How much exp should i give

[harveyslayer]

I am not that experienced with DMing, so i was wondering about how much exp i should give my party after each quest if the strongest thing they face in the mission has a CR equal to their levels

[Renen]

Not enough info. How many things do they fight?
How big is the party?

[SinsI]

Give them (their average level * 1000 XP) /12.
~12 encounters is the standard DMG ratio for encounters between level ups; it provides the desired ratio of new toys/encounter.

[harveyslayer]

could I increase that exp amount if they almost die or have a ghard time with thier fights. The first mission is a meeting cave that they get trapped in, they fight 6 kobolds and 2 gnolls. Also they are starting at level 2 with 1200 exp.

[Shinken]

could I increase that exp amount if they almost die or have a ghard time with thier fights. The first mission is a meeting cave that they get trapped in, they fight 6 kobolds and 2 gnolls. Also they are starting at level 2 with 1200 exp.

You can, bu you shouldn't. The DMG has a whole chapter on experience awards answering exactly those questions. Do check it out.

[Giddonihah]

Give them an xp amount that you are comfortable with depending on how fast you want them to level and progress.

If you want to go by CR to xp, their is a lovely dnd encounter calculator on the web, just put in the values and out pops the XP. Handy when you want to know how much xp 14 cr 1s and 3 cr 5s give when against 6 lvl 9 PCs.

But in addition to that you have the lovely Non Combat XP rewards, did they complete a quest? XP.
Did they escape a hostile environment, oh thats an 'encounter' and depending on the enviroment gives xp.
Did they Roleplay impressively, you can give xp for that. Did they solve a problem without violence inherit in the system, you can deduct points for the monty python reference, and otherwise reward xp.

Are your players feeling down, and you want to power them up a bit so they have a bit more fun? Guess what, you can easily tack on a few extra hundred xp using these as excuses.

[Captnq]

Depends.

try a sliding scale.

1st level 2 encounters = level
2nd - 3 encounters = level
3rd - 4
4th - 5
5th - 6
6th - 8
7th - 10
8th - 12
9th - 14
10th - 16
11th - 18
12th - 20
Then it stays at 20.

Then you hand out an RP bonus of the PC's level *50 at the end of any session where a PC did something so amazing it blew your socks off, or made everyone fall over laughing.

The reason for the sliding scale, in my opinion, is that low levels are boring, but high levels is game breaking. So we speed past the boring crap, then slow down when it gets to the double digits. The RP bonus is 1/20th of a level, so giving that out won't put any one player too far out in front of anyone else.

Unless you are doing hack and slash, in which case, calculate the CR, work out the math, and hand out XP at EVERY encounter where initiative is rolled. In hack and slash, you want to stick to the official XP guidelines as much as possible. Your players wouldn't be playing hack and slash unless they WANTED to follow the XP rules.

[Faily]

Pathinder: Each monster have their EXP value in their stat-block. Depending on how fast you want the party to progress, you use the Fast, Normal or Slow EXP progression found in the Core rulebook (before classes).

D&D 3.5: DMG pg. 38 outline the EXP award based on character's level and monster's CR.


In general, I know some GMs award a smidgen of EXP for good roleplaying and clever ideas, which I think is a good thing, but as a new GM, I'd suggest sticking by the RAW to begin with and instead find your little houserule additions once you feel comfortable with the EXP-system you're using.

[harveyslayer]

ok i will probably use the calculator. our party consists of 2 guys who have never played dnd before, and one guy who isnt good at it. what should i do there?

[Nibbens]

I'm going to link a thread to a very *ahem* vigorous debate that got started when I asked a simple question in a similar vein. While not exactly the same topic you're asking about there's lots of useful info that can be taken away from it. Enjoy! lol.

Here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?355079-What-actions-are-worth-experience-points).

[Giddonihah]

ok i will probably use the calculator. our party consists of 2 guys who have never played dnd before, and one guy who isnt good at it. what should i do there?

Well xp gainwise you can either fast track them to lvl3-4 where the HP totals are a little bit more leniant against player death, or just go a tad on the easy side with encounters to ease them into the system.

Oh and this is important, CRs assume a 4 person party. A 3 person party should be fighting things at a slightly lower CR than their current level. That encounter calculator automatically takes this into account when figuring out xp, but you shouldnt forget this when making encounters in the first place.

[Chernobyl]

What do you all do for story awards?

In other words, how much XP do you give out when the party rescues the princess, averts the war, finds the lost artifact, etc.? I mean beyond any XP earned for overcoming monsters, traps, etc., of course.

Thanks,
Chernobyl

[Nibbens]

What do you all do for story awards?

In other words, how much XP do you give out when the party rescues the princess, averts the war, finds the lost artifact, etc.? I mean beyond any XP earned for overcoming monsters, traps, etc., of course.

Thanks,
Chernobyl

Every group I ever played with gave 0. Your exp was based off monsters slain. I still do this to some degree - I always saw the end result in gold value (or story progression, which has it's own rewards) as a reward itself. Besides, how does the king give you EXP for saving the princess? Gold, okay, keys to the kingdom, okay, a tumble in the hay with the princess's prettier niece, okay... but how can he give you experience? lol.

However, as I'm getting older, I do see the value in giving tiered EXP based off of completed objectives. I'd say 1/10 of their current level worth at maximum, tiered downwards considering the "level of completion" etc etc.

[harveyslayer]

I was just planning on giving out exp after the quest is completed regardless of what it is or what happens.

[SinsI]

could I increase that exp amount if they almost die or have a hard time with their fights. The first mission is a meeting cave that they get trapped in, they fight 6 kobolds and 2 gnolls. Also they are starting at level 2 with 1200 exp.

Increase the treasure rewards instead; better equipment provides immediate result, as opposed to waiting for the level up.

[Chernobyl]

Every group I ever played with gave 0. Your exp was based off monsters slain. I still do this to some degree - I always saw the end result in gold value (or story progression, which has it's own rewards) as a reward itself. Besides, how does the king give you EXP for saving the princess? Gold, okay, keys to the kingdom, okay, a tumble in the hay with the princess's prettier niece, okay... but how can he give you experience? lol.

According to the SRD: "Story Awards: Feel free to award Story Awards when players conclude a major storyline or make an important accomplishment. These awards should be worth double the amount of experience points for a CR equal to the APL. Particularly long or difficult story arcs might award even more, at your discretion as GM."

I do story awards in a kind of free-wheeling, non-consistent way. I think I'll try this method and see how it goes.