The CR will tell you about how much the trap will hurt the party (if they set it off) and how much XP they get for bypassing it or setting it off. The whole party gets XP for a pit trap even if all that happens is the fighter falls in and gets a bit banged up.

well, we used to play if they set it off and survived they got the exp...or if it was found and disarmed/avoided. Back in the day the DM explained it that traps had to kill to be successful. Seemed a bit odd, but I never gave it much thought at the time.

"Overcoming the challenge of a trap involves encountering the trap, either by disarming it, avoiding it, or simply surviving the damage it deals. A trap never discovered or never bypassed was not encountered (and hence provides no XP award)."

See page 39 of the 3.5 edition DMG.

As others have noted, the CR for traps is the same as CR for monsters.

However, IMC when I use traps, I give XP only if the trap is defeated. If it wears you down a bit, then it's done what it was intended to do. When my players (wife included) fell into the same pit trap three times, not a one of them got a single XP.


You may want to award XP based on Encounter Levels instead of CR, and only set traps when you have thinking opponents to exploit them. A goblin ambush as the party is dealing with a pit trap (or, worse yet, an ogre capable of bull rushing the party back into the pit) is a much better justification of XP than just falling down and using two cleric-spells's worth of healing.