Chapter Text
the bad kids' xp leveling
given recent revelations about the rat grinders, let's see how the bad kids stack up.
using milestone leveling, they are level 10 right now. i want to know how that compares to the xp they would have earned.
not all of the creatures they have defeated have been standard monsters from the monster manual, so some of these are going to be guesswork and estimations.
obviously there are some split scenarios; they're not always together during battles, some of them are buffing and achieving other objectives.
this breakdown is going to go battle by battle, for the sake of simplicity, with everyone splitting the xp 6 ways, no matter who killed the target. also i'm going to find xp levels for their humanoid adversaries that they've killed, because they presumably get something for them. also they killed ragh, but revivified him; do they still get xp from his death? we're going to get there.
critical assumptions for this analysis:
- XP can be counted in two ways: overall total, or accumulative total. the overall method states that you level up after hitting a certain benchmark quantity, i.e. 300 XP to move from level one to level two, 900 XP to move from level two to level three. the accumulative method requires a certain amount of XP to level up, on top of the quantity earned for the previous level, i.e. 300 XP to move from level one to level two, 1200 XP (300+900) to move from level two to level three.
- party members split the XP from encounters evenly; instead of everybody getting the greater total, they split the XP. i've included this requirement because otherwise we'd be stretching the bounds of sanity with the amount of XP earned by each person, for both groups.
XP Chart for clarification:
freshman year:
corn cuties + corn ooze + doreen:
this encounter works with a spawn point and boss monster; 14 corn cuties are spawned, and seven are killed before riz goes up the corn blob's butthole and shoots the parchment. doreen is killed by adaine, and riz shoots the paper out of the corn blob.
- the corn cuties have <9 hp, and based on their damage output, i'd rate them a CR 1/4, so 50 XP each, for a total of 350 gained across the party.
- doreen has <11 hp, and based on her damage output, i'd rate her a CR 1/2, given that she has multiple damage options that took several of the bad kids out at 1st level. 100 XP to adaine, but for the encounter it's distributed across the party
- corn blob: based on the way it behaves, i would consider it similar to a glabbagool, with pseudopods and engulfing attacks, as well as self-healing. for the sake of the encounter the win condition was not hit point sink but rather getting rid of the enchantment on it. CR 2, so 450 XP.
total XP count: 900 XP, divided by six is 150 each.
EDIT: 988 XP, for 164 each.
johnny spells & the tiefling greasers:
this encounter was a combination of hit point sink and car chase; they killed several by sending them offroad.
- one of the greasers died after taking 10 + 3d6 damage, so i'm assuming they probably have anywhere from 20-25 hp. damage output is usually 6-8, which to me says 2d6. so i'd call them CR 1, or 200 each, for a total of 1200.
- johnny spells takes 15 + 11 damage before he dies. his damage output is higher than his fellow greasers and he has other spellcasting prowess, so i'd call him CR 2, for a total of 450.
total XP count: 1650 XP, divided by six is 275
the black pit undead:
a little more complex, because the win condition is fleeing from the encounter, so i'm estimating for the big three 'villains' of this encounter and then adding a multiplier for the encounter as a whole.
- dj brainzz & the zombies: standard zombies are CR 1/4 (50 XP), and assuming a total of 10 or so, that's 500 from the zombies. from dj brainzz, i'd say something like CR 3 (700), given the abilities he uses, but with hp nerfed to fit the encounter.
- sasha, lord of whispers & the vampires: vampire spawn are CR 5 (1800 XP), and 2 had a significant effect, but i'd say that since they aren't technically defeated, i'd half the xp gain (1800 XP)
- jawbone & the werewolves: werewolves are individually CR 3 (700 XP) and there were 2 that had a significant effect, but again, none were killed, so we halve that number again (700XP)
total XP count: 3700 XP, divided by six is ~616 each
dwarf skaters + golem:
again a separate win condition; the dwarves run instead of being defeated after fig releases gorthalax. so again, estimates with a multiplier
- torek and the dwarves: torek is at least 5th level, since she can cast spirit guardians, so i'd put her at a CR 2 (450 XP). i counted 5 other dwarves, who'd be CR 1/2 each, for a total of 500 XP. totaled it's 950.
