Leaders, terrain and encounter XP

[Kzach]

I'm making up a scenario where I've hit upon a minor snag. I can't seem to find any rule that covers it so I'm coming here to see if anyone can point out something I've missed or to discuss possible solutions.

Basically there are two situations which give me pause. One is the terrain which doesn't come into play until a combat encounter. At this stage, two terrain factors make combat significantly more difficult than it would be normally.

The other situation is where a leader can bestow his leadership power on some followers who are engaged in a fight, but he can't actively engage in the fight himself and no-one can harm him as he's trapped behind both magical and physical barriers.

So, should I be giving extra XP for these situations? Is there some rule I've missed that helps adjudicate this situation? Any advice or help appreciated.

 

[frankthedm]

Generally, unless the terrain really favors the foe and the PCs can't make any use of it even with judicious use of their movement forcing powers, I don't think terrain ought to be worth XP. Now, a field of hindering terrain while fighting against a swarm of flying skirmishers, ought to carry an XP bonus.

If the terrain feature seems that great a boon, look at the encounter traps and see if the terrain feature is as effective as one of those. If so a comparable amount of XP sounds fair.