Basic D&D XP questions.

[countzero99uk]

In the red book it states that most of the xp given out comes from treasure. Ive been looking and i cant find reference to wether this just counts towards coins and items that typicaly only exist to sell, that is gems, jewlery and other misc items. But what of magical items? The +1 weapon or potion of CLW.

From what i have read i would suspect that they do not count towards the XP treasure amount. But would be grateful for your opinions.

The other question is that the cash/items are split up by the party does the XP go on the GP worth of treasure they have been given or should the DM just spilt it equaly for XP?

Thanks in advance. Im starting running tommorow with the adventure to hunt down bargle so hopefully someone can answer me soon.

Regards
Brian.

[Arminath]

Nothing I remember ever seeing dictates how the gold-derived XP is split. I'd go with how you feel, either add up all the valuable treasure (coins, gems and jewelry) and split to total evenly or grant XP based on each character's take of the treasure. Either way works.

Magic items do not grant XP and I would hesitate to allow characters to 'cash in' them either by selling them.

[coffee]

Traditionally, as I understand it, XP for treasure is divided evenly by the referee among the (surviving) player characters. But the treasure itself is divided however they want by the characters.

This strikes me as the most fair, because the players can gang up on one of their own and short him treasure, but that doesn't mean the referee has to go along with it.

(It would get even worse if you did give xp for magic items...)

[countzero99uk]

Yeah coffee thats what i was thinking either they could pour all the gold on one member and have him/her level first.

Ill just split it for them, and then they can divvy the cash as they see fit.

Thanks for the quick responces, i appreciate it.

Im currently trying to read the DMG so i can refresh my 20 year old memories of the game and stock level 2 of the dungeon.

Laters.

[tavis]

The general consensus in New York Red Box & Red Box Vancouver is that if you're going either by the treasure tables in the book, or by most back-in-the-day modules, there is not enough money around for characters to advance in levels faster than they die. I like to address this by:

- giving XP for spending gold as well as retrieving it from the dungeon (this can be made into a carousing mini-game, or just as a straightforward "the party buys a sailing ship for 1,000 gp and earns 1,000 XP"

- letting characters sell items for GP under the right circumstances, which then earns them XP

The advantage to both of these IMO is that it ties the characters to events outside the dungeon. By encouraging them to buy ships, you get to have fun introducing evil NPCs into their crew. By encouraging them to find people to sell magic items to, you get to introduce NPCs who may complicate their lives.

The focus of your game is likely to still be on going into dungeons and finding treasure - that stuff is fun! But I find it helps players get more into the world around the dungeon if there's a concrete way to attach it to the XP-for-GP economy.