Hi all,
As part of my current campaign, I created a system of character rewards for players that achieve their character goals. These goals are broken down as such:
- short term (within the next few sessions)
- medium term (between four and ten sessions)
- long term (more than ten sessions.)
I provided some example goals to the players, such as:
- Defeat a worthy opponent in one-on-one combat.
- Visit a famous religious site and pray to the appropriate deity.
- Convince an NPC to change their ways.
- Obtain a specific rare item.
- Save an ally or innocent from certain death.
I would appreciate any additional goals anyone is willing to provide, as often my players struggle to come up with one that fits their character.
I am just going to reuse some discussion I had on the scale of goals, and how they affect your character:
I think that another good place to start with a hero would be to define the scope of their goals and motivations (or at least the ones that got them into adventuring). Nuanced motivations work well to color the experience. With this, I might put it into personal, domestic, local, institutional, national/regional, global (and beyond). And obviously, a character very well should have number of motivations, some of different scales. But this isn't pokemon- you aren't trying to catch'em all- just get a few that work well with what you are trying to do.
A.) With personal, it is rather simple, but not necessarily bad. "I want to be famous", "I want to live the good life", "knocking heads in for a living isn't so bad" etc. This doesn't necessarily mean you are selfish, since it could be "Oy, are three guys ganging up on an old man? That pisses me off, I'd better teach them a lesson." With this, motivations are more about the immediate situation the character finds himself in. Typically not big on large philosophies, and more focused on general guidelines for life. This can suit well with many campaign styles- just know how your character reacts to problems, and plop him in there.
B.) Domestic. Worrying about your immediate friends and family. This could mean caring for a party member, worrying about saving a kidnapped sister, or simply trying to make money to send back home to feed the wife and kids. This works well when used to take a new character out of the familiar- maybe chasing slave traders half way across the country to find their child, or finding the 6 fingered man that killed your father. It can also be used for professionals that simply do not know any other way of life.
C.) Local carries similar tones to domestic, but it is more encompassing of the whole town and the neighbors there in. Be it the local guard keeping the streets clean, or the somewhat dubious rogue keeping rival gangs out of his territory, this focuses on threats coming into their domain. Particularly good for urban campaigns with a lot of time in one city.
D.) Institutional is more about a character that wishes to establish or maintain a group. This could be someone that wishes to merchant corporation or a shipping vessel, or it could be an inquisitor trying to smoke out moles in his church. It also encompasses the knight sworn to a king that might have underhanded opponents in the court. Often, this kind of motivation is about a set of ideals/principles/doctrine, or a way of life. This tends to be rather campaign dependent. The end goal is to either build or preserve the power of their group.
E.) National takes the ideals above, and brings them on a larger scale. It is the pinnacle of a soldier that goes to war so that a foreign aggressor never comes onto their doorsteps. This works best when coupled with some of the more personal or domestic motivations. A desire to gain a name through glory in battle, or defending their city. It is all about rationalizing those goals so they are concurrent with the ones set up by the powers in charge of the nation.
F.) Global and beyond- this often deals with ideals in the broadest strokes. While it includes such things as "world domination", it is better seen in a paladin's quest to strike down fiends, or a druid's attempt to keep nature in balance. It often comes down to the core belief system of the character, and how they are working to make their world into such an ideal. It drives crusaders to mendev, and demonic cults into sacrifices. It is also the lawful sheriff trying to take down criminals, or the criminal who does not believe in authority that has never believed in him.
Redemption for wrong doing - (A character did a wrong doing in the past that they want to make amends for through good deeds.)
Redemption for a crime you didn't commit - (A character has been wrongly accused of a crime and is out to prove there innocence by searching for the true culprit.)
Rescue the Princess - ( A close personal friend/person of huge importance has been captured by the enemies and the character wants to rescue him/her before any harm may come the them)
Hold the Fort - (A siege of the City is underway and your character wants to make sure that its still standing by the end of the battle)
Last Wish - (A character failed to save someones life so has made a vow to make sure there last wish comes true, either protect there child or deliver a message etc.)
just a few off the top of my head.
Building. 'Gee, this would be a nice spot for me to build a spiky castle full of angry people.' Or 'I wanna be the queen!'. Nice little long-term thing. Even might inspire a few medium-level ones--after all, if you want to build that shrine, getting the permission of the local lord would be helpful. Or if you want to rule something, you do need to work against the current ruler ...
Come to think of it, long-term goals are one way to get the shorter term ones. You want to build the shrine, so you need to get in good terms with the local lords. And to even talk to them, you've got to do a few things around town, and in any event you also want to line up workers to build the thing, plus staff ...
Do you have the Quests & Campaigns Players Companion? It lists story feats with goals and rewards for accomplishments. It might give you some more ideas.
I am worried that this will backfire.
Have you ever read up on the difference between "implicit motivation" and "explicit motivation"? Essentially, implicit goals are those that you pursue because you want to, while explicit goals are those where someone will provide you with a reward. (Like, reading for fun, versus reading because your parents will buy you pizza when you finish the book.) The unfortunate part is, by rewarding behaviors, it psychologically turns them from "play" into "work", and makes them less fun. So, a parent rewarding reading, for example, can actually cause the child to become less motivated to read, because it has become a chore rather than a joy.
By asking players to pre-define their goals and giving them rewards, you may be unintentionally taking one of the most creative and fulfilling parts of the game, and turning it into a grind.
Now, I think rewarding these kinds of successes is good - my GM gives us rewards for achieving missions for our faith or faction or family - but I would do so after the fact. Don't ask them beforehand to commit to "I go to this shrine and pray", just wait for them to do that sort of thing of their own volition, and then give them the reward as an unexpected surprise. This makes it memorable and satisfying, without making it into a slog.
I am worried that this will backfire.
Have you ever read up on the difference between "implicit motivation" and "explicit motivation"? Essentially, implicit goals are those that you pursue because you want to, while explicit goals are those where someone will provide you with a reward. (Like, reading for fun, versus reading because your parents will buy you pizza when you finish the book.) The unfortunate part is, by rewarding behaviors, it psychologically turns them from "play" into "work", and makes them less fun. So, a parent rewarding reading, for example, can actually cause the child to become less motivated to read, because it has become a chore rather than a joy.
By asking players to pre-define their goals and giving them rewards, you may be unintentionally taking one of the most creative and fulfilling parts of the game, and turning it into a grind.
Now, I think rewarding these kinds of successes is good - my GM gives us rewards for achieving missions for our faith or faction or family - but I would do so after the fact. Don't ask them beforehand to commit to "I go to this shrine and pray", just wait for them to do that sort of thing of their own volition, and then give them the reward as an unexpected surprise. This makes it memorable and satisfying, without making it into a slog.
See what you mean here. Still, it's good to have an idea of what a character wants. And feedback's important too--if a player complains that it seems like they're doing more bookkeeping than empire building, perhaps see where the disconnect is, and what the player was expecting. And then use that to help set the shorter-term goals.
Thanks to everyone who has provided some goals so far.
I am worried that this will backfire.
Every group is different. If you have a group that will create characters with rich back stories, character motivations, goals, etc., then you probably don't need to reward setting goals and such.
Other groups have a harder time with getting in-character and role playing. By adding a reward to setting and achieving goals, it provides a mechanical incentive to think in-character. So far I would say the goals have worked pretty well for my current group.