- crush is like a huge stone golem (CR 10), but is nerfed by the half-pipe, so i'm applying a .66 multiplier, which comes out to 3933 XP.
total XP count: 4883 XP, divided by six is 813 each.
EDIT: 3900 XP, for 650 each
bloodrush skeletons + ragh + daybreak + owlbear:
they got the orb and chest figured out and somehow also made this a hit point sink.
- skeletons: individually are CR 1/4, or 50 XP each, but there are 10 or so of them, so i'm applying a 1.5 multiplier to the total, which results in 750 XP
- owlbear: pretty standard; CR 3 for a total of 700 XP
- ragh: i'd pretty comfortably put him at CR 5, for a total of 1800 XP. they get XP for ragh because they killed him.
- daybreak: i'd put him at like a CR 9, based on his use of indomitable and number of attacks, so a total of 5000 XP.
total XP count: 8250 XP, divided by six is 1375 each
aelwyn and her elementals:
smaller split to figure out this time; just aelwyn and her elementals.
- elementals: all CR 5 (1800 XP). i think i counted 8: air (2), fire (2), water, earth, slime, and shadow, so that totals to 14400
- aelwyn: she casts time stop with aguefort's watch, not from her own magic. i'd put her at like 14th level, and thus CR 9 (5000 XP). they get the full amount because they do defeat her--she doesn't flee or get fled from.
total XP count: 19400 XP, or 3233 each
biz + the arcade ghosts:
a couple of objectives here--getting the girls out, avoiding the traps, and questioning biz, so this split will also consider the arcade traps as part of the cr of the encounter.
- ghosts: CR 4 (1100 XP) individually. assuming there's 10 of them, that's 11000 XP right there.
- traps: save dc is probably 15, which would set up the games to dole out anywhere from 1800 to 2900 XP. i'm leaning towards the low end, just to contextualize biz. 4 successful captures and releases, so 7200 from the games.
- biz is doing a bunch of complex enchantments and summonings. I would set him equal to aelwyn and thus CR 9 (5000 XP).
total XP count: 23200 XP, or 3866 each
the harvestmen:
we don't have a technical count for most of these, so it's going in as a general number for the party, given what they gave up to be at prom and save their families.
fabian gets a little extra for killing bill; i would estimate that bill is CR 10 minimum, so fabian gets 5900 from killing him, even though he didn't do the deed fully.
total XP count: 10000 XP, or 1666 each
kalvaxus, penelope & dayne:
simple splits here; ragh is not being included because he was pretty easily convinced to be an ally.
- dayne: i'm using daybreak's stats to put him at a CR 9 (5000 XP)
- penelope: high level spellcaster like aelwyn, so she's also a CR 9 (5000 XP)
- kalvaxus: adult red dragon. CR 17, 18000 XP
total XP count: 28000 XP, or 4666 each
freshman year total:
- 99088 as a group, based on these statistics
- 16515 for each individual. so if the bad kids were running on xp, they'd only have gotten to level 6 using the overall method, and level 5 accumulatively.
- we can probably assume that they receive some xp while attending the AAA to make up the difference; otherwise the school wouldn't really serve a mechanical purpose in this scenario
fantasy high oneshots:
I know not all of them were there for all of these. i am sticking to the 6-way split, because i can assume the missing members would have made it up somehow. This also does not include College Visit or Boys' Night, because they would not have earned XP from the encounters that they faced in those oneshots. the college students dealt with Gregg's summoned demonic serpent, and the Bad Boys fled from Chungledown Bim. They do not get XP for stealth mode.
occularia:
- she's a beholder. CR 13 (10000 XP)
5 party fouls:
there are 5 of them: the gorgon of shade, minotaur of stunts, centaur of sloppiness, harpy of songs, and sphinx of solitude.
- gorgon: CR 5, 1800 XP
- minotaur: CR 3, 700 XP
- centaur: CR 2, 450 XP
- harpy: CR 1, 200 XP
- sphinx: CR 11, 7200 XP. i'm going to half that because she got done in by a pun.
oneshots total: 16750 total, or 2791 each.
the going total is then 115838, split into 19306 each. so the bad kids would be around level 6, overall and accumulatively.
sophomore year:
I know there are hirelings this season. I am maintaining the 6-way split because it's easier. This will mostly be addressed by only covering the creatures that the bad kids themselves face, with environmental XP coming from the groups they faced with the hirelings.
cambion, barlguras, vrocks:
we're dealing with a couple things here: fig and riz are separated and the party is split. the demons have reinforcements.
