter) is always from the difficulty level relative to party level.
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I thought all APs in 2nd edition will go to level 20, so 3 to 4 levels per chapter seems right. And actually only a little faster than in 1st edition. I'm running Shattered Star and the party will be level 5 by the end of the first book. Looking at a handful of other APs, most seem to have the party at level 4 when the first book ends.
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I mean, encounter difficulty level is total amount of exp from enemies. So severe for your current level is 120 exp worth of enemies and extreme is 160 exp. So like, you can count it relatively easily whether encounter should be severe or extreme by the rules.
Like severe encounter for your level is anything from single enemy +3 level higher than party, two creatures +1 levels higher than party, 3 creatures with same level as party, 4 creatures with -1 party's level or any combination of those where total is 120 xp.
I'm running this in Fantasy Grounds. And the FG adventure purchased lists all sorts of xp for things the PCs accomplish along the way. 20 xp here, 40 xp there for things like finding the hideout map in the chest, bringing Hallod back alive. So, once I drug all those links over to the party xp box, they leveled up just fine to level 2 by chapter 2, and so on.
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If you're using Fantasy Grounds, it has the XP in there, and it's 240 as well.
Here's what I got for Part One:
- Mangy Pack - 120 XP - Total 120
- Bar Brawl - 240 XP - Total 360
- Bort's Books - 30 XP & 1 Hero Point - Total 390
- Old Orchard - 0 XP (Trivial) - Total 390
- Old Shrine - 80 XP - Total 470
- Tour of Etran's Folly - 30 XP & 1 Hero Point - Total 500
- Rosemary Bushes - 80 XP - Total 580
- Phinick's Tale - 30 XP & 1 Hero Point - Total 610
- Trin's House - 60 XP - Total 670
- F2. Front Door - 12 XP - Total 682
- F4. Crawlway and Hatch - 8 XP - Total 690
- F5. Basement Kennel - 80 XP - Total 770
- F6. Hallod's Home - Poison Lock - 8 XP - Total 778
- F6. Hallod's Home - Story Award - 30 XP & 1 Hero Point - Total 808
- F7. Snake Pool - 60 XP - Total 868
- F8. Hallod's Ambush - Hallod - 80 XP - Total 948
- F8. Hallod's Ambush - Spear Launchers - 24 XP - Total 972 XP
- F8. Hallod's Ambush - Story Award - 80 XP & 1 Hero Point - Total 1052
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The calculations on the spreadsheet for part 2 are incorrect in a few places. The ooze is given too much xp (should be the same as the Sculptor, not more), and they double-count fighting and befriending the leopard, as well as give too much for the iris (should only be 10, not 30).
On our playthrough, the GM only gave us xp for 4 farmers in the brawl, not the full dozen, so we barely hit level 2 at the end of part one, and did not hit level 3 at the end of part 2.
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I don't think it's 240, either. It's a Moderate encounter. The farmers aren't "a dozen hostiles." They're fighting each other, and the modules says the PCs get to decide how they want to get involved. That implies to me that the farmers aren't targeting them at all, unless they try to break things up. Then they have to stop 3 farmers to end the entire encounter. I wouldn't award them 240 for that.
But I don't think it really matters. They should be level 2 entering part 2. That's what's important.
they double-count fighting and befriending the leopard
No, there is an accomplishment award specified as well. Defeating the leopard is separate from befriending the leopard. But I don't see many situations where a party could earn both.
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At least the info that characters should level after each chapter would have been super helpful for me.
That info is built into how PF2 describes encounters. In PF 2, the threat level is always listed relative to a specific level. For example, the first encounter of part 2 is listed as Severe 2, or a severe encounter for a level 2 party.
This is your best indicator for what level the party should be at any point in a module or adventure path. If the party is not at the indicated level, you may need to adjust the encounter to keep it at the intended threat level.