Minor quests and party leveling

[Quickleaf]

I use the auto-leveling guidelines from the DMG, and don't bother with tracking individual xp awards. The whole party levels together.

So how can I incorporate non-xp rewards for completing minor quests? I mean besides story elements like the king's favor or a blacksmith's finest sword.

Action points?

 

[Zaphling]

There's nothing more rewarding than lots of loots.

Actually, action points will do. Floating action points. A kind of action points that does not disappear after an extended rest until used and can be used even if you have already used up an action point that encounter.

 

[Tymophil]

I use the auto-leveling guidelines from the DMG, and don't bother with tracking individual xp awards. The whole party levels together.

So how can I incorporate non-xp rewards for completing minor quests? I mean besides story elements like the king's favor or a blacksmith's finest sword.

Action points?

Personnally I have several factions in my setting : clergy of different religions, thief guilds, etc.

Minor quest usually give the party bonus/malus for any test involving the given organisation. I keep track of those bonus and use them to alter skill tests and give a certain flavour to the dscriptions of encounters involving the NPC.

I also use minot quest to "pop up/spice up" minor storyline elements. For example, my PCs had a little "sidetrack encounter" with an innkeeper and gave a letter from him to a former lover in another town. They have, as a result, a bonus in relation with those two people and the description of any event involving those two people with get longer, just a little bit, just enough to make the players raise an eyebrow. The trick is that I do it lightly... The description is just a little spiced up, the NPC have a name, and a nickname, and gets described a little more than seems useful.

This was a minor quest, in my mind, because the plot will have them come back there... Later, much later or not so later. I consider I have, by this minor quest, planted a seed that will grow...

I also give them certain bonus to skill tests on certain occasions. For example, it was crucial that the PC get the trust of the Royal Guards. I depicted them as gritty veterans. I prepared some scenes to induce the PCs to mix up with them building a relationship. My PC did well with these scenes, and one even went further and added a scene on his own. It allowed the group to succeed more quickly in this minor quest. The resusts were :
1. The minor quest XP were given to the group
2. Each and every PC in the group has a +1 when dealing with the Royal Guards
3. The imaginative player got a +2 when playing the game of cards he depicted in the scene (+2 to insight, thievery depended on the way he wants to play...)

This way all PCs get the same amount of XP, while the one that is trying to go "beyond the call of duty" gets a special reward that is so narrow in scope that it doesn't unbalance the party. However, the player is happy to have this little custom bonus.

I am also a fan of evolving magic item. I gave fairly early in the campaign some "named" magic items : the wand of Lyrmeth, the Girisois' shield, the Thalies dagger, etc. When my PC achieve some minor quest, I give the magic item another power/bonus, etc. Jus a little one that will be related to the plot of course.

To keep track of this I have a notebook where I write down all that. I will get this in the MASTERPLAN encyclopedia, as soon as I can gather som time to do it.

Personnally, I also use quests to give XP to the party, so that they feel that the plot is important and unfolding...

Usually, when they achieve a quest, I somehow stop the action to give them an hint (in character, through a recollection, a NPC, etc.) that the plot has reached a crucial point. It can take the simple form of a name given to what seemed an unimportant NPC.

Hope this helps.

 

[Arlough]

I don't even give XP anymore. The party just levels up when they reach that point in the story. So I, too, have had to come up with some alternative rewards.

Limited use magical items are good, but usually end up filling a bag of holding pretty fast, as players tend to be hoarders too.

I like the bonus action points idea. The way we use them is if someone does something the DM finds deserving (in or out of character) they get a Bonus Action Point.
Bonus Action Points do not count against your Action Point per encounter or round restriction, and if you take an extended rest, you lose all but two BAPs. (that is, if you have more than two). Also, the only way to get a BAP is from the DM.

Other things I have done in the way of rewards, I bought a box of poker chips and created tokens to give out to the players with these rewards:

• 
  Common/Uncommon/Rare - A token worth +1/+2/+3 on a non-combat d20 roll. Use must be announce prior to the roll.
  Uncommon - A token worth a reroll of any single die.
  Rare - A token worth a 20 on a non-combat d20 roll. Replaces the rolling of the die, so this cannot be used after the roll has been made.
  Extremely Rare - A token worth one 20 on any d20 roll. Replaces the rolling of the die, so this cannot be used after the roll has been made.

Sometimes to mitigate the power of these, I put a limit on how many extended rests the item will survive.
Oh yeah, and that is one last item that went over quite well. The party did a job for a temple, and got a few extended rests in a bottle. I think I called the item an Elixir of Complete Rejuvenation, and it allowed the player who consumed it to gain all the advantage of an extended rest during a 5 minute rest.

 

[Mentat55]

I'd hand out interesting single use boons that are situationally useful and related to whatever quest earned the award. Things like immediately and automatically making a save against an effect, rolling a natural 20 on a skill check, etc.

As another possibility, I've handed out achievements/titles that give bonuses in very specific situations, like +5 to Diplomacy when interacting with a specific group of people -- typically not combat related.

I have also given out free feats, typically interesting ones that perhaps the PCs would not normally take.