### Give them XP for resolving and surviving the encounter. ###

Yes, D&D is primarily a combat game. However, that doesn't always mean that all encounters must be handled via combat. In practice, combat is just one of several approaches. As it says in the *Player's Basic Rules*, the "Three Pillars of Adventure" encompass more than just fighting:

> Adventurers can try to do anything their players can imagine, but it can be helpful to talk about their activities in three broad categories: exploration, social interaction, and combat.

Player agency is important, which means the players should decide how they want to handle new threats. When goblins introduce a new threat, any of the following methods are possible:

- Sneak past the goblins, thereby not being attacked

- Sneak up to the goblins and then defeating them in a surprise attack

- Charge the goblins head-on and defeating them in brutal combat

- Use social skills to persuade, intimidate, or trick the goblins so that they don't attack

- Create a distraction to make the goblins go in a different direction


Whenever NPCs interact with the player characters in a potentially challenging way, the players should earn an amount of XP if they meet the challenge goals (which often means surviving the encounter). The *Dungeon Master's Guide* explains how to calculate the XP reward:

> Each monster has an XP value based on its challenge rating. When adventurers defeat one or more monsters - typically by killing, routing, or capturing them - they divide the total XP value of the monsters evenly among themselves.

  Even if the challenge is initially presented as a combat, as long as the players survive, they should get the XP for completing the challenge.