HYPERBOREA / XP for Magic Items (was "The Town of Swampgate question")

**Posted by Spellbinder** 5/24/2019 9:34 am

In the adventure a magical item is looted called Dagon's Harness. It has an item xp value of 1,000 xp. Does the person who dons the armor and keeps get this xp only or is it still split with the entire group, please?

Last edited by DMPrata (5/24/2019 4:31 pm)

**Posted by Blackadder23** 5/24/2019 9:48 am

This is one of those questions whose answer depends on the DM.

It's my impression that most DM's divide XP from defeating monsters evenly among the group, except in very unusual cases. However, whether treasure XP is divided evenly seems to depend more on the DM. I personally award treasure XP depending on which characters actually get the gold and magic items. So if the players decide to divide the gold and magic items unevenly (or if thieves in the party steal an extra share), they get uneven treasure XP awards. In my case, the answer to your question would be, "Whoever keeps the armor gets all the XP for it and the rest of the party gets none (for that particular item)". Other DM's, I believe, would answer differently because they divide treasure XP evenly the same way they divide combat XP.

If you want an "official" answer for AS&SH, maybe Jeff will chime in. Basically, though, all XP awards are at the discretion of the DM... so I guess it's however you want to handle it!

**Posted by BlackKnight** 5/24/2019 9:57 am

As BlackAdder mentioned it really comes down to the GM. In my case I have a tendency to follow what the party agrees to amongst themselves. If the party makes a "Contract/Agreement" that all treasure is to Party loot, and that any character wanting/needing or Granted a singular article of magic be given it as part of their loot. I do a divide evenly, if in the case of a thief pocketing something without notice, that is within their character's prerogative and abilities, and would not contribute to party loot...

Jeff would be the better judge for the "official" word, but in the spirit of the Greater god Gygax, "Rules? we don't need no stinking rules! That's because I am the Rules..."

In Gary's actually Words, It's absolutely up to the GM...
So what did Gary say?

“It is the spirit of the game, not the letter of the rules which is important. Never hold to the letter written, nor allow some barracks room lawyer to force quotations from the rule books upon you, if it goes against the obvious intent of the game. As you hew the line with respect to conformity to major systems and uniformity of play in general, also be certain the game is mastered by you and not by your players. Within the broad parameters given in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons volumes, you are creator and final arbiter. By ordering things as they should be, the game as a whole first, you campaign next and your participants thereafter, you will be playing Advanced Dungeons & Dragons as it was meant to be.”

Dungeon Master’s Guide (page 230), Gary Gygax

Last edited by BlackKnight (5/24/2019 10:03 am)

**Posted by DMPrata** 5/24/2019 4:28 pm

From VOL. III, p. 266: EXPERIENCE POINTS (XP), gaining experience points:

XP Distribution: Experience point distribution can be a tricky subject, though only as complicated as the referee chooses.
Even Distribution: In the broadest sense, XP should be divided equally amongst the PCs, even when one character outshines the rest of the party.
Solo Distribution: Sometimes a player character will perform individual activity deserving of solo XP. Example: A thief sneaks ahead to scout the opposition and runs into a pair of orc guards. He fights them by himself and wins by dint of his blade before his allies arrive. In such an instance, the thief may be awarded solo XP.

My feeling is that the 1,000 XP for Dagon’s harness should be divided evenly amongst the party, unless one PC recovered it by himself.

**Posted by rhialto** 5/24/2019 5:12 pm

I vacillate between Even Distribution and You All Level Up; some might call the latter lazy, which would be fair.

**Posted by Chainsaw** 5/24/2019 5:22 pm

I usually use even distribution because usually everyone's cooperated to secure the treasure, victory, etc.

**Posted by mabon5127** 5/24/2019 6:14 pm

rhialto wrote:
I vacillate between Even Distribution and You All Level Up; some might call the latter lazy, which would be fair.

Hahaha! Me too.

**Posted by Brock Savage** 5/24/2019 9:06 pm

I distribute experience points for treasure equally among the characters who secured it. The players are free to split the treasure among themselves however they like

**Posted by Iron Ranger** 5/24/2019 11:03 pm

I'm in the minority it seems, the players distribute the treasure AND the XP goes with it. I find this keeps the players acting with all the emotions I would expect the characters to have after defeating the guardians of great treasures.

**Posted by Ron** 7/24/2019 6:49 pm

I equate the experience with the fame/glory of retrieving the treasure. So, it’s split amongst party members just like treasure, unless the character won it single handedly... stealing the glory so to speak. Since the magic item itself is a reward, I don’t feel it necessary to otherwise reward a character for its possession.

**Posted by ArjenL** 7/24/2019 8:09 pm

My first game of ASSH had players that where new to the xp for treasure found so they readily accepted my proposal; everyone gets equal xp and their share of treasure tied to xp worth (because selling a magic item is an adventure in itself). So a total of ~2400 gp worth of gold/gems a magic item worth 1000xp and one worth 200xp got divided in packages of 1000xp item plus 200gp, 200xp item plus 1000gp and 1200 gp.a bit metagamey but fair, I think.

**Posted by Spider of Leng** 7/24/2019 10:40 pm

We do it all pretty evenly with a couple exceptions. Players who are exceptionally clever and/or do something really selfless or heroic or role play really well might get a bonus from the DM. And you get xp for delivering or receiving criticals. It's 50 xp per degree of crit delivered (2-5xdamage) and 100 xp per severity level of critical received. So you could theoretically get 1000 xp for surviving a crit that inflicted 5x normal damage.