I found that there was more than enough experience in this to get my group of seven players to where they needed to be. So much in fact that I started becoming stingy with it. I didn't give RP experience (other than as written) or experience for traps. I don't want them to proceed to quickly and be too powerful for the adventures as written.
Then of course, when you mess with experience as written you start worrying about treasure (I found they were behind).
Sean Mahoney
Sorry, I've never heard of giving experience for finding secret doors. Doing so could establish a bad precedent -- feeling rewarded for finding them in the past, the PCs start Taking 20 on every 5' section of hallway they go down.
I feel that the reward for finding secret doors should lie in what the PCs find behind them.
Actually this is a really good point. I personally WANT the players to act smart. In a dungeon rife with secret doors it is a very nice thing to have them be found. So if the players want to search every 5' section I let them.
However, I don't want this to slow down gameplay either, so I speed up the process by describing their methodical search as they go, but don't describe each seperate area. I try to build tension and use the opportunity to add to the ambience of the dungeon, reveal details about their surroundings, etc.
I want them to feel like professionals who know what they are doing and I think letting them use the rules wisely goes a long way with that... I just don't think it is right to punish them for it.
Sean Mahoney