Exp questions? ? ? ? ?

[eisgowen]

how exactly does gaining exp from a trap werk? Does only hte thief get the exp? and does he get it even if he fails and is nailed iwth the trap? What about the party memeber that heals him afterwards? or the memeber that watch him get nailed? or perhaps even the characters that r smart enough just to get outof the way?

if so how does this difer from me getting initiative over the rest of the party and the creatures and nuking a handfull of them into oblivion? shouldnt i get all the exp? i mean i did all the dmg and such to the creatures,so just liek the thief i acted alone and should gain all the exp? how is this diferent?

official postings/erata would be much apreciated

thanx guys this seems to be becoming a lrg problem in our group and im tired of dealing with it. I dont really care wich way it turns out as long as we get some solid official rules on the subject

 

[CRGreathouse]

The whole group gets XP. The DMG has more specific information regarding XP; I think (95%) that merely surviving the trap *can* give XP.

 

[AGGEMAM]

Can you run that through a spellcheck, please, I'm getting a headache reading it.

Generally you should divide XP for any given danger, be it creatures or traps, between all who faced that particular danger.

So if the rogue in question were acting on his own perhaps a few hundred feet ahead of the party, then yes he should be awarded the XP to him and no-one else.

To determine whether a party member are together or on their own, I use the one minute rule of thumb, ie if the slowest member of the party under normal circumstances could reach you within one minute (ten rounds) then you considered to be in that party.

 

[Dr. Zoom]

how exactly does gaining exp from a trap werk?

Just like monsters. Each trap has a CR. Treat the trap just like a monster with a CR.

Does only hte thief get the exp?

The XP is divided between the characters just like a normal monster.

and does he get it even if he fails and is nailed iwth the trap?

Yes. Again, the XP is divided between all the characters.

What about the party memeber that heals him afterwards? or the memeber that watch him get nailed? or perhaps even the characters that r smart enough just to get outof the way?

The whole group gets the XP.

if so how does this difer from me getting initiative over the rest of the party and the creatures and nuking a handfull of them into oblivion? shouldnt i get all the exp?

No. The XP is divided among the group.

i mean i did all the dmg and such to the creatures,so just liek the thief i acted alone and should gain all the exp? how is this diferent?

You are not acting alone, even if you get the killing blow. The XP system is not based on individual kills and such.

official postings/erata would be much apreciated

How about the Rewards chapter in the DMG. It covers everything you have asked about. No errata necessary.

thanx guys this seems to be becoming a lrg problem in our group and im tired of dealing with it. I dont really care wich way it turns out as long as we get some solid official rules on the subject

DMG, pages 165-169.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

As everyone else has said, the whole group gets the XP for the traps the party faces, even if the rogue is the one disarming them. This really is (as you yourself pointed out) no different than the wizard casting a spell nobody else can, or the barbarian cleaving a dozen enemies to prevent them from killing the rest of you. The party works as a team, and gets experience as a team.

Though having said that, in the campaign I currently play in, the DM has awarded bonus xp to the rogue for a couple of particularly trap-heavy sessions (there was a trap on nearly every door, often with spells such as Phantasmal Killer and Finger of Death.) The reasoning was that it was the rogue taking most of the risk of getting killed by the traps, so the rogue should get a tad extra for braving it time and time again.

But for the most part, challenges faced as a group benefit the entire group equally, regardless of how a particular member contributes.