Do you give XP for sprung traps?

[Kershek]

As a DM, do you give XP for a trap even if it is sprung accidently? Yes, I realize that the DMG does state that as long as you survive a trap, you should get its XP. But it seems strange to me why you would be rewarded for failing to get around the trap. I suppose you could say it's the learning experiece of pain

Anyways, my question wasn't how it's supposed to be done, but how people really are playing it.

 

[Holy Bovine]

IMC you have to find and either circumvent (ie get around the trap without disarming or springing it) or disarm it to get XP for it. Just turning around and going the other way or setting it off accidentally nets you nothing.

 

[Dingleberry]

Typically, yes. The party survived the encounter and used up resources just like a battle.

 

[drnuncheon]

Sure.

"Ow! Damn! I won't do that again."

I reserve the right to not award XP if it seems that the PCs have not learned, of course...

J

 

[Mercule]

Yup. I figure they need the XP to advance at a decent pace.

Doesn't count if they just go another way, but if they get across, even by setting it off, then they get XP.

 

[Kershek]

Yup. I figure they need the XP to advance at a decent pace.

Doesn't count if they just go another way, but if they get across, even by setting it off, then they get XP.

It just seems the pace is blistering as it is. For instance, just this weekend we had four 3rd level characters at 3,600 XP attack a keep of hobgoblins from the Vault of Larin Karr module (no real spoilers there since it's background info). We successfully did it in one session and got a little more than 2,400 XP each, which means we went to 4th level in one large battle!

I've been playing 3E for two years and I still can't get over how fast the progression is. But, say, if you reduce all XP gained to 75% normal, then the party has too much wealth, since they are looting more per level due to more encounters per level.

 

[the Jester]

Yes.

As a side note, I also think 3e's advancement rate is obscene. Even using a variant system that gives rp awards of roughly 100 xp/character level per session and halving combat xp, it's very fast.

 

[Trepelano]

I find that the characters blister through levels 1 thru 3 but then start to slow down at 4th to a more manageable pace.

It seems that levels 1-3 are about one adventure per level.

 

[Destil]

I use ad hoc XP rules and give everyone a blanket xp reward reguardless of their specific actions during a gaming session. This removes stupid metagame thoughts like setting off traps or fighting needless monsters for extra XP.

 

[Celebrim]

Only if the person(s) struck by the trap survived it, passed the saving throw, or otherwise had some measure of 'success'. Otherwise I treat it the same as a combat encounter which the players fled from or were otherwise defeated in and reduce rewards accordingly - down to 0 in the event of a very poor performance.

I should not that I also assign challenge ratings to a whole variaty of things other than combats. I assign CR's to the presence of cursed magic items. I assign CR's to negotiation encounters based on the difficulty of the negotiation rather than the combat ability of the NPC if negotiation gives a clear advantage over combat. I treat weather and other natural hazards as challenges, and am likely to give XP just for finding a way to successfully open a door, solve a puzzle, or discovering some bit of lore needed as a plot hook. On the other hand, I prefer to give out 50% XP, tend to use my own gauge of CR which tends to reduce EL, and will give out fractional XP for encounters < EL 1.