Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Pax" data-source="post: 1461870" data-attributes="member: 6875">Is driving the enemy off sufficient to achieve the party's immediate goals, and/or work towards their long-term goals?  If so, then they have indeed "defeated" their opposition, and successfully overcome that particular challenge.  If, OTOH, they were hired to capture or kill the opposition in question, they have failed.  The trick here is, "defeat" does not have to be total - you don't have to KILL the dragon to defeat it; driving it off, or heck, even just hiding from it, could constitute "overcoming the challenge".  I disagree.  If the enemy is using hit-and-run tactics, their ultimate goal is to kill or capture the PCs.  Every time the PCs survive and avoid capture, they have defeated their opponent ... by the simple expedient of preventing his plans form being successful.  What it comes down to is this: the players should never be denied XP simply because the DM decides to have one or more o the "badguys" hightail it, in order to recycle them for a later encounter!  Let's take that "repeatedly hit and run" example further: if the foes defeated were never coming back ... would you award XP?  If your answer was "yes" (and by the RAW, it should be!) ... why shouldn't you award that same XP, just because you want to re-use the surviving NPCs at a later date?  Their goal is, as you stated, "to get through the forest alive and relatively intact".  If they do so, they shoudl get experience.  The spirits apparently wish to prevent the PC's from doing so - so every encounter that doesn't kill the PC's or force them to retreat back out of the forest, should be worth XP to the party.  If you feel a quick hit-and-fade isn't as challenging as a stand-and-fight, unto-the-death encounter ... then lower the effective EL accordingly; it'll be worth less experience, but should consume a similarly lesser portion of the party's resources (if each hit-and-fade only uses up 1/5 as much XP as a normal encounter would, then the party shoudl probably get close to 1/5 as much XP in turn ...).  But awarding NO experience unless the enemy is dead or tied up at the PC's feet only encourages the players to think "if you want the XP for it, KILL it before it can run away!" - which is contrary to what 3E's experience system is supposed to be about.  Every time he runs away before he can be defeated, the PCs successfully foil his plans.  They should get full XP for he encounter, because they have, absolutely and without question, defeated the villain!  Your goal is "stay alive".  The obstacle or challenge between you and that goal is "these guys could make us VERY dead, VERY quickly".  If you manage to avoid their ability to make you dead, threby staying alive, you should get SOME XP, at least - but only if the critter is honestly inclined to PURSUE the party.  Otherwise, simeply not cutting your own throat would earn you nigh-infinite XP (everytime you draw breath, that's another time you haven't comitted suicide ... etc, etc).  You should not have to kill a foe, just to earnthe XP.  Here's a question for you: if you kill someone, and they come BACK (their friends spring for a True Resurrection), fully intent on getting revenge ... do you lose the XP?</blockquote>

Verification