A question for DMs: how would you reward this PC in your campaign?

[Jon_Dahl]

A PC comes to a major city of your campaign and voluntarily gives up a powerful and evil magical item worth an enormous amount of money. Because the character in question is neutral, he could've used the item without any hindrance and without succumbing to evil e.g. the item doesn't make you evil, it's just evil.

There was no quest to recover this item. He just pops up out of nowhere with the item and can tell that it was looted from an evil monster (It's the truth).

The item would be worth more than all the gear of the PCs combined.

In general, how would he be awarded in your game?

[Astralia123]

Such a person is not usually awarded generously officially. But as the DM you are not restricted to official awards, you can award him with something else, like some extra power and so on.

It is advisable that you make it up into a more dramatical story, and award him a saint template or something like that.

[atemu1234]

Have a celestial appear and thank him, then proceed to have the celestial be a quest-giver to a rich and powerful evil dragon. The two things adventurers like most, violence and money.

[Deadtissue]

A PC comes to a major city of your campaign and voluntarily gives up a powerful and evil magical item worth an enormous amount of money. Because the character in question is neutral, he could've used the item without any hindrance and without succumbing to evil e.g. the item doesn't make you evil, it's just evil.

There was no quest to recover this item. He just pops up out of nowhere with the item and can tell that it was looted from an evil monster (It's the truth).

The item would be worth more than all the gear of the PCs combined.

In general, how would he be awarded in your game?

If the evil item is returned to a good church that can destroy it they might offer thier healing/spell casting services to the character and/or his party (up to a certain value, maybe that of the item) over the next year. They can get healing potions, a raise dead, clw wands in limited quantities whenever they visit the town. If the evil item is turned over to an evil church that can use the item they would likely offer the same thing.

If the item was part of some lore or legend (monster) that threatened the city directly then perhaps a parade and celebration as well as a gift of some cash could be showered upon this selfless hero who has saved the city.

I think a few more selfless acts would be necessary for "Sainthood" but a title might be given if that is the way of the lands they are in, the character could be Knighted which would allow him access to a higher social rung, enable him to command commoners to aid him, and other privelegs of the title in that land.

The character may be thinking that getting rid of the item might be reward enough as something that powerful is likely to attract attention that he could not handle so another reward might be to have whomever received the item be attacked by a powerful foe trying to retrieve it to reinforce that he made a very good decision.

Thats my 2 cents worth :smallamused:

[georgie_leech]

"As you hand over the artifact, a light shines from the heavens, momentarily holding you aloft. You hear the faint sound of trumpets and a feeling of peace and contentment comes over you. All at once, you feel large feathered wings burst from your shoulders. The beat almost of their own accord, as you instinctively stretch rarely used muscles. As the light fades, they bear you to the ground softly, where they fold neatly beneath your cloak.

"So, Jim, basically you got the Wings class feature of the Favored Soul, without needing to take 17 levels in that class."

[weckar]

Seems to me the whole party should be rewarded for not stopping him, as this would have ticked heavily into their WBL too...

[skypse]

"As you hand over the artifact, a light shines from the heavens, momentarily holding you aloft. You hear the faint sound of trumpets and a feeling of peace and contentment comes over you. All at once, you feel large feathered wings burst from your shoulders. The beat almost of their own accord, as you instinctively stretch rarely used muscles. As the light fades, they bear you to the ground softly, where they fold neatly beneath your cloak.

"So, Jim, basically you got the Wings class feature of the Favored Soul, without needing to take 17 levels in that class."

I would second that. If not the Wings class feature (it would be inconvenient for a heavy armor guy with no ranks in fly skill or high INT), something that suits them.

You could also give them some special abilities from the Aasimar race, a race-specific feat from the same race or even a Half-Celesial template for his Character (although this would mess up the whole "true neutral" thing).

Alternatively, you could offer him a NPC as a cohort (keep it 1-2 levels under him) that has the celestial template and is an angel/aasimar or similar creature. This could help the whole party as well.

[Callin]

How about something simple and does not scream celestial to a neutral character. Aid 1/day cast at HD=CL. Or pick a more flavorful low level spell that could be more appropriatde.

[Astralia123]

On the other hand, when it is not intended to be a discouragement, the evil item itself can again become another story hook.

It is difficult not to become a discouragement, though. You can consult BoED about the idea of redeeming an evil item, so that the PCs can purify it into its good version. Of course it should not come that easy, at least the PCs should complete some side-quests to achieve that, and after that they can be granted something special other than EXP and loot. (For example, if the item itself is some sort of artifact, you can say after it is purified, it become linked to the PCs and gives them access to some special powers.)

[prufock]

A PC comes to a major city of your campaign and voluntarily gives up a powerful and evil magical item worth an enormous amount of money. Because the character in question is neutral, he could've used the item without any hindrance and without succumbing to evil e.g. the item doesn't make you evil, it's just evil.

There was no quest to recover this item. He just pops up out of nowhere with the item and can tell that it was looted from an evil monster (It's the truth).

