Trouble getting XP to add up

[gmflash]

I wanted to try using XP instead of milestones to really get into the Hexcrawl experience but I'm afraid I can't get the numbers to add up. The milestone they list to reach level 2 is defending Oleg's Trading Post but at the end of Aldori Manor they will have only gained 620xp, and will only get 40 more from the Moderate 1 encounter.

I don't see where they will get the remaining 340xp they need to reach level 2 before venturing into Greenbelt. Unless the idea is it is supposed to include ~8 random encounters along the road to Oleg's.

I'm still pretty new to Pathfinder 2 but my impression is that I'm basically forced to use milestones because there is no way the listed numbers will allow the party to level up at the expected rate.

[Grimtongue]

I've got 830 xp from Chapter 1:

Spoiler:

Story Awards: 290 xp
80 for the feast
180 for rescuing each of six NPCs (30 each)
30 for extinguishing the fires

Combat Awards: 540 xp
220 for 11 Black Tears Cutthroats
60 for Gromog
80 for Jurgrindor
60 for Smoke-filled Hallway (complex hazard)
40 for Nishkiv the Knife
80 for Volodmyra

And then Chapter 2 has about 60 more from the Spider Nest hex encounter (if you do it).

Not exactly 1,000 xp, but it's pretty close.

[gmflash]

Grimtongue wrote:

I've got 830 xp from Chapter 1:

** spoiler omitted **

And then Chapter 2 has about 60 more from the Spider Nest hex encounter (if you do it).

Not exactly 1,000 xp, but it's pretty close.

Ok, I understand where I went wrong. I was using the encounter level rather than the XP total of the opposition. For example in A11 it is listed as Moderate 1, but the enemy is a Creature 3. I was awarding 40xp instead of 80xp. That would explain why I was falling short.

[gmflash]

Looks like if I do encounter XP based on total enemy count and the party does every single thing they can reach 1000xp. Is this correct?

corrected xp count:

Location XP Total Description
Aldori Manor 80 80 Participate in the banquet
Aldori Manor 90 170 A1, 3xC-1
Aldori Manor 120 290 A4. 4xC-1
Aldori Manor 60 350 A6. Library: Gromog C2
Aldori Manor 30 380 Rescue Linzi in A6
Aldori Manor 80 460 A11. Scullery. C3
Aldori Manor 90 550 Rescue Amri, Harrim, and Valerie in A10
Aldori Manor 30 580 Reach the great hall in the night
Aldori Manor 60 640 Smoke-Filled Hallway. C2
Aldori Manor 100 740 A21. Parlor. C1+2C-1
Aldori Manor 140 880 A23. Dueling Chamber C3+2C-1
Aldori Manor 30 910 Defeat the Black Tears
Aldori Manor 30 940 Extinguish the fires in all 5 rooms
Aldori Manor 30 970 “Save” tartuccio
Aldori Manor 30 1000 Save Jaethal

[James Jacobs]

The XP amount given can't exactly match the milestone awards, due to Kingmaker's sandbox nature. The expectation is to a certain extent that there'll be wandering monsters here and there that add more XP than is strictly handed out in encounters, but also that the PCs will not do every encounter. And once they do start exploring the Stolen Lands, they hex-crawl element will really quickly bolster their XP as well.

One of the thematic elements about a sandbox is that the PCs are left to their own agency about where they go next and what they want to try—and that includes getting into encounters that might be slightly tougher or extremely tougher than they expected. Part of the GM's job in a game like this is to subtly guide the PCs toward encounters that they can handle while discouraging them away from ones that are overwhelming—and if they DO get into an overwhelming encounter, giving them opportunities to run away, regroup, gather resources, level up, and try again. That type of play doesn't work well with a milestone method, so if you do use milestone XP awards, you'll want to not only let your players know that but be even more obvious about broadcasting to the players when they might be heading into a part of the Stolen Lands they're not ready for.

If you're giving out XP, though, and you know the PCs are about to head to an area that wants them to be 1 level higher and they're only 100 or so XP away... it's also okay to drop in an extra wandering monster or two along the way to that higher level area and get them the XP that way—or simply just to say "You've reached the destination, and a surge of accomplishment floods you—you gain experience points for this achievement!" and then just award them enough XP to level up and let them level up there and then.