XP For Defeating a Creature Twice

[glass]

If the PC's defeat a baddie, but he escapes, do they get XP when they face him a second time? I'm thinking that they would, but I don't know if I would award them full XP the second time around.

IMO, if he was a normal challenge both times, they'd get normal XP both times. If either time he was stronger or weaker than normal, apply ad hoc XP modifications.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

If you award xp for the PCs defeating foes (not necessarily killing them), then they should get XP twice. He knows what to expect, and he will probably have a slight upper hand the next time around...ie he knows to send his minions after the mage, or to ignore the guy who took too many multi-class levels and can't hit the broad side of the barn, or to send the 4-legged animal companions after the monk who likes triping people etc...

You're perfectly able as the DM to use fiat to enable him to find some more minions or better replacement gear, and you're encouraged to do so. The players have no way of knowing you manually adjusted his stats a bit, or that he wasn't actually a friend of evil wizard Bob before you decided he was. Even if it is as simple as him borrowing a potion or 2 from 'someplace else in the dungeon'. Suddenly the bad guy with 4 more pts of AC, or who hits for 2 more pts of damage can pose much more of a challenge to the PCs. And they won't feel like they killed a clone of the last chump they beat down.


Incidently....how did he get away the first time? Did he regenerate or something and the PCs didnt notice?

I always play dumb as a PC and pretend like nothing regenerates....until the first time it happens in game. Then we all pretty much assume that everything regenerates and they get CDGd or heads chopped off etc...well at least for the exotic monsters. They usually make nice boots anyways I'm a big fan of adorning my characters with critter-parts, lol.

Just to be clear, this guy isn't a BBEG, he's just a baddie. Probably a level above minion status, but I'd say he definitely somewhere in the middle when it comes to chain of command.

As for how he got away, he ran. The PC's are in a dungeon and he was part of a rolling fight that involved the party and 2 other (slightly weaker) baddies. He made a run for it and went down a 5ft twisting tunnel that split off into multiple directions. A couple of PC's chasing him were held up fighting one of the weaker baddies in the tunnel. Those couple of rounds gave him enough time to get out of sight and disappear back into the dungeon somewhere.

In the end I decided not to award the party full XP for this first encounter (I gave them XP for a CR3 instead of the CR4 he was rated at) as he fled with over 3/4 of his hit points remaining. He saw the fight turning against him (5 PC's vs 1 of him) so he escaped to fight another day. If they had almost killed him I would have given them XP for a CR4 encounter.

Thoughts?

Olaf the Stout

 

[JiffyPopTart]

I couldn't imagine NOT giving full XP for both encounters, as long as they weren't all part of one long scene. It just wouldn't make any sense.

Situation 1
PCs beat a bad guy down to 1HP who blinks away. Days later he shows back up and is defeated for good. GM decides to only award 1 set of XP.

Situation 2
PCs beat a bad guy down to 1HP who blinks away and lands on a banana peel, slipping and breaking his neck. His brother, also a bad guy and equipped and statted out VERY SIMILARLY decides to get revenge. Days later he shows back up and is defeated for good. GM decides to award two sets of XP...because it doesn't happen to be the exact same guy.

DS

 

[Nail]

In the end I decided not to award the party full XP for this first encounter (I gave them XP for a CR3 instead of the CR4 he was rated at) as he fled with over 3/4 of his hit points remaining. He saw the fight turning against him (5 PC's vs 1 of him) so he escaped to fight another day. If they had almost killed him I would have given them XP for a CR4 encounter.

Thoughts?

FWIW, that's what I do in these situations. Or rather, the XP of a CR 4 would be multiplied by 75%, rather than reducing it to CR 3. That's the DMG way, BTW.