Encounter Terrain and XP

[mrperil]

Hi folks!

I'm DM'ing my first 4e game and while creating encounters, I wondered if difficult terrain features would modify the XP given for the enounter? I couldn't find anything in the DM guide.

 

[Mengu]

A particularly difficult piece of terrain (especially one that causes damage or conditions) should be considered a hazard, and should have an associated level and experience (see traps and hazards in the DMG for examples).

However, advantages like cover, rough terrain, and elevation are fairly trivial, since they can work for or against both sides, and would not warrent any adjustment to the encounter.

 

[Griogre]

Another thing to keep in mind with open pits and cliffs is to keep an eye on the lethality of fall distance table on pg 44 of the DMG. You don't usually want to kill players from falling damage.

You can also look at that table as a guideline for how much damage odd terrain should do.