Experience Points for Reanimating Monsters

[superjoe]

My group defeated a Dullahan, but being what he is, he dissapated and is scheduled to reanimate later. They have not yet found his tomb and put his soul to rest and there is a very strong possibility they will have to fight him again. In the event thay may happen, does the party earn the XP for defeating the same monster the 2nd time?

[Wheldrake]

It depends.

If it happens a limited number of times, and the PCs don't expect it, and they have a nasty fight each time, sure, why not? They're in the same situation as if they'd simply met another of the same monster type, rather than the exact same one.

If it feels like the PCs are "farming" the critter and puposefully taking advantage of its respawn ability to earn more xp, then no.

As DM you can make such decisions. You could even decide to stop using xp entirely, as many DMs do, and simply state when they are ready to level.

[NielsenE]

I think, in general, the guidelines are to only award the XP when the encounter is 'defeated'. In the case of a respawning creature/resetting trap, its not neutralized until you've stropped its respawn. If I were tracking exp, I would maybe award 1/2 exp on the first victory, reserving the rest for after they permanently destroy it. The respawn ability is part of the creature's power budget, that set its challenge rating which controls how much xp its worth.

It does depend a bit on your method of xp tracking/how visible it is to the players. If you normally award xp after every fight and you don't think time, that would tip the players off to it not being dead, and depending on their in character knowledge you might not want to tip them off yet.

[Albatoonoe]

If you would reward XP for bypassing encounters in clever ways (such as diplomacy), then it only seems reasonable to reward it for a somewhat ineffective slaying. They still fought the thing and have that experience under their belt, so why wouldn't they get the points?

[Castilliano]

As you can see, opinion vary across the board and there's no set rule.
So embrace that you're neither forced to give XP nor forced to skip giving XP at any stage.

I'd tie it back into your original intentions with the creature. As Albatoonoe pointed out, even killing once isn't a requirement for gaining XP by bypassing an obstacle (like if crossing the bridge it guarded mattered more). But if permanently slaying the creature had been the PCs' quest from the get go, bypassing it and multiple killings might not suffice until the final deed gets accomplished (though that might prove irksome to the players if strung along).

[The Gleeful Grognard]

Albatoonoe wrote:

If you would reward XP for bypassing encounters in clever ways (such as diplomacy), then it only seems reasonable to reward it for a somewhat ineffective slaying. They still fought the thing and have that experience under their belt, so why wouldn't they get the points?

On the bypassing note, the rules specifically instruct GMs not to award players for bypassing and then going back to fight or bypassing multiple times.

I would treat reviving creatures the same way.

[Perpdepog]

Castilliano wrote:

As you can see, opinion vary across the board and there's no set rule.

So embrace that you're neither forced to give XP nor forced to skip giving XP at any stage.

I'd tie it back into your original intentions with the creature. As Albatoonoe pointed out, even killing once isn't a requirement for gaining XP by bypassing an obstacle (like if crossing the bridge it guarded mattered more). But if permanently slaying the creature had been the PCs' quest from the get go, bypassing it and multiple killings might not suffice until the final deed gets accomplished (though that might prove irksome to the players if strung along).

You could also award experience, and then give the party experience as a story award when they permanently put the creature down. If they can somehow manage to do it on the first go then cool, otherwise they wait for that story award for later.

I fall more into Wheldrake's camp, where I'd look at the intentions and story implications. If it's hard each time and the party don't seem like they are getting metagamy and farming the monster, then I'd throw out more experience than normal.

[superjoe]

Thanks to all of you for your input. In this case, IF the dullahan reappears, I am leaning towards giving them the XP again because......
1) they are actively trying to prevent him from reappearing, but other forces are impeding their progress.
2) xp listed in the book does not specify you have to put him to rest to get the xp. In a different situation, they could “defeat” him without putting him to rest, and move forward. They should not be penalized for the layout of the environment which keeps them close to the respawn point
3) Re:landmark leveling i.e. “You are all now level 8!”
I did that at every point up to this in the AP because every encounter is linear. This one is different, it is a sprawling dungeon crawl. I feel tracking XP is vital on this one. The group should not get free experience by intentionally/unintentionally avoiding encounters and sprinting to the end. Exploration needs to be encouraged and rewarded. So I had been using “You are now Level X!” Up to this point, but that would be a failing to the group in this situation.

I very much appreciate your responses and insights. After 35+ years of playing together, this is my first time running the show and I am trying to get it right!