Pathfinder XP System

[Vattic]

I was hoping to pick the playground's collective brain on this one.

I'm part of a pathfinder-only game where we houseruled that characters who die can be replaced with a character one level behind the average party level. Otherwise, xp gain is static, and there is no way to earn roleplay xp or any other type of bonus xp.

I found myself in a situation where my replacement character died in the very first session they were introduced in and I had to make another one on the spot.

Now I've found myself in something of a minor dispute with the rules lawyer of the group, and the DM has yet to weigh in. The DM is a great guy and an experienced gamer, he's just new to D20 in general, so he leans pretty hard on the rules lawyer guy to get stuff done.

So my question is essentially, in a sytem with this houserule, is it possible for my character to catch up with the other party members? Or am I screwed until epic levels?

There is another guy in my group that's gone through the same stuff (dying twice) and what brought all of this to the fore is that last game he dinged and according to my records, I shouldn't ding.

So I guess it's possible that depending on what level the deaths occured at, and how much xp was lost by having to reset that we would both advance at different rates, but to be honest the whole mess is just damn confusing for me to try and sort out.

[ryzouken]

Pathfinder's xp does not scale based on character level. A Goblin is always worth a set number of xp. However, the xp needed to achieve a new level increases non linearly. There will likely be a point down the line where you end up the same level as another party member for a session or two (more if you use the medium or slow progressions) but there will always be an exp deficit of X xp determined by the experience levels of everyone when you died. The good news is that the deficit will necessarily be small, due to your (presumably) low level.

I recommend suggesting your GM alter his xp regimen to offer you a chance to recoup that lost xp, perhaps by solo side quest or other means. Alternately, stop bringing in new characters and get your current one rezzed. The negative levels from PF rez are removable, and if you use Reincarnate, you can even avoid paying gold for dying (as Reincarnate's costly component is actually a focus)

[Vattic]

Pathfinder's xp does not scale based on character level. A Goblin is always worth a set number of xp. However, the xp needed to achieve a new level increases non linearly. There will likely be a point down the line where you end up the same level as another party member for a session or two (more if you use the medium or slow progressions) but there will always be an exp deficit of X xp determined by the experience levels of everyone when you died. The good news is that the deficit will necessarily be small, due to your (presumably) low level.

I recommend suggesting your GM alter his xp regimen to offer you a chance to recoup that lost xp, perhaps by solo side quest or other means. Alternately, stop bringing in new characters and get your current one rezzed. The negative levels from PF rez are removable, and if you use Reincarnate, you can even avoid paying gold for dying (as Reincarnate's costly component is actually a focus)

that's pretty much what i thought. i had one character die at 7th, brought in a 6th level, then he died at 11th, and i brought in a 10th. right now the highest level character in the party is 14th, and i just barely hit 12th a couple of sessions ago.

and i get your advice about swapping characters, but i had my reasons. one of the characters that died was a paladin, and the rules lawyer had a coniption fit over 1) someone was playing a paladin, omigod they are total killjoys and 2) i'm a guy and the character was a female. they literally told me that they look askance at players who play characters opposite their gender. to avoid any inter party conflict, i said screw it at brought in my second character instead. he died, and he had a RP reason to depise magic so it woudl have been very, very out of character for him to allow someone to rez him.

thanks for your advice and comments, sir! i will definitely talk to the DM but i'm not holding my breath. he's a very busy man, i doubt he has time to run a solo adventure or anything of that sort. but perhaps i can persuade him to change his xp system to something more workable.

[ryzouken]

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