Want to hand out other things besides the same ol’ pile of GP that will sit unspent and magic items that get forgotten about? Try these.
Non-loot rewards can be a great way of adding some spice to your D&D game. I mean, sure, there’s nothing wrong with handing adventurers 250 gp and two minor healing potions each every time they accomplish something. But variety is the spice of life.
And in D&D, there’s so much more to play with that can sit idle in a DM’s toolbox if you never try it. So the next time your PCs are about to complete a quest, consider the following non-loot rewards.
Bastions/Land/Property
One of the best things you can give a player character is something that makes the player feel a sense of ownership of the world. It’s what I like about D&D’s Bastion system, even if I like to homebrew my own execution of it (it’s too level-dependent and not dynamic enough for my tastes, but we don’t need to get into that here).
Even if you’re not playing with the Bastion rules, consider giving the player characters a house or an inn or something like that as a reward for completing a big quest. It gives the players something to think about in between the game, or around which to build their own goals like “get some dwarven brew or a gnome alchemist for our tavern.”
Titles
If you really wanna lean into the vaguely medieval feeling that comes in a typical fantasy adventure? Then you gotta start giving people titles. Make someone a lord of a castle. Or Warden of the Greenwood. It is fun to come up with a list of fantasy titles.
Making them mean something in the game is super easy, too. Sometimes they can just get you access; “oh normally you need an invite to the ball, but for the Duke of Riversden? Come right in.” Or sometimes they can be a reason to give someone advantage, or better yet, a plot hook.
Cool Little Roleplay Scenes
Video games often give little cutscenes that show the consequences of your actions. And one thing that any RPG has over a video game, is that you can basically craft a cutscene that gets as specific as your creativity allows.
I love to show a little bit of how the world is different for the players after they accomplish something. It can be as simple as seeing the lost goblin that your party rescued in the woods, getting reunited with their family. Or if the party broke a curse over a haunted swamp, seeing life return little by little. Just show the cool details that paint a deeper picture of the world, players don’t often expect that kind of thing in D&D. Even bonus points if you can involve the characters in the roleplay. Make it a scene of someone thanking them for what they’ve done, or just showing them how the cursed swamp isn’t cursed anymore and they love it now.
Proficiencies
This one’s much easier to dole out, though. Give players skill proficiencies. Or tool proficiencies. Heck, if you’re feeling cavalier, give ’em weapon or armor proficiencies as a quest reward. Make it something that they know they’ll earn, too, and I guarantee you, your PC buy-in to whatever quest will be through the roof.
Feats
That goes doubly for Feats. Though, personally, I like to hand out the occasional Feat as a surprise reward whenever the players hit a big story beat but aren’t quite ready to level up. An extra Feat can be a little bit tricky to balance, but I find that more often than not, if you pick out something cool but unexpected? It’s a great way to broaden characters without necessarily making them broken or overpowered.
What do you like to hand out that isn’t a pile of GP or a handful of healing potions?
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Source: Bell of Lost Souls