The item would be worth more than all the gear of the PCs combined.

In general, how would he be awarded in your game?

It really depends on your setting and how he returned it. The "celestial appears" thing can work in some settings (high-magic, high-divine) but not others. If he returned it and gave it to someone with no regard for what will be done with it, celestials would be inappropriate.

I would personally make whomever the authority of the organization he gave it to automatically "friendly" on the alignment axis, willing to help him with healing, other minor magic potions and stuff, and maybe suggest he take the Leadership feat, giving him a bonus to his Leadership score for cohorts and followers from that organization. He should also get a bonus to social skills with that group. Basically, he gets respect and gratitude, with some mechanical benefits.

[Kelb_Panthera]

Perhaps a circumstantial windfall of cash and/or magic item(s) worth between half and the full value of the item he gave up?

[mephnick]

I'd give the whole party something, but a little extra for the player who did the deed.

If he returned it to a church I'd give out some cash, blessings, and give the player a free weapon enhancement or something.

If returned to a government I'd turn it into a chance for more role-playing and offer a seat in office, or property. Cash, of course.

[Nibbens]

If you're playing PF you can always throw out a Mythic Tier to the character (or party) in question as a reward. Perhaps the power of the item "rubbed off" on them. etc etc.

[Urpriest]

It really depends on the structure of the campaign.

Did you put the item in the party's treasure because you wanted them to use it to get up to WBL, because they're far behind? In that case, a good-aligned church offering them extensive help in the form of magic items would be appropriate.

Did the player hear about the item's existence and seek it out? Relatedly, is this a sandbox game where that sort of behavior is expected? If so, give them some reward, but probably not equal to the item's value.

Did you give them the item as a plot device/for safekeeping? If so, you'll need to shift your plot, and whatever you decide will be based on that.

[Segev]

I'd probably give him a huge boost to his reputation with the organization to whom he surrendered it and anybody who holds them - or anybody who would be appreciative of the item being dealt with - in high regard. If he's not famous, at least have his name and reputation be known well enough that, upon people learning who he is, they're predisposed to trust him and his motives.

Reward his responsibility with trust from others that he will deal equally responsibly with other tasks and resources. Let his word bypass a lot of "convince me you're worth it" quests, and avoid a lot of "we expect collateral" types of events where the party is being entrusted with something highly valuable and/or dangerous.

Reward the whole party with a measure of this trust of which they've proven worthy. It's probably refreshing to most adventuring parties to have people look at them as heroes not just from the small folk's perspective, but from the perspective of movers and shakers. To have people say, "We know you'll handle this well," rather than to be constantly admonished.

Let it open doors for them until such time as they abuse trust too publicly or too much.

[Jon_Dahl]

It really depends on the structure of the campaign.

Did you put the item in the party's treasure because you wanted them to use it to get up to WBL, because they're far behind? In that case, a good-aligned church offering them extensive help in the form of magic items would be appropriate.

Did the player hear about the item's existence and seek it out? Relatedly, is this a sandbox game where that sort of behavior is expected? If so, give them some reward, but probably not equal to the item's value.

Did you give them the item as a plot device/for safekeeping? If so, you'll need to shift your plot, and whatever you decide will be based on that.

A good question! I always, always plan treasure. In that particular session, the gamers had rushed through my adventure and I asked them:
"Do I plan the treasure hoard of the chimera for the next session or do I roll the treasure? If I roll, it might be something completely ridiculous."
Want to guess what they chose?
They rolled a Vicious Sap +2, a necromantic item.
http://nwps.ws/pub/forum-gifs/disapoint486.gif

In my campaign world, all necromantic items are banned on the pain of death, and the use of necromancy is evil without a special permission from the King.

[Jeff the Green]

...that was one stupid necromancer.

I'd pull out the Favors rules I wanted to work but eventually concluded were economically ridiculous:


Magic items, alchemical items, poisons, and equipment made of special materials cannot be bought with gold or sold for gold. They must be obtained with favors from such powers as thieves’ guilds, nobles, politicians, churches, town councils, or powerful magical creatures, and can be traded to the same for favors.
Favors’ worth can be estimated with Appraise or an appropriate Knowledge skill. If you think you will fail or did fail, you can hire someone to figure it out for you.
Favors can be combined or split up into multiple smaller favors, as needed.


Just send a messenger saying that the King (or suitable functionary) is pleased with the noble actions of someone who could have just sold it on the black market while not having to fear the crown all that much and that such actions, while not exactly worthy of reward certainly do raise him in the esteem of the crown blah blah blah. And then have him (and the party) make a DC 5 Sense Motive check to realize the obvious hint and let them use their newly found "esteem" to each get their share of the item's value (I won't say worth because that thing's not [I]worth[i] anything) how they see fit. This might be in overlooking certain incidents (deduct the amount they'd be fined or need to bribe from the "esteem"), performing services (there are prices for services) or merely putting them in touch with the king's Court Artificer who just so happens to have gotten a shipment of supplies he didn't really need wink wink.

