Help: Prize of the Ruby Phoenix Tournament

[TritonOne]

I need advice and suggestions for choosing a prize to award my player characters in the "Fists of the Ruby Phoenix" adventure path after they win The Ruby Phoenix Tournament of 4721 AR.

Besides the famous Hao Jin Tapestry, has Paizo ever documented, or suggested, the magic items, wealth, and treasure that may be found in the Hoard of Hao Jin, the Ruby Phoenix. The hardcover adventure path "Fists of the Ruby Phoenix" makes no suggestions of the prizes that the player characters may select for winning the Ruby Phoenix Tournament. The book just suggests that the Dungeon Master give the player characters what they WANT as a prize. No references to the "Pathfinder Gamemastery Guide", "Treasure Vault", or any other Second Edition book for suggested magic items, wealth, or treasures that would be sufficient prizes to be found in the Hoard of Hao Jin.

Knowing my players, they will need a lot of help choosing a prize and given the choice cold they will just draw a blank. What did you offer your players as a prize or what did your players choose as a prize? Do you have any thoughts or or suggestions of treasures equal to the Hao Jin Tapestry that could be used as a desirable prize? What would Hao Jin give the players?

If it would help with your suggestions, I am requiring that all my player characters be 11th-Level members of the Pathfinder Society assigned to the Pathfinder Society Lodge in Goka reporting to Venture-Captain Amari Li. The intent is to bring the prize to the Grand Lodge in Absalom

The method to my madness is that I want to start my campaign with the Hao Jin Tapestry scenarios from Pathfinder Society at Level 1 and work up to the start of "Fists of the Ruby Phoenix" at 11th Level.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

[Soulus7887]

I'm not certain, but does this event occur at the very end of the AP? If so, you should literally just give them anything that makes them feel "complete" narratively. If someone wants a neat magic sword then just give them the neatest magical sword you can personally think of. A sword so good it makes him a legend.

Personally, my preference in this type of scenario is to give items or aid that wouldn't normally be readily available. Stuff that can be used in future campaigns and that you will almost never see printed as a stated out item. Naturally, this means McGuffin type items most frequently. As a note, this all only really applies with the assumption that your game isn't a pickup style game, but with a longstanding and consistent group of individuals.

Items like Aroden's Hearthstone are fantastic examples. Its an item that can, from a narrative standpoint, catapult a craftsman into a world renowned weapon maker to start a "clan" of weapon crafters a future character might come from or join. Alternative items might be something akin to Asmodeus' Keys which is a key item of some god or another which can kickstart a divine bloodline or a whole new storyline or that have cosmic implications.

Other ideas might be items that are able to grant sorcerer bloodlines (possibly even a unique homebrew one) or an item that allows the character to literally create a spell to be used by casters in the future. Could also make an item that mutates them and makes them a whole new racial heritage for their race. Something easy to do is look at like Charhide goblins and just do that but for electricity or whatever is appropriate for the given character.

Ask them what kind of mark they want to leave on the world and let them make it. Those kinds of options will be what you and your party remember and continue to reference going forward.

[AFigureOfBlue]

Soulus7887's suggestions are all good; my thought is, since the prize is acquired at the end of the campaign, it can really be anything that brings good narrative closure for the party and campaign, so, yeah, "Ask them what kind of mark they want to leave on the world and let them make it.".

But I will also mention that there actually are some notes in the AP about some items which are stored in Hao Jin's Vault. In the section which takes place at the Lantern Lodge (during the sponsor meetings at the start of the second module), there's a list of four or five items stored in the Vault which the Lantern Lodge is featuring information about. As far as I've found those (and the Tapestry) are the only ones items from the Vault which Paizo has specifically published information about, but it is at least more than just the Tapestry. In the campaign I'm running, I added in a few more items to be mentioned in that same scene; it's a good potential spot to help plant some options in the minds of the players if the group doesn't already have their sights set on a particular item.

Granted, I'm also changing things up a bit in my campaign and I anticipate the PCs will get their hands on several items from the Vault before the campaign's conclusion, because in my run of the campaign some of Syndara's minions are going to stage a heist of the Vault during or shortly before Mogaru's attack on Goka (haven't decided yet on the exact timing).