- cambion: 1 of them. CR 5, 1800 XP
- barlgura: total of 8, 6 killed. CR 5, 1800 XP. total of 10800 XP.
- vrocks: 2 of them. CR 6, 2300 XP. total of 4600 XP
total XP count: 17200 XP, or 2866 each.
whitclaw + pirates + elves + air elemental:
i am not counting fabian's first attempt, because he doesn't really accomplish anything.
- mindflayers: 8 of them. CR 7, 2900 XP each. i'm halving this number because while they get some hits in, i don't think they kill all of them. 11600 total.
- elves + elemental: 4 CR 9 spellcasters (20000) plus the elemental (1800). 21800 total, halved because they do not defeat the elves. 10900 total.
- whitclaw: i'd put him at around CR 11 (7200 XP), since this includes his magic items and specialized skills
total XP count: 29700 XP, or 4950 each
fire elementals, tree constructs, kir & angwyn:
- fire elementals: 3 of them, CR 5, 1800 each. total of 5400
- tree constructs: using tree blight stats, with 4 constructs. CR 7, 2900 XP. 11600 total
- kir & angwyn: 2 CR 9 spellcasters (10000). i'm giving full value for these because they get them pretty well.
total XP count: 27000 XP, or 4500 each
tiefling greasers + alastair ash + penelope + daybreak + dayne + harvestmen(4) in hell:
a little bit different to how they were freshman year--some of these have stayed the same while others have gone up. EDIT: 1.5x modifier on everything.
- tieflings: i'd say CR 3 (700 XP), but there are 8 of them. so i'm adding a multiplier of 1.33, for a total of 7448 XP.
- penelope: still a CR 9 spellcaster based on the spells used, but i'd bump up to 11 given the difference in spell use and damage output. total of 7200 XP.
- dayne: still CR 9. 5000 XP.
- harvestmen: based on my freshman year estimate, i'd put them at CR 4, or 1100 XP. 4400 XP total.
- daybreak: daybreak has changed, now having legendary actions to command his 'troops'. CR 13, 10000 XP total.
total XP count: 48300 XP, or 8050 each
nightmare forest:
similar to family in flames, i'm giving a general estimate for xp gains from the nightmare forest.
total XP count: 30000 XP, 5000 each
angwyn abernant:
this one is exclusive to adaine, because she did execute a fully separate kill beyond what she faced in the forest. angwyn is a CR 9 spellcaster, and thus adaine has 5000 xp extra, much like fabian got from killing bill at the end of freshman year.
nightmare king possession + court of elders + transubstantions + kalina + arianwen:
- nightmare king possessed hirelings: i'm going to estimate CR 8 for each of them, so 3900 each, for a total of 11700. XP gained from dispelling the possession.
- court of elders: i'm going to estimate that all of the court of elders are at least CR 10, with the centaur and wood elf at CR 10, treant and sprite at CR 11, and the unicorn at CR 12. total of 34600
- transubstantiations: this is things like dispelling the dragon madness, cutting down the tree for the broomstick, etc. if you take the tree's hp at around 200 iirc, each transubstantiation is a CR 9 task, for a total of 15000 XP earned.
- kalina: she has six attacks, and a variety of intensive illusion magic. she's also prevalent throughout the season in a lot of very complex ways. i'd put her at around CR 18, because even though she's a transubstantiation, she's remarkably difficult to defeat. 20000 XP from kalina
- arianwen: high level spellcaster, given that she can power word kill. i'd put her at 18th level, and thus a CR 13, for a total of 10000 XP
resurrecting and naming a deity goes so far beyond the scope of XP that i wouldn't even know how to count it. also the bad kids never technically attack the nightmare king, so they would get as much XP as the Bad Boys' got from Chungledown Bim on Boy's Night, which is to say none.
total XP count: 91300 XP, or 15216 each.
sophomore year total: 243500 XP, or 40583 each
going total is 359338 XP, or 59890 each. for the overall method, that works for level 9, for accumulative, it's level 7.
the rat grinders' xp leveling
The Rat Grinders have gone into the far haven woods every day for the last two years, for 3 hours after school, and 9 hours/day on weekends. Presumably they keep this up during the summer.
