D&D 5E My D&D 5E Starter Set Quest and Campaign
Mark CMG
Creative Mountain Games
A near-death in the party punctuated the game this week, coupled with a realization that they might not want to leave any loose ends in the future. Great fun so far as the group finished section two and struck out into the Spider's Web!
http://www.creativemountaingames.com/2014/07/the-friday-grab-bag-my-5e-d-starter-set_25.html
http://www.creativemountaingames.com/2014/07/the-friday-grab-bag-my-5e-d-starter-set_25.html
Because they defeated a credible threat. For example, if a party, through skills, avoids combat with a beholder guarding the entrance to the Lost Tomb of Chazarai and is awarded experience, and subsequently has to fight and defeat the Beholder as they flee the city, wouldn't you award them experience again?
Mark CMG
Creative Mountain Games
pkt77242
Explorer
What my DM use to do was:
If we managed a way to avoid a confrontation or tricked it so we didn't have to fight it we got 1/2 experience for that and then if we had to kill it later we got full for killing it then.
Mark CMG
Creative Mountain Games
I've seen that work with some groups before. What I am debating now is what percentage to give. I gave full the first time but the escape was something they could have avoided, thus not needing to fight them again. So, too, the enemy was not at full strength when fought the second go around. I think there were some other factors I had in mind but I'm drawing a blank as I post this so I may add more later.
In the beholder example above, they don't really avoid the beholder if they still have to fight it later, they just put the fight off for a bit. How many times can you sneak past something and keep getting full experience, if any at all?
pkt77242
Explorer
If we avoided the fight we could get 1/2 experience the first time but we couldn't earn any more experience for sneaking past it. We also weren't allowed to go pick a fight with it afterwards and earn full experience (in that case we got the other 1/2) but if we got in a fight in a different room and he came to check out or we tried to sneak back by on the way out and he noticed then we got full experience for killing him.
The Hitcher
Explorer
I tend to give out XP in an ad-hoc session-by-session way, but I'd definitely say to give them XP any time they overcome a significant challenge. I'd even suggest that you could give them MORE XP for cleverly getting around a fight than for actually having the fight. It's different if they just succeeded a single stealth roll or something - that's neither challenging nor creative play.
Just give them what feels right for what they've achieved, I say.
P.S. I'm enjoying your blog!
Just give them what feels right for what they've achieved, I say.
P.S. I'm enjoying your blog!
Mark CMG
Creative Mountain Games
Sounds like a fair way to handle things.
Indeed! There are many variables that do wind up requiring a GM to make a call given particular circumstances.
Thanks! We've got a few more weeks to handle the rest of the adventure, maybe four or five depending on the pacing of the players. I'm certainly not rushing them.
Mark CMG
Creative Mountain Games
I think this week will mainly focus around Cragmaw Castle. The players are just hours away and have a coerced Goblin guiding them there. There's still a bit of uncertainty for them, as one can never trust a Goblin too far.
They have just made third level, thanks to a wilderness encounter at the end of last game with an Owlbear, deftly handled by the Wizard's use of a Silent Image of a dragon between the Owlbear and the party. "There is little, if anything, that a hungry Owlbear fears," says the Starter Set description (as if I didn't know ). I decided one of the few things would be a dragon and that it warranted an Int check, which the Owlbear failed before fleeing.
SPOILER:
I've allowed use of spells from the Basic Rules in our 5E Starter Set playthough. Does this detract of its usefulness as a fair assessment of the Starter Set?
They have just made third level, thanks to a wilderness encounter at the end of last game with an Owlbear, deftly handled by the Wizard's use of a Silent Image of a dragon between the Owlbear and the party. "There is little, if anything, that a hungry Owlbear fears," says the Starter Set description (as if I didn't know
). I decided one of the few things would be a dragon and that it warranted an Int check, which the Owlbear failed before fleeing.SPOILER:
It plays well into the Castle, as this is a good way to explain how the Owlbear might have been captured!
I've allowed use of spells from the Basic Rules in our 5E Starter Set playthough. Does this detract of its usefulness as a fair assessment of the Starter Set?
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