Being a Level Behind and The Awarding of XP

[RolandDeschain]

So my wizard has scribed so many scrolls he's managed to fall behind the rest of the party by one level. This will take effect next playing session, and he's only 18 xp away from "leveling up"(216xp behind total).

I was wondering what impact that will have on the awarding of xp, which will surely happen at the end of our next session.

[Gavinfoxx]

So my wizard has scribed so many scrolls he's managed to fall behind the rest of the party by one level. This will take effect next playing session, and he's only 18 xp away from "leveling up"(216xp behind total).

I was wondering what impact that will have on the awarding of xp, which will surely happen at the end of our next session.

What encounters will the group face between then and levelup?

[Madara]

I'm pretty sure XP doesn't carry over, so when he hits the next level, the XP from the encounter doesn't go over. Granted, I'm not really sure

[RolandDeschain]

Well, we just arrived at our destination(after a dungeon crawl that lasted three sessions), so there is bound to be a great deal of role-playing, and the session will probably conclude with a combat sequence. That seems to be the formula, and the combats are well planned as well as CR appropriate for our party(the DM has done a very nice job).

[BrokenChord]

What encounters will the group face between then and levelup?

How should he know? :smallconfused:

@OP: Not enough to make a difference, probably. Your character would have to be four levels lower to lower the average party level to the point where XP will change. I think.

[hymer]

Which system, OP?

In 3.5, you may get a small extra helping of XP for being lower levels than your companions. To 7th level character, a CR 7 encounter is worth 2100 XP to be divided among them, but if you are level 6, the same encounter is worth 2700XP in your calculation. So if you have three companions, they would each get 525XP (2100/4) while you would get 675XP (2700/4).

[Andezzar]

You calculate the XP as always but instead of a group of n Level X adventurers, you use a group of n-1 Level X adventurers plus one Level X-1 adventurer.

An Encounter Calculator (http://www.d20srd.org/extras/d20encountercalculator) should help.

[Keld Denar]

If you go here (http://www.d20srd.org/extras/d20encountercalculator/), you can play around with the numbers.

Try it with something like 3x ECL 6 PCs and 1x ECL 5 PC, vs a single CR6 monster. The level 6 PCs will get 450, while the level 5 PC will get 563, a gain of 113 XP. If it was a harder encounter, like 2 CR 6 monsters, the difference doubles and the spread likewise doubles to 226 XP difference. That's a lot of scroll XP.

What you want is for the next encounter to be a big one. That gives you the biggest bang for your level difference buck.

[RolandDeschain]

Which system, OP?

In 3.5, you may get a small extra helping of XP for being lower levels than your companions. To 7th level character, a CR 7 encounter is worth 2100 XP to be divided among them, but if you are level 6, the same encounter is worth 2700XP in your calculation. So if you have three companions, they would each get 525XP (2100/4) while you would get 675XP (2700/4).

3.5, and I'm not necessarily looking to "catch up", I just want to understand the proper application of the rules so I can help the DM(who wasn't crazy about me burning through xp because he was afraid this would happen) when the time comes....

EDIT: Thanks guys, you are being most helpful!

[Keld Denar]

Yea, just pass him the link to the encounter calculator on www.d20srd.org. It does all of the heavy lifting. I'm currently DMing a game with 1x 7, 3x 8s, and a single 9th level PC. Doing the full math by hand for 3+ encounters is too much work, and I'm FAR too lazy. Why reinvent the wheel?