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Post by guitardavepdx on Jul 26, 2016 1:30:26 GMT
Hey guys. Returning to DM'ing after a very long break and want to know where I can find experience points for killing off human Charactes. For example, one of my PC's killed an evil elf rogue. I can't find where to get the info for the XP he should receive. I have found info for Drow or Deep Gnomes/Dwarves, but not regular people. Advice?
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Post by dmsam on Jul 26, 2016 2:18:38 GMT
There are thugs, assassins and the like in the NPC area. If this particular NPC uses PC stats, its CR should be 1/4th its level, give or take.
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Post by guitardavepdx on Jul 26, 2016 4:16:43 GMT
Thanks. That's helpful. I am not really a rules stickler but I am trying to set up as many tools I can to try and keep consistent
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Post by swordnut on Aug 4, 2016 18:33:26 GMT
The spirit of the game is that XP is awarded for overcoming obstacles. You get the same XP for avoiding the fight as you do for killing everyone. Likewise, there is XP for solving puzzles, gaining information etc and can be used to direct the players towards behaviour that the DM wants to see. If killing an NPC gets the party some progress, give them XP, but if keeping them alive is more interesting, award more XP
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Post by frohtastic on Aug 7, 2016 12:52:58 GMT
The spirit of the game is that XP is awarded for overcoming obstacles. You get the same XP for avoiding the fight as you do for killing everyone. Likewise, there is XP for solving puzzles, gaining information etc and can be used to direct the players towards behaviour that the DM wants to see. If killing an NPC gets the party some progress, give them XP, but if keeping them alive is more interesting, award more XP This. I'd actually reward the player more if they managed to solve situations diplomaticly instead of whole-house slaughter.
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Post by dmsam on Aug 7, 2016 20:40:08 GMT
If said NPC is deserving of death, it isn't too unreasonable to give exp for killing.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2016 1:21:17 GMT
Respectfully, I'm going to disagree with everyone who posted in this thread. dmsam CR:Level 1:4 only really holds up at level 1. Yes, a CR 1/4 creature is pretty close to a level 1 PC. However, it quickly approaches a ratio of 1:2, and may be closer to 3:4 at higher levels, especially if the PC is optimized for combat. Consider the Knight NPC from the monster manual. This seems like a pretty good approximation of a level 6 fighter, and he's CR 3. Then look at the mage, who according to his description is a 9th-level spell caster, and is a CR 5. If this 9th-level wizard had the full suite of PC abilities, I'd put him at CR 6 or 7. For a quick and dirty rule, I'd just say CR = 2/3 Level for anything beyond level 5. Also, I would bump fractions up to the next higher CR (i.e. Level 8 = CR 5.33 = CR 6). It might be a little generous for level 5-10, but not enough to seriously deviate from what one might think of as a "typical rate of advancement," especially since NPCs built using PC character creation rules won't be the standard enemy (I assume). swordnut and frohtastic The problem I have with this sort of thinking is that levels grant a variety of combat boons, and when taken to the extreme, this allows for PCs to become better combatants without ever actually fighting. Like it or not, your XP and Level are direct reflections of how good you are at killing stuff. I understand wanting to encourage solutions other than hacking everything to death, but peaceful solutions offer their own reward in the form of combat resources (HPs, spell slots, etc) being available for the next fight. To me, awarding the full amount of XP (or more) for bypassing an obstacle just doesn't settle well with what levels mean in DnD. That said, I do award some XP for bypassing an enemy, but it's not going to be based on his CR, and will almost always be less than engaging it in combat. There are exceptions. For instance, I would award more XP for sneaking past a lone goblin sentry than killing it.
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Post by blakeryan on Aug 12, 2016 8:24:48 GMT
I found calculating exp can be rather number crunchy and not fun to do as a DM or watch as a player.
You can base it on milestones : so the story has 3 parts, award X amount for each milestone, then X again if they finish the whole thing.
My players asked me not to award exp.
They decided amongst themselves that they wanted me to level them when it feels right for the story/campaign, and to give them stuff in game (contacts, items, opportunities) as a reward for good roleplaying, teamwork etc.
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