Reward Ideas

[AlanBruce]

Greetings! In my current 3.5 game, the party is about to end the first arc of the campaign and as such, I was thinking about giving them a few weeks in game to retrain if needed, as per the PHB 2 rules.

On top of that, I wanted to give each PC a perk. This could be in the form of a free feat or class feature from sources not yet in use in the game. The party is mostly casters, with only one melee guy, so I was thinking on focusing on him the most.

First a few lists.

Human Wizard Conjurer 10 with Abrupt Jaunt ACF

Halfling Sorcerer 6/Sea Witch 1/Stormcaster 2 with an Air Elemental familiar

Human Beguiler 10

Human Cleric 6/Divine Oracle 3

Half-elf bard/bard/cloistered cleric/lyric thaumaturge (no idea on how many levels he has on each class, but he's ECL 9)

Human Paragon 2 / Fighter 4 / Occult Slayer 3

By the time this arc is over, everyone should be ECL 10.


PHB I & II

DMG

MM I - V

Complete Arcane

Complete Divine

Complete Mage

Complete Adventurer

Complete Scoundrel

Complete Warrior

Complete Champion

Races of Destiny

Races of the Wild

Libris Mortis

Stormwrack

Cityscape

Dungeonscape

Magic Item Compendium

Dragon Compendium

Unearthed Arcana

Spell Compendium

Eventually, I plan to introduce other books, like ToB, which would help the bard and fighter a lot, but in the meantime, giving them one thing from a book not mentioned in the spoiler as a reward would be nice, hinting at the introduction of the entire source in the future.

As can be observed, everyone but one PC casts, so naturally, the mundane gets preference, but if you have any ideas, I would love to read them.


Thank you very much.

[DeTess]

This is a topic for which knowing a bit more about the characters background and goals might be helpful, as there might be some interesting background related things to give them. For example, giving the halfling Stormcaster a fly speed or a swim-speed might be thematically appropriate, but if throughout the campaign his small size has constantly gotten him into trouble, some kind of effect that lets him grow to medium size might also be interesting.

However, for the fighter, if you're planning on introducing ToB at some point, maybe give him the martial study and martial stance feats? You can pick the maneuver and stance yourself to save him the trouble of having to go through ToB already.

For the Oracle, an effect that my DM has used from time to time is the Open prediction. Basically, the character gets some sort of portent for the upcoming adventure that he can cash in on any time to either have a piece of equipment ready when its necessary(something that's not on his character sheet, as long as its not too magical), know an obscure fact/language when it comes up, or manipulate 1 dice roll. This lets him play up to the Oracle part of the character more, by being able to say "I knew that was going to happen' once or twice per session.

[ksbsnowowl]

A free feat based around a theme is an excellent reward for completing a campaign arc around ECL 10. Earlier in one of my campaigns I ran Expedition to the Demonweb Pits, and the conclusion of that has similar suggestions, favoring PC's who are Lawful Good over others who are merely non-evil.

Here is an excerpt of the relevant section:

The PCs have secured peace on the Material Plane by creating war in the Abyss. Only a few people know what the party has done, but they are the servants of law and good who have protected the Upper Planes. Paladins and other servants of lawful good deities are held in higher esteem, and gifts of magic and land should be forthcoming for those who have not taken vows of poverty.

If you like, you can conclude the expedition with the arrival of a celestial herald, a sword archon in full fiery glory who grants each of the survivors a bonus feat (such as Ancestral Relic or the exalted feats from Book of Exalted Deeds). In addition, any lawful good members of the party are given a helmet of crown of glory (25 charges, Deities and Demigods 216).

In the end, what I did when my 12th level PC's foiled Lolth's plan, was give the Chaotic Neutral characters a free exalted feat (Purify SLA for the Warlock, and Sacred Strike for the Rogue/Wizard/Unseen Seer), give the NG Druid a choice between two exalted feats (Exalted Wildshape or Exalted Companion) as a free feat, and give the LG Paladin the above-listed magic helmet, a small keep on the first layer of the Outer Plane of Mount Celestia (the "Cheep Keep" from Stronghold Builder's Guidebook), and a choice between three exalted feats (Ancestral Relic, Celestial Mount, or Ranged Smite Evil [he was bound to an adventure-specific Weapon of Legacy longbow]) as a free feat.

They loved it, felt that their hard work was being recognized, and it hasn't hurt the game at all. Just minor little bonuses that have come into play from time to time throughout the later adventures.

