Anyone notice you cannot get any XP unless you kill something instead of just defeat something? also, you can coup de gras someone who was defeated by another person and get the XP... A bigger problem is that random encounters are not using the proper CR calculation, they calculate by the monster. So my party of 5, all 3rd level, somehow manages to kill 3 trolls at once.... they get 50 XP each per troll since each troll is its own CR. Whats even worse is the trols ALWAYS appear surrounding your party, even if you spotted them and got the option of engaging the enemy or retreating. (if you choose to engage, i would expect you to not be surrounded).
I grant the surround thing, which sucks and should be changed. The each troll separately thing is due to the fact that the game checks to see what you've killed since the combat started as soon as combat ends. Thus, if all the trolls are knocked out but not dead, combat will end. You start combat to coup one and then combat ends, with one kill, calculat xp. Repeat. The only way to get around that is to try to coup trolls as soon as they fall. You can often get the combat to end with several kills done. It's stupid and annoying, but oh well.
This is the correct implementation of the SRD, (getting XP based on each creature's individual CR). It might seem unfair, as 10 trolls at once is obviously more than 10 times as difficult as 10 trolls encountered individually, but that is where balancing the overall encounter difficulty comes in- and unfortunately the game is a "killer DM"! However, as trolls are CR5, and you are 3rd level, the correct XP per troll is actually 1800 divided by party number (5 characters). So each troll SHOULD be giving you 360 XP each!
I'm not sure what the SRD says in regards to this issue, but the DMG says something quite different. It basicallys says every time you double the number of creatures, add 2 to the encounter level. It also provides a table that indicates 3 CR5 creatures is a level 8 encounter, which should give 5,400/5 = 1080 XP for the whole encounter to each party member. Of course, that's equivalent to 360 per troll, so I'm not sure why the different routes, but anyway that amount of experience is based on the thinking that such an encounter should exhaust 20% or the resources of and 8th level party, which is nowhere near the capability of the trolls in this game versus parties in this game. I'm not sure why it's so easy, but a reduction in reward really does make some sense.
about the calculated CR - yes the encounterlevel goes up by 2 each time you double it, but you still award xp for each of them based on their original cr. the encounterlevel is only to get an idea about the challenge of the encounter, not the xp.
Hmm... a weird rule I don't happen to agree with, but anyway, most +2 CR give twice the XP anyway, so they wind up the same.
Well, daft as it sounds, XP IS divided by the number of characters; but other than that, XP is not affected by how many characters take on the monsters! So, in the game it is easier to beat the CR 5 monsters because you have 5 PC's PLUS up to 3 additional NPC's, which is twice the party strength assumed by the D&D rules for calculating challenge ratings etc. That's why you think its too easy to beat the trolls and presumably why they have reduced the XP (although according to the rules, the total XP should not be reduced).
I realize 4 members is presumed by the rules to fix the CR, but having 5 is only a slight advantage, and I've never used NPC's. At level 3 I can handily spank a troll, even 2, which is CR 7. Part of this is probably due to the amount of magic items and such that are available to one in this game, but I think just about all of the encounters are easier because they are pretty much very simple combat encounters. Goblins don't hide and ambush you, then run away and hide again. Trolls don't move out of flanked positions, etc. The stats and all that may be the same, so you'd think the monsters are just as hard, but they're not controlled the way a DM would control them (something else the CRs assume, I think), and so they are easier than they should be. That's my theory, anyway.
I see what you mean. However, on the other hand I have noticed that bugbears/gnolls etc are much harder than they "should" be. Clicking on their AC, it appears that they are being given the Monster Manual AC (which includes some typical armour & shield), PLUS another armour bonus like plate mail on top of that and/or shield again. This commonly gives grunt bugbears an AC around 20!!!! I wondered if it was a "balance" issue, but the human troops in the Temple have "correct" AC.
Well, of course there's nothing in the MM about not changing monsters. In fact, the game gives lots of guidelines for altering monsters. It also specifically states that if a monster has a certain piece of gear in its hoarde, it probably uses it, if it can. So the goblin with the magic javelin probably throws it at you, etc. There's no reason a bugbear can't have better armor than the standard one given in the MM. Anyway, lots of the bugbears have levels too, which is why they have so many HP, and occasionally things like improved trip feats and sneak attacks. I haven't looked into what CR they're being given, but you're probably right and it's not enough, according to the rules. Though, again, a bugbear with 6 levels of rogue would be MUCH harder in a pen and paper game than they are here. And of course, if they do have extra armor, it should show up in their inventory. Maybe a "temple bugbear" is just a new monster entirely, also something the rules allow, and the game just gave it a better natural armor class... Who knows?
