Rewarding PCs


3.5/d20/OGL


When you're dealing with higher level/sociallly high ranking pcs what are ways of rewarding them that can keep the game still interesting? (btw thanks to all those who helped with my undead threads) Let's say the pcs are the heroes of the hour and yet they want to go on gaming, and there are rivals to deal with and still enemies to beat. I'm talking in terms of rewards at the end of adventures, given to them by important npcs or whatever.


Easiest reward would be land and title. Running a territory, and protecting its people is alot of work. You could also arrange a marriage to political station. Alot of adventures can happen because a rival or villian kidnaps the bride to be. Or another suitor shows up and challenges the hero to a quest to find some item to gain the Ladys favor. Or the character is adopted into the family and the father is poisoned because of a jealous sibling, and it falls to them to track the sibling down and bring them to justice. There are tons of plots you can run with that feel to it.

Hope that helps.


Favors to be named later.

The hand of someone in marriage.

A ship.

Fancy dress ball in their honor.

Statue to be placed somewhere - they get to consult with the sculptor.

This would be a lot of fun - a roast where all of their dead enemies get to come back as ghosts and tell jokes at their expense like they were all actors and comedians or something.


varianor wrote:
Favors to be named later.

+1

Not to mention this is easily used to draw them into political maneuvering, which creates more plot hooks. Win/Win


Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber

There is an article in an older Kobold Quarterly with a somewhat radical suggestion - giving the players a free level of Aristocrat. I've never personally used it, but is seems like it could be fun - especially as a capstone to a very politically motivated story. After spending all this time in courtly intrigue it makes sense that the PCs will have broadened their skill base - possibly picking up some skill ranks in various courtly skills like Diplomacy or Knowledge (nobility). It amps their BAB and Saves a bit, but really shouldn't be all that unbalancing in the grand scheme of things. I'm thinking about throwing this to my current Savage Tide group if they successfully navigate Tides of Dread - especially if it turns out well.

Sovereign Court

Hey Fish!

Recently, one PC was offered a small castle keep and a hex of land.

Another PC, a Druid, was offered a wilderness portion akin to Darkmoon Vale and Droskar's Crag. He proceeded to thwart the lumber consortium as you might imagine.

Another PC was made "First Knight" of the Barony. And given a dance with Baroness at the ball.

Another was given a main tavern in town that was previously closed down to the untimely death of the adventuring proprietor. The innovative PC has now annexed the nearby building and runs a soup kitchen for city poor as well.

A magic item, that the PC has been looking for for some... seven levels.... was finally given to him as thanks.

The PC wizard was granted a singular tower within the Barony's main castle. It comes, appropriately, stocked with a library and a twisting private stairwell up to a singular small door.

So.... you see, I'm right at home rewarding PCs at higher levels. None of this should prevent adventuring, since that is the central conceit of the game, known by most adept players. You'd be surprised how innovative and collaborative players will be with you if you turn the tables a bit, and make them responsible for stable things in their lives. This feeds a whole new layer of game adventuring ideas once the PCs reach 9th level or so....

And, remember, nothing is forever. Towers crumble, Inns will burn down, and titles can be revoked. This stuff adds a lot of flavor to the game, as long as its in-step with the motives revealed to you throughout the earlier levels by the player characters.

And, for all the rest... well the DMG or the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Book should have all you need for tables and appropriate magic and treasure. But for me... the real treasure, for PCs that actually earn XPs and live to 8th or 9th level... well, this is where the fun begins.

In modern games, this is not discussed much. I think there's a small bit in Powers of Faerun, but most of this I learned form the old 1e Gygax books. The game can take on a new "reward" dynamic at the "Lord" levels.... and, as long as you have established a revolving reward system you should be okay. That is, never let any grass grow under the PCs possessions.

Let the money run out, let the banks get robbed, let the magic charges drain, and make them "cash in" the old stuff for new.

Hope some of that helps.

Good luck.
—Pax


Thanks everyone for all the suggestions. You are all hitting the nail on the head: keep the adventuring interesting. Pax, btw, specific question for you: do you find that having pcs rewarded with lands in different locations has any effect on play at all?

Balific-Graa: I like the idea of complications to new position. As you'll see below I'm going to make use of that one, thank you.

Varianor: I love the notion of enemies past coming back to haunt them. "Use of a mere 'hold person' spell...could have knocked me over with a feather. And did!"

Filmguy: So are you going to have the Powers of Sasserine grant them titles or something like that, or will it just be a general recognition of virtue?

Anyway I was thinking of the pcs having responsiblity working rather well; in fact I wanted to use that as a basis for urban adventure. What I'd like is to have them involved in helping with the election of 2 or three junior magistrates at the behest of their patron. (a candidate for the throne)


Glad you like my idea's. I always follow the old Spiderman addage. With great power comes great responsibility.


Tax deductions. Exclusive mining or trading rights. An opportunity to proseletyze to a captive audience, namely prisoners. A parade. A spell named after them. A flattering biography. A play commissioned to sing their legend....

Sovereign Court

roguerouge wrote:
Tax deductions. Exclusive mining or trading rights. An opportunity to proseletyze to a captive audience, namely prisoners. A parade. A spell named after them. A flattering biography. A play commissioned to sing their legend....

Oh yes, absolutely!!!

In the last campaign, the party was rewarded with their own choice of flats within the main city of Kurth (The Vast). Later, they had a holiday named for them, where the city would kind of shut down and party!

Fish—geographically dispursed locales will pose a problem if the PCs cannot rule from afar. It all depends on the direction of your campaign arc. For example, the Druid received a 12 mile hex of land. We advanced the campaign timeline 2.5 years so that PC and the others could establish just what their PCs would be doing with their newly acquired rewards, lands etc. After a short (two-week real time) break, we resumed where all the PCs happened to all be in the same town when the grand new campaign adventure seed (a compelling one that would bring them all together again) was dropped before them. And ta da: a new series of adventures was born.

As a GM. I try to provide a variety of rewards. IF all the PCs are given land, that would be bad. If one or two get it. Its easy to work the "adventuring conceit" back into the foreground.

And, in this case, one of the players turned his plot down on the grounds he was too chaotic to follow the laws associated with fiefdom. Haha.

And - for this respectful choice, he received the reward he really wanted and became a favored ally of the Baroness.

So, have fun with it. Mix it up as much as you can. If everyone gets the same reward... it can feel very "Incredibles" where nobody feels rewarded...

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