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View Full Version : Player bonuses, and how to give them out.



Ken L
March 20th, 2017, 19:29
I'm currently starting a new campaign and there's a lot that I've been thinking about incorporating. One of them is player rewards for additional participation.

The primary source of this is player journals as before each session if a player wrote a journal, I give them a story bonus giving a boost to one of their stats. In PF this would be a +2 in a stat of their choosing with the type as 'story'. For SR5e, I grant a +2 dice pool modifier to a skill of their choosing.

I was thinking perhaps of mixing it up. Prior solutions I've done include:

1. Experience / Karma rewards
2. Hero Points / Edge
3. Bonus skills / attributes
4. Currency: gold / plat / credits

Personally I've found that bonus skills seem to produce the best results as the boon is temporary and doesn't pull animosity among the players. Experience differences produce the worst results as it puts certain players higher on the pecking order and missing a few journals could bring about a level difference. Hero points are interesting, and I do grant them pending on the situation so I'd consider it level with bonus skills. I haven't been using it much anymore given that SR5e uses the 'edge' mechanic which is built in hero points, but I suppose I could have a 'bonus' edge pool that can't be burned like normal edge. In game currency is in a weird situational spot as there needs to been an in game hook for the currency source and doesn't feel as impactful until a major purchase is made; it also has a similar lasting effect akin to experience rewards. I grant bonus gold / credits when starting a game for background story elements etc but it's a one-time thing.

How does everyone else handle boons? Also what do players think about them both receiving and not receiving? It's not just journals as I've doled them out for a player that managed my in game cartography as the players explored. I find my players are typically more invested compared to those where I don't offer said rewards. I've asked my players former and present about this and typically got the "I would have done it anyway, but it helps" so I'm foggy on the idea. Personally I wrote page long journals for my characters every few sessions and I don't expect every player have the same investment; hence the term 'bonus'.