D&D Achievements

Davedamon · Aug 1, 2010

Recently I've been DM'ing my own story for four of my friends and I noticed that they've not being using more advanced techniques (flanking, charging etc) or variation (one player pretty much only uses 2 at will abilities) They're all new to 4e and so it's taking them a bit of time to easy into it. But then I had an idea how to encourage more adventurous behavour; achievements.

The idea is to come up with a list of actions that reward the play with a small bit of exp, plus throw in a few ones just for fun. This is what I've got so far:

Achievement
Description

Exp Value

Dropping Like Flies
Kill 3 minions on 3 consecutive turns

125xp

The Bigger, The Better
Use a power, skill or feat to augment an allies encounter power

100xp

Turn It Up To Eleven
Use a power, skill or feat to augment an allies daily power

200xp

Two Birds, One Stone
Reduce two enemies to zero hit points using a single attack.

170xp

I’m No Mother Teresa
Heal each party member at least once between milestones

250xp

Variety Is The Spice Of Life
Use each of your at-will powers at least once during an encounter

150xp

Lets Get This Over With
Use an encounter power on your first turn

60xp

If It Works, Don’t Fix It
Go an encounter without using an encounter power

80xp

Clowns To Left of Me…
Make an attack with flanking bonus

25xp

…Jokers To The Right
Give an ally flanking bonus

25xp

Elementalist
Deal one of the following types of damage; Fire, Cold, Lightning, Thunder

30xp

Spiritualist
Deal one of the following types of damage; Divine, Necrotic, Radiant, Fear

30xp

Improvisational Theatre
During a role playing event, put on a voice

100xp

I'm trying to come up with a broad selection, that while not impossible/tedious to obtain, the players won't unlock them in one session.
What's everyones feedback on this? I would like to stress that I'm not trying to make dnd more like a video game, simply I'm trying to bring in something that works for benefit of my players.

AbdulAlhazred · Aug 1, 2010

Well, you're not the first to suggest the possibility by a long shot. I don't think there's anything wrong with it.

At the risk of moving off on a tangent though I would like to point out a few other ways to encourage more interesting player tactics.

Terrain: This is really the biggy. Look at DMG2 (if you don't have one get one, its worth it!). It has 'terrain powers' which is a system for assigning powers to terrain features which characters can access. Its really just a way for the DM to 'can' some page 42 type stuff, but it works well. Just having the terrain there in the first place is the real key though. Ledges, ropes, bridges, chandeliers, siege engines, ladders, water, lava, ice, hazards, etc. Some traps can fall into this category as well. Even just areas that grant cover, difficult terrain, and minor hindrances will work. The idea is to get the PCs moving around and thinking on their feet.

Devices: by this I mean things that allow the PCs to employ various strategems. A barrel full of oil that they can position to drop on enemies, even rocks they can make into a rockslide or anything along those lines. Not always clearly delineated from terrain and can also shade into equipment but just in general "stuff" that the PCs can turn to their advantage by doing something with it.

Rituals: Get them interested in these. Some of them are pretty interesting and while they aren't usually going to be actually used during combat they can add a decent amount of variety. Maybe give them a scroll or two that includes some ritual components so they can cast it if they want. Usually pretty soon someone will start getting into the whole concept and start using their rituals creatively, which can then add to encounters.

Goals: A combat with a goal besides just 'kill the enemy' will get things going. Combat skill challenges can work for instance (often as an aspect of a trap or puzzle). Rescue the Princess before the knife comes down, that sort of thing. You can put it together with fantastic terrain types too, or even just mundane ones. Getting to an area that gives the PCs an advantage or forwards a goal is more fun than just slugging it out.

Also make your encounters pretty various in other ways too. Have monsters attacking the party or the party setting an ambush, etc. now and then. It makes the players think along different lines and they're likely to suddenly find a good use for a skill or power that normally they might ignore in favor of an at-will.

Anyway, a tangent, but hopefully not a really big one. Achievements can also work along with these other things. Best Stunt can be an achievement for instance, or most skill checks passed, etc.

