[3.5] Determining XP rewards

[ShadyRaven]

Hi. I have a party of 4 level 2 thieves that needed a fancy dress (noble clothes, 75 gp) to disguise one of their own during a theft. They paid a tailor to have it done very quickly. After payment they killed both the tailor (expert 2) and the apprentice (expert 1) to hinder future investigation.
I'm wondering how much I should reward them. Is obtaining an uncommon dress a challenge, in D&D terms? Killing the tailor and his apprentice doesn't really help them pull off the heist, but they did have a goal in mind when they decided to do it - it will probably be unnecessary, but it might help them cover their tracks. Would the removal of possible witnesses be a challenge?
How would you find out the equivalent CR? Just grant some xp ad hoc?

[digiman619]

Hi. I have a party of 4 level 2 thieves that needed a fancy dress (noble clothes, 75 gp) to disguise one of their own during a theft. They paid a tailor to have it done very quickly. After payment they killed both the tailor (expert 2) and the apprentice (expert 1) to hinder future investigation.
I'm wondering how much I should reward them. Is obtaining an uncommon dress a challenge, in D&D terms? Killing the tailor and his apprentice doesn't really help them pull off the heist, but they did have a goal in mind when they decided to do it - it will probably be unnecessary, but it might help them cover their tracks. Would the removal of possible witnesses be a challenge?
How would you find out the equivalent CR? Just grant some xp ad hoc?

Would you have granted them XP if they tricked or robbed them to get the outfit? I doubt it. Don't just give XP because they killed a NPC, or you're just reinforcing what can really turn into a bad habit.

[ShadyRaven]

I'm not going to assign xp for killing the npcs, per se, and I would have given xp if they just stole the dress. They decided to pay for it and so they did get the clothes. Objective accomplished, so xp maybe.
Then they decided to kill the npcs to make sure no one could follow the trail back to them. It's a different goal so it has nothing to do with the dress reward, but should it be awarded in your opinion?

[ExLibrisMortis]

Was it hard to find a tailor to make the dress?
Was it hard to safely/sneakily enter the shop/worklace to talk to the tailor?
Was it hard to convince the tailor to make the dress?
Was it hard to silence the tailor?

You award encounter XP, according to Encounter Level, if the answer to any of the above is "Yes!". You award half XP if the answer is "Well, sort of...", and you award no XP if the answer is "Not really".