Chapter VI: Rewards
Experience
There are three types of experience tied to the three components of the game. Story experience, Exploration experience, and Combat experience. Each type of experience is doled out in packets, with the default requirement for a hero to gain a level being 4 story packets, 4 exploration packets, and 8 combat packets. If you'd like to focus on different elements of the game, feel free to change these requirements.
When any hero reaches the required packets of experience for each experience type, they are awarded Inspiration for that experience type and the rest of the party gains a full set of the same packets. If multiple heroes reach an experience milestone at the same time, they can choose who gains the Inspiration.
Once all three experience milestones are reached by any one hero, all heroes level up.
REWARDING EXPERIENCE
Rewarding players with experience when they help move the story forward encourages the desired behavior and gives them a measurable step of progress. Experience is rewarded in half packets, full packets, or multiple packets. On a hero sheet, a half packet is usually represented by a \ and a full packet, an X.Half Packets
• Roleplay their way out of a difficult situation.
• Stick to their hero's dream despite good reasons not to.
• Add to the depth of the story.
• Add to the fun.
• Complete a minor social skill challenge.
Reward a half packet of exploration experience when a player or players:
• Discover a cache of treasure, secret door, or the like.
• Overcome a trap.
• Discover a clue to a mystery or solve a puzzle.
• Complete a minor exploration skill challenge.
• Explore all of an area, such as a tomb or a level in a dungeon.
Reward a half packet of combat experience when a player or players:
• Overcome a low-challenge combat that requires spending a few resources.
• Overkill a foe with a cinematic effect such as a creatively described critical hit that reduces it well below 0 hit points.
• Pull off a spectacular stunt, such as using multiple skills to reach a foe or through the cinematic use of a fortune die reroll.
• Complete a two-tiered social skill challenge.
• Sacrifice something significant for the story, such as donating a share of loot to rebuild a razed building.
Reward a full packet of exploration experience when a player or players:
• Complete a two-tiered exploration skill challenge.
• Solve a multi-part mystery.
• Uncover a major exploration point, such as a lost tomb's entrance.
• Discover a major cache of treasure such as a dragon's horde.
Reward a full packet of combat experience when a player or players:
• Overcome a medium-challenge combat that requires spending multiple resources.
• Overkill a major foe cinematically, such as creatively describing a critical hit that reduces an ogre chief well below 0 hit points.
• Complete a three- or more tiered social skill challenge.
• Save or pool their resources over a significant period for something massive like purchasing a tavern or rebuilding a village.
• Accomplish something massively impactful on the story such as the overthrow of a king, freeing a village, or cinematically unmasking the secret villain.
Reward multiple packets of exploration experience when a player or players:
• Complete a three- or more tiered exploration skill challenge.
• Solve a world-altering mystery.
• Accomplish something massively impactful on the world, such as capturing a city, sinking a pirate frigate, or leading a group of refugees to safety.
Reward multiple packets of combat experience when a player or players:
• Overcome a massive, multipart combat that leaves most of the party spent or grievously wounded.
• Defeat a legendary monster.
• Overkill a legendary monster with a cinematic effect such as a creatively described critical hit that reduces Vlad the Impaler to -36 hit points.
Loot
The default game currency is the gold piece, or gp. Silver pieces (sp), copper pieces (cp), and platinum pieces (pp) are also common. The four primary currencies scale by tens.
1 pp = 10 gp = 100 sp = 1,000 cp
Pricing in the PHB assumes a low-loot economy. Your average peasant might make 1 sp per workday, or 26 gold a year. Heroes are likely to uncover much more wealth than this, and that wealth can mean they outfit themselves with the best gear, help the downtrodden, or buy recognition in the world.
REWARDING LOOT
Rewarding with loot gives heroes a tangible sense of accomplishment. It also opens options for upgrading equipment and spending money on the story. The Average Loot table provides a guide to loot rewards.In the Average Loot table, use the hero's level to determine their starting wealth if they begin play at a level other than one. For purses, caches, and hordes, use the monster level. For caches and hordes, multiply the number by the number of players.
Purses
In social situations, purses might be awarded as tips or for single-tier skill challenges.
