Cohort EXP Madness

[Zancloufer]

Okay so simple enough the level 6 feat Leadership that grants a Cohort. The Cohort is at most the user's level -2. They gain EXP if they contribute to the battle but they never are considered for increasing the party's effective level.

Now what I don't completely understand is this: How much EXP they gain and what happens if they stop being a cohort. Looking at the calculations some quick math gives me a simple EXP formula : EXP gained by PC with Leadership * (Leader level / Cohort Level).

Now this number while technically working gets really silly real fast. EXP is a river right? Well the PC with Leadership is one hell of a dam, but the EXP keeps welling up. Other than using the excess EXP for crafting would there be any other effects or bonuses contrived from having the total EXP of a character 1-4 levels higher than you?

[BananaNomNom]

They gain EXP if they contribute to the battle but they never are considered for increasing the party's effective level.

As far as I know cohorts are a second character in most cases they share in the party xp pool as well as increase the party's ECL as they are effectively a second you.

[Rainshine]

3.5 (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#leadership)
PF (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/leadership/)

I'm going to assume 3.5, because you talked about spending xp. From the linked text:


"The cohort does not count as a party member when determining the party’s XP.

Divide the cohort’s level by the level of the PC with whom he or she is associated (the character with the Leadership feat who attracted the cohort).

Multiply this result by the total XP awarded to the PC and add that number of experience points to the cohort’s total.

If a cohort gains enough XP to bring it to a level one lower than the associated PC’s character level, the cohort does not gain the new level—its new XP total is 1 less than the amount needed attain the next level. "

So first, your ration is inverted, it's cohort level/pc level, giving you a <1 fraction. Further, the text seems to indicate to me that the cohort xp total freezes until the PC levels up. So presumably the cohort could spend some, then go back out with the PC and get some more so it doesn't all go to waste, but... if you do the math on the ratio, it turns out there is no extra really. For example: PC is level 10, cohort is 8. 10->11 for the PC is 10k xp. So the PC earns 10k, the cohort gains 8k ((8/10)*10k)... which is coincidentally exactly how much it needed from 8->9.