Hello fellow DM's!

In an adventure I am currently writing, the party is set to encounter a lizardfolk shaman (would link, but it's not in the Basic Rules), which has conjure animals listed in its stat block as a spell it has prepared, and I was wondering how I should change the XP awarded for the encounter if it summoned, say a giant constrictor snake. Since the snake, like the shaman, has a challenge rating of 2, should I double the XP for the encounter (which seems a bit extreme), or should I just leave it the same, because the snake will disappear when the shaman's concentration ends? Perhaps something in between? Any suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated.

Generally speaking, a creature cast as part of a spell is not worth XP, as it is assumed the spellcasters XP and CR reflect the creature being summoned. (Not 100% sure if 5th follows this thought). Since most summoned creatures require concentration and therefore limit the abilities of the spellcaster while the summon spell is active, and the creature need not be defeated, just the shaman failing a concentration check, then you should not award XP because the Shaman's CR and XP is going to cover it, and the monster is really part of the Shaman.

If however, you have the creature there and it is not tied to a concentration check to remain, then I'd add the creatures XP total to the encounter total. The same thought for animal companions. If a ranger NPC has an animal companion with the same restrictions as a PC, then I'd award no additional XP because the Ranger's XP covers it. However, if the animal is not under the same restrictions as a PC animal companion, (such as being able to do all its attacks even when the Ranger attacks with all their attacks) I'd award the animals XP in addition to the ranger's xp.

The conjuring spells, like Conjure Animals, is part of the NPC, so the difficulty is included in the NPC's CR.

Monster Manual quote:

Unless something tells you otherwise, a monster summoned by a spell or other magical ability is worth the XP noted in its stat block.

Quote from Matthias_von_Schwarzwald >>

Monster Manual quote:

Unless something tells you otherwise, a monster summoned by a spell or other magical ability is worth the XP noted in its stat block.

Quote from Torgoth >>

Quote from Matthias_von_Schwarzwald >>

Monster Manual quote:

Unless something tells you otherwise, a monster summoned by a spell or other magical ability is worth the XP noted in its stat block.

 Huh.

I wonder if that includes monsters the PCs summon themselves then defeat by RAW.

Especially if the players defeat the summoned creature before the duration of the spell ends. If the conjuration ends before the monster is defeated, I would only give xp based on what they were able to do to the summoned creature.

In regards to

Monster Manual quote:

Unless something tells you otherwise, a monster summoned by a spell or other magical ability is worth the XP noted in its stat block.

What page is this on? I am not doubting your quote but i wanted to check and read this myself.

Quote from Arcanavore >>

In regards to

Monster Manual quote:

Unless something tells you otherwise, a monster summoned by a spell or other magical ability is worth the XP noted in its stat block.

What page is this on? I am not doubting your quote but i wanted to check and read this myself.

 Page 9.