They have supposedly defeated 80,000 or more of three types of creatures: rats, spiders, and twig blights. There are some variations to what these could be, so here's a list of what this could encompass, assuming the rat grinders are not facing creatures over CR 1.
- rat: CR 0, 10 XP
- spider: CR 0, 10 XP
- giant rat: CR 1/8, 25 XP
- giant wolf spider: CR 1/8, 25 XP
- twig blight: CR 1/8, 25 XP
- swarm of rats: CR 1/4, 50 XP
- needle blight: CR 1/4, 50 XP
- swarm of spiders: CR 1/2, 100 XP
- thorn slinger: CR 1/2, 100 XP
- vine blight: CR 1/2, 100 XP
- giant flying spider: CR 1, 200 XP
- giant spider: CR 1, 200 XP
- ice spider: CR 1, 200 XP
- razorvine blight: CR 1, 200 XP
- thorny: CR 1: 200 XP
The full list is a little difficult to do calculations on, so let's condense it. assume a quarter of the 80000 creatures were CR 1/8, a quarter were CR 1/4, so on and so forth.
How much XP would they earn? How much would they level for the amount they ground? Grinded? for?
This preliminary analysis discounts CR 0 creatures.
Keeping in mind that these analyses will generally result in the rat grinders having enough XP to be over level 20 for the overall total:
For the CR 1/8s: assuming roughly 20,000 creatures, they'd get 25 XP per, which means 500,000 XP. that's enough to get to level 13, on just those creatures. divided 6 ways, assuming the rat grinders have 6 members, it's 83,333.33, which is enough to get you to 8th level, or 10th by the overall method.
This scales up to the 1/4s, 1/2s and the 1s since the XP gains double for each challenge rating rather than plateauing as they do at higher levels.
For the CR 1/4s: 1,000,000 xp. that's cumulatively enough to get to level 16 on just those creatures. divided 6 ways, assuming the rat grinders have 6 members, it's 166,666.66, which is enough to get you to 9th level, and 15th level by the overall method.
For the CR 1/2s: 2,000,000 xp. that's cumulatively enough to get to level 19 on just those creatures. divided 6 ways, assuming the rat grinders have 6 members, it's 333,333.33, which is enough to get you to 11th level, and 19th by the overall method.
For the CR 1s: 4,000,000 xp. well over what you'd need to get to level 20, on just the CR 1s. divided 6 ways, assuming the rat grinders have 6 members, it's 666,666.66, which is enough to get you to 14th level, and well over what you'd need to get to level 20 by the overall method.
Using this estimate and adding all of this up, each member of the rat grinders would have gathered enough XP to be level 17 by the accumulative method, and well over level 20 by the overall method.
Obviously the actual numbers would scale differently; initially, they would likely have to tackle these creatures as a party, but over time would take care of them individually.
This estimate seems extreme for students of the Aguefort Adventuring Academy; let's scale it down a bit. The creatures specifically mentioned are probably giant rats, giant wolf spiders, and twig blights, based on the descriptions from jawbone. They could also be rats, spiders, and twig blights, which are a combination of CR 0 and CR 1/8.
The first group are all CR 1/8, or 25 XP each. 80000 would give an xp total of 2,000,000, which would put each of the rat grinders at around 11th level, a little higher level than the bad kids at the moment, and 19th level by the overall method.
The second group is 2/3rds CR 0 and 1/3rd CR 1/8. divided properly between the three types of creatures, this gives a total of 1,200,000, which would put the rat grinders around 10th level, or 17th level by the overall method.
The events of Episode 4: Under Pressure
The first true show of skill from the rat grinders comes from Mary Ann Skuttle, the group's kobold barbarian. She rolled a 35 on an athletics check to tackle Gorgug.
