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<blockquote data-quote="CruelSummerLord" data-source="post: 3694687" data-attributes="member: 48692">I submit two scenarios for your consideration, and then a question that relates to them both: -Party has bought passage on a ship, at a reduced price given that pirates are known to prowl the stretch of sea the ship will be passing through, and the captain is willing to lower his prices in the understanding that the party will defend the ship in case things get rough.&nbsp; The ship doesn't encounter pirates, but the party ends up earning their pay anyway, when the ship is attacked by a giant squid.&nbsp; After a hard fight, in which the squid loses four or five tentacles, the monster realizes it won't get a meal here.&nbsp; Spewing a cloud of ink, it cuts its losses and retreats, leaving three dead crew members and one party member badly injured, but without the party, things would have been a hell of a lot worse.&nbsp; -Several weeks later, party is travelling through hill country when they're attacked by a gang of five hill giants, rough-and-tumble young males who have been drinking and are spoiling for a fight.&nbsp; The giants soon realize that they've messed with the wrong adventurers.&nbsp; In a few rounds, two of the giants are dead and a third is badly wounded and pinned down, and is all but doomed unless the two surviving giants help him.&nbsp; The third giant pleads with his mates to help him, but being Chaotic, they're more concerned with saving their own hides than anything else, and run away, leaving their friend to die.&nbsp; Party decides not to waste time and resources chasing the giants, and so settles for looting the bodies of the three giants they killed and leaving their bodies for the crows, before continuing on their journey.&nbsp; In these cases, as DM, would you give XP for the giant squid, or for the two hill giants that ran away, even though the party members didn't kill them?&nbsp; The party decided not to chase after the giants that ran away, thinking it would be a waste of time and energy.&nbsp; In short-do you as DM only give experience for the monsters the party members actually kill, or also the ones that run away or escape, when it's clear they can't win the battle?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="CruelSummerLord, post: 3694687, member: 48692"] I submit two scenarios for your consideration, and then a question that relates to them both: -Party has bought passage on a ship, at a reduced price given that pirates are known to prowl the stretch of sea the ship will be passing through, and the captain is willing to lower his prices in the understanding that the party will defend the ship in case things get rough. The ship doesn't encounter pirates, but the party ends up earning their pay anyway, when the ship is attacked by a giant squid. After a hard fight, in which the squid loses four or five tentacles, the monster realizes it won't get a meal here. Spewing a cloud of ink, it cuts its losses and retreats, leaving three dead crew members and one party member badly injured, but without the party, things would have been a hell of a lot worse. -Several weeks later, party is travelling through hill country when they're attacked by a gang of five hill giants, rough-and-tumble young males who have been drinking and are spoiling for a fight. The giants soon realize that they've messed with the wrong adventurers. In a few rounds, two of the giants are dead and a third is badly wounded and pinned down, and is all but doomed unless the two surviving giants help him. The third giant pleads with his mates to help him, but being Chaotic, they're more concerned with saving their own hides than anything else, and run away, leaving their friend to die. Party decides not to waste time and resources chasing the giants, and so settles for looting the bodies of the three giants they killed and leaving their bodies for the crows, before continuing on their journey. In these cases, as DM, would you give XP for the giant squid, or for the two hill giants that ran away, even though the party members didn't kill them? The party decided not to chase after the giants that ran away, thinking it would be a waste of time and energy. In short-do you as DM only give experience for the monsters the party members actually kill, or also the ones that run away or escape, when it's clear they can't win the battle? [/QUOTE]

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