battle field xp??? [Archive] - Wizards Community

battle field xp??? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Thubby
08-29-06, 07:28 PM my players have somehow managed to get themselves in a lord of the rings scale battle, standing along side hundreds of other soldiers, against 1000s of enemies.

the problem is, how does experience work??? should it get total xp for the entire enemy army divided among the friendly one? should i only divide experience among the party for the number the party killed? and what of assisted kills from friendly npcs, or something else entirely...

HELP!!!!!
Archmage Atrus
08-29-06, 07:32 PM Here's my more important question:
Do you actually plan to roll every single enemy combatant vs. every single friendly combatant?

See you in three years, when you're done with round 1.

Basically, the best advice you can be given is to separate off the PCs from the main army (be it in a cinematic "The PCs are in this magical circle where only a few enemies enter at a time while the rest of the battle goes on around them" or in a more specific "The PCs are sent to act as special forces" way.) Then you won't have this XP problem, and the PCs can just get XP for the enemies that they kill as a party.
AlphaSquirell
08-29-06, 07:50 PM Here's my more important question:
Do you actually plan to roll every single enemy combatant vs. every single friendly combatant?

See you in three years, when you're done with round 1.

Basically, the best advice you can be given is to separate off the PCs from the main army (be it in a cinematic "The PCs are in this magical circle where only a few enemies enter at a time while the rest of the battle goes on around them" or in a more specific "The PCs are sent to act as special forces" way.) Then you won't have this XP problem, and the PCs can just get XP for the enemies that they kill as a party.

Give them a "portion" of the army to fight, in waves.

They fight their part, and depending on how well they do depends on how well the overal army succeeds.

Say, have 4 PCs with 6 ally warriors.

Then, after say, "x" number of waves, each with "y +/- 4 guys", if there are 7 people standing, (4 PCs and 3 ally warriors, or even 3 PCs and 4 ally warriors, or any combination) have roughly 70% (7 out of 10) of the winning side survive. (if they win by that much, have 20-30% of the enemy forces run away or be captured, and if it is a total victory for the good guys, have less of them survive to represent a greater battle)

Personally, I steer away from large battles after "that one time" when we were "leading" armies into battle, but that was more like a "Wishes gone bad" experience than problems with large battles. :weep:
Thubby
08-29-06, 08:37 PM Personally, I steer away from large battles after "that one time" when we were "leading" armies into battle, but that was more like a "Wishes gone bad" experience than problems with large battles. :weep:

i do too, this happened because i didnt expect them to run to town, get a wizard to teleport them to the battle as soon as they heard of the battle 1/2 way acroos a continent.
and because im kinda new to the dm biz (this is only my 2nd campagn)

and no, i do not plan on individuall soldier stats, ill just make 1, and copy him
Sildatorak
08-29-06, 09:09 PM Your best bet is to have the PC's and maybe a few allied NPC's be in battle with a limited number of enemies at a time. Make up encounters with that scale in mind and have the battle that they aren't directly involved with be a backdrop for their fight.

Using this method, the best way to do xp is probably to simply figure that each CR of allied NPC will counter out an equal CR of enemy NPC. If a 5th level party of 4 with 6 allied figther 3 NPC's is up against a wave of 12 enemy fighter 3's, then you can just figure the experience as a 5th level party against a group of 6 CR 3 enemies.
Edymnion
08-29-06, 09:28 PM The "magic zone of combat" idea is your best bet.
Set up an area of combat of whatever size you think is best, and have a few opponents inside that area. If you want to get fancy, you could say that each round that an opponent isn't engaged, there's a 50/50 chance that he will leave the area (as in, if some guy walks into the PC combat zone, and doesn't get attacked, he's just as likely to move on to some other fight as to target the PCs), and say a 25% chance a new person will enter the zone. Maybe roll for two or three enemies per round.

