XP for Magic Items Ain't So Bad
From my time in the scene, it seems that generally, in OSR style play, most referees do not award any XP for recovered magic items. I've seen basically nil discussion on the point, but everyone seems to agree that magic items are their own reward, NO XP!
Which is strange, because as far as I've seen, it's not a consistent rule among old editions. OD&D is vague on it as far as I know, and AD&D is explicit on the rules for gaining XP for magic items. B/X, however, is explicit on not getting any XP for magic items. B/X being the de facto central point for much of OSR play is probably the reason why that take is so popular.
I have followed that ruling for most of my OSRish refereeing career, but recently revised my stance. Arden Vul (I'd love to do a preliminary review of it after a few more sessions) had my players leveling up slowly, until I realized that, hey, this is AD&D, it's expecting that they're getting more XP from magic items! Faced with the conundrum of adding in more gold to the treasure caches, adding in a separate XP gaining mechanic to even it out, or just granting XP for magical items, I decided for the last one. When in Rome, right?
And honestly folks, I like it! Magic items are extra juicy now, because even if it's something they won't use that often, most magic items have an extra, extrinsic reward. On top of that, it shifted the balance slightly away from the party being absurdly rich. It's a well worn topic of what do old school parties spend their ridiculous wealth on by level 3. But this tamps it down a bit.
Over the course of my games, I've run into magic items that pretty obviously have both a monetary value and have magical bonuses; the +1 sword with a ruby in the pommel, the luxurious fur coat that functions as a cloak of protection, to name a few. it always felt a bit awkward denying them the XP for what was, on its face TREASURE, magical or no. And it's always felt a bit awkward to have to let down PCs who are excited to find some sweet XP, that, no, it's actually a +1 sword, so nothing for you.
So, are their downsides to it so far? The only one, and it hasn't effected me too much, is simply that, unless the material is for AD&D, new magical items are never given an XP or gold value. Now, that's not the end of the world, since I can eyeball something good enough, but it's a hitch nonetheless. Potentially a bigger deal is the knock-on effect. Dungeons balanced for B/X (i.e., 95% of all OSR dungeons) are going to give out a chunk more XP than the writer assumed. Of course, it would be trivial, if tedious, to subtract the value of magic items from nearby treasure hoards, but it would not be a crime to have B/X characters level up faster.
Either way, I'm glad I reconsidered. In the grand scheme, of course, this ruling is basically nothing. But even though I've always followed the common wisdom, I don't think it's necessarily helpful.