Sunday 4 December 2016

Dungeon Master: Rewards

As players achieve objectives, destroy enemies, and manage to loot their way from start to end of an adventure, they get rewards. Money and treasure are the most common types of awards but there are others that can be given as well. I hope to list a few different options in the hopes that it will help someone out there.

Items and Money

Paying people in goods (including magic items) or money is extremely common. It's the default reward system in most role-playing games. For this particular section, I am referring to a one time payment.

Favours

When you make powerful friends, it makes sense that you might be able to call in a favour. Paying off a massive gambling debt, joining on the players' side in a battle, or presenting lavish presents every now and then are all examples I've seen in the games I've run and played in. Depending on how friendly the source of the favour is, there could also be conditions attached.

Allowances

You might not be able to spend it on anything you want, but from your family or other connections there might be a certain amount of money set aside for necessary things. The most common form in the games I've played in is a living allowance (basically giving you a room and food for free) or a guard/troop allowance (giving you so much money to hire guards and other personnel). You can also give your players access to some services, such as a limited amount of magic casting at a temple that they helped.

Fame

Doing something super impressive will probably leave a lasting impact. Even if they might not have tangible benefits like a money reward, bards may choose to immortalize the character(s) in song and they might get other benefits such as a free room. This is different than the above allowance since the allowance can be spent anywhere. In this case, these are benefits given to the character in appreciation of what they did and will greatly vary on a person to person basis (in some cases, it may even be hostility). It could very naturally open up opportunities that the players did not previously have. Maybe now the king will meet with the players. You might also choose to tie the characters into future games you play. I've never seen a player not liking seeing a statue of their previous character in a campaign set years in the future.

Skills

Ever have players come back from an alien realm having lost their sense of fear for creatures? Or have your players spend 5 years in a foreign land and learn the language through exposure? Or maybe they were imbued with a special magic as a result of a freak accident or perhaps the blessing of a mysterious being? Some of the rewards players gain can directly improve the capabilities of the characters in combat and other skills. I'd recommend doing it sparingly unless campaign reasons give a good reason for it (all your players are the avatars of gods on earth and their avatars have been steadily getting stronger, for example) but it's another tool to reward players over the course of the campaign.

Contacts

Knowing someone who knows someone can be an extremely powerful thing. Even without something more tangible, being able to get the ear of the next in line to the throne presents new options to the player and also allows for all kinds of new stories to be created by the Dungeon Master. I will say that it's important that they are a real option over the course of the game. Making them only an option when you as the Dungeon Master want them to tends to feel cheap. Contacts are already part of the game and as the players level they tend to expand their sphere of influence. Contacts are often combined with some of the other rewards mentioned earlier, such as favours and fame.

Story Progress

Not everything needs to reward players. I've had quite a few players enjoy taking an action that they knew would not reward them. However, it was what their players would do and lead the story forward. Doing the right thing in a situation can be its own reward, especially when it leads to more story. This is especially true for players that play for the role-playing aspect.

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