XP: Rantings of a Dumb-Dumb

[Sporelock]

I mostly love 2e and I'm starting my first session this Friday. But I feel like the XP allowance system kinda sucks and I feel like every creature should just have their XP listed like they did in 1e. Is it just me? Maybe I'm not understanding it correctly and my stupid caveman brain is just confused. HEELP MEE.

[HammerJack]

That would not be compatible with the normalized XP system. When 10xp is the same percentage of the climb from level 2 to level 3 as it is from level 7 to level 8, fighting a level 4 creature can't provide the same number of XP to a level 7 character as it does to a level 2 character.

[BellyBeard]

What sucks about it? I find it a breeze to make an adventure, as you can compare the difficulties of encounters between levels much easier. You know that 120 XP is always a tough challenge, and you can make it easier by taking 40 XP of monsters out, without having to do some multiplication or division based on character level to reach the same conclusion.

[Sporelock]

Ok, but, like, is there an easier way to explain how it works? Because I just don't understand it. There's so much legalese in this edition and I'm ok with most of it. But I'm having a hard time with this part, I guess.

[Sporelock]

Using Doomsday Dawn as an example, how much XP would I award for the introductory adventure? I know that was the play test and not the final product, but I want to run that (with some changes) for our first foray into 2e.

[Sporelock]

I really just want to know how much XP each monster is without any unnecessary b.s.

[thenobledrake]

I am not sure what you are wanting explained.

Is it that you level up every time you accumulate 1,000 experience (ignoring the optional rules for faster or slower pace)?

Is it that you don't keep a running total of experience level after level and keep your goal getting higher and higher so you only have one number to track (how much experience you have) rather than two (how much experience you have, and what total you'll level up at next)?

Is it that the XP awards for each character are what's listed on the tables on p. 508 and you don't divide them up?

Is it the encounter budget style of building encounters?

There are a lot of different pieces, and they all felt very intuitive to me so it would be helpful to have some clarification which part(s) aren't clicking for you.

[Lost In Limbo]

Table 10-8, page 508 of the core rulebook has the information you need, but the most relevant information given your concerns;

--CREATURE--
Party Level -4 = 10xp
Party Level -3 = 15xp
Party Level -2 = 20xp
Party Level -1 = 30xp
Party Level = 40xp
Party Level +1 = 60xp
Party Level +2 = 80xp
Party Level +3 = 120xp
Party Level +4 = 160xp

[Cole Deschain]

The XP is awarded on a sliding scale. It's how the 3rd edition Challenge Rating was intended to work, but it's actually a fair bit more elegant now.

You DO need to cross-reference your party level against a monster's level, but that's not inherently worse than having to check how much XP you actually need for the next level all of the time, which was the case in PF1.

[Sporelock]

I just feel it would've been easier and would've saved pages that could've been used for other things if they just awarded XP from monsters according to their level. The higher level the monster, the more XP you receive. And I guess I must've missed a few pages on the whole XP process. It would've been helpful if they were all located in the same chapter.

[Sporelock]

Godsakes. If you have 6 creatures that are all -1, how much XP do 1st level characters get? What if you have multiple creatures of different levels?

[Sporelock]

Lost In Limbo wrote:

Table 10-8, page 508 of the core rulebook has the information you need, but the most relevant information given your concerns;

--CREATURE--
Party Level -4 = 10xp
Party Level -3 = 15xp
Party Level -2 = 20xp
Party Level -1 = 30xp
Party Level = 40xp
Party Level +1 = 60xp
Party Level +2 = 80xp
Party Level +3 = 120xp
Party Level +4 = 160xp

Okay. Don't know how I missed that. Thanks!

[thenobledrake]

Sporelock wrote:

I really just want to know how much XP each monster is without any unnecessary b.s.

I see you posted while I was posting.

...and while I get where you are coming from on the surface, I think you've mislead yourself.

In the PF1 style, a monster might specifically say "I'm worth 800 experience". That sounds like it is telling you what it is worth to a character, but the reality is that it isn't - because you might face a monster of that listed value at a point that 800 experience is 1/10 of what a 4-person party needs to gain a level, and then face another just a level or two down the road and it's 1/20 of what you need for the next level.

Functionally, it's identical to the PF2 style in that facing the same creature at different levels will provide different amounts of progress toward gaining a level. The only difference is where you put the math.

While it might feel very alien right now, the new system is actually less difficult to memorize. One could commit Table 10-2: Creature XP and Role to memory with less effort than memorizing the XP values possible in PF1.

[Sporelock]

thenobledrake wrote:

Sporelock wrote:

I really just want to know how much XP each monster is without any unnecessary b.s.

I see you posted while I was posting.

...and while I get where you are coming from on the surface, I think you've mislead yourself.

In the PF1 style, a monster might specifically say "I'm worth 800 experience". That sounds like it is telling you what it is worth to a character, but the reality is that it isn't - because you might face a monster of that listed value at a point that 800 experience is 1/10 of what a 4-person party needs to gain a level, and then face another just a level or two down the road and it's 1/20 of what you need for the next level.

Functionally, it's identical to the PF2 style in that facing the same creature at different levels will provide different amounts of progress toward gaining a level. The only difference is where you put the math.

While it might feel very alien right now, the new system is actually less difficult to memorize. One could commit Table 10-2: Creature XP and Role to memory with less effort than memorizing the XP values possible in PF1.

I constantly mislead myself. I always used to divide the XP up depending on how many party members there were. I guess I was doing that wrong all along but nobody ever noticed because they always died before they ever reached a high level. Doesn't 5e dnd do it the way I mentioned? Can't remember.