Total experience point reward in 4e LFR modules? - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Total experience point reward in 4e LFR modules?

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
Los_Grak
Jan 09, 2010 18:35:23 So, something has been bothering me as of late. Why is it that the experience points awarded at the end of a 4e LFR adventure don't match what the total experience award is for the entire adventure?

For instance: let's say that the total experience value of all encounters is 4500xp but at the end of the adventure it is noted that the award is 960xp per player.

What happened to the other 3540xp? Am I missing something?

The only thing I can think of is that the 4500 xp is being split among the 5 player characters that the adventure is written for. But if that's the case, where did the extra 60xp come from? 4500xp devided 5 ways is 900xp, not 960.

Can someone please clarify this for me?
#2
salla
Jan 09, 2010 18:39:36 Yes, the XP is split per-player. The lost 60 xp is probably a typo.
#3
Dragomyr
Jan 09, 2010 18:48:02 XP is calculated based on the average number of players as you guessed: five. If you divide by 5, you get the base XP per player. However quest xp is bonus and seperate on the adventure calculation.

In your example, it seems you are going with a 4-7 lvl H2 adventure. 900 is the base xp, and 60/300 is the minor xp bonus. 60 per player, 300 XP total, that can be used by the author to either use for a challenge or a quest reward.

Hope this sheds some light on things.

XP Budget (Heroic/Paragon Tier)
Adventure Level Quest XP
1-4 (Low-2nd) 25 / 125
1-4 (High-4th) 35 / 175
4-7 (Low-5th) 40 / 200
4-7 (High-7th) 60 / 300
7-10 (Low-8th) 70 / 350
7-10 (High-10th) 100 / 500
11-14 (Low-12th) 140 / 700
11-14 (High-14th) 200/1000
14-17 (Low-15th) 240/1200
14-17 (High-17th) 320/1600
17-20 (Low-18th) 400/2000
17-20 (High-20th) 560/2800
#4
Los_Grak
Jan 09, 2010 19:20:18 Well, now that I've had that cleared up for me it makes sense. However, I still feel as if the players are being cheated somehow.
#5
Keith53
Jan 09, 2010 19:47:43 Normally in LFR adventures, the PCs get exactly the xp they faced. However, in a few adventures, an extra amount of xp was authorized by the Writing Director or Global Admin to make the adventure a tad more challenging.

If you are looking at the xp numbers at the start of each encounter, those are totals for a total of 5 PCs. At the end of the encounter and also in the xp summary in the back, the numbers are broken out per PC. Unless someone made a math error, there is a factor of 5 difference.

Keith
#6
Madfox11
Jan 10, 2010 9:05:20
Well, now that I've had that cleared up for me it makes sense. However, I still feel as if the players are being cheated somehow.

Cheated? The idea is that if you play it with 4 PCs, 1/5th of the xp is removed and if you play it with 6 1/5th is added. Mind you, that is a rough guideline and I don't think all adventures follow it. Otherwise, the value at the start is just the total xp, and just as with a regular home campaign it needs to be divided by the number of players. The only time you might get 'cheated' is when you as a player demand more of a challenge and the DM DMEs in some extra levels.
#7
Alphastream
Jan 13, 2010 17:00:17 For each tier of play there is a cap on rewards, including XP.

In general, the XP should match what you faced in terms of monsters, for a party of 5. The XP is equivalent for 4 or 6 players, though an author may take or add a monster that is slightly more or less than 1/5th of the XP. If you look at the first page of an encounter it lists the total XP of the encounter (based on 5 PCs). At the end it shows the amount earned per PC. This should then appear in the rewards page, summarized by encounter.

Aside from scaling to 4 or 6 PCs, the other thing that can happen is that rarely an adventure may use up to 20% (25% for specials) more XP. This is a deliberate attempt to increase the difficulty. For example, this was done for CORE1-14 so that the conclusion to the Thesk story arc would match the difficulty that made sense for the story line. You don't receive that bonus XP, though failing one encounter (and gaining half XP) would mean that another encounter could make up for it. CORE1-14 makes a skill challenge optional and explains this, for example. You could view it as "cheating", I suppose, but I think it is a good way to provide a variety of challenges.

