So the party have succeeded in rescuing the wife and young son of the King of a local kingdom. The wife and son were assumed killed so naturally the King and his subjects are overjoyed.
What sort of reward would be appropriate for a party of 7th level characters?
Assuming the party, for whatever reason, refuse any knighthoods or land titles, what would be an appropriate monetary or magical reward?
Thanks in advance for any suggestions
FDM
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So the party have succeeded in rescuing the wife and young son of the King of a local kingdom. The wife and son were assumed killed so naturally the King and his subjects are overjoyed.
What sort of reward would be appropriate for a party of 7th level characters?
Assuming the party, for whatever reason, refuse any knighthoods or land titles, what would be an appropriate monetary or magical reward?
Thanks in advance for any suggestions
FDM
When I am creating custom content I like to stick with either a level appropriate encounter's estimated gold or half of that amount. The exception is when I am trying to give the party specific items. Such as recently I gave several wands and potions of healing spells to a party lacking a main heal.
From a significant NPC such as a king you might also include a boon. Allow them to at some point in the future (at their discretion) call for aid from the king and receive emergency supplies, free casting, a temporary companion, or some other useful bonus. I might even give them a bit of an RP encounter to determine exactly what to get, wherein the party haggles with the king using diplomacy, bluff, etc. This option obviously requires more prep work, but is definitely more fun than "Here's some gold be sure to hit the shops on the way out!".
So the party have succeeded in rescuing the wife and young son of the King of a local kingdom. The wife and son were assumed killed so naturally the King and his subjects are overjoyed.
What sort of reward would be appropriate for a party of 7th level characters?
Assuming the party, for whatever reason, refuse any knighthoods or land titles, what would be an appropriate monetary or magical reward?
Thanks in advance for any suggestions
FDM
It's a good time to look at the WBL guidelines and see where the party is at. Generally in these circumstances gifts should be tailored to the specific characters. A magic sword for the fighter, a dusty old spellbook for the wizard, etc... Kings have a LOT of resources should they want them. You also might want to give them items that are a little more powerful then they should have at their level, to make the rewards have more impact. Then have the next few adventures be more "loot light" fights (like owlbears or other monstrous creatures without much loot). This gives the party a surge of power, but then returns to balance.
A royal privilage that exempts them from most taxes and tarifs, grants extended (but not unlimited) legal immunity - something along "privilage to appeal to Royal Justice as needed", regular help from the King, his Court Wizard, etc.
For a party of 7th levels, a minor artifact or two might not be too much, and most appropriate from the ruler of an entire kingdom. It would need to be tailored to the party composition itself, of course.
The reward could also come in the form of "intangibles." Perhaps they are named heroes of the realm and have some titles bestowed or medals awarded. When the folk of the kingdom hear the titles or see the medals, the PCs gain an automatic bonus to their social skills, or even an automatic bump in NPC reaction. Drejk's idea of "royal privilege" works well too. It's always good to be able to untangle a horrible RP gaffe with a royal "get out of jail free" card.
Not all rewards need to have a GP value.
Assuming the party, for whatever reason, refuse any knighthoods or land titles, what would be an appropriate monetary or magical reward?
Thing is, Lands & Titles are really the most likely reward, and it usually is a poor idea to refuse.
If your party tend to stay in the local area, then minor ennobling and some land (and various rights on that land) will be pretty useful.
If your party are wanderers, it's int the King's interest to tie them down to the area.
If you think that kind of reward won't go over well, don't even offer it, otherwise you put your players over a barrel.
Outside of that, royal rewards tend to be goods rather than gold. Fine mounts (possibly better than is normally available), jewelry (which it would be a major faux pas to sell), fine clothing (ditto).
And really, why would the PCs refuse land titles and knighthoods? More importantly, what makes the PCs think they can refuse any reward the King offers?
if they are so rude to tell the king they don't want his stinking titles, then give them the best reward ever : life
the king will for once hold his anger, tell them they have his thanks and are dismissed.
You shouldn't give them gold just because they refuse everything else.
The rescue might attract the attention of some noblemen for whatever reason.
Assuming they didn't rescue them in a public way (battle in the town square) there is a good chance that they will be thanked in a discrete way, and that credit for the rescue will go to some official source. The King can't look like he needed help from a bunch of common folk after all...
Perhaps their reward could conveniently remove them from the kingdom. That way, they aren't around to blab what really happened to everyone.
With that said, the reward should be something that really is good. If their wealth by level is already high, it could be lands, keeps, authority, or some other responsibility. They could also be given access to the royal wizards books, armory, etc. (Note, if you borrow something from the kings loot, it better not get destroyed, or worse, fall into the wrong hands...
Assuming the party, for whatever reason, refuse any knighthoods or land titles, what would be an appropriate monetary or magical reward?
I'm with the others that say the characters shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. While kings might have a lot wealth, it tends not to be sacks of gold just lying about to be doled out. The king would also be shrewd to give a gift that actually makes the characters indebted to him. Surely, these clever adventurers will have further uses. Giving them lands requires them to protect them and pay taxes. Handing them a sack of gold only ensures that the ale house and local wenches will not go wanting.
It should not be about what the characters want. The king will grant the characters boons that benefit the king. He needs a dragon slain, he might part with his Sword of Dragon Bane. Evil necromancer troubling the kingdom, here have this Mace of Disruption.
The king should be suspicious of any who would not accept a title and concession. Are they beholden to another lord. Do they have other nefarious plans.
Another possible reward: another quest. Seriously. King may decide to pick those valiant (and apparently capable) heroes for some interesting task to be done. He could sponsor expedition to lands unknown hoping that it will bring his kingdom prestige, riches, allies, strategical advantage, access to new resources and/or lands to settle. Different quests that would be beneficial both to the kingdom and the heroes are possible as well.
Do you know what the party wants?
Also pardons. Except for MAYBE a party of all Paladins their is no way they haven't broken laws at this point.
Also pardons. Except for MAYBE a party of all Paladins their is no way they haven't broken laws at this point.
Ok so they succeeded saving the Queen and the young prince and were offered Knighthood by the King.
Only one of the characters refused it, not wanting to be tied down to serving the King and his city.
One of the other characters, a former bandit, was pardoned of past banditry.
I also gave them Magic Item rewards suitable for their level (they're actually light on magic items)
Their first task as Knights is to tame the wilderness North of the city using the adventure W1: Conquest of Bloodsworn Vale. If they succeed they will be granted land titles as well. I can't wait until they decide on a name for their new town considering they are level 7 and still haven't come up with a party name.
Anyway thanks for the suggestions
FDM