Now, she could have accomplished this a few different ways. My initial hypothesis involved the use of Skill Empowerment, which is a 5th level transmutation spell that grants expertise in a singular skill for an hour of concentration. My other hypothesis was usage of the Brawny feat, which grants a plus 1 to strength and expertise in athletics.
We now know that she has the feat, or another skill expert feat to have expertise on her own, on top of a 'near-crit' roll of 18-19. Further discussion yields the fact that she had an additional magic item that adds to her strength, such as a belt of giant strength.
All of these factors combined would allow her to roll a 35 at around 10-11th level, as previously estimated.
so what does all this mean?
the bad kids are getting 'special treatment' and leveling up by milestone rather than going to class and getting it by way of xp. of we assume an xp model, the 'special treatment' that would enable the bad kids to be almost level with the rat grinders, even though technically they have not defeated as many monsters.
from the perspective of arthur aguefort, this makes sense. he doesn't even like the bad kids; however, they are going out and following his method of adventuring--popping off and saving the world, sometimes from problems you've caused. meanwhile, the rat grinders are devastating the local ecosystem every day for 3 hours a day on weekdays, and 9 hours/day on weekends.
also this scaling speaks to the fact that continually grinding on the beginner level creatures has diminishing returns--always doing the easy thing is not going to help you progress; challenging your limits will.
junior year:
obviously junior year is ongoing, so this chart will be updated at the conclusion of each battle. right now we're looking at a finale level fight; the stats from all of the night yorb questing they did over the summer, as well as what we saw on screen.
EDIT 8/7/2024: here's the full junior year count, with some edits made to the night yorb fight. originally posted on tumblr 6/11/2024.
all of the links to previous analytics:
- the original post [rat grinders levels]
- the first follow-up [bad kids level up through sophomore year]
- mall madness update
- pre-last stand update
- the last stand exam
- rock the boat update
- statting out the rat grinders
- file aaa-bkq-04-doj
the cult of the night yorb: i previously covered this in my initial estimation of the bad kids' xp gains, but we're repeating it here for the sake of archival consistency. as a reminder, the majority of the yorbies fought were out of battle, so they start with ~70000 XP gained from fighting the yorbies over the course of the summer. no contextual multipliers for this fight--it was pretty straightforward and appropriately leveled for the bad kids.
- yorbies: CR 3. this category also accounts for things like the yath-mags. total of 15 fought in battle. 10500 XP.
- the night yorb: CR 19. total of 22000 XP for the sealing
total XP count: 32500 XP, plus 70000 for the yorbies they fought previously, for a total of 102500 XP, or 17083 each.
mall madness: this one is tricky for a couple of reasons--first, the number of opponents, and second, the complicated interactions with cassandra. thus, this battle has a few modifiers to account for the difficulties. i do think it was initially leveled correctly--the bad kids were handling the threats appropriately and responding both to the time pressure of the fight and cassandra's crisis. the turning point came with the shrimp incapacitation. it was, at root, brennan exerting control over the battlefield to ensure the fight wasn't just the bad kids whaling on the enemies--it just ended up turning into worse consequences than maybe anticipated.
- shatter-stars: CR 3, based on their abilities. total of 13 fought, 6 defeated. 1.5x modifier for number. 6300 XP
- rage mages: CR 5, based on their abilities. total of 10 fought, 3 defeated. 1.5x modifier for number. 8100 XP
- cassandra: i placed her at CR 22, equivalent to her stats as the nightmare king. since she shifted between being an opponent, an ally, and incapacitated, i placed a 0.5x modifier on her. 20500 XP
- kalina: CR 18, as established in sophomore year. i modified her as well because we really didn't see her do very much during this fight. 10000 XP
total XP count: 44900 XP, or 7483 each
frostyfaire folk festival: the title is really long and i'm not doing the whole thing. anyway, this fight is of a comparable level to the night yorb fight, with modifiers applied for number of opponents and the additional objectives of the fight (saving gorgug's parents, evacuating the civilians, protecting ruben, the vulture dimension)
- principal grix: CR 13, as an ~18th level spellcaster with lair actions. 1.5x modifier. 15000 XP
- sex lawnmower: CR 10, with a 1.5x modifier, for 8850 XP
- washer/dryer: CR 7, with a 1.5x modifier on each, for 8700 XP
- dildo robots: CR 4, for a 1.5x modifier on each, for 4950 XP
total XP count: 37500 XP, or 6250 each
baron's game: this one was a fun one to stat out. i deliberately did not include the divine interventions as part of the encounter because they did not actively fight them, they only escaped them. otherwise, it's a fun little puzzle with pvp mechanics included as part of the fight.
