Alternate XP system. Pros and Cons [Archive] - Wizards Community

Alternate XP system. Pros and Cons [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Darien_CR
05-20-05, 05:25 PM What do you think of the alternate XP system in Unearthed Arcana?
It's very useful to us (DMs) because giving XP is a lot easier, but what implications does it have? What do you think are pros and cons of this XP system?
HailSpork
05-20-05, 05:40 PM I think that the chart they made is unbalanced. Every other level follows a geometric progression, but adjacent levels break that trend (meaning +1 cr either makes very little difference or a lot of difference). A while back, I remade the chart to a much closer geometric progression (yet with nice, round numbers).

XP Needed Cumulative
Lvl Per CR
1 1k 1k 300
2 2k 3k 600
3 3k 6k 900
4 4k 10k 1200
5 6k 16k 1800
6 9k 25k 2700
7 12k 37k 3600
8 18k 55k 5400
9 24k 79k 7200
10 36k 115k 10800
11 50k 165k 15000
12 75k 240k 22500
13 100k 340k 30k
14 150k 490k 45k
15 210k 700k 63k
16 300k 1000k 90k
17 400k 1400k 120k
18 600k 2000k 180k
19 800k 2800k 240k
20 1200k 4000k 360k

Feel free to use this if you want. The first collumn is how much xp until the next level, the second collumn is total xp for a character of that level.

I found that the biggest problem is the fact that this information is not as readily available to the players. Most players look to the PHB, and you'd have to keep pulling out the chart. In the case of a custom chart (like mine) it means keeping the printout on hand, not just for pc's, but also for our own use.

As for pro's, I think this set of rules is much better for a party of varied levels. It allows catchup, it doesn't matter what their average level is, doesn't force you to calculate xp for each different level seperately, etc.
Verelor
05-24-05, 07:19 PM Unearthed Arcana really creates more problems than it ever solves. It seems they've even managed to stick their noses into experience awards. The very very very very simplest and most enjoyable way to give and receive experience is the freeform experience variant presented on page 39 of the Dungeon Master's Guide.

Basic Equation: 75 EXP x average party level is the award to each character in the party per balanced encounters. Easy encounters could mean 25 to 50 exp award per encounter. Tough ones could be 100 to 150.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Darien_CR 05-20-05, 05:25 PM	What do you think of the alternate XP system in Unearthed Arcana? It's very useful to us (DMs) because giving XP is a lot easier, but what implications does it have? What do you think are pros and cons of this XP system?
HailSpork 05-20-05, 05:40 PM	I think that the chart they made is unbalanced. Every other level follows a geometric progression, but adjacent levels break that trend (meaning +1 cr either makes very little difference or a lot of difference). A while back, I remade the chart to a much closer geometric progression (yet with nice, round numbers). XP Needed Cumulative Lvl Per CR 1 1k 1k 300 2 2k 3k 600 3 3k 6k 900 4 4k 10k 1200 5 6k 16k 1800 6 9k 25k 2700 7 12k 37k 3600 8 18k 55k 5400 9 24k 79k 7200 10 36k 115k 10800 11 50k 165k 15000 12 75k 240k 22500 13 100k 340k 30k 14 150k 490k 45k 15 210k 700k 63k 16 300k 1000k 90k 17 400k 1400k 120k 18 600k 2000k 180k 19 800k 2800k 240k 20 1200k 4000k 360k Feel free to use this if you want. The first collumn is how much xp until the next level, the second collumn is total xp for a character of that level. I found that the biggest problem is the fact that this information is not as readily available to the players. Most players look to the PHB, and you'd have to keep pulling out the chart. In the case of a custom chart (like mine) it means keeping the printout on hand, not just for pc's, but also for our own use. As for pro's, I think this set of rules is much better for a party of varied levels. It allows catchup, it doesn't matter what their average level is, doesn't force you to calculate xp for each different level seperately, etc.
Verelor 05-24-05, 07:19 PM	Unearthed Arcana really creates more problems than it ever solves. It seems they've even managed to stick their noses into experience awards. The very very very very simplest and most enjoyable way to give and receive experience is the freeform experience variant presented on page 39 of the Dungeon Master's Guide. Basic Equation: 75 EXP x average party level is the award to each character in the party per balanced encounters. Easy encounters could mean 25 to 50 exp award per encounter. Tough ones could be 100 to 150.