Mark Chance
Boingy! Boingy!
Looking for opinions:
How much XP should I give characters who bribed their way through two encounters?
How much XP should I give characters who bribed their way through two encounters?
[Question] How much XP?
- Thread starter Mark Chance
- Start date
Olgar Shiverstone
Legend
Full. They overcame the encounter, didn't they? Bribery works as well as execution, maybe better -- gives you all sorts of hooks for later.
Flyspeck23
First Post
Or else you would only reward your players for killing things - if, for instance, you would only give them 50%, they might not bother to "peacefully" solve an encounter again.
Depending on your type of campaign that might not be too good (to put it mildly).
On the other hand, if the encounter was way too tough for them in the first place, giving 100% XP might be too much.
What that boils down to: personally, I wouldn't give my players more than EL=party level+4 for a non-combat encounter. Higher ELs should be avoided most of the time anyway (and that's most likely the solution you thought of when you put that into your adventure).
Depending on your type of campaign that might not be too good (to put it mildly).
On the other hand, if the encounter was way too tough for them in the first place, giving 100% XP might be too much.
What that boils down to: personally, I wouldn't give my players more than EL=party level+4 for a non-combat encounter. Higher ELs should be avoided most of the time anyway (and that's most likely the solution you thought of when you put that into your adventure).
Mark
CreativeMountainGames.com
Can't kill a trap but full XP is given for those...sometimes. Overcoming any encounter warrants an XP reward but no encounter warrants automatic rewarding of full experience. Best to gauge the XP reward based on the situation.
Factors to consider include anything vital that might be passed over in overcoming the encounter such as clues that may be useful later, specific items that are needed in the future or information that goes wanting because characters did not interact in some way with the NPCs or creatures in an encounter. Even killing a bunch of Orcs does not warrant full experience if those Orcs know the whereabouts of a captive that the PCs are seeking and the information was not obtained.
In the case of a trap, XP can still be rewarded is it is sprung and a PC is poisoned, provided the circumstance required that the PCs get past that trap quickly. Breaking down a door rather than picking a lock is certainly a valid way to overcome a trap but if the noise produced tips off guards further down the road then full XP is not warranted.
When it comes to bribery, it is possible that the alignments of the PCs needs to be considered. Perhaps it is not in their nature to view bribery as honorable and they should only receive a percentage of the normal XP reward. Giving money to someone who is going to use those funds illicitly is not a good thing and such circumstances should be considered even if the ends justifies that PCs use their wealth as a way to circumvent a situation.
A DM should always view each encounter in its relationship to the overall adventure and determine by percentage the effectiveness of overcoming each encounter, the immediate results that come from the PCs' actions and the potential backlash produced by the methodology.
Factors to consider include anything vital that might be passed over in overcoming the encounter such as clues that may be useful later, specific items that are needed in the future or information that goes wanting because characters did not interact in some way with the NPCs or creatures in an encounter. Even killing a bunch of Orcs does not warrant full experience if those Orcs know the whereabouts of a captive that the PCs are seeking and the information was not obtained.
In the case of a trap, XP can still be rewarded is it is sprung and a PC is poisoned, provided the circumstance required that the PCs get past that trap quickly. Breaking down a door rather than picking a lock is certainly a valid way to overcome a trap but if the noise produced tips off guards further down the road then full XP is not warranted.
When it comes to bribery, it is possible that the alignments of the PCs needs to be considered. Perhaps it is not in their nature to view bribery as honorable and they should only receive a percentage of the normal XP reward. Giving money to someone who is going to use those funds illicitly is not a good thing and such circumstances should be considered even if the ends justifies that PCs use their wealth as a way to circumvent a situation.
A DM should always view each encounter in its relationship to the overall adventure and determine by percentage the effectiveness of overcoming each encounter, the immediate results that come from the PCs' actions and the potential backlash produced by the methodology.
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I'd not let roleplaying considerations enter xp for encounters. If bribery is not a good act, then let it have in-game consequences. Don't force people to act their alignment, let their alignment be decided by their actions.
I'd do away with encounter-based xp anyway. At the end of an adventure, deal out xp according to the number of goals reached and challenges overcome, and DM rule of thumb.
Or just level up from time to tim, as you see fit - we do it like that in my campaign. No need to fret over ECL and xp calculations that way!
I'd do away with encounter-based xp anyway. At the end of an adventure, deal out xp according to the number of goals reached and challenges overcome, and DM rule of thumb.
Or just level up from time to tim, as you see fit - we do it like that in my campaign. No need to fret over ECL and xp calculations that way!
Ridley's Cohort
First Post
Flyspeck23 said:
When a DM gives xp for successfully goals instead of only combat, the CR of the persons involved are just one factor -- not necessarily the most important one.
If the PCs need to cross the river, they can build a raft, attempt to swim the treacherous water, set up ropes to pull themselves across, use Water Walking, search for a safe place to ford, pay the very dangerous troll to use his bridge (the toll is only slightly unreasonable), or attempt to kill the troll outright. I would not necessarily give them xp for the troll's CR value just because the PCs happen to choose the most difficult option.
I'd say you should give full xp only if it was at least an effective solution as combat - eg if the bribed individuals are no longer a potential threat, maybe full xp, but if they could show up later, 1/2 xp might be more appropriate. If it was an encounter the PCs couldn't have won in a fight (EL 5 or more over party level) capping the award at circa party CR+4 might be appropriate. OTOH if the target was both very tough and very difficult to bargain with (an ancient red dragon, say) full XP for a successful bribe might be appropriate even here.
For an encounter of approximately party CR where the opponent needed to be passed and is no longer a threat, full XP seems right - especially if the bribe amounted to around 20% of party resources.
For an encounter of approximately party CR where the opponent needed to be passed and is no longer a threat, full XP seems right - especially if the bribe amounted to around 20% of party resources.
