In longer adventurers it can be difficult to design suitable rewards for characters. As writers we’re usually tempted to create interesting magical weapons or fun artifacts that can really change how a character plays. The problem to this approach is that, obviously, not every group of players is going to want to use these.

If I’m writing an adventure for Pathfinder and I want to design a weapon to give to the players I could create a fun and unique bec de corbin that plays with historical uses of the weapon or famous examples of it. If I do this that weapon will see play in maybe one out of every 40 groups that play the adventure. So what can we do instead to bring a strong reward to our players that they’ll actually use?

Merit badge.

This concept was first brought to my attention in the game Camp Myth: The RPG (2013) by Third Eye Games. The game itself is fine, like a simplified version of Shadowrun for kids, and it fills its niche of being a Percy Jackson RPG. However, the most interesting part of it for me were the merit badges.

Before character creation players are given a list of 16 merit badges. An example of a badges text is:

Cyclopean Archery
Skills: Archery 4, Bullying 2, Drama 2
Challenge: Visit Hunter’s Haven and finish in first, second, or third in the weekly Archery challenge. Be prepared to shoot all types of magical arrows at unlikely targets!
Reward: A custom bow, and a quiver filled with three magical arrows of your choice. In addition, gain a permanent +1 to Archery.

I’m sure most of you can already see why I like this way of generating rewards. We’ve given the players a very direct set of goals which they can dictate for themselves. We’ve created intrigue by keeping the challenge defined enough that they have a good idea of what will be required but ambiguous enough that we can keep the tension of mystery. Most importantly though, they know they’ll be rewarded for completing their action.

The most common complaints I’ve seen from game masters is player motivation and this simple systems hits the three core elements players are interested in. Goals, mystery, and rewards.

Obviously this has been written with a specific system in mind, but we can easily adapt it to almost any other RPG. So let’s make some for D&D 5e.

Elemental Scholar Skills: Proficient in Arcana and Nature Challenge: Learn a secret held within the ancient gates of Nalu. Reward: You can comfortably live in climates that range from the desert heat to mountaintop snow. Additionally, whenever you attempt an Arcana check involving elementals or the places connected to them, you can roll a d6 and add the number rolled to the check.

A Spider’s Justice Skills: You have the noble background or you are proficient in both history and persuasion Challenge: Solve the murder of Harkon Rubybeard and prove his murders guilt to the imperial senate. Rewards: If you possess Goldheart it’s power is increased. Additionally, you gain your choice of one of the two following boons. Senatorial Candidate. If you are a noble, you become an eligable candidate for the senate which comes with an official office for your own use. A Fresh Home. You are always welcome in the hamlet of Sovereign’s Creek. The people there save a spot for you every night at the table and will happily help you build a home here.

These are just two basic examples of what we can offer players in our written adventures. A simple set of cards that could be printed and handed out to the players at the back of the adventure is all we really need. Though, I’ve found great success in creating Chronicle Sheets, similar to those found in pathfinder society, for game masters in my own games. These sheets give the GM a more detailed version they can hand to the player so that everyone understands what these rewards actually mean mechanically. Something simple like the below example works perfectly.

Chronicle. Player Name __________ | Character Name ___________ A Spider’s Justice. Challenge: If you successfully uncover Lean Tine’s plot to murder the senate and present three pieces of evidence to prove it you have succeed thjs challenge. Reward: You have the shield Goldheart, it’s additional bonus to AC increases to +2. Additionally you can cast the spell blade barrier as a bonus action. Once used, this ability can’t be used again until the next dawn. Senatorial Candidate. If you spend 3 weeks campaigning and win your election, you can use your office to place official requests to the city guards which they are obligated to follow unless they go against the city law. Additionally, you can purchase property within the country for 4,000gp less than normal. Once you have used this abilty three times it cannot be used again. You lose all benefits if you are removed from the senate. A Fresh Home. The people of Sovereign’s Creek offer you free food and lodging and will hide you in their hamlet even at the risk of their own lives. Additionally, at any point in the future, you can request the townfolk to build you a farm. They will provide you with 120 acres of high quality land and construct up to three buildings on that land at no cost.