Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
Rewards in 4e
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="darkbard" data-source="post: 7038649" data-attributes="member: 1282"><p>When we first started discussing this in the other thread, I immediately began thinking along the lines of 5E's Downtime Activities and its 4E trial balloon, the Dragon 424 article "Achievements" by Robert Schwalb. Therein he breaks Achievements down to four categories: Association, Influence, Information, and Material. But the system isn't developed as fully as it could be, nor is it divorced from the treasure rewards system (which, as most of us seem to agree, is really just a subset of combat character mechanics--or choices between combat utility and resources spent that take away from that ability, a pernicious divide if ever there was one!).</p><p></p><p>My initial concept is that, by divorcing the traditional rewards economy (i.e. magic items and combat utility) from a separate monetary economy that contributes to the kind of social "pillar" reward that Schwalb presents, things become much more interesting as characters build and make choices within both of these pillars.</p><p></p><p>For example, as it stands right now, the group that ventures into the Dungeon of the Fire Opal and retrieves that fist sized ruby from the statue of the efreet has little option but to sell it to buy magic items to advance their characters according to expected development. But that seems a waste of a potential plot item. Couldn't that item serve as a locus of intrigue and influence in the gameworld, and outside of DM fiat? (I mean, it's always easy enough for the DM to have assassins from an ancient fire cult come after the jewel, etc., but I'm talking about player empowerment in world building, in the same way that making background choices, feat choices, magic item choices, etc. can drive the narrative.)</p><p></p><p>Might not those who carry the jewel achieve influence in the Crimson Court of the tiefling duke by fashioning it as the centerpiece of a crown, for instance, or use it to create a permanent portal to the City of Brass, etc.? Wouldn't it be great to track the wealth of characters as they advance in level according to such a parallel rewards system to drive gameplay in other ways beyond simply as units to be instantly exchanged for the best magic items?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="darkbard, post: 7038649, member: 1282"] When we first started discussing this in the other thread, I immediately began thinking along the lines of 5E's Downtime Activities and its 4E trial balloon, the Dragon 424 article "Achievements" by Robert Schwalb. Therein he breaks Achievements down to four categories: Association, Influence, Information, and Material. But the system isn't developed as fully as it could be, nor is it divorced from the treasure rewards system (which, as most of us seem to agree, is really just a subset of combat character mechanics--or choices between combat utility and resources spent that take away from that ability, a pernicious divide if ever there was one!). My initial concept is that, by divorcing the traditional rewards economy (i.e. magic items and combat utility) from a separate monetary economy that contributes to the kind of social "pillar" reward that Schwalb presents, things become much more interesting as characters build and make choices within both of these pillars. For example, as it stands right now, the group that ventures into the Dungeon of the Fire Opal and retrieves that fist sized ruby from the statue of the efreet has little option but to sell it to buy magic items to advance their characters according to expected development. But that seems a waste of a potential plot item. Couldn't that item serve as a locus of intrigue and influence in the gameworld, and outside of DM fiat? (I mean, it's always easy enough for the DM to have assassins from an ancient fire cult come after the jewel, etc., but I'm talking about player empowerment in world building, in the same way that making background choices, feat choices, magic item choices, etc. can drive the narrative.) Might not those who carry the jewel achieve influence in the Crimson Court of the tiefling duke by fashioning it as the centerpiece of a crown, for instance, or use it to create a permanent portal to the City of Brass, etc.? Wouldn't it be great to track the wealth of characters as they advance in level according to such a parallel rewards system to drive gameplay in other ways beyond simply as units to be instantly exchanged for the best magic items? [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
Rewards in 4e
Top