D&D 5E Special Rewards Rather Than Loot

[doctorbadwolf]

So, I was listening to WebDM while working on some stuff, and it reminded me of a thing i've been toying with expanding a lot more in my games.

Alternate rewards.
I don't like giving a lot of distinct magic items. IMO, for my group, it ends up being more hassle than benefit for each PC to have 6 magic items. I'd much rather each have a couple minor things and 1 or 2 defining items, and those grow with you rather than ever being replaced.

IIRC, the DMG touches on this, but doesn't really give much help to figure out what different traits and special abilities are worth compared to magic items.

Spells and proficiencies are pretty easy, IME, as are abilities similar to what a magic item could do, but for instance what about gaining an extra feat, or something like the ability to cast a certain spell without concentration or even to concentrate on two spells at once (probably with a spell level limit), or increase the targets of a non-scaling spell like Longstrider, or dual wield without using a bonus action, etc. Or gain profiency bonus damage to unarmed strikes by training to increase the density of your hand bones or via something more mystical.

So, I'm curious who here has done this sort of thing, what you and your group thought of it, and any really standout examples (good or bad) that you've come up with or seen in a game.

 

[Weiley31]

I actually thought of doing something like this. Stuff like this would include like a free feet(You trained in swords alot via lots of downtime? BOOM you have the Blade Mastery feat from the UA. Are you an elf? Well due to increasing your mastery of the Longsword, you can increase its D8 Damage Die to a D10. Races with a Racial/Heritage weapon would be able to do this but ONLY be able to raise it up by one Damage Die...no turning a Longsword to a 2D6)

Another thing I like to do, as an award or an achievement/whatever, is apply UA features from the UA versions of classes to their published version. So an Example: If a Circle of Stars Druid achieved a super MAJOR moment for their character arc or reached a threshold of power via Proofs of Marks or what not, the player of the published version of the Circle of Stars Druid PC could unlock/gain the UA Circle of Star Druid's original level 14 capstone ability, Star Flare and add it to the Published version of the subclass's abilities, which lost it when it published.

Heck: a Patron maybe crazy enough to reward a particularly loyal Warlock, who has demonstrated exceptional service, with the ability to do an Extra Attack. Without having to take the Thirsting Blade invocation.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I actually thought of doing something like this. Stuff like this would include like a free feet(You trained in swords alot via lots of downtime? BOOM you have the Blade Mastery feat from the UA. Are you an elf? Well due to increasing your mastery of the Longsword, you can increase its D8 Damage Die to a D10.)

Another thing I like to do, as an award or an achievement/whatever, is apply UA features from the UA versions of classes to their published version. So an Example: If a Circle of Stars Druid achieved a super MAJOR moment for their character arc or reached a threshold of power via Proofs of Marks or what not, the player of the published version of the Circle of Stars Druid could unlock/gain the UA Circle of Star Druid's original level 14 capstone ability Star Flare and add it to the Published version of the subclass, which lost it when it published.

That is an amazing idea! Hell yeah!

This is why I love DnD.

A version of that for players of characters with no UA material could be to look outside official material and find 3pp variants, or to turn a long rest ability into a short rest ability, a single target into 2 targets, stuff like that. Just upgrade a core class or subclass ability that is defining for the character.

 

[Weiley31]

That is an amazing idea! Hell yeah!

This is why I love DnD.

A version of that for players of characters with no UA material could be to look outside official material and find 3pp variants, or to turn a long rest ability into a short rest ability, a single target into 2 targets, stuff like that. Just upgrade a core class or subclass ability that is defining for the character.

I wasn't exactly thinking of 3PP, but yeah that could work too.
Also my bad, recheck my original post as I updated it with something for warlocks and a clarification on the Elf Longsword thing as its pretty much what I do for races as well with Racial/Heritage weapons.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Another one I've actually done recently is giving people pets relevant to big story moments. When my Firbolg Bard player had his Firbolg volunteer to be the champion of the Nemeton in the dryad grove inside the Nightwood, his sword regained some magic, part of which is to cast Summon Beast once a day. He immediately used it in the first round of combat, and I asked him what it looked like, and he said a bear, and I asked if he was cool with me throwing some funk on that, and he was all for it.

