Goblins, hobgoblins and XP

[mebyon]

Please excuse my naiveté, but I am slightly confused:
I have very little experience of D&D (only got any from playing Baldur’s Gate and reading this comic!)
In that game (and backed up by the fount of all knowledge: Wikipedia: Hobgoblin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobgoblin_%28Dungeons_%26_Dragons%29)
Goblins are the weaker, smaller cousins of Hobgoblins…

...However...

In the early comics, where the Order are fighting to get to Xykon, they have to fight Goblins all the way and they all seem to gain XP from killing them.
They only appear to level up once in the story (where Belkar takes a level in Barbarian)… So how come in strip #439 Haley says that Belkar won’t get any XP from killing a mountain of hobgoblins. Please explain! Is it because he has levelled up more than I remember and if so at what point do you stop getting XP? I would’ve thought that an army of low level units would pose more of a problem for our heroes than one or two big monsters!

Hope you folks can help…

[Threeshades]

Please excuse my naiveté, but I am slightly confused:
I have very little experience of D&D (only got any from playing Baldur’s Gate and reading this comic!)
In that game (and backed up by the fount of all knowledge: Wikipedia: Hobgoblin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobgoblin_%28Dungeons_%26_Dragons%29)
Goblins are the weaker, smaller cousins of Hobgoblins…

...However...

In the early comics, where the Order are fighting to get to Xykon, they have to fight Goblins all the way and they all seem to gain XP from killing them.
They only appear to level up once in the story (where Belkar takes a level in Barbarian)… So how come in strip #439 Haley says that Belkar won’t get any XP from killing a mountain of hobgoblins. Please explain! Is it because he has levelled up more than I remember and if so at what point do you stop getting XP? I would’ve thought that an army of low level units would pose more of a problem for our heroes than one or two big monsters!

Hope you folks can help…
There were two level-ups. One in the dungeon of Dorukan and one in the Tavern in the middle of Somewhere.

And it actually might be possible that they also had level-ups in between, that havent been mentioned, but thats discussable.

However it might be possible that the goblins in the dungeon were higher level while we can assume that the Hobgoblins are all level 1 warriors (which is why belkar can kill them with one stab of a normal dagger)

I dont have the Dungeon Master's Guide here, so i can look up if the 2 levels actually made the difference. But its possible.
On the other hand its also possible they got the experience from tougher monsters.

[RMS Oceanic]

According to the Giant, the OotS started the Dungeon of Dorukan as level 8 characters, which still gets XP for CR 1 and CR 1/2 encounters, such as goblins and hobgoblins. General consensus in the Geekery threat is that all of the OotS have levelled up to around level 13-14, meaning that a single goblin/hobgoblin no longer provides XP for them.

This said, as smaller CR encounters band together, the overall CR rises, so Belkar may get his XP yet.

[Threeshades]

This said, as smaller CR encounters band together, the overall CR rises, so Belkar may get his XP yet.

but the XP are given for each hobgoblin and not for the whole band at once soit wont go like this:
"You killed 200 Hobgoblins, each of them is CR 1/2, so you face a CR 100 encounter alone so... Oh you get about 2.000.000 XP"
but it will go like this:
"You killed 200 Hobgoblins, each of them is CR 1/2, so let's see, the first one, gives you... 0 XP, the second one... 0 XP... the third... 0 XP [.....] and the 200th... 0 XP, so this is an overall of, wait let me calculate... 200x0.... 0XP!"

[mebyon]

Thanks, There's a lot I still don't know yet!

But it just goes to show how good this comic really is! With only a passing knowledge of D&D can, at least, get most of the jokes and references!

Well done Giant, keep 'em coming!

[Xect]

but the XP are given for each hobgoblin and not for the whole band at once soit wont go like this:
"You killed 200 Hobgoblins, each of them is CR 1/2, so you face a CR 100 encounter alone so... Oh you get about 2.000.000 XP"
...

If you want to get technical, that's not how it's calculated. As far as I remember, the CR rises by two each time the number of enemies double.
So I'd say the challenge rating, if you consider it as a group of monsters, would still just be around 15

But generally, with groups like that, you'd have to wing it with respect to challenge rating anyway, because the formula doesn't quite stand up to the heavy changes in combat circumstances.

[Stormwolf]

but the XP are given for each hobgoblin and not for the whole band at once soit wont go like this:
"You killed 200 Hobgoblins, each of them is CR 1/2, so you face a CR 100 encounter alone so... Oh you get about 2.000.000 XP"
but it will go like this:
"You killed 200 Hobgoblins, each of them is CR 1/2, so let's see, the first one, gives you... 0 XP, the second one... 0 XP... the third... 0 XP [.....] and the 200th... 0 XP, so this is an overall of, wait let me calculate... 200x0.... 0XP!"

Well that kinda depends on whether you allow different rules for mobs (of which there are various interpretations). A single hobgoblin is not a real threat to a level 13 character, but a mob of them can be.

Even if you discount that 5% of them are going to get 'natural 20' hits, dumb mobs can simply simply swarm / surround an individual, smarter / martial creatures like hobgoblins should be employing tactics to grapple / pin and possibly use weapons like nets.

Whether XP is given for 'mob' encounters is really DM fiat. I would give XP for Belkar's solo defeat of a company of hobgoblins. Would Vaarsuvius get the same amount of XP for dispatching a similar number with a single fireball from behind the wall and a line of soldiers... probably not.

[jindra34]

If you want to get technical, that's not how it's calculated. As far as I remember, the CR rises by two each time the number of enemies double.
So I'd say the challenge rating, if you consider it as a group of monsters, would still just be around 15

But generally, with groups like that, you'd have to wing it with respect to challenge rating anyway, because the formula doesn't quite stand up to the heavy changes in combat circumstances.

EL is dependent on the number of monsters the CR of a monster is set in stone.... grr...

[Copacetic]

but the XP are given for each hobgoblin and not for the whole band at once soit wont go like this:
"You killed 200 Hobgoblins, each of them is CR 1/2, so you face a CR 100 encounter alone so... Oh you get about 2.000.000 XP"
<snip>


HEHEHEH I wish

[Carnus]

Pffft, CR?

I have only twice during a game used that for a proper representation of how much experience I give them. Becase the players I play with know just how to arrange things and buy weapons/get feats that give them awesome attack power. Such as my level 1 fighter I had in a campaign that would do about 30 hp worth of damage a hit on average.

[totalnerduk]

Although Belkar probably won't get XP for what was obviously no challenge to accomplish, he should get roleplaying XP for his "shoeless god of war" panel.

Although, Belkar probably doesn't need XP at this point. What he needs is to get the MoJ removed ASAP. Then after that, he can go dungeon-crawling to get his level up high enough to take on the MitD. I'm sure that Belkar would relish the challenge.