All that is a long way of saying that giving them a free Tome of Battle feat is a good thing. It's good it fits a desired theme, it won't unbalance things, and it is okay to favor one PC over the others (though it might be a good idea to find a story-related reason why this is, rather than just "game balance." See above, about LG Celestials favoring the LG Paladin over others.) Whatever your story-related reason ends up being, it wouldn't be a terrible idea to give each character a free Martial Study feat, but then also give the "fighter" a second bonus feat, that being Martial Stance.

Do make note, though, that if you give the "Fighter" the Martial Study feat now, if you later allow him to take levels in Warblade or something, the feat-granted maneuver will not reset when he recovers his Warblade maneuvers, and the feat-granted maneuver will only ever be usable once per encounter. (Conversely, if he had levels in Warblade before getting the feat, the feat-granted maneuver would refresh when he recovers his Warblade maneuvers.)

[AlanBruce]

This is a topic for which knowing a bit more about the characters background and goals might be helpful, as there might be some interesting background related things to give them. For example, giving the halfling Stormcaster a fly speed or a swim-speed might be thematically appropriate, but if throughout the campaign his small size has constantly gotten him into trouble, some kind of effect that lets him grow to medium size might also be interesting.

However, for the fighter, if you're planning on introducing ToB at some point, maybe give him the martial study and martial stance feats? You can pick the maneuver and stance yourself to save him the trouble of having to go through ToB already.

For the Oracle, an effect that my DM has used from time to time is the Open prediction. Basically, the character gets some sort of portent for the upcoming adventure that he can cash in on any time to either have a piece of equipment ready when its necessary(something that's not on his character sheet, as long as its not too magical), know an obscure fact/language when it comes up, or manipulate 1 dice roll. This lets him play up to the Oracle part of the character more, by being able to say "I knew that was going to happen' once or twice per session.

I will try and give a brief background on each.

The conjurer is a graduate at a prestigious Arcane School in the City where the setting takes place. He teaches his craft in the poor districts since magic is outlawed in the city as a whole.

The halfling does fly- he casts Alter Self on his small air elemental and changes him to medium, at which point he hops on and flies around ala Goku in DB.

Of note, he has had several fey teachers before reaching the City, since he lived in the desert and out at sea, where he trained in his PrC.


The cleric serves Fharlanghn and her high priestess and leader: a famed Seer- has gone missing. One of the powers her Seer has allegedly is the ability to travel into the Realm of Dreams and speak to her fellow priests there, but this is rarely done.


The beguiler used to be a lone vigilante in the city slums and as a result has a bunch of contacts spread throughout, mainly an old Diviner who's gone a little crazy and her sister, who belings to one of the many gang factions.

The half elf is a referred to as a bookworm by the party (knowledge devotion adds to that monicker, which he loves using), and like the conjurer, he teaches for free at the old school. The guy is a pacifist and does not really revere a god but an ideal.

He loves spinning tales and talking people's ear off, though.

The fighter is an Olidammaran. That faith has been labeled outcasts and wanted in the city at large and so he, along with a few others that survived the purge, hid in the slums.

He doesn't talk much- that's his Greathammer's job. The Olidammarans in charge send him to fix problems and he is usually pretty good at it.

When not engaging in meaningful conversation by bashing legs in, he likes to spend time in his forge.

[DeTess]

Just a quick note, these are mostly ideas that came to me as I read the character descriptions. They might need some adjusting for them to be balanced.


I will try and give a brief background on each.

The conjurer is a graduate at a prestigious Arcane School in the City where the setting takes place. He teaches his craft in the poor districts since magic is outlawed in the city as a whole.


His teaching experience means that he might have one or two talented students. Maybe one of them will have progressed far enough to start studying on his/her own, and starts sending the conjurer spell scrolls of new spells he'd discover with regular intervals? In effect, this means the wizard would receives spell-scrolls of spells he didn't know yet from the student at some intervals, allowing him to expand his spell-book.




The halfling does fly- he casts Alter Self on his small air elemental and changes him to medium, at which point he hops on and flies around ala Goku in DB.

Of note, he has had several fey teachers before reaching the City, since he lived in the desert and out at sea, where he trained in his PrC.


Since he's had a lot of contact with Fey in his travels and during his studies, maybe give him the effect of the Nymph's kiss Feat from Book of Exalted deeds. You'd have to change the fluff slightly, but it seems like a nice fit.



The cleric serves Fharlanghn and her high priestess and leader: a famed Seer- has gone missing. One of the powers her Seer has allegedly is the ability to travel into the Realm of Dreams and speak to her fellow priests there, but this is rarely done.


