Monster Oops

[JacktheRabbit]

Question for you DM's.

Lets say you are running a battle between your parties PC's and your group of various monsters.

After the party prevails you start to total up XP and you notice something. On a couple of the monsters you completely forgot some of their abilities. Here is an example though highly exxagerated. Lets say a Bodak was int he fight and all through the battle you forgot about its death gaze.

Without that gaze attack the Bodak is only half as tough as he normally would be.

So what XP would you give out? Would you grant full XP for the encounter? Or would you chop the CD for the Bodak in half to account for how challenging a foe he actually was?

Now I am not talking about the monsters special power being negated by the party. I am talking about you forgetting to use it completely.

 

[Mr Fidgit]

i'm not sure about half, but i would definitely reduce the exp earned, especially for a persistant power (one that would have had an effect on every PC in range every round)

...maybe less than half for a bodak. i'll have to go look that up

edit - i would half the exp earned. the bodak may be a resilient opponent (9 HD, some resistances, immunities) but without a death gaze isn't worth a CR 8, IMO

 

[EricNoah]

Yeah, I've been known to adjust CR on the fly if I've made a major mistake by not using important abilities (esp. abilities that are "on" all the time like damage deduction, energy resistance, etc.).

 

[Arnwyn]

I would certainly adjust the XP, to whatever level you deem appropriate (for me, I would probably cut it by 1/2 in this case).

 

['o Skoteinos]

What do you do when a PC forgets he has Improved Critical? Or when a PC forgets his Boots of Striding and Springing? Give him twice the XP?

 

[Arnwyn]

What do you do when a PC forgets he has Improved Critical? Or when a PC forgets his Boots of Striding and Springing? Give him twice the XP?

Nope. Tell him too bad - if he can't even competently play *one* character, he pretty much deserves nothing!

 

['o Skoteinos]

Actually, that was a rhetoric question...

 

[JacktheRabbit]

Actually, that was a rhetoric question...

If a character say a fighter intentionally entered a fight minus an item I may grant bonus XP.

An example would be a fighter challenging an equal or greater foe to a duel to the death and then leaving behind his favorite magic sword to prove that his skill alone is great enough to win the battle.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

I'd just give standard xp. Sometimes you'll forget a creature's abilities. And sometimes the PCs will forget their abilities (and as you reach mid- to high-levels, this is quite understandable, IMO. Even one PC will rack up quite a list of options by then.) So it's all a wash in the end.

 

[Terraism]

I'd just give standard xp. Sometimes you'll forget a creature's abilities. And sometimes the PCs will forget their abilities (and as you reach mid- to high-levels, this is quite understandable, IMO. Even one PC will rack up quite a list of options by then.) So it's all a wash in the end.

Of course, it's hardly sensible to suggest that a Bodak would forget about it's main attack - maybe one round, but over the entire course of a combat? Hardly likely.