Trap XP awards? Seem biased.

[Vegepygmy]

If they were there, they participated. Just like combat.

I don't consider "just being there" enough for either combat or traps. But if you're in potential danger, you're participating.

As others have said, if the party has decided to just "send the rogue in" to deal with the trap...then yeah, they don't get any XP. But if they're aiding him to the best of their (in this situation, probably very limited) abilities, then they share in the XP.

 

[freyar]

I don't consider "just being there" enough for either combat or traps. But if you're in potential danger, you're participating.

As others have said, if the party has decided to just "send the rogue in" to deal with the trap...then yeah, they don't get any XP. But if they're aiding him to the best of their (in this situation, probably very limited) abilities, then they share in the XP.

What if they're just nearby, potentially in range of the trap. After all, they don't know necessarily what the trap might do until/unless the rogue tells them. I think I'd give everybody XP unless they really tried to get out of the way.

 

[pawsplay]

If the party member is exposed in any theoretical way to danger, and if they have an interest in disarming the trap, they participated. Even if they do nothing other than moving back sixty feet while the rogue disarms it, they have done their part in mitigating the trap's potential damage.

Not participating would be if the rogue is out scouting alone, discovers a trap, and disarms it. Not participating would be that the PC was currently dead when the trap was disarmed. Etc.

 

[jaywolfenstien]

One thing I forgot to say:

D&D is a game of general rules and many exceptions, and as the DM it's your job to figure out what those exceptions are using common sense.

The general rule should be "a character has to be incapacitated going into the encounter (battle or trap) to not get XP."

The exceptions would be, "well, the Cleric decided to stand outside the dungeon to watch the horses instead of facing the challenges inside -- no XP for him." OR "the Fighter decided to run outside the dungeon while the Rogue, too far away to call for help, disarms the trap -- no trap XP for him." and so on and so on.

Even then, there's exceptions to exceptions. A player who voluntarily decides to run away from an encounter in round 1 shouldn't get XP, but if in the surprise round the evil Wizard NPC puts the Rogue under a complsion that forces him to run away, that's something entirely different.

There's no sense trying to go through and list all the possible exceptions. At best we can throw out some examples. A guiding principle would be, "is a player going out of his way to avoid the encounter?"

With traps, the Rogue is about the only one with any useful way of dealing with them, so he probably is going to be the only one actively engaging in its disarming. It's wise for the players who can't add anything to actively disarming it to stand back. But, as people have illustrated, there's a difference between retreating to a safe corner of the room and retreating to outside the dungeon.

Hope that sheds a better light on the discussion.

 

[frankthedm]

Even if they do nothing other than moving back sixty feet while the rogue disarms it, they have done their part in mitigating the trap's potential damage.

And i think they've left the rogue to be sealed in an enclosing trap by himself or left the rogue to fight a solo battle against whatever monster shows up if it is a summoning trap.

 

[irdeggman]

And i think they've left the rogue to be sealed in an enclosing trap by himself or left the rogue to fight a solo battle against whatever monster shows up if it is a summoning trap.

Or better if they say they are retreating from the potential damage zone of the trap (or perceived potential) but state they are keeping watch to ensure nothing sneaks up on them. In this case they are doing both - mitagting colateral damage and acting as a team by placing themselves in a supporting role. Full xp should be awarded for this type of "team think" attitude, IMO.

 

[pawsplay]

And i think they've left the rogue to be sealed in an enclosing trap by himself or left the rogue to fight a solo battle against whatever monster shows up if it is a summoning trap.

Is it better, somehow, if everyone gets enclosed in the trap?

 

[Elethiomel]

And i think they've left the rogue to be sealed in an enclosing trap by himself or left the rogue to fight a solo battle against whatever monster shows up if it is a summoning trap.

Really? Sixty feet is nothing. And if they stand on top of the rogue they will also be in the enclosed space filling with acid, instead of outside it where they may mount some sort of rescue. Personally, if I played a rogue and the party insisted on being within one move action of me at all times I would be very exasperated with them. How can I fulfill my role as scout if the fighter is going to be constantly clanking away and yelling out "You still there?" 20 feet behind me? And if I'm to disarm a trap I would rather the party stay well back - if I fail, I won't kill them all, and I trust them to have my back ASAP if something interesting happens. For the GM to then go "sorry, they were outside the potential lethal radius of the trap so no XP for them" would make me feel like I'd betrayed them by trying to keep us all as alive as possible. It's counterintuitive to me that someone would have to look over my shoulder in order to get any XP from my disarming a trap that's a threat to the whole party's progress.

 

[aboyd]

Thanks everyone. I finally assigned the XP late last night. I felt that the intuitive & accurate thing was to have the rogue get all the XP. However, I could also see how that skews everything. So in the end, everyone standing around got XP. Better for party balance.

I think in the future I will encourage everyone to do something while the rogue is working. I'm thinking that perhaps a Guidance cantrip/orison can be cast upon the rogue, giving him a +1. And then a tank can stand watch. Maybe someone ties a rope to the rogue, to pull him to safety if the area fills with toxic gas. And so on.

I certainly wouldn't mandate that kind of play, but I think just asking each person, "What do you do while the rogue is disarming the trap?" will encourage some of that thinking, and that will encourage me to award XP to the whole team.

 

[irdeggman]

I certainly wouldn't mandate that kind of play, but I think just asking each person, "What do you do while the rogue is disarming the trap?" will encourage some of that thinking, and that will encourage me to award XP to the whole team.

That is the sort of DMing that does tend to inspire thoughtfulness and "team thinking". Good call.

Basically you would do the same thing in a combat situation where each player describes what their PC is doing. So it is also consistent with the rest of the game's situations.