D&D 5E How Do You Reward Attendance and Participation?

[NaturalZero]

First: fiancee's point is valid - which is one of many reasons I'd never ever use any sort of milestone or story-based levelling: it does discourage going off-mission.

It's the side quests and off-cycle encounters that give a campaign depth, and show that there's more to the setting than just the one-story AP they happen to be playing through.

I only do milestone leveling AND I encourage side missions. There really isn't any reason you wouldn't ("would" was a typo) get a milestone by going off to the home town of one the PCs and saving the day instead heading to the front line and going with the "main" story.

One thing I've almost completely phased out is the random encounter though. Sometimes, having dangerous bandits show up on the road serves the purpose of communicating to the group something about the nature of the region, but a lot of times random encounters are just filler that takes time away from advancing the narrative or compelling exploration. I get that DnD invented random encounters but a this point they feel far too "video gamey" in an outdated way, to me.

 

[dave2008]

First: fiancee's point is valid - which is one of many reasons I'd never ever use any sort of milestone or story-based levelling: it does discourage going off-mission.

Hmm, I think I am using these terms incorrectly. I have said that I use milestone / story-based levelling (and stated it has not discouraged off-mission adventures/investigations), but perhaps I need a different term? I level my players when they have accomplished enough to gain a level. I don't set specific goals required, or track XP, but I guess it is the same conceptually as XP based leveling. Is there an name for that? Maybe accomplishment-based leveling?

 

[Lanefan]

I only do milestone leveling AND I encourage side missions. There really isn't any reason you would get a milestone by going off to the home town of one the PCs and saving the day instead heading to the front line and going with the "main" story.

I just can't grasp this as a concept.

Saving a PC's home town is just as much an act of adventuring as is fighting on the front line. The characters are using (and thus becoming better at) their various skills and abilities in either situation, and the roads they walk don't usually have signposts saying "This way to the real adventure, that way to the fake one", do they?

So why do they only get the milestone for doing one, but not the other?

Or - is the bolded word supposed to be "wouldn't" instead of "would"?

One thing I've almost completely phased out is the random encounter though. Sometimes, having dangerous bandits show up on the road serves the purpose of communicating to the group something about the nature of the region, but a lot of times random encounters are just filler that takes time away from advancing the narrative or compelling exploration. I get that DnD invented random encounters but a this point they feel far too "video gamey" in an outdated way, to me.

They're video-gamey if they're run by RAW, that's for sure, particularly when they don't otherwise make sense - but I'll still throw random dangers at them if they're in a dangerous area e.g. if they're travelling through a jungle then sooner or later some random bit of local wildlife (snake, predator, whatever) is going to pose a threat

And sometimes IME what starts as a completely random encounter can take on a life of its own. Example from a couple of years back: a party was travelling through a big forest toward an adventure site they'd been told of. En route a random encounter comes up - they're ambushed by a group of Lizardpeople. Party handily wins, but instead of moving on they decide to backtrack the Lizzie's to their home base and sack the place - meaning that instead of running the Dwarven tomb complex I was expecting to, now I'm suddenly running an assault against a cavern complex full of Lizardpeople; and all from a "random encounter"!

 

[Lanefan]

Hmm, I think I am using these terms incorrectly. I have said that I use milestone / story-based levelling (and stated it has not discouraged off-mission adventures/investigations), but perhaps I need a different term? I level my players when they have accomplished enough to gain a level. I don't set specific goals required, or track XP, but I guess it is the same conceptually as XP based leveling. Is there an name for that? Maybe accomplishment-based leveling?

OK, please clarify for me:

Do you pre-plan the points at which they'll level up, as seen in a published AP? Example: they'll hit 2nd when they defeat the Sandpeople, 3rd after they clear out the caves the Sandpeople were guarding, 4th when they've followed up and exposed the smuggling connection between the Sandpeople and the Tanquair Merchant's Guild, etc. If yes, does this mean - again as in a published AP - they get nothing if they decide to deal with some neighbouring troglodytes after finishing the caves, instead of following up the smuggling angle?

Or is it more free-form e.g. they get a level per adventure or mission regardless what said mission might be? If yes, then the off-mission discouragement argument becomes moot as there is no pre-set mission to be "off" of.

 

[NaturalZero]

Or - is the bolded word supposed to be "wouldn't" instead of "would"?

Typo. I definitely meant "wouldn't."

They're video-gamey if they're run by RAW, that's for sure, particularly when they don't otherwise make sense - but I'll still throw random dangers at them if they're in a dangerous area e.g. if they're travelling through a jungle then sooner or later some random bit of local wildlife (snake, predator, whatever) is going to pose a threat

Sometimes you have to impress upon the party how dangerous a place is or let them know who lives there but even then I usually plan out exactly what they're going to face and how it's presented instead of randomly deciding that they're going to face a potential combat. I generally have encounters or scenes in mind and choose to present them when and where it's most interesting in the session.

And sometimes IME what starts as a completely random encounter can take on a life of its own.

Sure. One of my ongoing NPCs was a random guard that the characters decided to befriend. He didn't even have a name, but i had to whip up a background, family, wife, home, etc, on the spot because they decided to take this guy under their wing after bumping into him.

 

[Shiroiken]

If your players have apathy towards attending your game, then they really don't enjoy your game that much. Playing the game is far more important than gaining character benefits. You might want to consider your style of DMing to see if it matches up with the preferred style of the players.

As for milestone XP taking away from side quests, I'd suggest other rewards for completing such. It could be magic items, blessings, contacts, or even just some treasure. If the players know that such things are available, they'll have to decide which is more important to get first: xp or the other benefit.

 

[Lanefan]

Typo. I definitely meant "wouldn't."

Gotcha.

Sometimes you have to impress upon the party how dangerous a place is or let them know who lives there but even then I usually plan out exactly what they're going to face and how it's presented instead of randomly deciding that they're going to face a potential combat. I generally have encounters or scenes in mind and choose to present them when and where it's most interesting in the session.

For me, random is random - that's why I have dice. If something comes up it's easy to bang an encounter together; and I've learned not to pre-plan too much because a) no plan ever survives contact with the players and b) if done at all badly it can end up coming across as very "pre-packaged" rather than just being an element in a living breathing world.

But I don't roll for encounters nearly as often as the modules and-or rules usually want me to.

 

[dave2008]

OK, please clarify for me:

Do you pre-plan the points at which they'll level up, as seen in a published AP? Example: they'll hit 2nd when they defeat the Sandpeople, 3rd after they clear out the caves the Sandpeople were guarding, 4th when they've followed up and exposed the smuggling connection between the Sandpeople and the Tanquair Merchant's Guild, etc. If yes, does this mean - again as in a published AP - they get nothing if they decide to deal with some neighbouring troglodytes after finishing the caves, instead of following up the smuggling angle?

Or is it more free-form e.g. they get a level per adventure or mission regardless what said mission might be? If yes, then the off-mission discouragement argument becomes moot as there is no pre-set mission to be "off" of.

It is more like the 2nd option. I definitely do not pre-plan points for level up. Also, in general they can only level up during downtime of a month or more (though there are exceptions) to train and practice. However, I also don't reward leveling regardless of adventure or mission - it is body of work based. They might level up after an "adventure" or several "missions" but not any random mission or adventure.

That is why I realized I was using the wrong term and will probably use accomplishment-based leveling in future discussion of similar topics.

 

[ChaosOS]

I use milestone leveling but gold rewards are contingent on attendance & relative productivity of a session. While my west marches game has shown 5e is pretty resilient to characters of different levels (a huge upside of bounded accuracy), there's still an inherent equality from having everyone the same level. By contrast, with gold rewards, people are already advancing at different points based on the price of the things they want to buy - two characters could have a net work of 10k gp, but if one wanted an 8k gp thing and the other a 12k one would have advanced but the other not yet.

 

[jasper]

I would do story content. Morrus is regular, he has a deed to Halaster Tower. Quickleaf is a semi regular since he was around for Heist he gets free drinks at Troll Skull Manor. Jasper shows up every quarter he gets a generic +1 weapon.