- baron from the baronies: the version we saw didn't have too many abilities beyond the mirror travel and possession mechanics. it's possible baron v2.0 might have been a more powerful opponent. CR 10, with a 1.5x modifier for the possession mechanics.
- zayn darkshadow: essentially a ghosty 12th level spellcaster. CR 8. 1.5x modifier for the time mechanics and environmental factors. his particular bane (edgar) went unused against him. 5850 XP
- gulsom: uses flesh golem stats. CR 5, with a 1.5x modifier for the time mechanics and environmental factors. 2700 XP
- zara sool: same deal as zayn, but as a vampire warlock. CR 8. 1.5x modifier for the time mechanics and environmental factors. her particular bane (garlic) went unused against her. 5850 XP
- jawbone: uses actual werewolf stats, at CR 3. his particular bane (wolfsbane) went unused and he was not actually faced in combat, thus a 0.5x modifier was applied. 350 XP
- kalina: CR 18, as previously depicted. 0.5x modifier because she wasn't actually encountered but instead defeated by the destruction of the curse and escape from baron's dimension. 10000 XP
- alt gilear/athenriel: we don't know what his actual abilities would have been, so i put him at a CR 12, with a 0.5x modifier. essentially this is the XP gain for breaking the curse of the armor of pride. 4200 XP
total XP count: 37800 XP, or 6300 each
the last stand: this one i covered in my in-universe meta; i did change it slightly after running it through some encounter simulators. everything gets a 2x modifier because they were taking a test at the same time and dealing with a literal mob of enemies, though the strategy was incredible. they also had some extraordinary luck in this encounter in terms of gorgug's crits, adaine not taking hits, and kristen's true sight. since i've gone through this already this breakdown is going to be very simple.
- otyugh: CR 5 for 3600 XP
- ochre jellies: 3 total at CR 2, for 2700 XP
- gorgon: CR 5 for 3600 XP
- hydra: CR 8 for 7800 XP
- skeletons: 8 total at CR 1/4, for 800 XP
- mimic: CR 2 for 900 XP
- manticore: CR 3 for 1400 XP
- shrimp dragon: using young black dragon stats, CR 7 for 5800 XP
- roper: CR 5 for 3600 XP
- umber hulk: CR 5 for 3600 XP
- stirges: 8 total at CR 1/4, for 800 XP
- wyvern: CR 6 for 4600 XP
- crab man: using hulking crab stats, CR 5 for 3600 XP
- rust monsters: 8 total at CR 1/2, for 1600 XP
- pentacorn: using modified unicorn stats, CR 6 for 4600 XP
- purple worm: CR 15 for 26000 XP
total XP count: 75000 XP, or 12500 each
rock the boat: another one i've briefly covered before; much like the last stand, the bad kids are running with multiple objectives, but the combat itself is very much hit point sinks. everything has a 1.5 modifier for the party and ship mechanics, since the bad kids had to split their turns between shepherding votes and keeping the ship in the sky.
- black dragon wyrmling: CR 2 for 675 XP
- white dragon wyrmling: CR 2 for 675 XP
- green dragon wyrmling: CR 2 for 675 XP
- blue dragon wyrmling: CR 3 for 1050 XP
- young white dragon: CR 6 for 3450 XP
- young black dragon: 2 total at CR 7 for 8700 XP
- young green dragon: CR 8 for 5850 XP
- young blue dragon: CR 9 for 7500 XP
- adult red dragon: since it's functionally two dragons with the legendary actions of a single dragon, i modified it up to CR 21 for 49500 XP
- ancient blue dragon: CR 23 for 75000 XP. oisin's grandma, killed by riz gukgak the dragonslayer.