Some specials have more XP used but usually grant more XP as well. In that case, you face more and earn more. This is an admin decision to exceed the cap. SPEC1-3 and ADCP1-1 are examples, which makes sense based on the stories behind those adventures.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Los_Grak Jan 09, 2010 18:35:23	So, something has been bothering me as of late. Why is it that the experience points awarded at the end of a 4e LFR adventure don't match what the total experience award is for the entire adventure? For instance: let's say that the total experience value of all encounters is 4500xp but at the end of the adventure it is noted that the award is 960xp per player. What happened to the other 3540xp? Am I missing something? The only thing I can think of is that the 4500 xp is being split among the 5 player characters that the adventure is written for. But if that's the case, where did the extra 60xp come from? 4500xp devided 5 ways is 900xp, not 960. Can someone please clarify this for me?
#2 salla Jan 09, 2010 18:39:36	Yes, the XP is split per-player. The lost 60 xp is probably a typo.
#3 Dragomyr Jan 09, 2010 18:48:02	XP is calculated based on the average number of players as you guessed: five. If you divide by 5, you get the base XP per player. However quest xp is bonus and seperate on the adventure calculation. In your example, it seems you are going with a 4-7 lvl H2 adventure. 900 is the base xp, and 60/300 is the minor xp bonus. 60 per player, 300 XP total, that can be used by the author to either use for a challenge or a quest reward. Hope this sheds some light on things. XP Budget (Heroic/Paragon Tier) Adventure Level Quest XP 1-4 (Low-2nd) 25 / 125 1-4 (High-4th) 35 / 175 4-7 (Low-5th) 40 / 200 4-7 (High-7th) 60 / 300 7-10 (Low-8th) 70 / 350 7-10 (High-10th) 100 / 500 11-14 (Low-12th) 140 / 700 11-14 (High-14th) 200/1000 14-17 (Low-15th) 240/1200 14-17 (High-17th) 320/1600 17-20 (Low-18th) 400/2000 17-20 (High-20th) 560/2800
#4 Los_Grak Jan 09, 2010 19:20:18	Well, now that I've had that cleared up for me it makes sense. However, I still feel as if the players are being cheated somehow.
#5 Keith53 Jan 09, 2010 19:47:43	Normally in LFR adventures, the PCs get exactly the xp they faced. However, in a few adventures, an extra amount of xp was authorized by the Writing Director or Global Admin to make the adventure a tad more challenging. If you are looking at the xp numbers at the start of each encounter, those are totals for a total of 5 PCs. At the end of the encounter and also in the xp summary in the back, the numbers are broken out per PC. Unless someone made a math error, there is a factor of 5 difference. Keith
#6 Madfox11 Jan 10, 2010 9:05:20	Well, now that I've had that cleared up for me it makes sense. However, I still feel as if the players are being cheated somehow. Cheated? The idea is that if you play it with 4 PCs, 1/5th of the xp is removed and if you play it with 6 1/5th is added. Mind you, that is a rough guideline and I don't think all adventures follow it. Otherwise, the value at the start is just the total xp, and just as with a regular home campaign it needs to be divided by the number of players. The only time you might get 'cheated' is when you as a player demand more of a challenge and the DM DMEs in some extra levels.
#7 Alphastream Jan 13, 2010 17:00:17	For each tier of play there is a cap on rewards, including XP. In general, the XP should match what you faced in terms of monsters, for a party of 5. The XP is equivalent for 4 or 6 players, though an author may take or add a monster that is slightly more or less than 1/5th of the XP. If you look at the first page of an encounter it lists the total XP of the encounter (based on 5 PCs). At the end it shows the amount earned per PC. This should then appear in the rewards page, summarized by encounter. Aside from scaling to 4 or 6 PCs, the other thing that can happen is that rarely an adventure may use up to 20% (25% for specials) more XP. This is a deliberate attempt to increase the difficulty. For example, this was done for CORE1-14 so that the conclusion to the Thesk story arc would match the difficulty that made sense for the story line. You don't receive that bonus XP, though failing one encounter (and gaining half XP) would mean that another encounter could make up for it. CORE1-14 makes a skill challenge optional and explains this, for example. You could view it as "cheating", I suppose, but I think it is a good way to provide a variety of challenges. Some specials have more XP used but usually grant more XP as well. In that case, you face more and earn more. This is an admin decision to exceed the cap. SPEC1-3 and ADCP1-1 are examples, which makes sense based on the stories behind those adventures.