Non-standard rewards for DMs to use

[Empirate]

[EDIT: Thread should be called "Non-standard rewards for DMs to use", obviously. Sorry for that.]


What kinds of non-standard rewards have you used as a DM?

Gold, XP, items etc. are fine and dandy, but there are times when you want to give the PCs something special, something not usually attainable, something memorable, or all of these. Rewards of this kind can range all the way from the mundanely mechanical (a save bonus vs. a specific attack form, for example) to the heavily game-world-involved (e.g., a title of nobility).

Personally, I make heavy use of this kind of rewards. It's not just cool and provides one or more PCs with something a little more special than those 1d6x100 gp worth of gems the Ogre carried - it can also be used to improve game balance, to provide plot hooks etc.


Things I've done:

I've given a PC in a solo campaign a permanent +2 bonus to saves vs. spider venom, after he waded through an adventure full of spider-y creatures and got bitten like a hundred times. Small bonus, and not actually that exciting, but the fact that his in-game experiences actually influenced his character's abilities in a tangible way meant a lot to the player. He was more grateful than if he'd found a +5 sword.

I've given a Druid PC who studied under a more experienced Druid for a time access to a Spell Compendium spell (not a book I usually allow in my 3.x campaigns). Bite of the Wererat, a personal buff spell that actually makes the PC useful in a fight for the first time: she took some underpowered options and has weak melee ability, but is the party's designated tank, so this reward has the neat side effect of rounding out the party's capabilities a bit.
The same PC will likely acquire the higher-level Druid's meditation crystal soon (the big guy has turned evil and the party will probably have to fight him at some point). That crystal is a very useful magic item in its own right, but by breaking it in a druidic ceremony, the PC can exchange the item's power for a whole slew of powerful Spell Compendium spells.

A Rogue who died in a rather unsatisfying manner (high-level Assassin snuck up on her, got a death attack in, dead in the surprise round) was brought back to life as a Tiefling - free True Resurrection, although she had to trade a class level for the Tiefling's LA. She had been trafficking with demonic powers for a while by then, and her "patron" decided she was far too useful on the prime material to have her pass on into his realm yet. Some pretty envenomed barbs attached to that "reward", though, obviously...

After the party had saved a powerful Rakshasa Ur-Priest from an order of holy warriors, I rewarded one of the PCs (a Fighter/Bard, of all things) with access to the Ur-Priest prestige class, which I'd not normally condone in any way. The PC was underpowered enough up to that point so this felt like a needed upgrade - three or four levels later, he was actually able to impress the rest of the party with his versatile abilities.



I've also been on the receiving end of this kind of specialized reward. The DM in a game I'm just a player in decided to cut most all permanent magic items out of the game. Instead of magic items, which are still assumed to a great degree by the system (Pathfinder, in this case) to maintain game balance, this DM has decided to give us personal quests. Fulfilling our personal quest (planned by him to be doable by level 6) results in a whole set of permanent abilities that are highly customized to be useful and special to that PC only. The last personal quest has been finished last gaming night, so now my 6th level Evoker is the proud owner of a special, Djinni-ensorcelled spellbook, which reflects my PC's thoughts and ideas to some degree: I can develop a spell not on my class' spell list each level, among other spell-related benefits. I can also summon an air or lightning elemental for a few rounds each day, kind of a magical spitting image of my PC. I can apply my Intelligence bonus to one saving throw each day. And I will get the use of one Wish spell (the Djinni coming back to do me one service) when I really need it - probably right near campaign's end.


When do you feel you've gotten really creative when it came to rewarding your players? What were your most memorable treasures?

 

[Argyle King]

In the last 4E game I DMed, I rewarded each player with a reward based upon the background story they gave for their character. Often, this reward was a unique ability or power; in some cases they gained a class feature or ability from a different class. For example, the party fighter had a background of being in the military, so I granted him the Warlord class feature which gives bonuses to initiative.

Later, in the same campaign, that same character also gained "Boon of The Monkey God" after defeating a foe. His arms grew in length, and he was granted a +2 bonus on climbing, and he benefited from a +2 to speed whenever his hands were empty and he was able to use them to propel himself forward.

In a game I wasn't DMing, but was trying to help a friend write for, I designed a new power for him to grant to one of the PCs in his game. The PC was a cleric of Lolth. I designed the "Webs of Lolth" power. It was a Daily* power which could be used to tangle a foe in divine webs; loosely based upon how Spiderman shoots webs from his wrists. The power could be used as a minor action, but did no damage; if successful, it immobilized the target.

*It started as a Daily, but I designed it in such a way that it would upgrade as she leveled up. I forget the exact leveling points (I think I used the levels at which the Warlord's healing abilities increased as a guideline,) but I vaguely remember it starting as a Daily which immobilized; at some point being able to be used twice per day and having better range; at some point being able to be used a number of times be day equal to your Con modifier (minimum 2,) and then at some point restraining rather than immobilizing.

 

[Grogg of the North]

After slaying the ruler of a pocket dimension, the fighter absorbed part of his power Highlander style.

Exposure to an ancient magical artifact caused the warlock, who had been raised by fey, to develop wings and other fey abilities. (Half-Fey Template)

After putting several lost souls to rest the party received a letter from the cathedral of Pelor saying that they could receive free aid if needed. (I think the party forgot about this)

The same warlock that was raised by Fey returned to her home and the grimalkin that was bonded to her started following her around. It's more a prop than anything else and spends most of the time asleep in her haversack, frequently waking up after a battle asking what it missed.

 

[the Jester]

Land grants.

The deed to some property.

Ownership of a business.

Special powers granted by the gods/demon princes/whatever power.

Reputation.

Kudos from the peasants.

"You eat here for free for life!"

"Let me give you the hand of my daughter, the princess of my people, in marriage!" (Granted, this was an urd chief, but hey.)

There are tons of nonstandard rewards out there, given a little creativity.

 

[Sekhmet]

I very rarely give monetary or EXP rewards.
My favorite rewards are favors, effectively allowing a PC to call on a friend in a time of need. As an example, a drow vampire weapons master came to the aid of my PCs - almost single handedly winning a very difficult battle against a powerful demon, because they found a way for him to regain Lolth's favor without having to return to the House that banished him.
I'll give ownership (or partial ownership) of businesses, trade routes, farms, and the like occasionally. Lands, titles, and men-at-arms are also pretty popular among my players.
One of my players wanted to be a juggernaut of destruction, this legendary berserking barbarian (Frenzied Berserker with permanent Enlarge Person) from the North. He saved a King's caravan from a White Dragon, and was granted lands nearby on the condition that he maintain them. He hired some locals to take care of the place and went about his adventures as normal, but he kept mentioning that his lands were weighing on his mind.
Shortly afterward, he went back to his lands, built a keep, and started his own clan, completely against his original plan.

 

[Razjah]

I once gave my players a door knob. When you held it at roughly doorknob height and turned it, the knob created a magic door opening the door lead to an extra dimensional mansion complete with an "seen" servant named with a terrible Jamaican accent. The party had a set amount of sq feet they could use to create the mansion and modify it as they saw fit. They put a stable inside to protect their horses and a fountain of liquid gold that couldn't burn them, I don't have the notes from that game but they used the mansion for many different purposes, baths rooms, food, training room, library, etc. The best part was that you could take the knob inside and close the door. The door would vanish and the party was completely safe to rest.

Boons are always beloved by players from what I have seen, any time an NPC owes the party a favor they treasure that more than a dragon's hoard.

An enchanted rock that functioned like a radio was something that the cleric received in a war campaign I played in. The cleric was our squad leader so he got the radio for orders and reporting back to command. We even had the static noises.

I once turned a PC wizard into an Eldritch Knight, he got a full BAB, lost a spell per level, got more hit points and a bonus to his Fort save. He loved it, since his wizard was an awesome Str score, but no real way to use it. The first thing he did after acquiring these powers was go hunt a bear with the party ranger. The ranger had the wizard squeeze the bears bladder around their camp the night to keep the other bears away. Using bladders after defeating monsters became a running gag for the party.

 

[Ray_K]

I once gave the party fighter some sort of made up "pit fighter" perk that gave him bonuses based on how many people he was fighting at once. It stemmed from him doing a LOT of close quarter fighting against hordes of enemies in some pretty confusing terrain. He thought it was kind of cool.

This thread encouraged me to be more creative about players rewards now. Personalized boons and such are much more enjoyable than Generic Sword +5 as previously mentioned.

 

[Empirate]

Very nice ideas, keep them coming, guys!


More stuff I've been using:

A fighter PC in an early 3.0 campaign I ran had a matched pair of intelligent swords. These rarely spoke to him, but when they did, it was mostly to point him towards what they most wanted to kill. He quite faithfully did their bidding in a few instances ("Green dragon blood is tasty, you say? Sure, let's go hunt us some dragon!"). So I decided to come up with another item, a matched pair of sheaths for his swords, which guided the PC to find them. The longer he went without drawing the swords from these "Sheaths of Patience", the more powerful the swords would get for a single fight once they were finally drawn. This mechanic rewarded downtime for the fighter, so he was looking forward to the druid crafting stuff and the rogue socializing. The sheath powers came in very handy in the final fight of that campaign, because the party had more than a month downtime before.

A cleric PC in another campaign of mine (Red Hand of Doom) did the right thing a few times (like stopping the torture of prisoners, even though they needed information), so one day an emissary of her god showed up and gave her good advice. That's it, just good advice. Which turned out to be very useful indeed. The emissary (a macho Hound Archon who liked to talk smack a lot) also promised her she could call him a total of three times. She ended up calling him once more, and the advice she received that time actually prevented the PCs from committing a very grave mistake which they had already almost decided upon (confronting the Ghost Lord in battle, for those who know the module...).

In the campaign I'm currently running, the PCs helped an anarchy-minded politician overthrow public order in his city. The anarchist orchestrated events so that the PCs' actions would play into his hands and promote a revolution, which resulted in him taking power. The PCs found out about this, but since the anarchist had been very nice to them throughout, and they had been able to further their own goals alongside the revolution, they were cool with the whole affair. Now, if ever they return to that city, they will be best buddies with the new ruler.

In a solo campaign I DMed a while ago, the plot revolved around four Rings of Elemental Command, one each keyed to each element. As per usual with these rings, most of their powers need to be "unlocked" by a certain action or event before they function for any given wielder. The PC needed not only to find the four rings, but also to visit four pocket "prison" planes and defeat the planes' prisoners. A fully functional Ring of Elemental Command is a powerful tool, especially in an elemental-themed campaign!
His first ring was the water one. The plane consisted of a mini-planet (think a hundred square miles surface area) consisting entirely of water, with some small islands swimming on the surface. The prisoner was a huge Kraken, and the PC needed to win over a large settlement of water gnomes, defeat a tribe of murderous Kuo-Toa (for which he needed to enlist the help of a friendly Couatl) and finally dive into the depths of the plane to confront the Kraken, helped by two dragon turtles. A looong plot arc, all in all, but the reward was worth it! Also, only a fully "unlocked" ring could open the gate to the next pocket plane... so reward and plot tool were rolled into one here.

 

[Quickleaf]

Hirelings & Henchmen, since they haven't been mentioned yet.

Free provisions, horses, mules, carts, etc. A common reward when patronized by a powerful noble, especially one expecting for a small cut of the PCs' profits.

Spellbooks/ritual books for casters are sometimes overlooked, and a great way to add flavor to your campaign world.

Bonus languages for characters who've spent a long time in a foreign country.

Magical or powerful mounts that couldn't otherwise be purchased.

 

[Razjah]

Access to ancient history books from a historically lost era can be awesome for the PCs to find knowledge, forgotten spells, and new ruins to go plunder.

A friendly healer (it doesn't really matter who or the how) can be awesome and more important than better gear. If the PCs are dead, their sweet weapons don't mean anything. The guy who patches them up between jobs is really important to keeping their income going.

I once had the party adventure to find the lost journals of a powerful mage. These journals contained the instructions to learn the Tome of Magic classes, the Binder, Shadowcaster, and True Namer. None of the PCs took the option to take up a new class, but they had the chance.

A friendly neighborhood gondolier to help dispose of bodies was super important in a fantasy game based on Venice with every break from fact I needed.