DMs: How do you handle XP award adjustments?

[Jon_Dahl]

Disclaimer: If you don't use the XP rules given in DMG, don't bother reading the OP. Especially don't read the OP if you don't even take XP seriously.

My players and I were talking about XP modifiers which are presented in the DMG page 39 (lower left corner). In their opinion, a melee monster in a tight space should be worth extra XP. The PCs fought a web golem, which was well positioned in a small dungeon room. There was only a single narrow hallway leading to that room.

I think "significant advantage" means that there is an unfair and unusual advantage that cannot be reasonably negated. The DMG gives an example of orcs flying on primitive hang gliders. This is a significant advantage, because it's unusual and unfair. I don't think that fighting a melee monster in tight quarters or a flying monster in an open area qualifies as a significant advantage.

The door swings both ways. Fighting a flying monster in a dungeon hallway where it's unable to fly should yield only halved XP.

The environment is not a significant advantage for the opponents if the players can use it as an advantage too. Having a mid-level druid with you means that fights inside a stone room can be easily resolved with Soften Earth/Stone and Stone Shape.

What do you think? Do you constantly modify the XP values, or do you only modify them for serious reasons?

[Kelb_Panthera]

The DMG itself says that this is a guidline that should be used sparringly.

As a general rule I only ad-hoc the extra into an encounter if it turned out to be significantly more difficult than I expected it to be. Even then, only usually if that difficulty is a result of me making a serious mistake in the setup for the encounter, not just the players making block-head moves.

Terrain should be taken into account, but its best to account for it when assigning the CR of the encounter in the first place.

I'm not familiar with a web-golem, but if it was encountered in a small space that was also covered in webs that impeded the players but not the golem (I'm guessing at an ability here) that might be worth calling it an encounter 1 cr higher than the golemn in an open but still small space.

[Jon_Dahl]

I'm not familiar with a web-golem, but if it was encountered in a small space that was also covered in webs that impeded the players but not the golem (I'm guessing at an ability here) that might be worth calling it an encounter 1 cr higher than the golemn in an open but still small space.

When the players entered the small space, there wasn't any webs. At that moment, the movement within the space was unrestricted. I fully agree with you that if there had been permanent webbing, the CR should have been increased by 1.

[Kelb_Panthera]

When the players entered the small space, there wasn't any webs. At that moment, the movement within the space was unrestricted. I fully agree with you that if there had been permanent webbing, the CR should have been increased by 1.

Then unless you seriously overestimated their capabilities in choosing the web golem in the first place, and this didn't become apparent until mid-combat, it probably didn't warrant any bonus XP unless they did something clever. (I give bonus XP to reward clever strategy and creative tactics. That's creative, mind, not daring. Daring tactics just restore action points.)

[hymer]

It's possible you and your players will be happier if you all agree that handing out XP is solely within the purview of the DM, and your players just take what they get without arguing. If you were all talking about this between sessions, it's not so bad, of course.
Do note, though, how there's variants on XP rules, both of which leave it up to the DM to determine the actual amount, either by arbitrary markup or lowering, or by allowing the DM to just label encounters as easy or hard as s/he sees fit. The rules on XP are very much guidelines rather than hard rules, as they themselves signify.

[Phelix-Mu]

I massage experience totals occasionally, mostly when I dramatically miscalculate interaction of certain combat feats or strategy for multiple enemies that only becomes apparent once the fight begins. It happens, and no big deal. Sometimes the party learns critical lessons in the heat of a very intense battle, or has to expend major resources to survive. Such efforts deserve reward.

Sometimes, however, I intentionally factor stuff into the CR/EL of a fight, like a fight in the fog, a series of fights with no chance to heal or rest, and so forth. I am a big fan of situational and circumstantial challenges, and the less straightforward, the better.

On the other hand, sometimes the players prove much more effective than anticipated, and they waste some creature without much effort or use of resources. This may rarely lead to a reduction in experience given, but I usually hand out large amounts of "mission completed" and "role play award" type experience, so overall the pace of my campaigns usually is just fine.

[Kane0]

Don't know if it's on topic for you, but my group and I came up with a novel way of working XP as a percentage.

I'm the DM during this test, but so far it is working very well. Accomplishing a task will give you XP in % form, and you level up at 100%. When you level up you take away 100%. If you gain XP above 100% it is halved, rounding down to a minimum of 1% (eg if you are at 95% and gain 10% you end up at 102%)

For example if the rogue sitting at 91% XP successfully picked a lock to the cell the party was locked in he would receive 2% XP, and everyone may receive say 6% XP for a tough fight following that. Later on when said rogue disarms a particularly tricky trap to net him another 2% XP he reaches 101%, so he gets to level up at his next opportunity (usually between sessions or the next time the party rests) and takes away 100% XP, leaving him at 1% towards his next level.

So far it's working very smoothly for both me and my players. I don't have to crunch numbers and can regulate XP very easily and it is simple for the players to keep track of where they stand.

[Zombimode]

I seldom modify the EL of an encounter, only in extreme cases of tactical advantage.

Besides that the CR system will not provide "accurate" results and expecting it to do so is an exercise in futility, increasing the exp rewards for harder then indicated encounters (and decreasing them for easier the indicated encounters) may have undesirable effects on your players.

If they understand, that they get more exp for "hard" encounter, and less for curbstomp battles, they may be inclined not to fight with their full capability and/or plan tactically, because that would make the fights "easier" and thus no bonus exp.

If, instead you don't modify the exp rewards, they have every reason to fight at full capability and plan tactically because now they have nothing to loose but everything to win.

[Jon_Dahl]

If they understand, that they get more exp for "hard" encounter, and less for curbstomp battles, they may be inclined not to fight with their full capability and/or plan tactically, because that would make the fights "easier" and thus no bonus exp.

If, instead you don't modify the exp rewards, they have every reason to fight at full capability and plan tactically because now they have nothing to loose but everything to win.

My thoughts exactly. This is why I award bonus XP ONLY if the advantage was unfair towards the players and negating it with clever tactics is not a feasible option.

[Flickerdart]

Melee monsters in a confined space goes for melee PCs as well; the enemy can't run from them any more than they can run from it. An advantage for both sides is not an advantage.