Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Undrhil Aug 16, 2014 12:01:21	Hey.  I thought I asked this before, but I can't find my thread asking about it.   During AL mods, is the DM supposed to award XP after each encounter that gives XP, thereby allowing for the possibility of characters levelling up during the module, or is the DM supposed to award XP only at the end of the module, meaning that a character could actually go *over* the amount needed to level up before actually levelling?   One of the problems I had and saw in 4e was  that the modules gave an XP amount at the end and that's what DMs gave out, regardless of whether the PCs actually did anything with a particular encounter or not.  This made it really difficult for me as a DM when I tried to award XP based on what they actually did in the mod and they complained that I wasn't giving them the full XP award.  I told them that I awarded what they did in the mod and that kept insisting that I was supposed to give them to full amount.  I stopped DMing LFR for a while after that point because I wasn't going to argue over it.   So, I guess two questions:   Will (or do) the mods give an *estimated* XP award value, which is actually the maximum amount but it could be less to be given to players?  Or do they give an XP award value to be given regardless of what they players actually accomplishing during the adventure?
#2 Voort Aug 16, 2014 14:44:15	The adventure I've seen is divided into Episodes, with each Episode made of mutiple play sessions. Each combat and quest has an assigned XP value (with bonuses for achieving certain tasks), but each Episode has a maximum XP value that can be obtained playing it.
#3 DavidArgall Aug 16, 2014 20:02:59	Undrhil wrote:
#4 UnsounderGnome Aug 16, 2014 22:50:15	The way they've been doing AL at Gen Con is that they give out the XP at the end of the play session.  That is also how it was done during 4e Encounters at the ones I went to.  Also, at the Gen Con AL events, the DMs are actively counting up xp of defeated enemies, so if we somehow missed or skipped parts or enemies, we did miss out on xp.
#5 Prom Aug 16, 2014 23:02:47	I've been awarding exp at the end of the session or when a player has to leave early. I count up the experience points, because the group may not encounter everything listed in the episode or might gain extra experience for wandering monsters encountered. I also count up exp if the group takes a long rest as there's a chance someone might level-up.
#6 shivafang Aug 17, 2014 8:43:13	Prom wrote:
#7 Skerrit Aug 18, 2014 14:27:56	Also please note that adventures (generally based on tier) have a minimum and a maximum xp listed. Even if the characters should earn less than the min or more than the max, you cannot award a value outside these numbers given in the summary at the end of the adventure.   Adventures will regularly have more xp in them than the maximum because we want to include choices (both for role-playing and replay reasons). Sure there may be two combats in City X, but normally you only have time for one and they really are not intended to always have both occur. A skilled group that regularly plays together might get through both, but the admins still cap the xp roughly assuming one of the fights (in my hypothetical example). Also, we do not want to have an xp budget always dictate the story. Sometimes there might be more xp in the adventure for one story reason or another, often because a particular monster is called for who while has a high level, might be easy to fight in a particular situation (and in those cases we generally add more treasure, but the xp cap still exists).
(Reply to #7) BloodyTemplar	Am I supposed to tell the players that they might as well skip a day or two until we move on to the next chapter since D&D no longer wants them to earn XP?  We did not have access to the PDF at the start so no one knew of the rule.  We were using the written book module to get started on time and now know of the cap.  Several experienced players woudl have dumbed down their play style had they known of this, or simply not played.  Hw can I encourage players to complete the chapter now when they will get nothing for it?  There is so much XP available, especially if the players have several random encounters due to their choices.  The group was nearly 2nd level before they entered the keep.  I may have to start a second table for all teh disaffected players who want to stick AL where the sun never shines.
#9 shivafang Aug 29, 2014 10:44:21	BloodyTemplar wrote:
(Reply to #8) CarlT	BloodyTemplar wrote: