Rewards Beyond Levels

[mmadsen]

The issue came up recently (in Are xp/levels/advancement necessary?) of how you can reward characters beyond simple level-advancement.

A few years ago (while discussing The Genius of D&D) I came up with a short list of ideas:

A group of 10-year-olds can set up adventures that (more-or-less) follow the rules with leveling up and gathering treasure as rewards.

What are some good alternatives? We know people like big enough power-ups that they feel important (the gambling analogy). I think Feats and Spells achieve that. A +1 to a few skills doesn't feel like much. An extra Hit Die is quite a bit.

People also like power-ups in the form of magic items. We definitely know that.

Codifying fame and reputation into a Glory score wouldn't be too hard. Guidelines for NPCs treating heroes with respect, giving them free meals, calling them by superlative epithets, etc. could go a long way toward players' wish fulfillment.

Simple rules for moving up in social power would also work well. After all, a great warrior in real life is usually a guy who's won a few battles and now leads a great army. A natural progression into positions of power would make a great "carrot".

Part of that could be acquiring important friends and allies. If your character is an official Friend of the Elves (complete with elven leaf talisman) or of the Great Eagles and can call in their aid, that's not a typical D&D power-up, but it works.

Everyone loves magic mounts and animal allies. Getting a Griphon, or Talking Tiger, or Winged Horse, or Unicorn -- c'mon, everyone loves that.

Pendragon offers some unconventional progressions (for gaming, not for real life); characters marry, have kids, run the manor, and pass the adventuring mantle onto the next generation.​

What other ideas can you suggest?

 

[Mallus]

I've found the most valuable reward for players is given their characters influence over the campaign world.

Let them really change things and the never ending pursuit of loot and levels falls by the wayside. Well, a little.

 

[hong]

I've found the most valuable reward for players is given their characters influence over the campaign world.

Let them really change things and the never ending pursuit of loot and levels falls by the wayside. Well, a little.

Bah. If I wanted to play Civ 4, I'd play Civ 4. Well, except that Civ 4 is an even worse time sink than D&D. Oh, decisions, decisions!

 

[Ringan]

mmadsen,
All your ideas seem to be mechanical at heart. I don't know if that was specifically what you were looking for?

As for me, I think one of the best rewards is when the characters can feel (and the players, vicariously) some kind of appreciation for the things they are doing, that they can change things - as mallus described, the "influence over the campaign world"...it is a sort of heroism that can't be quantified by any system. But I don't think it needs to be quantified, because it doesn't need to be compared to anything. Anyway just my 2 cents.

 

[Job]

Actually, your initial list is very good! If a DM pays attention to those elements, and integrates them into their campaign over time, then it should generate quite a bit of interest for the players.

I would add three other elements:

1. If a player has generated a backstory for their character, then the DM should develop some plot elements that bring that story to life in their world. For example, I have a chaotic good warlock character (a player's main character died and they wanted to roll up a warlock) who provided two pages of backstory as to why such an individual grew up and eventually started traveling with our relatively-good aligned team. I've now added certain related mysteries and locations that fit that storyline and that the PC's will eventually stumble upon.

2. Ask your players what their characters would enjoy in the game, and add it, whatever it is. Would their characters like to find and own a certain Item? Have they heard of certain legends that they'd like to investigate, perhaps borrowing ideas from novels or movies that they say they've really enjoyed? Have they read about certain old-school D&D locations that they'd like to investigate (e.g. my players have expressed an interest in the Temple of Elemental Evil that I eventually plan to integrate into the campaign)?

3. Add magic items that develop with the characters. I use "Weapons of Legacy" as a starting point and general outline for this, but often blend the weapon's mystery with a player character's backstory. For example, one of my players wrote that his father was a titled and reknowned Lord in a land far away, and I had a small company of knights encounter this PC on a road to let him know that his father had died and to deliver his father's sword (powers unknown at this point, but glowed when the character grasped it) to the heir. The sword's powers will be revealed as the character uncovers certain historical information about his father and performs certain quests.

Thanks for an interesting thread.
Job.

 

[mmadsen]

All your ideas seem to be mechanical at heart. I don't know if that was specifically what you were looking for?

My goal was to think up rewards comparable to levels and treasure and comparably easy to dole out in the right amounts. As I said, "A group of 10-year-olds can set up adventures that (more-or-less) follow the rules with leveling up and gathering treasure as rewards." What similar reward guidelines can we come up with?

 

[Vrecknidj]

I give out cards. I use business cards. Each one is printed with some power or ability.

Each card costs so many Hero Points to use. So, a character can spend hero points in one of the traditional ways, or can spend X, Y, or Z hero points to make a card function.

Cards give things like:
Evasion, for the next minute
Resistance 5, to one energy type, for the next minute
Maximum damage on a single damage roll
The ability to Take 10 on a saving throw
The ability to have a 1 not be a miss, if the modifiers would have made it succeed

Etc.

My players (most of whom are old-timers, like me, and have been playing since the 80s) generally like having these things. Sometimes, in addition to (or instead of) XP, I'll hand out a few cards. Players save them and use them at their leisure.

I have about 40 different cards, and lots of duplicates of each one. I keep them in one of my DMing boxes and sometimes, if the upcoming adventure is particularly tough, will toss a handful on the table at the beginning and say "You all figure out for yourselves which ones you want, give the rest back to me--figure out a story for it when it comes up." Adds to the roleplaying that way.

Dave

 

[mmadsen]

I give out cards. I use business cards. Each one is printed with some power or ability.

Each card costs so many Hero Points to use.

Ah, yes, this points to two other kinds of rewards: drama/fate/hero/action points, and tangible out-of-game props for in-game rewards. I wouldn't mind having a stack of printed cards for various treasures...

 

[mmadsen]

I've found the most valuable reward for players is given their characters influence over the campaign world.

Can we enumerate some ways for characters to influence the game world? That used to mean building a stronghold and attracting followers -- carving a kingdom out of the wilderness.

Pendragon does a great job of expecting players to grow old and raise another generation to continue the legacy.

 

[mmadsen]

D&D used to be pretty explicit about high-level characters building a stronghold and attracting followers. Why has that facet all but disappeared from the game? Are players no longer interested in molding the game world? Are followers simply useless in the modern version of the game?