Traps and XP

[Max Caysey]

Hey guys...

I have been looking around on the web for an answer... but to no awail.

The DMG: Overcoming the challenge of a trap involves encountering the trap, either by disarming it, avoiding it, or simply surviving the damage it deals. A trap never discovered or never bypassed was not encountered (and hence provides no XP award).

So when the unlucky rogue set of a wall scythe trap before entering the armory in the dungeon and falls to the floor at -4... Should I by RAW give xp? And to whom?

The cleric heals the rogue, and they proceed into the room.

Inside the room there are a chest. The Rogue seaches for traps but does not find one. BOOM if goes off in his face. The Rougue is now at -11. The trap auto resets. Should I by RAW give xp? And to whom?

Now the other rogue knows there are a trap, rolls, finds it... disables it... who should get the xp? whole party or just the rogue?

In advance... thanks!

[OldTrees1]

The Rogue survived so they get xp.
The Cleric caused the Rogue to survive, I would give them a share of the xp.

The Rogue did not survive the chest. No xp here.

The second Rogue disables the trap. Reward xp.


Side note:
I found the RAW on xp to have rough areas. I encourage you to treat your judgement as higher than RAW. I personally removed individualized xp rewards since that got in my group's way. However those rules do connect xp closer to learning moments.

[Max Caysey]

So just by blundering into a trap you get the exp if you survive?...

And we agree that a trap can only ever yield xp once... right?

[OldTrees1]

So just by blundering into a trap you get the exp if you survive?...

And we agree that a trap can only ever yield xp once... right?

Yes, I reward trap xp to barbarians that survive threatening traps. (although I break from RAW by refusing xp if it looks like "retreating")

You receive xp from threats each time you encounter them. (see reoccurring villians) A repeating fireball trap is not a threat for a 90hp fighter that intentionally sets it off between being healed. Traps usually are only threats the first time.

[BWR]

I rule that if the PCs spend resources on it - HP, spells, lives, or even just time - they get XP for it.
If they know it's there the second time and just go around it, they don't get any more.

[OldTrees1]

I rule that if the PCs spend resources on it - HP, spells, lives, or even just time - they get XP for it.
If they know it's there the second time and just go around it, they don't get any more.

Usually this is a good rule, but what if they spend resources on a non threat? Say they lose 3hp from a falling stone trap at level 5.

[Iryanmadayana]

As to -who- to give the xp to in the scenarios, I would say distribute it evenly among anyone involved (which in normal circumstances should mean the entire party).

Only giving the xp to the rogue sets a bad standard of giving xp based on performance. If a combat encounter is resolved in the first round by a spell caster succeeding with a Save or Die on the enemy, do you only give xp to the spell caster? If the bard uses his diplomacy and other tricks to singlehandedly solve a social encounter, do you give xp only to the bard, even if the rest of the party was there?

Everyone in the party has different ways of contributing to the goals of the adventure. Some party members can contribute to more things, some to less. Some party members contribute better to some things than others. Giving some people more exp than others, even though they all did to the best of their abilities, can lead to players feeling shafted. This holds especially true if your group has both a class who can do little beyond combat, like a fighter, as well as someone like a bard (or worse, a wizard) who can contribute to everything.

Because of this, I think it is best to distribute any exp evenly among the party, except maybe in specific exception cases.

[Max Caysey]

As to -who- to give the xp to....


Hello I'm Ross Geller! :smallbiggrin:

[Chronos]

Quoth Ashtagon:

If you know it's there, you get XP only if you destroy it.
I don't agree with this. If the rogue determines that certain tiles of the floor will zap you if you step on them, and draws chalk outlines around those tiles for the party to see, and the party is just careful to walk around those tiles, then you've overcome the obstacle posed by the encounter, and so should get XP from it, even though the trap is still completely intact.

I also don't think you should get XP from a trap if it successfully does to you what it was designed to do, since that's not really overcoming it in any meaningful sense.