Matt Mercer DM Tips: Rewarding Your Players! April 27, 2020Zoltar <strong>THIS IS A AN AUTOMATIC CAPTION TEXT from YouTube, so it’s not “perfect”.<br /> My advice is to use it just to help people like me that are not english speaking, to understand the Video/Podcast</strong><br /> MATT: Hello! My name is Matthew Mercer. I’m a<br /> voice actor and the dungeon master for Geek &</p> <p>Sundry’s Critical Role, and welcome to my fun<br /> little video series on tips and tricks for game</p> <p>masters and dungeon masters alike. Today, we’re<br /> going to be discussing player rewards (sinister</p> <p>chuckle). That’s right, players. We’re talking<br /> about you, and what makes you happy.</p> <p>[trumpet fanfare]</p> <p>First and foremost, money’s always good! Giving<br /> away money in the game as general currency is a</p> <p>helpful way to reward players for finding cool<br /> little hidden alcoves, for defeating powerful</p> <p>enemies, for completing story arcs. Gold is that<br /> kind of open currency in role playing games, or</p> <p>credits and other forms of currency in sci-fi and<br /> modern games. It’s always a good go to, but you</p> <p>want to consider the current player level and what<br /> their financial situation is, and then provide</p> <p>rewards accordingly. If the players have come into<br /> a heck ton of money through just sheer luck or if</p> <p>they’ve earned it, then maybe start considering<br /> other alternative rewards that aren’t directly</p> <p>monetarily just building onto that giant treasure<br /> hoard that they’ve been building.</p> <p>Keep it interesting. Also keep in mind not all<br /> enemies drop gold. There’s nothing weirder than</p> <p>killing a bugbear and it coughs up 56 gold pieces.</p> <p>You wonder: first off, where it hid it, and two,<br /> how’d you find it?</p> <p>Consider that some of these creatures or things<br /> that wouldn’t carry money on them may have</p> <p>spirited away from the corpses of things they’ve<br /> killed and brought them to hidden alcoves or nests</p> <p>or burrows where they live. You’ll find it<br /> under all the sticks and refuse in that area. You</p> <p>might find some pretty cool items or sacks of<br /> money that was left behind by these unfortunate</p> <p>souls that crossed this creature’s path in the<br /> past. There’s also private collections that bad</p> <p>guys may have in their abode, or crooked merchants<br /> may keep a secret cache of hidden artifacts. There</p> <p>are cool ways to find loot after a battle aside<br /> from just finding it in their pockets immediately</p> <p>on them. That’s what we’re used to in video games,<br /> but it doesn’t have to be that way.</p> <p>Another cool way to reward your players and a<br /> consistent way to do it: equipment upgrades!</p> <p>Whether that be cool futuristic sniper rifles, or<br /> a magical flaming shortsword, most systems have a</p> <p>really good way to track player advancement and<br /> corresponding equipment power levels. Usually</p> <p>these are in the game master’s guides or those<br /> sections of the systems, but they’ll have some</p> <p>good suggestions as to when and how often you<br /> should dole out these type of equipment-based</p> <p>rewards. Make sure you don’t want to dole it out<br /> too often, because one, they lose their impact and</p> <p>their cool factor when the players do find them<br /> and all of a sudden it’s like, “Oh look, another</p> <p>magical shield.” They just throw it over their<br /> shoulder. They become less appreciative of these</p> <p>cool rewards, and it kind of unbalances the game.<br /> Which, if this does happen, especially if you’re</p> <p>new to the GMing system and after a while you<br /> realize, “Oh, the players are really well decked</p> <p>out in powerful stuff and they’re killing everything I<br /> throw at them that should be a fair challenge.”</p> <p>You’re in control of that spigot. Make it tight,<br /> slower trickle. Give out different things for a</p> <p>while and let it balance itself out.<br /> Totally doable.</p> <p>Also don’t be afraid to customize and create<br /> equipment and items if you can’t find something in</p> <p>the books, or the Dungeon Master Guide, or any of<br /> the treasure hoard supplements you out find out</p> <p>there that fit what you want to give the players.<br /> Feel free to create stuff. They can be tailored to</p> <p>players, or tailored to in-game events, and if you<br /> are worried about it not being balanced or being</p> <p>too powerful or too weak, there’s a whole<br /> wonderful thing called the internet. There are</p> <p>wonderful tabletop RPG communities that are more<br /> than willing to give you feedback on items before</p> <p>you dole it out to a player. You can go on forums,<br /> go on Reddit and be like, “Hey guys! Does this</p> <p>seem cool?” and they might be like (angry), “No!