Monstrous Monday: Monsters and XP

Not the art I will use for Lilith, but it is cool.

The work continues on my Basic Bestiaries. I spent some time over the weekend working on various Demon Lords, and working on revisions to my stat block that work well for me and any potential readers.  This has lead me to an issue I need to resolve.

One of the goals for all my Basic Bestaries is to provide players of whatever version of the Great Game they are playing (pre-2000) and their clones a useful and complete stat block for their games.  Another goal was to add what I felt were the best options for new school (post-2000) play. Generally speaking this has worked out well enough with a few extra notes added. But I have come to place where things have gotten messy. That is, how should I denote XP gained.

There are minor differences between all the various clones and even in the versions of D&D itself on how XP should be calculated and/or displayed for defeating a monster.

Let's take an example, the Aglæca from a previous Monstrous Mondays.

Here is the stat block.

Aglæca
Large Humanoid

Frequency: Very Rare
Number Appearing: 1 (1)
Alignment: Chaotic [Chaotic Evil]
Movement: 180' (60') [18"]
Armor Class: 4 [15]
Hit Dice: 8d8**+16 (52 hp)
  HD (Large): 8d10**+16 (60 hp)
Attacks: claw, claw, bite
Damage: 1d6+4 x2, 1d8+4
Special: Cause fear, magic required to hit, regenerate 1 hp per round, infravision, sunlight sensitivity. 
Size: Large
Save: Monster 8
Morale: 12 (12)
Treasure Hoard Class: XIX [D] x2
XP: 1,750 (OSE) 1,840 (LL)

Ok, a few things first. Items in RED are AD&D/OSRIC and some Swords & Wizardry add-ons to what would be a Basic D&D stat block. Items in GREEN are "new school" add-ons like ascending AC and the XP values for OSE and Labyrinth Lord.  I also want to point out one other item I have discussed in the past using different die types for size categories.  This is something from D&D 5 (and in the SRD). Not only does it make sense, it also replicates something I was doing in AD&D 1 anyway (though I only used d6, d8, and d10).  It helps solve a lot of issues with hp spread and size. 

But...there is a consequence of this. 

So my issue recently has been one of XP calculation. I want a book that can be used by players of AD&D and Basic D&D, as well as OSE, Labyrinth Lord, Swords & Wizardry, OSRIC, and Basic Fantasy.  The trouble is they don't all line up with XP point calculations.  And more to the point even something like my Aglæca here is a Large creature, so it's hp, and thus it's XP value, will be greater in AD&D and OSRIC than they would by the book.

What should I do about this?

Solution 1: List Them All

I did this above with just OSE and LL above.  It is comprehensive but unwieldy. 

S&W CL: 10 / XP: 1400
OSE: 1750
LL: 1840
BF: 1015
B/X: 1250
OSRIC: 1150
Advanced: 1150

The OSRIC and Advanced could be collapsed into one (and should).  My d10-based hp calculations do make some of these a little different. 

This works, but like I said, it is unwieldy.

Solution 2: The Point Spread

In truth DMs/GMs always tweak their numbers. So why not a point spread?  Something like this:

Min: 1015
Mean: 1365
Median: 1250
Max: 1840

Smaller. And provides a nice spread without going into details for each system (though the calculations are from all the systems).

Of course, when I publish, the B/X and Advanced numbers have to be removed.

I am also considering a median value or even a weighted mean.  And despite my desire to do so, I doubt I'll add anything like a standard deviation.  (ETA: I added the Median)

Solution 3: The Big Table

I could provide a huge table in the end with all the monster and all their XP calcs.

It wouldn't be that difficult since that is already what I have.

It will likely be some combination of "all the above."

Next task. Reorganize the stat-block for easier reading.

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 3, Room 13

Taking the Right-hand turn in the chamber, you move about 20' in, and another cell is on your right.

This cell is large and empty save for the glowing light coming from it.

Standing in the light for a full turn will heal 1 hp of damage.  Characters can be healed for a total of 1d6+1 hp in this manner.

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 3, Room 12

 Continuing on the hallway opens up to a large semi-circular chamber.  The hallway continues on beyond the chamber and there is another hallway to the right.

There are signs here of a recent battle. There is blood on the ground and spent arrows.

There are no bodies and no treasure.

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 3, Room 11

Continuing down this hallway, there is another cell on the right.

The door to this cell is open. Inside are three Zombies. Two are visible in the center of the cell, and the other is propped up against the wall and blends in.

The first two will attack per normal, the other will not attack until the characters are within arm's reach (5 ft).  The third zombie is the experiment, it has a bit more intelligence and cunning for an undead corpse and can move faster. It surprises on a roll of 3 or less on a d6 and can attack at any point with its initiative rolls.  It attacks as a 3HD monster and has the respective XP.

The zombies have no treasure.

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 3, Room 10

This cell is around the corner on the right. The cell door on the right is open and inside is a glowing portal. 

Standing in the room is a human woman. She has two crystals in one hand and is furiously writing notes. She speaks to the party very excitedly, but her language is unknown. She ignores whatever the party says to her; she is too excited about whatever it is she writing. 

She is really only interested in this portal. She has no treasure to mention. If she is attacked she jumps through the portal and runs off.

If the characters follow, the portal will close behind. Take the character sheets from the players and hand them their new Castles & Crusades character sheets for the same characters. 

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 3, Room 9

You come to a turn in the hallway. It turns to right, but before it does, there is another cell door on your left.  These cell doors are open.

This room is empty. There are signs of a recent battle. A pile of bones that look like they belonged to a couple of dire wolves is here. 

There is no treasure in this room.

--

There is still a group of ahead of the party and they dealt with the skeletal dire wolves.

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 3, Room 8

 Continuing down the hall there is another cell on the right.

This cell appears to be used as a storage area.  There are several chests, all are empty except for two.

Chest #1: has a Small Bag of Holding inside. The bag itself is empty.

Chest #2: Is actually a Mimic and it is starving.

The mimic itself has no treasure.