EP's post-scarcity settings, such as the @-focused outer system habitats, make it difficult to give loot in the old fashioned ways. A better gun or better armor isn't that hard to get, so finding a cache of ammo or weapons or a blueprint doesn't have the same oomph that it does in D&D or other settings.
What have you all found to be a good reward, beyond a few points of Rez? I'm interested in GM's experiences and also players: what would you and your player-character *love* to get for your efforts?
I'm thinking that good loot at the end of a hard adventure might be the custom morph of the boss (if the players can disable/kill it without destroying it beyond repair), a designer set of clothes made by hand that gives (+) to social skills in the right settings, or a famous weapon (perhaps an experimental one, with some successfully-tamed Titan tech?).
Mid-level loot might be some black-market XP, or the address book from some boss' hacked email account that gives (+) to a networking skill.
Some of these things would require dedicated roleplaying to really *feel* like good loot, and not all players would really feel rewarded to get a nicely carved wooden chair for their apartment or an original painting.
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Thinking up good rewards: What to give the player who has everything
Sun, 2011-07-03 17:52
#1
Monican
Thinking up good rewards: What to give the player who has everything
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Sun, 2011-07-03 17:58
#2
Unity
Re: Thinking up good rewards: What to give the player who ...
Okay, putting this in the right thread this time:
Good rewards: prototype morph designs and augmentations. State of the art software that is not yet available with any sort of reliability regardless of high rep. Similarly scarce materials that are not openly available, and can only be acquired through the completion of what you are having them do.
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Sun, 2011-07-03 18:35
#3
puke
Re: Thinking up good rewards: What to give the player who ...
What are their motivations? what are their higest skills? what have they been improving lately? players pretty much tell you what good rewards are on their own, you just need to know what to look for.
Sun, 2011-07-03 19:03
#4
BOMherren
Re: Thinking up good rewards: What to give the player who ...
What makes sense, in context of the game world? What are the logical consequences of their actions? If they're acting on someone else's behalf, then what would it cost their employer to get a team of NPCs to do it?
Other than that, I think you're too quick to dismiss Rez as a meaningful reward. It's a lot more versatile than EXP is in most systems. Basically, anything you can think up to give to your players as a reward, they can get by cashing in enough Rez points.
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Mon, 2011-07-04 01:34
#5
Yerameyahu
Re: Thinking up good rewards: What to give the player who ...
Besides, you shouldn't be 'giving them rewards'. They're not an adventuring party, or puppies. As people pointed out, they should know what they want out of life, what their effort is worth, etc. :)
Mon, 2011-07-04 03:31
#6
Dimuscul
Re: Thinking up good rewards: What to give the player who ...
It seems you think in a D&D way, where adventurers go out to find treasures. But not any kind of treasures, the ones who give bonus or perks.
EP isn't that kind of a game.
The adventure should be the reward. Discovering secret plots, finding odd alien discoveries, traveling to earth and getting out alive ... seeking fame, reputation and recognition. Saving transhumanity because nobody else is going to do it.
Well, that's my opinion of course XD everybody plays as he likes.
Anyway, if you want to give players tangible rewards, you could think about rep and contacts (who give a bonus to networking). Access to special equipment or gates without needing to ask favors. Custom spaceships ...
Mon, 2011-07-04 03:40
#7
Arenamontanus
Re: Thinking up good rewards: What to give the player who ...
Rewards can even be negative, like averting a disaster. Even if nobody will ever know, many people will try to save a habitat or the solar system at the expense of their current instances. The game system give the restored backups some rez, but what really mattered during the game was the action.
In fact, looking at my various players and their characters, it seems that participating in something *meaningful* is a bigger reward than just getting treasure (although we did have a fun and cutthroat scramble for treasure in one EP adventure). Rebuilding a nation, constructing a marvellously secure mainframe, hacking an entire culture, reuniting with a lost parent, revenge - all these make sense as motivation and reward. So look at the motivations of the PCs and see what could directly or indirectly help them achieve it. The Reclaimer might not get a ticket to Earth as thanks, but she might impress a powerful person who will now gently push certain issue in politics. The autonomist might feel very motivated to spread the dirt on a hypercorp, further undermining the image of transitional economy. And so on.
Another kind of reward is getting access to something truly unique. The treatise on AI written by a TITAN. The encryption keys for the files of a major but defunct megacorp. The coordinates for a mothballed EU warship in high inclination orbit. An honest confession from a gerontocrat.
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Tue, 2011-07-05 10:18
#8
nezumi.hebereke
Re: Thinking up good rewards: What to give the player who ...
Unique blueprints and software, new contacts, success for (or with) their friends, personal conquests (if you know what I mean), alien technology, artifacts with history, and opportunities to craft the world to be closer to their desires.
It really does come down to PC motivations, and to meeting those motivations.
Tue, 2011-07-05 13:05
#9
Monican
Re: Thinking up good rewards: What to give the player who ...
Those are all great ideas, I feel like I learned a bit by reading this thread!
I would love to have a general brainstorming list of possible rewards that makes sense in the EP universe. Tangibles, intangibles, things that give more flavor to the game than saying "You gain x Rez points".
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Tue, 2011-07-05 15:38
#10
Arenamontanus
Re: Thinking up good rewards: What to give the player who ...
One of the best rewards is to impress someone the PCs respect. This takes some roleplaying, since you need to establish a NPC as being worth admiring, but once that happens doing things that makes them impressed or respect back is very rewarding both to the PCs and the players. Of course, mechanically it can be handled with rep, but it is far more fun to see the Old Man smile at the agents.
Another thing to reward people with are secrets. EP is a game of conspiracy and horror, and that means that there are hidden things. Maybe they are not directly useful, but being one of the elect few who have a clue, that feels really good. So at the end of the mission the superior might actually give them a tip about a part of the big picture...
"Great work, girls. The Jovians will not forget that in an Io orbit!"
"Thanks, Ma'am..."
"You wonder what it was all about, right?"
"Yes. The mission seemed slightly *odd*, Ma'am."
"Let me tell you a story about the pre-fall hypercorp Noumenon and a secret operation called Uzbek Gold..."
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Thu, 2011-07-07 12:17
#11
nezumi.hebereke
Re: Thinking up good rewards: What to give the player who ...
Indeed, it's true. Just having NPCs say 'hey, you're awesome. I know we're a totalitarian dictatorship, but you're welcome here any time. In fact, we might just put up a little hab just for you and your crazy, species-destroying hijinx. It's better you do it under our oversight than under the thumb of the Consortium,' can make a player's face light up.
Thu, 2011-07-07 20:45
#12
Monican
Re: Thinking up good rewards: What to give the player who ...
I've never had players who had their own "apartment" or hab or a place to consistently call "home" but if I did, I'd love to give them some rare artifacts for it. But all my players have been nomads so far.
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Fri, 2011-07-08 03:10
#13
Arenamontanus
Re: Thinking up good rewards: What to give the player who ...
Getting a safe place to stay is actually a very useful asset. "You will always be welcome at my facilities, or at any of my subsidaries" is worth quite a lot to certain characters.
Another interesting "gift" might be access to a darkcast network.
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