Average Loot
All rewards listed are in Gold Pieces.
| Loot Level | Starting Wealth | Purse | Cache Multiplier | Hoard Multiplier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 25 | 0.1 | 3 | 5 |
| 1 | 100* | 1 | 10 | 25 |
| 2 | 500 | 5 | 30 | 125 |
| 3 | 1,500 | 20 | 100 | 375 |
| 4 | 2,000 | 25 | 125 | 500 |
| 5 | 2,500 | 50 | 155 | 625 |
| 6 | 3,500 | 75 | 200 | 875 |
| 7 | 5,000 | 100 | 300 | 1,250 |
| 8 | 7,500 | 125 | 400 | 1,875 |
| 9 | 10,000 | 150 | 600 | 2,500 |
| 10 | 15,000 | 250 | 800 | 3,750 |
| 11 | 20,000 | 350 | 1,250 | 5,000 |
| 12 | 35,000 | 450 | 2,000 | 8,750 |
| 13 | 50,000 | 600 | 3,000 | 12,500 |
| 14 | 75,000 | 800 | 4,000 | 18,750 |
| 15 | 100,000 | 1,200 | 6,000 | 25,000 |
| 16 | 125,000 | 1,600 | 8,000 | 31,250 |
| 17 | 150,000 | 2,000 | 10,000 | 37,500 |
| 18 | 250,000 | 3,000 | 15,000 | 62,500 |
| 19 | 350,000 | 4,000 | 20,000 | 87,500 |
| 20 | 500,000 | 6,000 | 30,000 | 125,000 |
SPENDING LOOT
Amassing wealth is half the reward of loot. The other half is spending it. Beyond buying equipment, gear, and other items, heroes can spend loot to advance the story. Some rough costs to do so are as follows:
Around 15 Gold Pieces
• Bribe to smuggle a wagon full of contraband into a city
• Donor dinner with a mayor
• Small plot of land for a building in a hamlet
Around 50 Gold Pieces
• Repair a building in a hamlet
• Bribe a hamlet-level politician
• Bribe to smuggle a ship full of contraband into a city
• Donor dinner with a baron
• Small plot of land for a building in a village
Around 150 Gold Pieces
• Build a basic building in a hamlet
• Bribe to continuously smuggle into a city for a year
• Bribe a village-level politician
• Bribe a hamlet-level politician for a year
• Donor dinner with a duchess
• Small plot of land for a building in a city
• Repair a building in a village
Around 500 Gold Pieces
• Build a basic building in a village
• Bribe a city-level politician
• Bribe a village-level politician for a year
• Buy a hamlet-level politician
• Donor dinner with a prince
• Small plot of land for a building in a capitol
• Repair a building in a city
• Repair a hamlet
Around 1500 Gold Pieces
• Build a basic building in a city
• Bribe a nation-level politician
• Bribe a city-level politician for a year
• Buy a village-level politician
• Donor dinner with a queen
• Small plot of land for a building in a capitol
• Repair a village
• Repair a building in a capitol
• Found a hamlet
• Bribe to smuggle a wagon full of contraband into a city
• Donor dinner with a mayor
• Small plot of land for a building in a hamlet
Around 50 Gold Pieces
• Repair a building in a hamlet
• Bribe a hamlet-level politician
• Bribe to smuggle a ship full of contraband into a city
• Donor dinner with a baron
• Small plot of land for a building in a village
Around 150 Gold Pieces
• Build a basic building in a hamlet
• Bribe to continuously smuggle into a city for a year
• Bribe a village-level politician
• Bribe a hamlet-level politician for a year
• Donor dinner with a duchess
• Small plot of land for a building in a city
• Repair a building in a village
Around 500 Gold Pieces
• Build a basic building in a village
• Bribe a city-level politician
• Bribe a village-level politician for a year
• Buy a hamlet-level politician
• Donor dinner with a prince
• Small plot of land for a building in a capitol
• Repair a building in a city
• Repair a hamlet
Around 1500 Gold Pieces
• Build a basic building in a city
• Bribe a nation-level politician
• Bribe a city-level politician for a year
• Buy a village-level politician
• Donor dinner with a queen
• Small plot of land for a building in a capitol
• Repair a village
• Repair a building in a capitol
• Found a hamlet
Around 5,000 Gold Pieces
• Build a basic building in a capitol
• Bribe the leader of a nation
• Bribe a nation-level politician for a year
• Buy a city-level politician
• Repair a city
• Found a village
• Repair a landmark or small fortification such as a keep
Around 15,000 Gold Pieces
• Build a landmark or small fortification
• Buy a nation-level politician
• Bribe the leader of a nation for a year
• Repair a capitol
• Found a city
• Repair a major fortification such as a castle
Around 50,000 Gold Pieces
• Build a major fortification
• Buy the leader of a nation
• Found a capitol
• Repair a nation
• Fund an army
Around 150,000 Gold Pieces
• Found a nation
• Fund a navy
• Build a basic building in a capitol
• Bribe the leader of a nation
