Baldur's Gate : The Sword Coast Chronicles : NWN2 Persistent World

So I've been messing around with character ideas a lot lately, both mechanically and in story. I've come up with some interesting ideas, including new takes on older ideas of mine that never got off the ground, but a few of these end up with experience penalties due to the classes involved. I know a penalty should be avoided, and it will result in a horrible leveling experience, but the character I want to try and attach to the build almost seems worth the pain.

Does anyone have long term experience playing with an experience penalty? How much of a penalty does it take for leveling to be practically impossible with a decent build? Am I being silly thinking the extra bit of RP would be worth the headache when I could just change the race to avoid a penalty all together? I'm not really sure whether I want reassurance at this point, or whether I'd rather someone talk me out of the idea, so any and all opinions are welcome.

xp penalty is 20% per class and PrCs do not count

so given there is a 4 class cap it is possible to have up to a 60% xp penalty and it applies to -everything-

if you have 60% you are out of your mind, 40% is crazy also, 20% is very painful in epic levels and you will probably start to feel it in the teens

its something if you can avoid it then you want to avoid it, 20% tho is probably about the same as playing a +2 ecl race tho, so if you have an ecl race with xp penalty it is much worse

Currently, I'm playing with a 20% on an ECL +1. And I can say that I'm feeling it. Everything from DM EXP to quest EXP is capped by this amount, and by the divines I would it was not so. Mob exp reduction is fine, it's the quest and DM exp that hurts more I find. Still, if you got patience and you are stubborn enough... well, then it's manageable I suppose.

Depends on the build, if it is fun to play during his progress, it's OK.
If it's only good when epic, it will be a pain.

Well, the worst I've come up with so far is a 40%, so I guess I'm only crazy instead of completely out of my mind.

So does the penalty effect every form of experience income? Even from the role play experience thing?

I'll have to give this a lot of thought. I'm used to playing characters that are subpar mechanically, but I could always find a way to level them up if I felt the need. Hopefully I figure out a good story to attach to the build, otherwise I'm guessing it really, really won't be worth it.

i did 60% once assimar was horrible lol

20% on a +1 is only as painful as you let it be. my favorite levels are 15-29 so I may be a bit tainted on this. Slow progression through this is not bad. More rp more character building. More fun for me. Any more than 20 is too much. Don't do it. Not fun.

I was insane enough to level up a friend to lvl 30 with a 20% penalty in epic levels. It takes centuries to eat enough XP. So choose wisely. If you want to get this character to high levels, you must have a build and concept that will offer you long term fun.

mreider's build for Ashe Hawthorn was a 40% with ECL +1. That thing was a wrecking ball though, so I think for him it wasn't that bad - also, I think the 40% kicked in around low epics. So he was already decently powerful when xp penalties really started to hurt.

XP penelties are painful but even so they can simply be worked through. The benefit when you reach 30 can be really cool. I have played builds with 60% penalties in the teen levels and it was not unplayable but expect any adventuring groups to rocket past you in a few weeks. This game is about RP though not grinding levels so don't worry.