Well.. you could add it in as RP bonus, but no there are no rules for such things other than ad hoc exp and story awards are encouraged.
Also I have to say that many many players dislike the running away option and sooner get themselves killed heroically for a shot at glory than run away, just a warning..
So if you want to run such an encounter make it absolutely clear there is no glory to be had here.
Hey, all!
I know that in the old days, encounter design used to include monsters that vastly overpowered the party. Gives you that 'world doesn't only exist for us' feel.
If I wanted to throw something like that into my campaign, and then reward the PCs for just... successfully running away...
Are there guidelines for experience point awards in that situation? Or am I on my own?
Thanks in advance for the help!
I would definately give them something, maybe half, maybe less. Just because they didnt kill anything doesn't mean they didn't learn anything. It's the experience that matters I think.
If you throw something at them they really can't handle, it should be worth something.
If you throw something at them they really can't handle, it should be worth something.
Death if you dont drop some good hints. Ran into this a few times, it always wound up in combat of some sort.
Also I have to say that many many players dislike the running away option and sooner get themselves killed heroically for a shot at glory than run away, just a warning..
So if you want to run such an encounter make it absolutely clear there is no glory to be had here.
This. I've throw really overpowered things at my characters, and 95% of the time they try to fight it anyway. In a few cases they tactically retreat, but that's pretty rare.
Usually they survive, too. Although not without spending most of their daily resources and some consumable ones too. And usually someone dies and is brought back, or is on the brink of death and last-minute-saved.
The one time I remember them having absolutely no desire to tangle with a creature they were presented with, I had just had it's minions tear through a bunch of bandits, while the party was 1st level and down a player (they still hadn't met him).
The one time I've thrown something at players in a game I was running that they weren't meant to face directly, I was lucky in that someone made a near-perfect Knowledge check to ID the beastie. "Yes, you know exactly what this is, and you know that it's WAY above your pay grade."
Of course what I didn't tell them was that their perception checks to notice the Disguise Self failed, and it wasn't really what they thought it was... but it worked perfectly for the story. :D