Davedamon · Aug 1, 2010

Ooooh, thanks for the feedback. I didn't know about that stuff in DMG2, even though I've got it, I've not read it properly. I defo like the idea of devices and terrain powers. I'll have a look into it. Thank you

ourchair · Aug 2, 2010

Being creative with your encounter area is an easy fix you can do on the fly. I use the DMG2 whenever I can but if I don't have time to study what to use, I just make stuff up.

"There's a spike trap hidden here! 1d6 damage"
"This square immobilizes you till you save!"
"This square adds a +2 to your atk roll!"
"This squareknocks you prone!"
"This squaredoes damage to you AND enemies!"

If you throw in enough weird stuff all over the place, but not too much, your players begin to think about how they can NOT compromise their attack and damage and make their enemies fall into the same stuff you put down. It's not really anti-DM thinking, but subconsciously it is: "He put those square down, now we're gonna make him regret it!" "But how!" "Make the monsters go there!"

Davedamon · Aug 2, 2010

I love all this feedback. I think the main reason for using achievements is to reward rather than force my players to use more subtle tactics. Once they've got the proper hang of stuff like flanking, damage types and combining powers, I'll start throwing more vicious stuff at them.

NMcCoy · Aug 2, 2010

Here's some off the top of my head

area:s indicate relative XP bonus):

Alpha Strike :area:

Assist your allies in reducing a non-minion enemy to 0 HP before it takes its first turn.

Terrain Tactics :area:

Harm an enemy with falling or environmental damage.

Terrain Mastery :area:

Finish off a foe with falling or environmental damage.

Denied! :area:

Keep an enemy from being able to make any attacks on its turn.

Relentless Advantage :area:

Make three consecutive attacks against the same target with combat advantage.

Unperturbed :area:

Damage a foe while dazed, prone, immobilized, or blinded.

Battlefield Medic :area:

Make a Heal check to help an ally in combat.

Drinks are On Me :area:

Administer a potion to an ally in combat.

Very First Aid :area:

Remove an ongoing damage effect from an ally before they take any damage from it.

Opportunity Knockout :area:

Reduce a foe to 0 HP with an opportunity attack.

Artillery Interference :area:

Make an opportunity attack against an artillery-role monster.

It's Super Effective :area:

Deal extra damage to an enemy by hitting it with an attack that it's vulnerable to.

Meat Shield :area:

Provide cover to an ally against a ranged attack.

I've Got Your Back :area:

Reduce an enemy to 0 HP while it's flanking one of your allies.

Derulbaskul · Aug 2, 2010

I've never thought of doing this as a way to teach players to use more tactics but it's a great idea!

Besides action points in my games, I used "re-roll" points. (Most of the time I call them "luck points"). Basically, you can re-roll any d20 or damage roll at the cost of one luck point.

Something like that might make a better reward for the various things listed in this thread. That way, the PC has something to use practically immediately: there is no delayed gratification, as it were, as there is with experience points.

Mesh Hong · Aug 2, 2010

Just last session the "life stealer/demi god" warlock in my group announced that he had just got an achievement for collecting his 500th life spark.

Mengu · Aug 2, 2010

It's a neat idea and I generally approve of such encouragement. However I have issues with some of the things mentioned here:

Kill 3 minions on 3 consecutive turns - There are many encounters where it's possible to kill all minions in the first couple rounds with little effort, so I'm not sure if leaving a minion untouched for the sake of gaining the bonus of 3 in 3 turns is a good idea.

Go an encounter without using an encounter power - Seems a rather boring thing to encourage. I'd sooner try to find a mechanic to encourage the use of more encounter powers.

Make a Heal check to help an ally in combat, Administer a potion to an ally in combat - These are of dubious tactical benefit. Most healing in an encounter should be done with minor actions.

Neonchameleon · Aug 2, 2010

Nitpicking:

Forcing silly voices: ack!

And there's a lot of role and build specific stuff there (the energy, the healing, the multi-attacks). And what do you mean "Augment"?