Here, you could use the open prediction effect I mentioned earlier. You could fluff it as him receiving warnings from the high priest in his dreams. This could even be used as the plot-hook for a future adventure to find the high priest.



The beguiler used to be a lone vigilante in the city slums and as a result has a bunch of contacts spread throughout, mainly an old Diviner who's gone a little crazy and her sister, who belings to one of the many gang factions.


If the campaign interacted with his activities as a vigilante, you could have his fame among the common people increase. What this would do in practical terms is that most common people would act friendly towards him, and would be willing to help him to some degree (won't risk their lives, but will give food, shelter, information, etc.). Depedning on how much your guy RP's this, it can either provide for some interesting and useful interactions, or just be represented by a flat bonus on gather information and a situational bonus to diplomacy and bluff.



The half elf is a referred to as a bookworm by the party (knowledge devotion adds to that monicker, which he loves using), and like the conjurer, he teaches for free at the old school. The guy is a pacifist and does not really revere a god but an ideal.

He loves spinning tales and talking people's ear off, though.

I don't really have an idea for this guy/gal yet, sorry.



The fighter is an Olidammaran. That faith has been labeled outcasts and wanted in the city at large and so he, along with a few others that survived the purge, hid in the slums.

He doesn't talk much- that's his Greathammer's job. The Olidammarans in charge send him to fix problems and he is usually pretty good at it.

When not engaging in meaningful conversation by bashing legs in, he likes to spend time in his forge.

Okay, in addition to giving him something from ToB, maybe give him an Armadillo familiar? Or maybe give him a Dire armadillo animal companion or something along those lines, as blessing from his god (If you can't figure out why Olidammara might give an armadillo as a companion, you should read her name backwards).

[AlanBruce]

His teaching experience means that he might have one or two talented students. Maybe one of them will have progressed far enough to start studying on his/her own, and starts sending the conjurer spell scrolls of new spells he'd discovered with regular intervals? In effect, this means the wizard would receives spell-scrolls of spells he didn't know yet from the student at some intervals, allowing him to expand his spell-book.

I like this idea. The slums don't provide enough coin or magical supplies of students to purchase their own starter pack kits as mages, but who is to say one didn't strive above the rest? Besides, the setting imposes heavy taxation on all goods, something the conjurer has complained about in game by not purchasing anything from the many magic marts in the city.

Having a few scrolls land on his lap every so often will definitely help.


Since he's had a lot of contact with Fey in his travels and during his studies, maybe give him the effect of the Nymph's kiss Feat from Book of Exalted deeds. You'd have to change the fluff slightly, but it seems like a nice fit.

This is one idea I had thought about extensively and, barring the Exalted aspect, fits for the halfling, since he's CG and has trained under Dryads in the desert and Sirines out at sea.

The bonus to saves isn't game breaking at all and being a sorcerer, skill points are always welcome.



Here, you could use the open prediction effect I mentioned earlier. You could fluff it as him receiving warnings from the high priest in his dreams. This could even be used as the plot-hook for a future adventure to find the high priest.

I really like this, since the cleric uses a bunch of Divination spells all the time. Great plot hook potential and RP scenarios.



If the campaign interacted with his activities as a vigilante, you could have his fame among the common people increase. What this would do in practical terms is that most common people would act friendly towards him, and would be willing to help him to some degree (won't risk their lives, but will give food, shelter, information, etc.).

She likes to use spells to disguise herself, so no one is ever sure it's the same person, but her backstory has her at odds with her sister and her faction, seeing them as thugs. Perhaps that could change and some members of that organization who are higher level and have the ability to discern her disguise, can offer help or not openly attack her.


Okay, in addition to giving him something from ToB, maybe give him an Armadillo familiar? Or maybe give him a Dire armadillo animal companion or something along those lines, as blessing from his god (If you can't figure out why Olidammara might give an armadillo as a companion, you should read her name backwards).

ToB was a given, just trying to figure out what suits the PC best.

The armadillo familiar (or dire version of it) is rather interesting. Where can I find such a creature? Since the books I know of don't mention such animal as a familiar, let alone a dire version of it.

[DeTess]

The armadillo familiar (or dire version of it) is rather interesting. Where can I find such a creature? Since the books I know of don't mention such animal as a familiar, let alone a dire version of it.

