No XP for monster avoidance?

[Treebore]

What do DM's actually mean by this?

I give XP's when monsters are "avoided", as long as the avoidance some how eliminates them as an obstacle to a goal.

Example: PC's are in the underdark. There is a choke point guard station manned by many bugbears ahead. They are close enough to the next checkpoint that battle would warn both stations and put everyone on heightened alert. So instead of fighting the party uses invisibility and Fly spells/potions to get past the check point without fighting.


For that I award XP just as I would have if they fought and killed every bugbear there. Why? Because the Bugbears were an obstacle to be over come, and they were overcome even better through the use of spells than they would have been through combat.

Now I don't give XP if they simply avoid a fight in order to avoid the fight. It still has to be overcome in some fashion that allows them to go on to achieve a goal further down the road.

 

[alleynbard]

What do DM's actually mean by this?

I give XP's when monsters are "avoided", as long as the avoidance some how eliminates them as an obstacle to a goal.

Example: PC's are in the underdark. There is a choke point guard station manned by many bugbears ahead. They are close enough to the next checkpoint that battle would warn both stations and put everyone on heightened alert. So instead of fighting the party uses invisibility and Fly spells/potions to get past the check point without fighting.


For that I award XP just as I would have if they fought and killed every bugbear there. Why? Because the Bugbears were an obstacle to be over come, and they were overcome even better through the use of spells than they would have been through combat.

Now I don't give XP if they simply avoid a fight in order to avoid the fight. It still has to be overcome in some fashion that allows them to go on to achieve a goal further down the road.

That's about how I do it. If my players handle a challenge by circumventing through the use of resources and clever play, I reward. Now, if the encounter is a just a wandering one or has not direct importance to the plot, then I don't.

For instance, if the players open a side door quietly, see their enemies sleeping, close the door and move on, they don't get XP. Now if they had to tip-toe their way across the room to get to the other side, then they would receive XP.

 

[Piratecat]

Did they amuse me as they cleverly snuck or bluffed their way past a monster? They get xp.

Did they simply turn left instead of right, bypassing it with no risk or excitement? No xp.

If I gave XP. Which I don't. But you know what I mean.

 

[Hereticus]

Did they amuse me as they cleverly snuck or bluffed their way past a monster? They get xp.

Did they simply turn left instead of right, bypassing it with no risk or excitement? No xp.

I give XP for an encounter, which could mean successfully escaping a more powerful monster who is hunting the party.

One example was having an adult red dragon guarding the entrance to a crypt. The party (eight 7th level characters) had to make a quarter mile run over rough terrain between the ruins of an old tower where they were cowering into crypt.

 

[alleynbard]

I give XP for an encounter, which could mean successfully escaping a more powerful monster who is hunting the party.

One example was having an adult red dragon guarding the entrance to a crypt. The party (eight 7th level characters) had to make a quarter mile run over rough terrain between the ruins of an old tower where they were cowering into crypt.

Encounter is the key term here. You don't get XP unless you enter an encounter.

If the PCs actively engage the obstacle in the act of avoiding it, the situation becomes an encounter and worth XP. If, as PC says, they turn left as opposed to right even after becoming aware of a threat, the situation does not become an encounter and XP is not awarded.

 

[Ariosto]

XP for treasure is the award for bypassing monsters, and whatever else lies between the adventurers and that attainment.

 

[Treebore]

XP for treasure is the award for bypassing monsters, and whatever else lies between the adventurers and that attainment.

So you don't award XP for the monsters?

 

[Mark]

Did they simply turn left instead of right, bypassing it with no risk or excitement? No xp.

If I gave XP. Which I don't. But you know what I mean.

If they turn left instead of right without knowing they are avoiding something; no XP. If they have done their recon and avoid something purposefully, XP approved.

 

[Hussar]

Treebore, who was saying this? I've not heard of DM's flat out not giving any XP for a resolved encounter, even though the baddies were not fought.

 

[Cadfan]

XP for treasure is the award for bypassing monsters, and whatever else lies between the adventurers and that attainment.

That's old school, but its not a very good system if your goal is to reward creativity and nonviolent solutions because it only gives out experience for creative and nonviolent solutions if those solutions also involve stealing the monster's treasure. What if the player's creative and nonviolent solution bypasses the monsters in a way that doesn't facilitate larceny? What if everyone just goes their own way, alive, and holding on to their own possessions?

I just give out a level advancement whenever a major storyline completes successfully. You could bypass every single monster and never pick up a single copper piece of treasure, and you'd still get the experience. You still won. I don't feel the need for an artificial layer of math, whether its based on monster strength or monster wealth, that sits between "did you win?" and "here's your xp!"