Rules Index | GM Screen

Rewards

The Role of Rewards

Experience

Backgrounded Experience

Downtime Experience

Immediate Experience

Handwaved Experience

Ad Hoc Experience

• Did the scene move the group toward an important, identifiable objective?
• Did the group face significant negative consequences if the events portrayed in the scene went against them?
• Did the players take an active role in the scene, as opposed to listening to your descriptions or NPC dialogue?
• Did most of the players make a noteworthy contribution to the scene?
• Did all of the players appear attentive and entertained? If you can answer at least four of these questions in the affirmative, you should award ad hoc XP. The following steps can be used to determine a baseline figure for ad hoc awards:
• Roughly determine the amount of real time it takes you, on average, to run a challenging encounter.
• Divide this into 15-minute increments. So if it takes you an hour, more or less, to run a challenging fight, you have four increments.
• Take the XP award the group would normally get for a challenging encounter (usually APL+1) and divide it by the number of increments. This is your baseline ad hoc award.

Treasure

• The Skull of the Crimson Khan might fetch little in the farming community surrounding the dungeon, requiring a dangerous overland journey to the Bazaar of the Silver Kingdoms.
• The corpse of a bizarre aberrant creature, if properly preserved and maintained, might fetch a pretty penny from the crazy wizard-sage of the Spiral Tower—if his automaton rivals don’t swoop in and steal the coffin first.

Magic Items

• Other shady adventurers come after the characters, as easier sources of treasure than dungeons.
• Competing enchanters target the PCs for elimination.
• Supplies of raw materials dry up, requiring quests into the dangerous wilds.

Starting Treasure

Starting with Magic Items

Heirloom Items

Setting Items

• “Your sword’s blade is new, but the haft is a crude, castiron handgrip bearing the runes of the fell king who ruled a duergar kingdom in Nar-Voth 2 centuries ago. The haft gives your sword its magic.”
• “Faint hieroglyphs on the hand of the mage you wear around your neck date it to ancient Osirion. The mummified appendage might have belonged to a vizier of a god-king, who lived and breathed 5,000 years ago.”

Plot Items

• “I found this magical feather in a red vellum envelope, slipped under my door at the inn the day before I set out for the big city. A note inside was signed only, ‘Your benefactor.’” (The gift establishes a mystery, the identity of the benefactor, which you can slowly develop and finally reveal.)
• “This darkwood shield was given to me by my uncle, who said it saved his hide several times, back during the gnoll raids.” (This detail introduces a mentor figure who can give the PCs crotchety advice, and sets up the possibility that the gnolls will rise again to terrorize the area.)

Mighty Items

Wealthy Characters

What is a Reward

Making Basic Treasure Interesting

Does the item reinforce a PC’s characterization?

Can the item reflect the adventure’s theme?

Would the item foster an interesting debate or conflict within the party?

Is there a detail that will become important later?

Can an item of treasure be used to subtly introduce an NPC?

Would an item lead the characters to interact nonviolently with an enemy who wouldn’t ordinarily talk to them?

Non-Adventuring Magic Items

• Agricultural: enhanced plows, fertility potions for livestock, or magic beans
• Decorative: art objects, architectural features, furniture, or garments made more beautiful and wondrous by magical means
• Tools: enhanced hammers, leather-curing vats, never-dull scissors, rope-making devices, or self-heating forges

Burdensome Treasure

Special Treasures

Services, Franchises and Property

Coins

Intangible Benefits

• Noble titles grant characters a +2 bonus on Diplomacy checks when dealing with NPCs of inferior rank.
• Subduing the famed Golden Bull grants the character a +2 bonus on Handle Animal involving beasts of burden.
• By slaying the Lich of Gwyndor, the character gains a +2 bonus on all Spellcraft checks concerning necromancy.

Story Benefits

• “By driving the orcs out of the valley, you’ll make it safe for the peasants who live on your landholding.”
• “By capturing the Golden Cornucopia, you can save the besieged residents of High Castle from starvation.”
• “By disarming the astral cannon, you can stop the priests of Urgathoa from decimating the paladin army.”
Sometimes story benefits become obvious after the characters overcome a crucial obstacle. The PCs may discover only in retrospect that they’ve saved farmers, lifted the siege of High Castle, or shielded a paladin army.

Story benefits can provide information, grant political influence, or allow NPC allies to overcome rivals and enemies. They allow adventurers to meet or solidify connections to important NPCs. As with any exciting ongoing story, a success often leads to a new challenge, and additional obstacles and encounters for the heroes to overcome.


Treasures as Adventures

Source GameMastery Guide pg. 113
Treasures usually appear as the capper to a successful encounter or adventure. Though their appearance may mark the end of one story, they can also serve as springboards to further events.

