Pathfinder 1E GM advice: XP rewards when combat is not the actual solution?

[PnPgamer]

Hello,
Simple question: i have cursed undead within a tomb, in which in order to actually defeat them, something special has to be done. Although combat is likely, that isn't the actual solution to put them into real rest. Total amount of curses is 4 different kinds, which each is assigned to a specific undead, with different solutions.
So my question is how to award the monsters xp if they at the beginning just defeat them in combat? Half from combat and half from the curse solving?

 

[Grogg of the North]

Don't know if I'm too late to answer but I'd wouldn't worry too much about the "how". The encounter is worth X xp. Does the party break the curse? They get X XP. Do they grind the undead creature into paste? They get X XP. Do the players talk to the monsters, convince them that undeath isn't so bad and wind up hiring them to guard their own headquarters? The party gets X XP. The encounter is still overcome in the end.

I would be wary of encouraging the players to start thinking about how to maximize their XP gains. Especially if it may cause them to break character/alignment.

 

[PnPgamer]

Don't know if I'm too late to answer but I'd wouldn't worry too much about the "how". The encounter is worth X xp. Does the party break the curse? They get X XP. Do they grind the undead creature into paste? They get X XP. Do the players talk to the monsters, convince them that undeath isn't so bad and wind up hiring them to guard their own headquarters? The party gets X XP. The encounter is still overcome in the end.

I would be wary of encouraging the players to start thinking about how to maximize their XP gains. Especially if it may cause them to break character/alignment.

My main concern is that they wish to start just grind the regenerative (the curses do not allow them to die permanently) undead for xp gain.

 

[qstor]

I'd award XP for "as if" the monster is defeated in combat.

 

[gamerprinter]

Back when I was playing D&D 1e/2e, I stuck with the standard XP by encounter - combat or otherwise. By the time I hit 3.5, I stopped doing that went by number encounters to define a level, then assign XP only at the moment the players level up. So I was that way for Pathfinder too. So I have no issues regarding XP whether it's combat or not, I don't differentiate the two, and its not an issue since I award XP only at the level up stage. So whether a non-combat encounter might be difficult for you to determine, I don't have that problem. I cannot help you.

 

[aco175]

Players come up with a lot of ways to defeat bad guys. If they are defeated, then give full XP. There may be some reason that the undead regenerate after some time and rise again to roam the halls. If this time is like 24 hours, then likely the PCs are gone and the players did not know they were supposed to do something else. There needs to be some sort of tell from you that they are not gone, gone. There should also be a tell to determine that they are under a curse.

I have a module now that the PCs come across a crumbling tower with a circle around it where nothing grows and everything is dead. The undead inside have green glowing eyes to tell the players that something is going on if they did not figure something is up already. To free the tower of the curse, the PCs need to destroy the green glowing gem in the hidden basement. The undead are just 2HD powered from the gem affect.

 

[the Jester]

My main concern is that they wish to start just grind the regenerative (the curses do not allow them to die permanently) undead for xp gain.

You could rule that they gain xp for the monsters once only, or that the second time through they get 1/2 xp and thereafter either 1/2 or 0. Once they aren't a threat, they shouldn't be worth xp.

 

[DrunkonDuty]

Give them 1/2 XP for defeating the monsters in combat. Once. They get the other half when the curse is lifted.

Or: give them full XP for defeating the monsters in combat. Once. They get an XP bonus for working out how to lift a curse.

Or 0 XP for combat and everything for lifting the curse.

Me, I prefer milestone levelling. No-one I play with (me included) can be buggered tracking XP.

 

[CleverNickName]

There's no wrong way to run it, but here's how I would do it.

The party gets no XP until they lift the curse. Once they do, they get the XP they would have gotten for defeating the monsters.

Imagine how that would play out at your table.

DM: "Congratulations, you are victorious!"
Players: "Wooo! We loot the bodies! Also, how much XP did we earn?"
DM: "The ghouls carry only the tattered rags they were buried in. And you earn no XP for that battle."
Players: "Huh, same as it was with those wights. What gives?"
DM: (as ominously as possible) "You haven't defeated them yet."
Players: "Oh. Ohhhhhh...."

 

[Grogg of the North]

I think the other thing to keep in mind is to be flexible. I played in a game once where the GM planned that only way to defeat the undead infesting an abandoned house was to kill the big bad undead controlling them. Otherwise, they'd just reform and keep attacking us after a few rounds. But, as players, when we heard the GM say something along the lines of "laying them to rest", we were convinced that we had to wrestle them back into their coffins and close the lids.

The GM later revealed that that wasn't at all what he had planned but decided to roll with it because the entire party was onboard with that being the "right" solution.