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1 year ago ::
Apr 28, 2012 - 6:25PM
#1
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Date Joined:
Aug 23, 2007
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I don't have any of the rulebooks that these were published in. Are these only up to DMs to hand out, or can they be purchased like any other item? How have others handled these? Can you have more than one- they don't seem to take up slots?
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1 year ago ::
Apr 30, 2012 - 6:37AM
#2
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Date Joined:
Jul 14, 2008
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They do have a price, but they aren't normally purchased by PCs.
In terms of how many, most DMs limit a PC to one alternative reward. But that's not actually a rule.
One-half of the tabletop gaming news podcast Going LastCo-author on AoA 2-3 and 4-1.
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1 year ago ::
May 02, 2012 - 7:12AM
#3
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Date Joined:
Feb 23, 2012
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They usually aren't bought and are meant for low-no magic campaigns (where you use inherent bonuses to make up for no magical items) as a means of giving players item powers.
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1 year ago ::
May 07, 2012 - 7:11PM
#4
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Date Joined:
Oct 26, 2008
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Yeah, they're just other options for rewards. They can't be purchased or created by players, so they require DM's permission to get. And generally they're things that are meant to be tied to rewards for quests and such. Like if you've been spending a couple games fighting a seige trapped in a city it's very unlikely the DM is going to allow you to get say a reward from the nature spirits that lets you detect which direction is north at all times. And no, they don't take slots they're special powers/abilities. As for how many, that's a DM deal. Some alternate rewards really don't make a difference, some can be very useful. Like knowing which way is north all the time can be kinda useful in situations, but in general isn't a big deal. If I gave that to a player and later one there was another reward I thought would be fitting I'd probably give it to him because it wouldn't make a difference.
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1 year ago ::
May 10, 2012 - 6:41PM
#5
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Mechanically they are exactly like magic items. They have a level, but no 'slot'. DMG2 outlines 2 basic categories, 'boons' and 'training'. Boons are things you would probably get somehow in the course of an adventure much like treasure. You slew the bad evil tree spirits so the pixie queen waved her magic wand and you can fly for a round once a day or something. You can just turn any item into a boon basically, though there is a fairly short list of boons in DMG2 and some more in other places.
Training is basically the same concept. You get some sort of amazing benefit from some kind of NPC in the form of knowledge and expertise of some kind that lets you access the amazing thing. Again, they work exactly like items mechanically, but have no slot. When you fluff a reward as training you're of course likely going to make the training and finding the person to do the training a part of the plot. It will take some amount of game time to be trained, and you might pay for it with gold, though it could be more like you get it instead of a treasure.
Honestly there's not a lot too it, you don't particularly need to read any rules to do this kind of thing. The concept is worth far more than any mechanics, and DMG2 didn't spell out much in that direction anyway.
That is not dead which may eternal lie
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1 year ago ::
May 10, 2012 - 6:56PM
#6
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Date Joined:
Aug 11, 2006
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I wouldn't actually worry too much about the PCs 'developing' these things for themselves, since they're pretty much identical to an equivalent-level item. In fact, that's exactly what many of them are in the first place. (IE: Davos Elden's Defensive Step = Boots of the Fencing Master.)
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1 year ago ::
May 11, 2012 - 7:56AM
#7
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Date Joined:
Jun 23, 2003
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that's the troubling part, though. they don't just replace the identical level item, they make it slotless allowing you to wear another item.
You don't just have Boots of the Fencing Master + normal boots when you get that boon, you are effectively wearing 2 pair of magical boots.
Boons are still awesome. It's just when you start dishing out custom alternate rewards you have to be aware of the unintended consequences. If magic items were more powerful it would actually be a problem, instead of just a quibble =)
INSIDE SCOOP GAMERS: In the new version of D&D, it will no longer be "Edition Wars." It will be "Edition Lair Assault." - dungeonbastard
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1 year ago ::
May 11, 2012 - 9:05AM
#8
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Date Joined:
Feb 23, 2012
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Yes, you could stacka whole lot of them with magic items, but again they aren't intended to be a part of a normal campaign. They are there to compliment players using inherent bonuses rather than magic item progression in worlds like Dark Sun where magic items are extremely rare.
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1 year ago ::
May 11, 2012 - 11:05AM
#9
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Date Joined:
Apr 16, 2011
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In my limited experience running games [I'm late to the party and rather new to 4e,] alternate rewards have really interested me. The DMG2 talks about this in Chapter 5 titled: Adventures. In one of the big blue note section box thingy [do they have a name?] it explains how the core game and character progression is balanced with magical items in mind. The game is designed with the intention that the players will buy or find magical equipment.
AC, Defense, Attack, and damage boosts: Without Magical items, the PC's attacks, defense and damage lag behind. You can solve this problem by giving PC's flat bonuses as they advance in level. These bonuses stack.
Attack and Damage - All character gain a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls at 2nd, 7th, 12th, 17th, 22nd, and 27th level.
Defense - All PC's gain a +1 bonus to AC, Fortitude, Reflex, and Will at 4th, 9th, 14th, 19th, 24th, 29th level.
It continues to talk about parcels, master work armor, using rewards and spending money. All great tips, but specifically the Rewards based system is designed to get rid of generic +4 sword of chopping. Instead it tries to make magic more meaningful. As it says in the decryption, maybe that level 25 Lifedrinker Sword the bad guy had can be washed in the oils of an alter to that Cleric's God and be transformed into a Holy Avenger. Sure, you can do that now, but it has all kinds of idea on how to make magic feel more meaningful and less "+1" mechanical.
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1 year ago ::
May 11, 2012 - 12:43PM
#10
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Yes, you could stacka whole lot of them with magic items, but again they aren't intended to be a part of a normal campaign. They are there to compliment players using inherent bonuses rather than magic item progression in worlds like Dark Sun where magic items are extremely rare.
I wouldn't worry a lot about stacking. PCs don't generally end up with THAT many items that are worth carting around. The slots do exclude things like wearing multiple suits of armor, but if the DM isn't going overboard with boons it will work fine. I don't think there's any reason not to use them in a standard 'high magic' game. You'll probably only give out a few boons anyway.
That is not dead which may eternal lie
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