Defeating bad guy twice = double XP???

[Tonguez]

It should be full because the OP said that the PCs defeated the BBEG and thwarted his plan

If he comes back again with the same plan and new minions then that is a new adventure within the campaign and should be treated as such

NB I'd make sure that the next time the BBEg is higher level (or otherwise enhanced (eg undead/templated) and that he has a few new tricks so that he really is a new challenge and not the same one they defeated before...

 

[Himoura]

A trick that my DM has is when we beat a foe and he has the chance to escape, he gains a level or something so next time hes a little tougher to beat, so we get a little experience for beating him, if we escapes we get i think the same xp but have that sour taste of an enemy escaping.

I think in our current game we've come across this one particular boss like 3 or so times and each time hes a little tougher, and is more aware of our tactics so he has things like potions of energy resist to our particular types (Acid, Fire) and in our most recent meeting of him he gained a cohort a wizard of somekind can't remember the race or lvl, but its casting cone of cold, and he escaped again because his cohort was getting beaten up despite the greater invis (I was using the mantle of flame to deal damage 5D6 damage)

 

[Chupacabra]

Thanks for all the input on my post. For whatever its worth here is the exact scenario:

There were actually 2 big bad guys and their band of minions. They had overtaken a strategically-important lighthouse for the purpose of extinguishing the light and messing up navigation in the area. When ships would break on the nearby rocks and shoals, they would pirate the pickin's.

The PC's nearly wreck on the shoals and go off to investigate the burnt-out lighthouse while the crew of the ship repairs the crippled vessel. Big battle number one drives the bad guys and their minions out of the lighthouse proper. Big battle number two is the party pressing the attack as the bad guys stage a tactical withdrawl back to their pirate vessel hidden in a cove down the beach. Probably 80% of the minions are slain. Bad guy 1 is hurt pretty badly(maybe down to 1/4th of hps) and has expended most of his stash of potions and spell-like ablilities for the day. Bad guy 2 is essentially unharmed as it spent the majority of both battles invisible and only staged opportunistic attacks before immediately regaining invisibility. During a counter-attack by the bad guys, one party member is felled -- stabilized but helpless and now "behind enemy lines". Of the party members still on their feet, two are down to less than 25% of max hps, two are at maybe 50% hps, and one is only mildly scratched. Everyone is out of (worthwhile) spells and a ton of potions, scrolls and charges have been expended in the two battles.

The PC's parley and allow the surviving bad guys to flee with their lives and their loot in exchange for the safe return of their helpless comrade. Bad guys agree and flee the area in their ship.

I intend on having the Big Bad Guys return at some unspecified time later (when the PC's least expect it). Undoubtedly they will gain levels between now and then. But again, given this full picture, is the consensus still that full CR-based XP should be awarded now AND later? Obviously PC's will get "story award xp" for busting up this criminal enterprise, but I was just wondering about Cr-based xp.

I would love to simply go free-form XP for the entire campaign, but I deal with too many game-crunching players to do that. They love to add stuff up. Yeah, yeah, its my world and all that and I can do whatever I want as DM, but they are the audience....

Thanks again for the input and ideas!

 

[irdeggman]

is the consensus still that full CR-based XP should be awarded now AND later? Obviously PC's will get "story award xp" for busting up this criminal enterprise, but I was just wondering about Cr-based xp.

I say yes.

It is clear that in each case they have "overcome" the obstacle.

 

[Himoura]

I personally would be tempted to give full xp for having defeated the enemy, breaking up the pirate fest and restoring the lighthouse.

I would then add a few lvls of something to the 2 bosses and yeah have them turn up in the future we aware of what your PCs can do. so if the PCs started using fireballs or lightning bolts give the 2 bosses potion of resists something like that.

 

[Harm]

During a counter-attack by the bad guys, one party member is felled -- stabilized but helpless and now "behind enemy lines". Of the party members still on their feet, two are down to less than 25% of max hps, two are at maybe 50% hps, and one is only mildly scratched. Everyone is out of (worthwhile) spells and a ton of potions, scrolls and charges have been expended in the two battles.

The PC's parley and allow the surviving bad guys to flee with their lives and their loot in exchange for the safe return of their helpless comrade. Bad guys agree and flee the area in their ship.

Sounds more like your party lost, they parlayed in desperation and you were nice and didn't have the badguys kill them.

 

[Nail]

But again, given this full picture, is the consensus still that full CR-based XP should be awarded now AND later?

Yes.

Absolutely, positively yes!

What you are talking about is a second adventure, based on the first. That's good DMing...and if the PCs defeat the BBEG, they should get the full reward.

 

[Nail]

Sounds more like your party lost, they parlayed in desperation and you were nice and didn't have the badguys kill them.

I disagree.

Sounds more like the DM did what he could to save his own bad guys.

 

[KarinsDad]

I disagree.

Sounds more like the DM did what he could to save his own bad guys.

Actually, it sounds more like the DM did what he could to save the PC who was unconscious. With him behind enemy lines, the NPCs could easily have threatened to kill him if the PCs did not withdrawal (or even killed him outright).


And, parleying to recover the unconscious PC does not sound like overcoming the challenge to me. The goal changed from defeating the bad guys to rescuing the PC.

It does indeed sound like desperation and does not appear to be worth full XP. The two main bad guys got away and they got away with their loot and their ship. They may be slowed down in their criminal operations (definitely worth partial goal XP), but the operation can be restarted once they stock back up on minions.

 

[IanB]

Full XP, both times.

I've always used the XP rules verbatim right out of the DMG, and they work just fine. Sometimes CRs need to be adjusted from what the book says (particularly for classed humanoids), but that's not very hard.