So we’re playing through the Keep on the Borderlands and one of my PCs picks up a Wand of Wonder, and frags a half-dozen gnomes with a fireball. Does that player get all the XP for those gnomes? No one else laid a finger on those hapless bastards. We are using the traditional 5e XP award rules, not the milestone or any of the other variants. But I’m not sure if the rest of the group shares in the XP, because all of the group makes it possible for the wand wielder to be in the dungeon in the first place...
If the characters are present when it happens, the whole party gets the benefits of the XP, it does not matter who actually ends up killing the enemies.
My $0.02: I agree with the others. It's better to split it between all those present. There are other ways that you can individually reward that PC for their accomplishment (bonus xp, inspiration, advantage on intimidation checks vs. Gnomes, etc).
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You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
Okay, that was my inclination as well, but the wand wielder was really excited about how many Xp she was gonna get for that master stroke. Our next session is Friday, so I wanted to have a solid answer. Thanks!
Something I'd do in one of those "well that wasn't planned, but funny as hell" type of moments would be something like;
PC: Blasts all the unprepared gnomes
Me: Huh. "As you survey the wreckage, you hear a chuckle in the back of your mind. A voice you do not recognize addresses you from a mouth you cannot see, from a direction that is simultaneously everywhere and nowhere, 'Aaahh... that was fun. I didn't even know Gnomes could break into that many parts! Good times... see you real soon.' As the voice fades from your mind, you notice that the remaining charges on your Wand of Wonder have not changed."
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
One follow-up question. So there’s 15 of these little gnome blighters in the module. My player blasted 6 of them into the next world. If I say the remaining gnomes leave the dungeon altogether, does the party get experience for defeating the whole lot as if they had killed them all?
One follow-up question. So there’s 15 of these little gnome blighters in the module. My player blasted 6 of them into the next world. If I say the remaining gnomes leave the dungeon altogether, does the party get experience for defeating the whole lot as if they had killed them all?
By the book and by the way I used to do it (switched to milestone) the party would get experience if the gnomes were and obstacle and they left because of the party's actions. If the gnomes were not an obstacle to the party or they left for other reasons, the party would not get experience.
Were the gnomes actually hostiles, or was this an accidental thing and he nuked some innocent bystanders? If they weren't hostiles, they weren't a challenge or obstacle, so no XP should be awarded. Otherwise, XP should always be divided evenly.
Exp based on kills is unfair in the extreme. I suppose you could run a game like that, but it would cause PCs to take unnecessary risks and nobody would take up a support role. It would lead to selfish game play rather than teamwork.
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"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
One follow-up question. So there’s 15 of these little gnome blighters in the module. My player blasted 6 of them into the next world. If I say the remaining gnomes leave the dungeon altogether, does the party get experience for defeating the whole lot as if they had killed them all?
Was there a possibility that they would end up fighting those gnomes eventually? Would the living gnomes have provided some kind of difficulty for the PC's? Blocking the PC's path, social challenges, etc?
If they weren't just random people standing by then causing them to flee is the equivalent of a successfully completed encounter. If they were an actual planned encounter in the module, then successfully bypassing it ought to reward the same experience as completing it directly. Even if it's not a "planned" encounter, it wouldn't be inappropriate to award exp for accomplishing something like that.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
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So we’re playing through the Keep on the Borderlands and one of my PCs picks up a Wand of Wonder, and frags a half-dozen gnomes with a fireball. Does that player get all the XP for those gnomes? No one else laid a finger on those hapless bastards. We are using the traditional 5e XP award rules, not the milestone or any of the other variants. But I’m not sure if the rest of the group shares in the XP, because all of the group makes it possible for the wand wielder to be in the dungeon in the first place...
If the characters are present when it happens, the whole party gets the benefits of the XP, it does not matter who actually ends up killing the enemies.
It is best to just evenly spit the xp for the sake of fairness and convenience.
Bottom line: it's up to you.
My $0.02: I agree with the others. It's better to split it between all those present. There are other ways that you can individually reward that PC for their accomplishment (bonus xp, inspiration, advantage on intimidation checks vs. Gnomes, etc).
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
Okay, that was my inclination as well, but the wand wielder was really excited about how many Xp she was gonna get for that master stroke. Our next session is Friday, so I wanted to have a solid answer. Thanks!
Something I'd do in one of those "well that wasn't planned, but funny as hell" type of moments would be something like;
PC: Blasts all the unprepared gnomes
Me: Huh. "As you survey the wreckage, you hear a chuckle in the back of your mind. A voice you do not recognize addresses you from a mouth you cannot see, from a direction that is simultaneously everywhere and nowhere, 'Aaahh... that was fun. I didn't even know Gnomes could break into that many parts! Good times... see you real soon.' As the voice fades from your mind, you notice that the remaining charges on your Wand of Wonder have not changed."
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
One follow-up question. So there’s 15 of these little gnome blighters in the module. My player blasted 6 of them into the next world. If I say the remaining gnomes leave the dungeon altogether, does the party get experience for defeating the whole lot as if they had killed them all?
By the book and by the way I used to do it (switched to milestone) the party would get experience if the gnomes were and obstacle and they left because of the party's actions. If the gnomes were not an obstacle to the party or they left for other reasons, the party would not get experience.
Were the gnomes actually hostiles, or was this an accidental thing and he nuked some innocent bystanders? If they weren't hostiles, they weren't a challenge or obstacle, so no XP should be awarded. Otherwise, XP should always be divided evenly.
Exp based on kills is unfair in the extreme. I suppose you could run a game like that, but it would cause PCs to take unnecessary risks and nobody would take up a support role. It would lead to selfish game play rather than teamwork.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
Yeah, I make the xp evenly spread out. Otherwise that would just breed toxicity amongst the players. "You stole my kill dude!" lol
-Sol
Was there a possibility that they would end up fighting those gnomes eventually? Would the living gnomes have provided some kind of difficulty for the PC's? Blocking the PC's path, social challenges, etc?
If they weren't just random people standing by then causing them to flee is the equivalent of a successfully completed encounter. If they were an actual planned encounter in the module, then successfully bypassing it ought to reward the same experience as completing it directly. Even if it's not a "planned" encounter, it wouldn't be inappropriate to award exp for accomplishing something like that.
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.