You can draw out the sense of emotional reward treasure brings by making its acquisition a multi-step affair. Anticipated rewards are sweeter than surprise treasures. By completing one encounter, the heroes may obtain a map, document, or verbal description pointing to a treasure’s actual location. This should be an impressive haul of cash or magic the entire group will look forward to claiming.

Alternatively, the treasure itself might be assembled from several parts, each gained after a separate encounter. Magical relics might accumulate additional powers as the pieces are put together. A group of dispersed art objects— for example, a chess set or a collection of royal jewels— may have a greater value if sold together than piecemeal. Linked treasures can unify an otherwise unrelated series of combat and exploration sequences.

Intelligent magic items give you wide latitude to launch adventures. Give the item an agenda of its own. It works to persuade its owner to perform missions furthering its goal. It might unlock new powers as its agenda is served, in effect making it a multi-step treasure. Like any influential NPC, an intelligent item may have past enemies who come gunning for it. Its owners might simply evade them, or counter by actively seeking and defeating their newly acquired foes.

Story events may be triggered not only by the discovery of items but also by their use. When the heroes solve problems using mighty magic items, the unintended consequences of their actions may spawn further adventure plots. For example, magical wishes may alter the world in unexpected ways. After unwittingly skewing the cosmic balance, the adventurers may have to undertake further tasks to put matters right.


Exit Rewards

Source GameMastery Guide pg. 113
As your campaign reaches a final climax, you may choose to lay the groundwork for story rewards that change the characters forever, bringing closure to their personal narratives. You may do this when you know a player is leaving your game for good, or when you want to wrap up the entire campaign. The latter is a natural choice as PCs reach the game’s highest levels.

Given enough advance notice, you can create a series of adventures leading to an indispensable position for a departing hero. This impressive new role in the world precludes the PC from embarking on further adventures—though the character might make occasional cameo appearances as an NPC, played by you. The exiting hero might take on political power as a king, emperor, or elected ruler. She might be granted military authority as a general, or rise to heights of clerical power as a pontiff or high priestess.

The ultimate exit reward is apotheosis, an ascension to godhood or similar immortal status. Perhaps in the wake of plane-shattering events that leave holes in the known pantheon, the heroes achieve victories so great that they depart the mortal world. Now vastly powerful but unable to intervene directly in mortal events, they accept worship, dole out divine spells to their followers, and hold court in their newly acquired celestial realms. Incorporate these new gods into your next campaign, allowing players’ new characters to worship their former ones as deities.

Be careful to avoid favoritism when concluding a PC’s career with exit rewards. Give everyone a chance to shape his favored glorious end state. Collaborate with players to successfully bring the closure they envision to their exiting heroes. If they see their characters retiring to blissful obscurity, that can be just as satisfying a reward as godhood.


PCs Controlling Rewards

Source GameMastery Guide pg. 114
In some cases, the PCs themselves can take on the responsibility of providing their own rewards, using character abilities and resources gained from their adventures to create exactly the weapons, armors, tools, and treasures they desire. While mundane items might be created using various Craft skills, many PCs set their sights upon more extraordinary goals, such as researching and designing new spells and crafting magic items.


Research and Designing Spells

Source GameMastery Guide pg. 114
The subject of designing spells is touched on only briefly in the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook. While some guidance on cost and time is provided, a GM needs to consider balance and design factors before allowing a PC to introduce a new spell into the game. As a first step, request a detailed write-up of the spell using the Pathfinder RPG rules. Based on this write-up, you can determine whether or not the spell is balanced for its level and appropriate for the game.

Spell Categories: When considering a new spell, first determine the category into which it fits. Spells can be divided into the broad categories of offensive magic (spells that deal direct damage, enhance combat abilities, or summon allies to fight), defensive magic (spells that protect the caster or her allies, control or impede enemies, or heal damage), and utility magic (spells of general use outside of combat, such as travel magic and most divinations). Some spells fit into multiple categories, such as teleport, with both defensive and utility applications.

Level-Appropriate: Compare the new spell to other spells in the same category and at or near the desired spell level. Pay close attention to “must have” choices like fireball, dimension door, and wall of force. If the spell is more powerful or more useful than other spells of the desired level, increase the level. If it seems weak, consider lowering the level. If there is already a similar spell in the game, pay particularly close attention to the new spell’s relative power.

Saving Throw or Attack Roll: Most spells that are usable against others should require either a saving throw or an attack roll (generally touch or ranged touch). Spells that are quite powerful for their level, like disintegrate or phantasmal killer, may require both, or allow two saving throws. Watch out for spells that effectively take the target out of the fight and are negated by a saving throw. Consider adding a minor effect even on a successful save, and toning down the result of a failed save. Spells that automatically affect the target should be higher level or limited in their consequences.

Components: Unless there’s a particularly good reason, almost all spells should require both verbal and somatic components, and most divine spells should require a divine focus. Spells with no verbal component are particularly rare. If the spell-as-designed lacks them, consider adding material component or focus requirements as a means of adding flavor. Expensive components and foci are a good way to adjust the effective power of a spell without changing the level.


