DMG Ch8 Experience Tables

Table 32: Hit Dice Value Modifiers
For example, the player characters manage to defeat three orcs, a rust monster, and a green slime. Each orc is worth 15 XP, since they are one Hit Die each and have no special abilities. The rust monster is worth 420 XP. It has five Hit Dice but gains a bonus of +2 for a special magical attack form (rusting equipment). The green slime is worth 175 XP, since its base two Hit Dice are increased by 3 for a special non-magical attack form and immunity to most spells and weapons. The player characters divvy up a total of 640 XP.

Not all powers and abilities are listed on Table 32. When dealing with a power not on the list, either use the special entries or compare the new power to one already defined.

The other group award is that earned for the completion of an adventure. This award is determined by the DM, based on the adventure's difficulty. There is no formula to determine the size of this award, since too many variables can come into play. However, the following guidelines may help.

The story award should not be greater than the experience points that can be earned defeating the monsters encountered during the adventure. Thus if the DM knows there are roughly 1,200 experience points worth of monsters, the story award should not exceed this amount.

The story award should give a character no more than 1/10th the experience points he needs to advance a level. This way the character will have to undertake several adventures before he can advance to the next level.

Within these guidelines you have a great deal of leeway. One of the most important uses of story awards is to maintain what you feel is the proper rate of advancement for player characters. By monitoring not just their levels, but also their experience point totals, you can increase or decrease the rate of character advancement through judicious use of story awards.

Finally, you can award points on the basis of survival. The amount awarded is entirely up to you. However, such awards should be kept small and reserved for truly momentous occasions. Survival is its own reward. Since story and survival awards go hand in hand, you may be able to factor the survival bonus into the amount you give for completing the adventure.

Once you have calculated all the experience points due your group of player characters (and you should do this, not your players), divide the total by the number of surviving and (at the DM's option) resurrected player characters. This is the amount each surviving character gets.

Although characters who died during the course of an adventure normally earn no experience (one of the penalties of dying), you can allow a character to earn some experience for actions taken before he died, particularly if the character died nobly, through no fault of his own, or at the very end of the adventure. In such a case, it is simpler to give the character a flat award than to try to determine separate experience totals for those actions the character was involved in and those he was not.

As an option, the DM can award XP for the cash value of non-magical treasures. One XP can be given per gold piece found. However, overuse of this option can increase the tendency to give out too much treasure in the campaign.

Table 33: Common Individual Awards

 * * This award can be greater if the player character sacrifices some game advantage to role-play his character. A noble fighter who refuses a substantial reward because it would not be in character qualifies.

Table 34: Individual Class Awards

 * * The priest character gains experience for those spells which, when cast, support the beliefs and attitudes of his mythos. Thus, a priest of a woodland deity would not gain experience for using an entangle spell to trap a group of orcs who were attacking his party, since this has little to do with the woodlands. If the priest were to use the same spell to trap the same orcs just as they were attempting to set fire to the forest, the character would gain the bonus.

When awarding individual experience points, be sure the use warrants the award. Make it clear to players that awards only will be given for the significant use of an ability or spell. "Significant use" is defined by a combination of several different factors. First, there must be an obvious reason to use the ability. A thief who simply climbs every wall he sees, hoping to gain the experience award, does not meet this standard.

Second, there must be significant danger. No character should get experience for using his powers on a helpless victim. A fighter does not gain experience for clubbing a shackled orc. A mage does not gain experience for casting a house-cleaning cantrip. A thief does gain experience for opening the lock on a merchant's counting house, since it might be trapped or magical alarms might be triggered.

Third, experience points should not be awarded when a player is being abusive to others in the group or attempting to use his abilities at the expense of others. Player characters should cooperate to succeed.

- OGL