For the dire version, you can probably use or adapt Frostburn's Glyptodon (which is basically a Dire armadillo in all but name). I can't find any official normal-sized armadillos, however, though there is some homebrew flying around that probably won't break the game (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?191431-Armadillos!-(PEACH) for example).

[AlanBruce]

For the dire version, you can probably use or adapt Frostburn's Glyptodon (which is basically a Dire armadillo in all but name). I can't find any official normal-sized armadillos, however, though there is some homebrew flying around that probably won't break the game (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?191431-Armadillos!-(PEACH) for example).

Thank you very much for the link. Although the player itself may never take a casting class for his PC, the dire armadillo as a pet of sorts would definitely fit his personality and theme as a whole.

[icefractal]

For the Fighter, give him one of the Shadow Hand teleport maneuvers. It fits with Olidamra well (look in through a keyhole and boom, you're inside) and is probably useful for anyone who can't already teleport. Or Telepathy - good for an unsubtle person who needs to communicate secretly sometimes, and it sets him up for Mindsight.

For the conjurer, if he uses summon monster, give him a tome of secret names - meaning effectively the Expanded Summon Monster feat from PF. If not, then maybe something related to his teaching? A theory of standardized magical notation - makes copying spells from other books or scrolls cheaper and faster, and if taught to his students they can all read each-other's spell books.

For the Beguiler, the Observant Illusion (PF again) discovery is very suited for a vigilante and also is just badass. It lets you see out of illusions you create. Shadow Evocation -> Continual Flame works nicely - "Those who carry one of [vigilante name]'s lanterns can speak to him at a certain time of day"

Not sure about the others yet.

[Goaty14]

If it were higher level, I'ld give the fighter limited true seeing, as to fit in with the occult slayer PrC.

[AlanBruce]

For the Fighter, give him one of the Shadow Hand teleport maneuvers. It fits with Olidamra well (look in through a keyhole and boom, you're inside) and is probably useful for anyone who can't already teleport. Or Telepathy - good for an unsubtle person who needs to communicate secretly sometimes, and it sets him up for Mindsight.

For the conjurer, if he uses summon monster, give him a tome of secret names - meaning effectively the Expanded Summon Monster feat from PF. If not, then maybe something related to his teaching? A theory of standardized magical notation - makes copying spells from other books or scrolls cheaper and faster, and if taught to his students they can all read each-other's spell books.

For the Beguiler, the Observant Illusion (PF again) discovery is very suited for a vigilante and also is just badass. It lets you see out of illusions you create. Shadow Evocation -> Continual Flame works nicely - "Those who carry one of [vigilante name]'s lanterns can speak to him at a certain time of day"

Not sure about the others yet.

Inhave not looked into pathfinder, but certainly will. The party 's conjurer prepares one summon spell a day and surprisingly, has no ranks in Knowledge (The Planes), but given how he likes summoning celestial gryphons, it's a good idea.

Alrhough his spell book has been lacking new material lately, so it may be a toss up between mire summoning or easier access to acquiring and scribing spells.


The beguiler idea sounds very good. Will have to look at it closely, but fits her MO rather well.

Shadowhand for the fighter is a nice one, since enemies confuse him with a hammer wielding brute and pay dearly for it, since he is rather smart and savvy, having trained to fight mages all his life ( he has the whole mage slayer feat chain).

[Pugwampy]

On top of that, I wanted to give each PC a perk. This could be in the form of a free feat or class feature from sources not yet in use in the game.


Another great reward option which i always do is a magic potion that gives 2 permanent points to their AB

Let all roll D6 for a random effect .

[AlanBruce]

Another great reward option which i always do is a magic potion that gives 2 permanent points to their AB

Let all roll D6 for a random effect .

That sounds like fun, as long as the random effects aren't negative.

Mind clarifying what AB is and where can I find it?

[DeTess]

That sounds like fun, as long as the random effects aren't negative.

Mind clarifying what AB is and where can I find it?

Based on context, I'd say he was referring to the Ability scores. So a potion that gives an additional 2 points to a random ability score. I might be wrong though.

[Pugwampy]

Yes I meant roll dice to see which ability you scored.

[Jay R]

I would watch what they do in the last two or three adventures, and come up with something to improve the single spell or attack or skill they use most.

Not only does it make sense that this ability gets better, since they are practicing it more, but it aids them in an area that they actually use.

Spell Focus (the school they've been using), Weapon Focus (the weapon they love), the Feat that adds +2 to the skill they use most. Something like that. [Or the improved version, if they already have it. Or Improved Trip or Bullrush if they are using that attack.]