Good Spells and Bad Spells

Source GameMastery Guide pg. 114
The best spells do something interesting even when the casting isn’t fully successful. They should have fairly simple mechanics without many ambiguities, special cases, or qualifications. If a spell takes a half-page or more to describe, it is probably too complicated and should be rejected or revised.

Watch out for spells that counter or otherwise render useless equal- or higher-level magics. For defensive spells, countering an equal-level spell is fine (like shield negating magic missile), but an offensive spell generally should only overcome lower-level defenses or higher-level spells that duplicate those defenses (like disintegrate destroying both wall of force and forcecage).

Good spells expand upon the existing themes of magic, but in a novel manner. The game doesn’t really need more ways to throw damage around, but a spell that hurls adjacent enemies away from the caster is both interesting and useful. Watch for spells that break the implied limits of the game. Most arcane casters have poor healing abilities, and divine spells rarely excel at direct damage. With rare exception, spells shouldn’t duplicate existing class features or feats.

While as a general rule overly specialized spells are a bad idea, there’s much to be said for researching specialized spells like a brewer’s blessing or a charm to hold a shoe on a horse. If a player is particularly excited about the spell, consider approving it even if it doesn’t have much in-game application.


Creating a Spell

Source GameMastery Guide pg. 114
Successfully researching a new spell requires time and expensive research. An optional system for researching new spells is outlined below. The research should cost at least 1,000 gp per spell level (or even more for particularly exotic spells) and require both the Spellcraft skill and a Knowledge skill appropriate to the researcher’s class. Wizards and bards use Knowledge (arcana), sorcerers use a Knowledge skill appropriate to their heritage (usually arcana, nature, or planes), druids and rangers use the Knowledge (nature) skill, and clerics and paladins use Knowledge (religion). The actual research process varies by the type of spell, often involving magical experimentation, the purchase and study of moldy scrolls and grimoires, contact with powerful magical beings or outsiders, and extensive meditation or rituals.

For each week of research, the caster makes separate Knowledge and Spellcraft checks against a DC of 20 plus twice the level of the spell being researched, modified according to Table 5–1. To successfully research the spell, the caster must succeed at both checks. Failure indicates the week was wasted. Spells of 4th–6th level requires 2 weeks of successful research, while spells of 7th–9th level require 4 weeks. The researcher may employ up to two assistants in the research process to assist on the skill checks using the aid another action (see page 86 of the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook).


Table 5-1: Spell Research Materials

Condition	DC Modifier
Caster already knows a similar spell	-2
Per material component required	-2 (maximum -6)
Focus required	-2 to -5, based on cost and rarity
No verbal component	+10
No somatic component	+5
Additional research materials	-1 per 100 gp per spell level (maximum +5)




Spell Components

Source GameMastery Guide pg. 115
The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game handles most spell components in a fairly abstract fashion: the components are purchased as part of a spell component pouch, which is assumed to contain the required quantity of any components for any spell of which the caster has knowledge. For many GMs, this suits their needs, and other than having the player mark off some gold when his PC uses a more expensive component like diamond dust, that is the extent of attention spell components receive. The virtue of this system is speed and simplicity. A GM desiring more verisimilitude can instead require the PCs track down or prepare individual components, and even allow PCs to obtain enhanced components that improve their spells.

Even when tracking individual components, many reagents are so common they can be assumed to be easily found. Save the legwork for commissioning tiny silver whistles (for mage’s faithful hound), finding dragon scales (for form of the dragon), and things of that nature. Yet even then, don’t go overboard—while finding rare components can be a fun opportunity for side-quests, your players go grocery shopping often enough in real life, and obsessing over whether their leaves are fresh or their eggshell components got cracked in the last fall is a good way to bore your players and ensure nobody wants to play a caster in your game.


Components for New Spells

Source GameMastery Guide pg. 115
Two principles of magic to remember when considering spell components are that of contagion (a part retains a connection to the whole) and sympathy (like produces like). A component can be linked to its source, manipulating or drawing power from that source, or it can produce effects based upon its nature.

Historically, components such as blood carried both the life and strength of a creature, and the potential to bind two lives together; coffin nails could be pounded or bound into a weapon, making it strike true; hair and nails rendered the original owner vulnerable to hostile magic even at great distances; and animal horns and tusks provide protection to their wearer, not to mention the healing properties of a unicorn’s horn.

Most spell components in the Pathfinder RPG are based on sympathy, either duplicating the desired outcome of the spell (gauze and a wisp of smoke for gaseous form) or having properties related to the spell (an owl’s feather for owl’s wisdom). The latter sort of component may utilize contagion as well, as the single feather retains the nature of the whole.

