Awarding XP for traps question.

[Gonzzo]

I'm a new GM and am wondering if i should award xp for a trap that is triggered and damages PC (such as a javlin trap. Or should i only award xp if it is disabled or avoided somehow like with a save.

[Abandoned Arts]

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If your PCs fought a frost worm and survived the creature's death throes, would you award XP? Of course! By RAW and by RAI, you gain XP by overcoming challenges. Surviving the trap amounts to overcoming the challenge it poses - so yes! You should absolutely award XP.

The advantage of disarming and avoiding traps is being able to get your XP without having to take a retractable scythe to the face.

There used to be a specific rule for this, but in Pathfinder it's just sort of assumed.

Daron Woodson
Abandoned Arts

[Gonzzo]

Thanks! I'll probably be asking a lot more stupid questions before I familiar with all the seemingly obvious rules. The reason I asked is, I've played several computer games such as baldurs gate and neverwinter nights, and it seems you only got xp when you disarmed the trap not when if blasted you with a fireball. But thanks, for clearing that up for me my players will be glad to hear that.

[Abandoned Arts]

Happy to help.

Daron Woodson
Abandoned Arts

[Adamantine Dragon]

If you are determined to use XP, then surviving a trap, even if you set it off, should award XP.

Also, avoiding a trap should also award XP, even if the trap is not disabled. I had a group that used to bypass traps, then use them as weapons against the bad guys by getting them to trigger the trap after the bad guys assumed it had been triggered or disabled.

Double XP!

[Baelin]

A question that will probably come up later is whether it's appropriate to award ALL the xp to the PC who took the risk to disable the trap or to the group as a whole.

What are the forum's thoughts on this?

[Adamantine Dragon]

I don't do XP precisely because of things like this.

But if I did, I'd award XP to the whole party, the same as if the fighter took down a monster singlehandedly in a fight. It's a team effort. Or should be.

[Baelin]

In my experience, everyone else who's not the unlucky rogue usually just stands there 'supervising' the effort from 10 or more feet away :P

[Karlgamer]

I think the only time you Don't give EXP is if they accidentally avoid it.

If they spring it EXP
if they disarm it EXP
If they detect it and avoid it EXP.
If they detect it and use it to kill the monsters EXP.

But if they never encounter it... :(

[Diego Rossi]

Baelin wrote:

A question that will probably come up later is whether it's appropriate to award ALL the xp to the PC who took the risk to disable the trap or to the group as a whole.

What are the forum's thoughts on this?

To the group as a whole. Pathfinder don't have mechanics to balance XP between the characters, so, unless you want to get characters with different XP total and levels the best thing is to give all the characters the same XP.

Giving more XP to someone, especially if it is done not to award good RP but for overcoming obstacles has the net result of making that character more capable to overcome obstacles and tush even more the recipient of the XP awards.
Even giving XP awards for RP has its problems, as it will generally reward the more vocally and expansive players, relegating the guy that participate to the game but speak less to a secondary role by slowing his character advancement.

[The Doc CC]

I think the earlier posters showed you what the consensus is.

The "rules as written" (RAW) answer is: "Keep a list of the CRs of all the monsters, traps, obstacles, and roleplaying encounters the PCs overcome. At the end of each session, award XP to each PC that participated."

Insert obligatory comment that as the GM, you decide what the rules are here.

At this point, any further discussion is advice, and I think this thread gives you some good idea of how others solved the problem. One of your jobs is defining "overcome" in a way your group likes. I'd just hasten to add my opinion is that overcoming a challenge does not necessarily mean defeating an enemy, and defeating an enemy does not mean the same thing as killing them. Many video games do not award XP unless an enemy is slain, and some GMs carry that over when they start. If the players talk to a kobold tribe and convince them to make peace with the village, that's worth XP - and maybe bonus XP as a story award, particularly if the PCs are good aligned. I go so far as to award XP if the PCs are defeated as well - failure teaches painful lessons.

I'd also pay attention to Diego Rossi's point in response to Baelin's question; it's a good one to think over.

And if you think I'm wrong, you are absolutely right provided your players have fun in your game.

[Baelin]

Excellent points from both Diego Rossi and The Doc CC.

It's fine to give a set amount of XP to the whole party as it ensures that everyone progresses and levels up at the same time. Its a time-proven system that works out well enough. And from a long-term perspective, everyone (usually) contributes their fair share of effort across the entire encounter.

Tanks stand at the front lines sucking up damage, Healers buff and heal, Arcanists blow things up, and Skill Monkeys stab things and disable traps. From this perspective, it's not fair that a rogue who risks his neck disabling a trap should be rewarded, when a fighter who's holding off the monstrous horde off everyone else's back doesn't.

However, I find that players will push themselves harder and enjoy taking on challenges a bit more if they know they get some recognition for the risks they take.

As such, I personally recommend awarding a modicum of individual XP, which can be as little 10-100xp, as a sprinkle on the cake for PCs that push the bar or survive through difficult situations under their own merit.