That way, you should have a good "flow" of people in and out of the PC's immediant area to represent that they are actually a part of a larger battle, but still keep the battlefield managable enough to run and give xp for.
HIDragonstar
08-30-06, 12:05 AM In the book "Heros of Battle" they have some suggestions on running a large scale battle. I'm going to paraphrase a bit from it. It would be best to have the characters be involved with key areas of the battle field. If they succeed, their side starts to win, they fail their side starts to lose. When fighting have a group 'escorts' with them that will help them out in the fighting providing some who can help flank, or at least give the enemy someone else to shoot at.

Some scenerios:
1. Taking out the catapults.
2. Breaking through the wall of pikes.
3. The Archers are volleying arrows into the reserves.
4. A Mage with a Wand of Fireballs is running around. Take him out and use the enemies weapon against them!
5. The commander is running out to rally his troops, kill him!
6. A Captain is under presure and needs help.
7. The enemy is flanking us! Someone support the flank!
7. THAT IS A BALOR! (Or insert difficult monster)

They should get some xp for the individual encounters. Generally run for the four encounters, then have the armies retreat for the day. If not, you can see about continuing the battle. The CRs might have to be a bit higher, since the party does have some escorts.

If the party does manage to 'win' each scenerio their side starts to win. If they lose, their side starts to lose, it might even be draw and they will fight again the next day.
Thubby
08-30-06, 03:01 AM #7 lol, that actualy fits perfect, since the army does have a
terra-vec (my own creation, think huge, 1/2 earth elemental beast)
sessle
08-30-06, 03:24 AM The "Hero's of war" supplementary book is abso-fantab-u-lutley helpful on situations like this. I'll give you a quick break down::

In any given battle, there are two sides generally; the side the PC's are on, and the one's they're not. When the PC's fight in the battle, there are warriors on their side also ingaging in combat, and thus preoccupieing many of the enemies. As long as the PC's are just in the front lines of combat, not deep in enemy territory, there will be soldiers and the like aiding them, which means, that there will only be a few (say 5-20) enemies fighting them at a time.