- nightmare king: CR 22 as normal, with the 1.5 modifier for environment. i halved that to 0.75 because of k2's divine intervention, so it ends up as a 0.75 modifier. 30750 XP
total XP count: 183825 XP or 30638 each
ragenarok: i covered this in the full year file, but it's been slightly modified since then. as stated by brennan, the rat grinders have 20th level class/subclass features without the hit points or strategy to back it up. reference statting out the rat grinders above for my commentary on the builds. they have the benefit of jace being 4 allied spellcasters in one, and porter being an ascending deity. everything gets a 1.5 modifier because of the additional objectives and the number of opponents; it would have been higher, but the bad kdis effectively avoided the environmental hazard of lava by using ice feast and ended up using it as a weapon.
- shatter-stars: 3 total at CR 3 for 3150 XP
- ivy embra: CR 11 for 10800 XP
- oisín hakinvar: CR 11 for 10800 XP
- ruben hopclap: CR 11 for 10800 XP
- kipperlilly copperkettle: CR 11 for 10800 XP
- mary ann skuttle: CR 11 for 10800 XP
- buddy dawn: CR 11 for 10800 XP
- jace stardiamond: CR 16, as a 20th level sorcerer. there are four of him, so this becomes 90000 XP total
- porter cliffbreaker: in a logical progression from their previous fights, porter is CR 24, for a total of 93000 XP
total XP count: 250950 XP, or 41825 each
overall total and final comments:
over the course of fantasy high junior year, the bad kids earned 732475 XP, or 122079 individually. that's enough to get them to 13th level on just what they earned this year. it functionally triples the amount they earned in sophomore year, but works in a logical progression, since they tripled their gains from freshman year in sophomore year + oneshots.
they're looking at an overall total of 1091813, or 181969 individually, which would put them comfortably into level 15, assuming they immediately level up post-ragenarok.
if we go by my original rat grinding estimate, that would put them almost equal with the projected gains of the rat grinders at the beginning of junior year (assuming they're fighting rats, spiders, and twig blights with no variants).
now we know they weren't actually fighting rats, but instead xp farming larger creatures from the mountains of chaos--at some point i would love to figure out what they 'defeated' to get to their prospective level.
in terms of the general combat structures this season, we saw a return to the battlemaps. lots of puzzles, fun bits, and easter eggs from the art department.
we saw some tactics shift with character decisions:
- fig's dip into paladin effectively made her a third melee fighter for the party while maintaining her mid-level spellcasting for AOEs and buffs
- K2, while deeply silly and affirmed by the universe in her comedy, served as a second cleric that could keep the party up
- gorgug did still serve as a raging tank, but leaned harder on the artificer side of his build to enhance the party through buffs (flash of genius), reactions (absorb elements), and unique parts of his subclass
- riz worked with utility magic to enhance his tactics beyond just getting sneak attack
- fabian and adaine retained and expanded on their previous builds--they served as pillars of stability as the party's tactics changed.
i do think we saw a major shift as the season went on; before the last stand combats felt difficult but appropriately scaled; just over the edge of deadly for the party, lots of puzzles and environmental mechanics, and variety throughout them. the xp gains align with that--in the first few battles, they're equal or underleveled in xp terms, which aligns with previous patterns from fantasy high.
furthermore, it fit with the themes of rage and stress, while providing impetus for organic narrative investigation post-battle:
- the end of the night yorb battle segues into the first day of school
- the end of the mall battle goes into fabian's party where we met the rat grinders
- the end of frostyfaire leads to finding lucy and yolanda in the far haven woods
- the end of baron's game leads to investigations in hell
they neatly fit the structure of battle-rp-downtime. this rhythm is maintained until episode 14, as the bad kids go into the last stand. afterwards, we get two downtime episodes that have major rp/lore reveals and then three consecutive battle episodes.
the last three battles (the last stand, rock the boat, ragenarok) all escalated the scale of combat to an almost absurd extent. it stands as a testament to the skill of the players as well as some absurd luck that the bad kids all survived the combats. i did feel a loss of tension to some extent--once they proved they could survive the last stand, the bad kids were pretty much unstoppable, both on and off the battlefield. i'd be excited to see how they could escalate from it in senior year if they ever decide to do it.
cumulative totals:
