Dungeons & Dragons Through the Versions: Part 5

I wanted to show people how Experience Points are awarded by the book. I have never used the rules as written in my Mystara Campaign since I saw them as too fidgety and complicated. It's definitely something that takes time and math skills. It's also good to take careful notes since the DM has to know who participated in each combat and what levels all the creatures and characters are considered to be (effective levels) for the challenge rating. Thus each character ends up with different values for XP based on what they received as a treasure share and battles in which they actually contributed. Obviously, PCs who did nothing in a combat don't deserve a share of the XP. Gygax made a point of this in the section on awarding experience. Just being there does not guarantee XP. A PC must do SOMETHING to gain experience points for a battle, no matter how small the contribution.

Here's a recap on the party composition:

• Elana Barzan, 3rd level human female cleric of Pelor (NG)
• Gort Martin, 2nd/1st level half-orc male cleric/fighter of Wee Jas (LN)
• Trixalix, 1st/1st level gnome male fighter/illusionist (N)
• Elmo, 4th level human male ranger (LG, NPC)
• Spugnoir, 2nd level human male magic-user (CN)
• Marshall, 0-level human hireling militiaman
• William, 0-level human hireling militiaman
• Kevin, 0-level human link boy (with hooded lantern)
• Mort, 2+2 HD hunting dog (owned by Gort)

Using the last dogma AD&D session, I made a spreadsheet on Microsoft Excel to calculate all the formulas needed. The following factors came into play:

MONSTERS DEFEATED:
2 green slimes (hp total: 17), adjusted HD total = 10 (2 HD+3 special abilities each, x2 creatures)
1 ogre (hp: 21), adjusted HD total = 6 (5 HD+1 for additional hp)
5 wandering giant rats (hp total: 12), adjusted HD total = 7.5 (0.5 HD+1 special ability each, x5 creatures)

CHARACTERS INVOLVED:
The whole party worked together to defeat the green slimes. (party effective levels = 17)
Gort (3rd), Elmo (4th), and Marshall (1 HD) were the only ones able to attack the ogre and defeat it. (party levels = 8)
Gort (3rd), his dog Mort (3 HD), and Elmo (4th) defeated the giant rats. (party levels = 10)

NOTE: The effective levels of multi-class characters are determined by adding levels together, dividing by number of classes and adding 1 for each additional class beyond the first; thus Gort's effective levels as a 1st level fighter/2nd level cleric is (1+2)/2 + 1 = 3 (round fractions of 0.5 or higher upwards). His hunting dog is a 2+2 HD creature and is thus treated as an effective 3 levels for challenge determination. Hirelings (0-level humans) are treated as 1 level because they have at least a partial HD greater than 1/2 HD. Also keep in mind that experience is split evenly between all those who participated - even though some might not gain XP due to being a hireling (i.e. Marshall and Mort the dog). Pets trained to fight are essentially hirelings, not henchmen, because they can never improve in level/HD, fight for their supper, and use Charisma of their master to determine loyalty (I actually roll a loyalty check each time Gort commands Mort to attack).

To determine challenge of an encounter, use the fraction of effective HD of creatures divided by total number of character levels involved. Thus:
GREEN SLIMES Challenge = 10/17 = 0.59
OGRE Challenge = 6/8 = 0.75
GIANT RATS Challenge = 7.5/10 = 0.75

The monster XP values were determined as follows:
GREEN SLIMES: Base XP = 610+2/hp (x2) = 1,254 x 0.59 challenge rating = 737.65 xp
OGRE: Base XP = 150+6/hp = 276 x 0.75 challenge rating = 207 xp
GIANT RATS: Base XP = 7+1/hp = 47 x 0.75 challenge rating = 35.25 xp

Since the 2 Green Slimes were a group effort, that total is divided by 8 (discounting the hunting dog), so everyone gets 737.65 / 8 members = 92 xp
The Ogre was only confronted by Gort, Elmo, and Marshall, but Marshall is a hireling and cannot gain XP. Still the total is divided by 3 combatants so Gort and Elmo each earn 207/3 = 69 xp.
The Giant Rats were killed by Gort, his dog, and Elmo, but since the dog also is not eligible to advance he doesn't earn xp, even though the total is still divided by 3 combatants. Gort and Elmo earn 35.25/3 = 12 xp.

Now we have to turn our attention to treasure. The party only recovered 823 cp, 46 sp, and 3 gp from the ogre's chest. They found nothing else during their time in the dungeon. At the time of this adventure, Spugnoir was not receiving a share of treasure, only getting any magic-user scrolls found. Elmo was still posing as a hireling at this time so he too was not getting a share of treasure. Marshall, William, and Kevin were all hirelings who were being paid to be there. So only three PCs were dividing this loot: Elana, Trixalix, and Gort. The shares were roughly 274 cp, 15 sp, and 1 gp each. This is equivalent to 3 xp each from treasure! NOTE: It is important for the characters to divide their treasure BEFORE awarding experience. Also, any items recovered from the adventure and sold off should net coin XP value for the items. Items kept as a treasure share should reward full XP value. Magic items sold gain the party gold value in XP, and magic items kept net the character keeping the magic item its XP value. Therefore, the DM has to know who got what and how much coin the party recovered from sold items BEFORE finalizing XP totals. I typically have the characters work on that while I figure out the combat and bonus experience values. Also remember that partially used charged magic items should be reduced in XP and gold values from those listed (since these are for FULLY charged items only).

Technically, one also adjusts treasure based on the difficulty involved in achieving it. The coin recovered from the ogre is reduced by that fraction (0.75) from 3.12 to 2.34 xp, but I was "generous" and decided to round this up to 3 xp (yeah, I know, big freakin' deal).

I awarded a flat rate of 55 xp for rescuing the 3 captives which was considered to be bonus xp, divided by those eligible for XP (3 PCs + Spugnoir and Elmo included), so that share came to 11 xp each. I based the 55 xp award on experience points for a 1HD gnome and 2 0-level humans as if they were defeated in combat. The merchants have a built in 100 sp reward which the PC will not see for a few days yet so that is not factored in. The iron ring from the gnome has no XP value since it is more of an interaction reward in the form of better reaction rolls from gnomes encountered.

The XP totals for the party look like this:

• ELANA: combat 92 xp + treasure 3 xp + bonus 11 xp (+10% earned xp) = 117 xp (S)
• GORT: combat 179 xp + treasure 3 xp + bonus 11 xp (+10% earned xp) = 212 xp (E)
• TRIXALIX: combat 92 xp + treasure 3 xp + bonus 11 xp = 106 xp (F)
• SPUGNOIR: combat 92 xp + bonus 11 xp (+10% earned xp) = 114 xp (P)
• ELMO: combat 179 xp + bonus 11 xp (+10% earned xp) = 209 xp (E)

Note the letters after the total. These indicate the performance of the characters as per the DMG and are used as an average over a number of sessions to determine how long (and essentially how much gold) it will take to train for next level. Elana cast some spells and remained true to her NG alignment but was not really getting involved in too many combats so she comes out with a Superior (2) rating. Gort and Elmo really did all they could in each encounter and merited an Excellent (1) rating. Trixalix hung back a lot (due to only having 3 hp), cast no spells, and really didn't get involved in combat encounters much, so he received a Fair rating (3). Spugnoir was only here for the scrolls and didn't cast any spells, fight in any combats, and typically skulked in the rear of the party, so I gave him a Poor (4) rating. This is something else I don't do in my normal campaign. Rating your friends' performances in the game is not really conducive to keeping friendships.... However, in the spirit of dogma AD&D, my players went along with it.

Obviously, no one made a level from this adventure session although everyone survived and accumulated a small amount of treasure. Those characters who are multi-classed had to split their xp totals in half and apply them to their classes, so Gort really only earned 106 xp for each class, and Trixalix earned only 53 xp per class! One of the penalties for having a multi-class character is slower advancement! Since Elana was only at the very beginning of 3rd level, she needs a LOT more XP to advance to 4th. Elmo and Spugnoir have high XP requirements to level and are not likely to do so in this adventure. The amount of treasure required to train for next level is going to be a problem here since there is insufficient treasure in the module to allow all the characters to train!! Elana will need 4,500 gp, Gort and Trix are close to getting 2nd level fighter and will require 1,500 gp each to train. Since Elana is not likely to see next level for a while, I only have to worry about Gort and Trix. Still, 3,000 gp worth of treasure is hard to locate in this adventure unless you recognize the value of some of the items near the final encounter and possibly sell off some magic items!