[Urpriest]

A good question! I always, always plan treasure. In that particular session, the gamers had rushed through my adventure and I asked them:
"Do I plan the treasure hoard of the chimera for the next session or do I roll the treasure? If I roll, it might be something completely ridiculous."
Want to guess what they chose?
They rolled a Vicious Sap +2, a necromantic item.
http://nwps.ws/pub/forum-gifs/disapoint486.gif

In my campaign world, all necromantic items are banned on the pain of death, and the use of necromancy is evil without a special permission from the King.

Hmm...so it's a one-off silly occurrence, where the PCs decided to play fair with you and not hold you to the consequences?

I'd say give them a material reward that would have been appropriate for the chimera out of gear given by the government so that they're up to where they should be treasure-wise, but couple it with a plot reward to show the players you appreciate their cooperation. Basically, the government assists them with something they're trying to do, making one task significantly easier.

[StoneCipher]

The question is did he give it up knowing it was powerful, expensive, and of great evil? Or did he just give it up cause he had no use for it and knew it could be evil so no reason to mess with it.

The good aligned gods will know this most likely, and would take note of his good deed.

If he just gave it away out of disuse, I don't think that would prompt a large offering from a good deity.

You could always "increase his luck." I.E. next time he goes out adventuring, a good aligned god, most likely the one who would most find this sort of action pleasing, could push something in his favor. Maybe the chest he is looting has double treasure. Maybe something that would have killed him suddenly misses.

You can work it in easily that way without overtly rewarding him.

[benDM]

A PC comes to a major city of your campaign and voluntarily gives up a powerful and evil magical item worth an enormous amount of money. Because the character in question is neutral, he could've used the item without any hindrance and without succumbing to evil e.g. the item doesn't make you evil, it's just evil.

There was no quest to recover this item. He just pops up out of nowhere with the item and can tell that it was looted from an evil monster (It's the truth).

The item would be worth more than all the gear of the PCs combined.

In general, how would he be awarded in your game?
How did the PC acquire the evil item? If he defeated an evil cult or monster then there might be some nice XP award for just recovering it.
What is the PC? Why did he give it up? What was his reasoning? Who did he give it to? Was the item causing harm to the town in some way?
I factor WHY PCs do things and how they affect the surroundings when I give XP. If he just handed it over to the first official who would take it because he did not want it then I would not give the PC anything. What happened to the item when it was given to the town official or person?

I give less XP for killing monsters. The XP in 3.5 monster guide is inflated. I have my PCs figure out problems and I reward them that way. Of course I give them plenty for saving prisoners, towns folk and completing missions to.

[Alex12]

A good question! I always, always plan treasure. In that particular session, the gamers had rushed through my adventure and I asked them:
"Do I plan the treasure hoard of the chimera for the next session or do I roll the treasure? If I roll, it might be something completely ridiculous."
Want to guess what they chose?
They rolled a Vicious Sap +2, a necromantic item.
http://nwps.ws/pub/forum-gifs/disapoint486.gif

In my campaign world, all necromantic items are banned on the pain of death, and the use of necromancy is evil without a special permission from the King.

Hm. I'm going to make a few assumptions here.
Assuming that necromancy being considered evil is a social/government thing, rather than a cosmic/divine mandate. The fact that royal permission can be obtained to use necromancy supports this.
Assuming that despite the prohibition, there are still necromancers out there, some of them make items, and in some cases a small strike force of elite combatants who may or may not be mercenaries (read: an adventuring party) is more effective at dealing with them than the local armed forces.
Assuming that the government wants to encourage the elimination of necromancers and necromancy and necromantic items.
Assuming that most adventuring parties will happily loot and sell or use everything that isn't nailed down and then get a crowbar to pry out the nails to sell the stuff that is nailed down, and that the government knows this and doesn't want to antagonize or criminalize the adventurers.
It seems logical to me that the government would have some protocol for dealing with such surrenders. The most obvious thing I can think of would be to either give them some item of similar value (in this case, a weapon with an effective +3 bonus. +2 flaming, maybe?) or pay some set percentage between half and full value of the object, keeping in mind the 'adventurers sell for half' rule.
Also maybe move the PC and/or party up a notch on the "how much the government trusts these guys" scale.

[Curmudgeon]

Convenience is worth a lot. If other characters want custom magic items, they can craft them for themselves or commission some NPC to do the work. In either case, it'll take 1 day for every 1,000 gp worth of the finished item. If the PC to be rewarded wants an item, those he helped will use their network of contacts to find a finished version of the desired item within a single day. :smallbiggrin:

[Yahzi]

I would give him a Favor.

Specifically, the big cheeses of the church would let him know that he could call on them sometime for a favor. Maybe they need a high level paladin to roll with them for a few days? Or somebody to fight their way into a dungeon and recover a corpse for raising. Or possibly a rescue mission if they get trapped on a plane of Hell.