<br /> That’s too powerful!” or “No, that’s bullshit!” in</p> <p>which case, you just go ahead and tweak it.<br /> Criticism can be harsh on occasion but they’re all</p> <p>there to help, they’re all there to help each<br /> other make a better experience.</p> <p>Don’t be afraid to ask the internet<br /> for some balancing help.</p> <p>There are also alternative rewards you can give<br /> out, outside of both money and items. You can give</p> <p>bonus experience points if someone does something<br /> really cool in a game, or completes a really major</p> <p>story arc. Just give them a little bump of XP to<br /> get them to that next level a little faster.</p> <p>There’s also jewels and rare art pieces or<br /> contraband that can be found, that can be traded</p> <p>or sold in other aspects of the world if you have<br /> the right connections in that society. Which is</p> <p>cool if you have the opportunity and the time, you<br /> can create actual small props when you give these</p> <p>out. You can find plastic jewels pretty cheap<br /> online if you wanted to give someone a few actual</p> <p>gems at the table. If someone wanted to find a<br /> rare art piece, you can actually get like a really</p> <p>cheap picture frame and pass it over. It’s cool to<br /> create small props when you’re giving out some of</p> <p>these rewards that might correspond to it as well.<br /> It elevates the experience for the players at the table.</p> <p>Some rewards could be alliances. If you end up<br /> doing something really cool in a city or within a</p> <p>society, you might through that experience gain<br /> new allies. That can lead to access to new</p> <p>merchants, and the ability to purchase things you<br /> couldn’t previously have access to, having</p> <p>discounts on those commerce, finding rare<br /> equipment that now, as opposed to being found, can</p> <p>be purchased and now readily at your access. Other<br /> cool things, especially if they are dealing with</p> <p>RPGs that have gods or magic power that is beyond<br /> the mortal realm, you can be granted boons. These</p> <p>boons can be like, if you do something really good<br /> for a good deity and help defeat evil in a land</p> <p>and cleanse it of some curse, the deity that looks<br /> over that realm might come down and be like, “You.</p> <p>“You are my chosen champion. For this good gift, I<br /> grant you…” and they touch that player, and all</p> <p>of a sudden they are given a permanent plus one to<br /> their constitution. That’s a reward you can</p> <p>totally do and it kind of fits into the theme, and<br /> it’s a pretty awesome ability. It could be even</p> <p>temporary boons, like for the next month or so you<br /> have additional resistance against this type of</p> <p>damage. They can be permanent or temporary<br /> boons, but they also work as good story rewards.</p> <p>Also, transportation! If you do a cool story, you<br /> might get a new mount, or you might manage to</p> <p>commandeer or be granted a great spaceship that<br /> can travel twice as fast across the galaxy, or is</p> <p>able to warp to previously inaccessible portions<br /> of that galaxy. Even just faster transport to get</p> <p>you from point A to point B a lot quicker. Those<br /> make for great rewards and there’s overall the</p> <p>progression reward. Which is the access to<br /> previously inaccessible areas on your map. That</p> <p>involves getting access to or paperwork that<br /> allows you to bypass a barrier that previously you</p> <p>could not. There was a landscape that was<br /> previously at war with the kingdom that you’re</p> <p>part of, and once you manage to stop that war, you<br /> can now enter that kingdom without being attacked.</p> <p>You have access to all the secrets and all the<br /> knowledge and all the power that that kingdom has.</p> <p>That’s a really great long term reward<br /> to add to the story as well</p> <p>that could tie into all the rest<br /> of what I just discussed.</p> <p>Looking over these, think of what different,<br /> creative ways you can reward the players as your</p> <p>story goes on to keep it both interesting, varied,<br /> and for you at least, feel like you’re</p> <p>appropriately rewarding different<br /> cool actions and successes that</p> <p>the party manages to achieve as they progress.</p> <p>Thank you so much for watching! I hope this has<br /> been somewhat helpful and entertaining for you as</p> <p>a dungeon master, game master, or otherwise. You<br /> can check out more of these videos on</p> <p>geekandsundry.com and I will see you around, one<br /> way or another.</p> <p> Share this:TweetWhatsAppTelegramEmail
