Is this an error?

[Inevitability]

The Monster Manual on Shriekers:


Challenge 0 (10 XP)

However, the DMG says that monsters that pose no combat threat are worth 0 XP. Which of those two sources is right here? Does a Shrieker's Shriek count as enough to be considered a 'threat'? Do people gain XP from randomly killing shriekers? Can my first-level druid start a Shrieker farm and level himself to godhood?

[rollingForInit]

There are plenty of 10xp creatures in the MM. Hawks, for instance, are the same. They do 1 piercing damage on hit. The Druid could just as well breed those, because after some point they won't be a threat.

To reach level 20 by only killing hawks, you'd have to about 35 thousand hawks. That's quite a number.

And there's nothing saying that you'd gain the XP if you just slaughter a creature on a farm. If it doesn't pose a threat and doesn't want to fight, the DM could just say it doesn't give any XP, because it isn't an encounter.

[Dhavaer]

If it doesn't pose a threat and doesn't want to fight, the DM could just say it doesn't give any XP, because it isn't an encounter.

That's sort of the point of the question: why does the DM have to do that? For every other harmless creature the Monster Manual has already done it. The shrieker is the only harmless creature that gives XP by RAW; other creatures might be rendered harmless and the DM could make a ruling on that, but shriekers can't hurt anyone they aren't thrown at. Why do they give XP at any time?

[rollingForInit]

That's sort of the point of the question: why does the DM have to do that? For every other harmless creature the Monster Manual has already done it. The shrieker is the only harmless creature that gives XP by RAW; other creatures might be rendered harmless and the DM could make a ruling on that, but shriekers can't hurt anyone they aren't thrown at. Why do they give XP at any time?

So it might be an error? But I don't see how it matters. The other 10xp creatures are, for all intents and purposes, harmless. A Wizard could blow up a score of hawks sitting in a tree, but should the wizard really get the xp for that?

[Daishain]

Shriekers can pose a threat, even if only in conjunction with a group of other creatures. You can get XP thanks to that possibility. Heck, the same can be said of hawks and other CR 0 birds, if some crazy druid had a trained flock of the things, 1 damage adds up if there are fifty such attacks coming from every direction.

Generally speaking though, you don't get XP for metaphorically shooting fish in a barrel, no matter what their challenge rating. "We slew the great Kraken! How? Well, some joker of a mage teleported it onto dry land, we stuck it full of arrows from a distance while it was drowning in the air." The same applies to easily one shotting something that was not hostile.

[Chronos]

Shriekers are intended as an add-on monster. You never fight just a shrieker by itself, but rather the shrieker makes some other encounter harder. Its shrieks might, for instance, draw the attention of something more dangerous that then comes over to investigate and eat you.

[Shining Wrath]

DMG Encounter Builder says a CR 0 monster is either 0 or 10 - your choice.

My ruling follow.

A Shrieker by itself is 0 XP.

A Shrieker planted outside the Hobgoblin's camp which summons the guards is worth 10 XP, because bypassing it adds to the challenge of the encounter.

A hawk sitting on a branch? 0 XP.
A band of 5 hawks that join the enemy druid in attacking you? 10 XP each.

[Gritmonger]

Think of it as a living trap trigger. It poses a threat to adventurers as much as a dinner bell is a threat to a plate lunch. Given the dungeon ecology, most large dungeon predators and denizens would come a-lumbering to see what's up. So, really - it is kind of a fifth edition marker or placeholder for "random encounter."

While it won't hurt directly, it certainly isn't as completely benign as a frog.

If it helps, give it a 5' radius no range 1 point thunder damage attack, akin to standing next to concert speakers.

[ad_hoc]

Never underestimate how scary something can be.

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