• Bribe a nation-level politician for a year
• Buy a city-level politician
• Repair a city
• Found a village
• Repair a landmark or small fortification such as a keep
Around 15,000 Gold Pieces
• Build a landmark or small fortification
• Buy a nation-level politician
• Bribe the leader of a nation for a year
• Repair a capitol
• Found a city
• Repair a major fortification such as a castle
Around 50,000 Gold Pieces
• Build a major fortification
• Buy the leader of a nation
• Found a capitol
• Repair a nation
• Fund an army
Around 150,000 Gold Pieces
• Found a nation
• Fund a navy
Magic Items
REWARDING MAGIC ITEMS
Magic items are ideal milestone rewards. Heroes might obtain magic items from reaching the top of a mountain, slaying a powerful monster, or completing a great service to a quest giver.The rarity of magic items keeps them valuable. A good guideline is to reward each hero one magic item per even level, restricting the item level as follows:
Magic Item Distribution & Value
| Hero Level | Max Item Level | Enchantment Value | Consumable Enchantment Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-2 | +0 | 500 gp | 25 gp |
| 3-4 | +1 | 1,500 gp | 75 gp |
| 5-8 | +2 | 5,000 gp | 250 gp |
| 9-12 | +3 | 15,000 gp | 750 gp |
| 13-16 | +4 | 50,000 gp | 2,500 gp |
| 17+ | +5 | 150,000 gp | 7,500 gp |
If you would like your game to be more or less magical, remember that potency and quantity do not have to be tied together. In a high-magic world, everyone might wield a short sword +1. However, a Holy Avenger might still be extremely rare. Conversely, in a low-magic world, magic items could be unheard of but the first magic item a hero receives might be a sword named Smiter.
Because magic items possess remarkable value, it can be disadvantageous to have them bought and sold. Not only is it difficult to imagine markets readily able to cash out such large sums of money, but it also takes away good story opportunities. By working with the premise that ‘one simply does not buy and sell magic items,' players will turn to bartering items for favors or going on quests for those capable of manufacturing them to earn their reward.
Item Boons
The simplest method of rewarding a magic item is to have a hero find or be given it. However, you can also reward magic items through item boons. Item boons are magic items rewarded through the story that imbue or upgrade an item a hero already possesses. They occur through incident or dedication.Incident: An incident item boon is rewarded as the result of direct story action. A knight stands toe-to-toe with a red dragon and survives its fiery breath to find her shield is now molten and imbued with firebreaker. A rogue's armor is sundered by a displacer beast and is now glamered. A sorcerer whose sorcery slays a lich finds his rod has grown in power from +3 to +4.
Dedication: A dedication item boon grows or reveals its power through a hero's dedication. A son, in protecting his family's farm, realizes his grandfather’s sword is now zombie's bane. A cleric reaches level two and finds her holy symbol now radiates light. A rogue hordes treasure stolen from the queen and discovers his dagger now whispers to him with dark intelligence.
Repurposing Magic Items
When running a premade adventure or randomly generating magic items, there may be times when heroes receive a magic item of little use. Heroes can reforge such items by finding a master smith, well of power, or something similarly capable of altering the nature of the item. Through such aid, the magical heads of magical bolts might fletched into arrows, the grip of a magical dagger might be turned into a turban, or the wood of the wizard’s staff might replace the haft of the cleric’s flail. Repurposing magic items gives players the opportunity to decide what the new item will be, instilling them with a sense of creation and ownership.The minimum cost to repurpose a magic item is 100 gp. To repurpose a magic item of higher than level 0 to an item of the same level, the price is equivalent to a magic item of one level lower. For example, repurposing a +1 dagger to a +1 short sword would be 500 gp. To repurpose a +5 axe to a +5 bow, 50,000 gp must be spent.
Three magic items of the same level can be combined to create higher level items at the same cost as standard repurposing. For example, a master smith can be paid 500 gp to turn three +1 daggers into a +2 dagger.
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