Awarding XP

[HappyDaze]

Does XP get awarded for the value listed with the creature's CR (unadjusted), or is the awarded XP the "adjusted XP" that accounts for # of creatures and is used for building & balancing encounters?

[Zhorn]

Officially; use the unadjusted

4. Modify Total XP for Multiple Monsters.
... This adjusted value is not what the monsters are worth in terms of XP; the adjusted value's only purpose is to help you accurately assess the encounter's difficulty....

Unofficially: Zhorn says it's ok if you want to use the adjusted value :smallwink:

[rlc]

Yeah, unadjusted.
And also remember to divide by the number of party members, because people apparently forget to do that.

[lperkins2]

All that said, especially at lower levels, 5e is kinda slow level progression. Using the unadjusted values, you're talking 8 normal kobolds + 1 kobold commander Per Player to get from level 1 to level 2. It's incredibly grindy, unless you throw tougher challenges at them (the variety that can one hit kill (not knock out) wizards). I heartily recommend awarding the modified XP.

[Tanarii]

I'd been using adjusted, because I thought that was the rule. But leveling is far too fast that way. I've switched to unadjusted, which is a significant difference because I tend to use 3-6 enemies, so it's about 50%. Leveling pace is almost reasonable now. I thought it was just a 5e pacing problem, turned out it was just my error.

[HappyDaze]

I'd been using adjusted, because I thought that was the rule. But leveling is far too fast that way. I've switched to unadjusted, which is a significant difference because I tend to use 3-6 enemies, so it's about 50%. Leveling pace is almost reasonable now. I thought it was just a 5e pacing problem, turned out it was just my error.

This post was especially helpful to me. I wasn't sure if giving the adjusted value would make things go too quickly (going too slowly really isn't a concern for me or my group), especially in published adventures.

[Tanarii]

The downside to it is it's not really 'fair', since (in theory) two encounters with equal difficulty have equal ... uh, difficulty.

The upside is it's a lot faster to calculate XP if you're not already calculating adjusted so you can baseline difficulty anyway. (I am, so that actually wasn't a benefit for me.)

If faster leveling is a concern, and slower leveling is not, definitely use unadjusted.

[Shabbazar]

All that said, especially at lower levels, 5e is kinda slow level progression. Using the unadjusted values, you're talking 8 normal kobolds + 1 kobold commander Per Player to get from level 1 to level 2. It's incredibly grindy, unless you throw tougher challenges at them (the variety that can one hit kill (not knock out) wizards). I heartily recommend awarding the modified XP.

LOL. I guess it's all what you're used to. I'm AFB right now, but as I recall from 35 years ago playing AD&D you'd need to kill about 50 kobolds per player to go up a level. Especially early and then it only got worse. Times change...:smallsmile:

[lperkins2]

LOL. I guess it's all what you're used to. I'm AFB right now, but as I recall from 35 years ago playing AD&D you'd need to kill about 50 kobolds per player to go up a level. Especially early and then it only got worse. Times change...:smallsmile:

Aye, that's fair. I think part of the issue is there's an expectation in 5e that you're level 1 for about a session, then only a couple sessions at level 2. Unless you are running a dungeon crawl, that's a lot of kobolds to kill. Also note that 5e kobolds are tougher than their AD&D counterparts (not, like, a lot harder, but 2d6-2 vs 1d4 is just enough that spreading out magic missile isn't likely to kill one per missile).

[Aett_Thorn]

The speed of leveling is another reason why I like using milestone leveling. Makes it much easier to control the pace of leveling to what you want it to be, and not too fast or too slow based on the numbers.

Also helps if you’re having a lot of social encounters or non-enemy encounters that wouldn’t otherwise give much XP.

[lperkins2]

The speed of leveling is another reason why I like using milestone leveling. Makes it much easier to control the pace of leveling to what you want it to be, and not too fast or too slow based on the numbers.

Also helps if you’re having a lot of social encounters or non-enemy encounters that wouldn’t otherwise give much XP.

After the first couple levels, I usually let the players set the level pacing, sorta. Basically, instead of awarding XP for killing things, you get XP for leveling by spending time training and learning from professionals. This training is often expensive, so a portion of the take has to be spent on it. All in all, it usually works quite well, especially if you want a game where diplomacy and stealth are favoured over just brute combat as combat doesn't gain you anything directly.

[Tanarii]

The speed of leveling is another reason why I like using milestone leveling. Makes it much easier to control the pace of leveling to what you want it to be, and not too fast or too slow based on the numbers.

Also helps if you’re having a lot of social encounters or non-enemy encounters that wouldn’t otherwise give much XP.
True, but it also throws away the best motivational tool a DM has. And of course, players (as a whole) just adore getting XP. I've had plenty use some variation of 'pry XP from my cold dead hands' ultimatums whenever I've raised the topic.