So, I described this beefy bear of moss-covered stone with emerald gem eyes and celtic inspired knots and spirals wind-carved all over it's body, rising from the ground to stand beside him. He loved it, immediaely named it Mossy, and when the fight was done and he had chosen to risk death in order to fully defeat the Blight Champion (by smearing his blood on the champion's blight-treant armored form to bind him to life, with the side effect of also binding the opposing champions together, because my Eberron game has a lot of old earthy blood magic in it, juxtaposed with the modernising world) he was brought back to life by the Nemeton, his body sinking into the earth and then being lowered from the treetops of the ancient sentient oak on a bower, his armor and gear gleaming like new, his hair turned a mossy dark green and his horns (I let the players decide what firbolgs look like in Eberron, and that resulted in horns) growing rose thorns and tiny shoots of leaf, and his sword thrumming with magical power, now made of oak and blue crystal.

Mossy didn't disapear like a summon normally would, and instead shrank to the size of a black bear cub, and acts as a familiar that grows to full size when the Summon Beast spell is cast by his master.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I wasn't exactly thinking of 3PP, but yeah that could work too.
Also my bad, recheck my original post as I updated it with something for warlocks and a clarification on the Elf Longsword thing as its pretty much what I do for races as well with Racial/Heritage weapons.

I like that.

I also am working on adding more special attacks, fighting styles, and ritual spells, to the game, which characters can only learn during play. Heritage/Cultural weapon techniques are definitely part of that.

 

[Weiley31]

Another one I've actually done recently is giving people pets relevant to big story moments. When my Firbolg Bard player had his Firbolg volunteer to be the champion of the Nemeton in the dryad grove inside the Nightwood, his sword regained some magic, part of which is to cast Summon Beast once a day. He immediately used it in the first round of combat, and I asked him what it looked like, and he said a bear, and I asked if he was cool with me throwing some funk on that, and he was all for it.

So, I described this beefy bear of moss-covered stone with emerald gem eyes and celtic inspired knots and spirals wind-carved all over it's body, rising from the ground to stand beside him. He loved it, immediaely named it Mossy, and when the fight was done and he had chosen to risk death in order to fully defeat the Blight Champion (by smearing his blood on the champion's blight-treant armored form to bind him to life, with the side effect of also binding the opposing champions together, because my Eberron game has a lot of old earthy blood magic in it, juxtaposed with the modernising world) he was brought back to life by the Nemeton, his body sinking into the earth and then being lowered from the treetops of the ancient sentient oak on a bower, his armor and gear gleaming like new, his hair turned a mossy dark green and his horns (I let the players decide what firbolgs look like in Eberron, and that resulted in horns) growing rose thorns and tiny shoots of leaf, and his sword thrumming with magical power, now made of oak and blue crystal.

Mossy didn't disapear like a summon normally would, and instead shrank to the size of a black bear cub, and acts as a familiar that grows to full size when the Summon Beast spell is cast by his master.

Now that is a pretty banging reward. You could have the bear increase in power again via having it unlock the Revised Ranger's Beast scaling/leveling rules. It be a bit crazy but sounds like a perfect upgrade in power if it ever happened again to the sword/bear.

 

[Wolfram stout]

I have always been disappointed that familiars don't do a lot of magical stuff (outside of delivering touch spells). I like the idea of a Patron granting a familiar the ability to take over the concentration for one spell. This works for your concentrate on two spells, and I think has loads of flavor. It also imulates Vlad Taltos.

 

[Weiley31]

I like that.

I also am working on adding more special attacks, fighting styles, and ritual spells, to the game, which characters can only learn during play. Heritage/Cultural weapon techniques are definitely part of that.

Sounds good. I like to look at Pathfinder 1/2 and see which weapons are considered Heritage/Cultural weapons for like Kobolds, Half Orcs, Halflings, Gnomes to join the Heritage/Cultural weapons that Elves and Dwarves are trained in as well.

So if you ever need ideas for those type of things, I suggest using that as a good base. Plus I like the idea that Half-Orcs consider Falchions as a Heritage/Cultural weapon.

 

[Weiley31]

I have always been disappointed that familiars don't do a lot of magical stuff (outside of delivering touch spells). I like the idea of a Patron granting a familiar the ability to take over the concentration for one spell. This works for your concentrate on two spells, and I think has loads of flavor. It also imulates Vlad Taltos.

I think Crit Roll allows the double concentration via a feat so you could totally nab that feat or their magic rules to do that. Sounds like a pretty good reward from a patron.