Usually the PC's would get the XP for defeating the ones they only defeated themselves, however, in a general battle, the "badguys" will usually just be about CR 1/2 ~ 1 (with exceptions of course), so you may want to judge exactly how much XP do they get for plowing through creatures that actually provide no challenge.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Thubby 08-29-06, 07:28 PM	my players have somehow managed to get themselves in a lord of the rings scale battle, standing along side hundreds of other soldiers, against 1000s of enemies. the problem is, how does experience work??? should it get total xp for the entire enemy army divided among the friendly one? should i only divide experience among the party for the number the party killed? and what of assisted kills from friendly npcs, or something else entirely... HELP!!!!!
Archmage Atrus 08-29-06, 07:32 PM	Here's my more important question: Do you actually plan to roll every single enemy combatant vs. every single friendly combatant? See you in three years, when you're done with round 1. Basically, the best advice you can be given is to separate off the PCs from the main army (be it in a cinematic "The PCs are in this magical circle where only a few enemies enter at a time while the rest of the battle goes on around them" or in a more specific "The PCs are sent to act as special forces" way.) Then you won't have this XP problem, and the PCs can just get XP for the enemies that they kill as a party.
AlphaSquirell 08-29-06, 07:50 PM	Here's my more important question: Do you actually plan to roll every single enemy combatant vs. every single friendly combatant? See you in three years, when you're done with round 1. Basically, the best advice you can be given is to separate off the PCs from the main army (be it in a cinematic "The PCs are in this magical circle where only a few enemies enter at a time while the rest of the battle goes on around them" or in a more specific "The PCs are sent to act as special forces" way.) Then you won't have this XP problem, and the PCs can just get XP for the enemies that they kill as a party. Give them a "portion" of the army to fight, in waves. They fight their part, and depending on how well they do depends on how well the overal army succeeds. Say, have 4 PCs with 6 ally warriors. Then, after say, "x" number of waves, each with "y +/- 4 guys", if there are 7 people standing, (4 PCs and 3 ally warriors, or even 3 PCs and 4 ally warriors, or any combination) have roughly 70% (7 out of 10) of the winning side survive. (if they win by that much, have 20-30% of the enemy forces run away or be captured, and if it is a total victory for the good guys, have less of them survive to represent a greater battle) Personally, I steer away from large battles after "that one time" when we were "leading" armies into battle, but that was more like a "Wishes gone bad" experience than problems with large battles. :weep:
Thubby 08-29-06, 08:37 PM	Personally, I steer away from large battles after "that one time" when we were "leading" armies into battle, but that was more like a "Wishes gone bad" experience than problems with large battles. :weep: i do too, this happened because i didnt expect them to run to town, get a wizard to teleport them to the battle as soon as they heard of the battle 1/2 way acroos a continent. and because im kinda new to the dm biz (this is only my 2nd campagn) and no, i do not plan on individuall soldier stats, ill just make 1, and copy him
Sildatorak 08-29-06, 09:09 PM	Your best bet is to have the PC's and maybe a few allied NPC's be in battle with a limited number of enemies at a time. Make up encounters with that scale in mind and have the battle that they aren't directly involved with be a backdrop for their fight. Using this method, the best way to do xp is probably to simply figure that each CR of allied NPC will counter out an equal CR of enemy NPC. If a 5th level party of 4 with 6 allied figther 3 NPC's is up against a wave of 12 enemy fighter 3's, then you can just figure the experience as a 5th level party against a group of 6 CR 3 enemies.
Edymnion 08-29-06, 09:28 PM	The "magic zone of combat" idea is your best bet. Set up an area of combat of whatever size you think is best, and have a few opponents inside that area. If you want to get fancy, you could say that each round that an opponent isn't engaged, there's a 50/50 chance that he will leave the area (as in, if some guy walks into the PC combat zone, and doesn't get attacked, he's just as likely to move on to some other fight as to target the PCs), and say a 25% chance a new person will enter the zone. Maybe roll for two or three enemies per round. That way, you should have a good "flow" of people in and out of the PC's immediant area to represent that they are actually a part of a larger battle, but still keep the battlefield managable enough to run and give xp for.
HIDragonstar 08-30-06, 12:05 AM	In the book "Heros of Battle" they have some suggestions on running a large scale battle. I'm going to paraphrase a bit from it. It would be best to have the characters be involved with key areas of the battle field. If they succeed, their side starts to win, they fail their side starts to lose. When fighting have a group 'escorts' with them that will help them out in the fighting providing some who can help flank, or at least give the enemy someone else to shoot at. Some scenerios: 1. Taking out the catapults. 2. Breaking through the wall of pikes. 3. The Archers are volleying arrows into the reserves. 4. A Mage with a Wand of Fireballs is running around. Take him out and use the enemies weapon against them! 5. The commander is running out to rally his troops, kill him! 6. A Captain is under presure and needs help. 7. The enemy is flanking us! Someone support the flank! 7. THAT IS A BALOR! (Or insert difficult monster) They should get some xp for the individual encounters. Generally run for the four encounters, then have the armies retreat for the day. If not, you can see about continuing the battle. The CRs might have to be a bit higher, since the party does have some escorts. If the party does manage to 'win' each scenerio their side starts to win. If they lose, their side starts to lose, it might even be draw and they will fight again the next day.
Thubby 08-30-06, 03:01 AM	#7 lol, that actualy fits perfect, since the army does have a terra-vec (my own creation, think huge, 1/2 earth elemental beast)
sessle 08-30-06, 03:24 AM	The "Hero's of war" supplementary book is abso-fantab-u-lutley helpful on situations like this. I'll give you a quick break down:: In any given battle, there are two sides generally; the side the PC's are on, and the one's they're not. When the PC's fight in the battle, there are warriors on their side also ingaging in combat, and thus preoccupieing many of the enemies. As long as the PC's are just in the front lines of combat, not deep in enemy territory, there will be soldiers and the like aiding them, which means, that there will only be a few (say 5-20) enemies fighting them at a time. Usually the PC's would get the XP for defeating the ones they only defeated themselves, however, in a general battle, the "badguys" will usually just be about CR 1/2 ~ 1 (with exceptions of course), so you may want to judge exactly how much XP do they get for plowing through creatures that actually provide no challenge.