Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Iskander 11-28-06, 11:18 AM	My party, eight level 3 characters and one level 5 NPC, recently vanquished 11 Tomb Motes which are CR 2 creatures. [I think] The way our DM determined exp for the level 3 PCs was to take the exp for a level 3 vs one CR 2 monster (600), multiply it by 11 (# of monsters), and then divide by 9 (party size). That is: Exp = 600 * 11 / 9 = 733 The problem I have with this is that killing one CR 2 monster is a lot easier to do than killing 11 CR 2 monsters. Shouldn't we receive more exp just because we took on more of them at once? The DMG says that 11x CR 2 creatures is an Encounter Level of 13. I assume that Encounter Level = CR of a single creature, so does that mean this was equivalent to fighting a CR 13 creature? Or am I just making all sorts of wrong assumptions? It doesn't quite make sense that it is equal to a CR 13 creature (which would give us gobs of exp), but it also doesn't make sense that killing 11 creatures one by one should yield the same exp as fighting them all at once. Can anyone tell me the correct way to determine the exp for the encounter? And also, how should I approach my DM if he did it incorrectly? (And if you're reading this, uhh... Hi Steve!:D )
tankschmidt 11-28-06, 11:32 AM	The encounter calculator on http://www.d20srd.org/encounterCalculator.htm should handle your woes for you. It looks like the level 3 characters pick up 733 xp each, and the level 5 picks up 611 exp. It also ranks the encounter as "very difficult" for your party, which is level 5.6 because you've got so many people. Looks like your DM was right on the ball. Note that this encounter is not the same as fighting a CR 13 alone. Such a monster might have DR your weapons can't pass and SR that your caster level checks just can't beat. Now that would be a tough fight. In fact, the d20srd.org rates such an encounter as "unbeatable."
RellenMarn 11-28-06, 11:56 AM	Checked on the XP calculator your DM is correct. The reason you get so little experience is that being such a large party and including the NPC the encounter level is not far from your own.
Zherog 11-28-06, 11:59 AM	Your DM did it right; you calculate XP for each individual creature in an encounter.
Iskander 11-28-06, 12:02 PM	Ok, so experience from multiple (of the same) monsters is a linear progression. That raises another question for me, what is Encounter Level for? (49 of DMG) Purely to assist in making making encounters that are challenging? Encounter Level is never used as the CR for an encounter for the purposes of determining exp?
Zherog 11-28-06, 12:11 PM	Correct. The purpose of Encounter Level is to allow a DM to judge the relative difficulty of any given encounter.
Iskander 11-28-06, 12:14 PM	Awesome, everything makes a bit more sense now. Thanks for the help! :)
Nom 11-28-06, 09:18 PM	And yes, you're right. Fighting CR 2 and then CR 2 nets the same XP as fighting 2x CR 2, even though the latter is typically about 50% more difficult. It's a detail that's not worth trying to figure out. Especially since it leads to more awkward questions about what constitutes "one encounter".
Elemmakil 11-29-06, 01:03 AM	The problem I have with this is that killing one CR 2 monster is a lot easier to do than killing 11 CR 2 monsters. Shouldn't we receive more exp just because we took on more of them at once?With AoO spells, it is often easier to take many weak creatures together, because a single spell can take out quite a few. I understand your argument in that some ways it is also more difficult, but Zherog is right about the DMG's position, and I think that it makes sense from a balance standpoint. ~Elemmakil