When adding material components or a focus to a new spell, consider what forces the spell is shaping, and select components that reflect those forces. Good components don’t necessarily need to be literally appropriate—the handful of earth required for detect undead is an example of a more symbolic fit. Humorous spell components are tempting (and well represented in the game), but should be used sparingly.


Enhanced Components

Source GameMastery Guide pg. 115
An enhanced component is a specialized reagent used to improve a spell. The exact effects of such a component are up to the GM, but may include a small increase to save DC, caster level, damage, range, or duration. Particularly rare enhanced components may even provide the benefits of metamagic feats. In addition, enhanced components used in long-duration spells often make them significantly harder to dispel.

The power of a component is strongly influenced by the means by which it was obtained. For most magic, the most powerful components are those freely given, rather than taken by force, thievery, or magical compulsion. A vial of dragon’s tears wept during a masterful performance may well hold more magic than a vial of blood taken from that same dragon’s ravaged corpse. The same is not true for darker magics. For such spells, components obtained in profane and blasphemous rituals are the most powerful by far.

Symbolism is key in obtaining enhanced components. A wizard seeking the last light of an eclipse to enhance a sunburst might catch the sun’s rays in a mirror, while a druid might gather the nectar of morning glories that bloomed in the day’s light and shut in the darkness of the eclipse for the same spell. Neither is literally the last light of the sun, but the principle of contagion suffices to enhance the spell.

Before introducing enhanced components into your game, consider the implications of allowing casters to increase their abilities without investing in metamagic feats or permanent magic items. To preserve their rare and exotic feel, enhanced components should not be easily obtainable or fixed in price. Finding a source for an enhanced component is an adventure in itself, and the quantities available should be limited to just a few castings. Two examples are as follows:

Dragon’s Tears: These yellowish drops extend the duration of any spell that influences emotion, such as heroism or rage. If the tears are both genuine and freely given, the duration is increased by 50%. If obtained by trickery or magic, the increase is only 20%.

Vampire Dust: The carefully sifted dust of a destroyed vampire enhances spells fueled by negative energy. A single vampire yields only 1d4+1 uses of dust. Spells infused with vampire dust receive a +1 bonus to caster level. If the caster personally slew the vampire, the dust increases save DCs by +1 as well.


Wishes

Source GameMastery Guide pg. 116
The monstrous four-armed demon spoke in a surprisingly pleasant tenor voice. “And what, pray tell, is it you so desire?” Seltyiel paused, steeling his resolve. “I wish suffering for my family, tenfold for each wrong visited upon myself. I wish the lord mayor’s daughter and rank, and his head resting beneath my boot. I wish for such wealth that even a Qadiran merchant would weep with envy.” The demon’s laugh boomed throughout the cavern. “Is that all, little one? I expected ambition.”

More so than almost any other ability, wish and its cousin miracle have the potential to drastically change a campaign. When your players reach the upper echelons of the game at 15th level and beyond, you should consider whether or not you want to allow your players access to wishes, as even if they can’t buy them, they’ll soon enough be able to cast the wish spell themselves.

The easiest way to control wish is to restrict it to those options listed in the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook. None of these uses are game-breaking. However, by expanding the boundaries of wish and miracle, you open up roleplaying and story opportunities that can keep your high-level game fresh and exciting for many adventures to come.

Types of Wishes: One of the first boundaries to set is whether or not all wishes are created equal, and have similar constraints. Treating all wishes the same has the virtues of consistency and simplicity, and helps keep your game under control. Having a hierarchy of wishes gives fodder for the story in your game, letting PCs alter their local reality with their wishes, but leaving the option of seeking out higher powers to grant the wishes spoken of in legends. A suggested hierarchy is wishes from spells or magic items, followed by miracle, wishes granted by artifacts and relics, wishes granted by powerful outsiders like the efreet and djinn, and finally those wishes bestowed directly by gods and other entities beyond mortal ken.

Making Good Wishes: The best wishes are short, unambiguous, related to matters immediately at hand, and usually aimed at a simple (if powerful) task. A wish for a sundered mirror of mental prowess to be made whole or a wish to reveal the identity of the thief of the crown jewels is unlikely to go awry.

Making Bad Wishes: Wishes born of greed or vengeance have a way of turning sour. Attempts to guard against mishap with a list of conditions and qualifiers are rarely successful, most often resulting in partial fulfillment of the wish. Wishes that stretch the limits of the power granting them are always ill advised. If the wish is from a spell or magic item, failure or backlash is likely, while if the wish is from an outside source, the granter of the wish may be angered by mortal temerity and twist the wish or otherwise seek retribution against the wisher.

Twisting Wishes: Folklore is filled with tales of wishes gone awry, bringing heartbreak, misery, and perhaps eventually wisdom to the hapless wisher. The wishes most likely to be perverted away from the wisher’s intent are wishes granted by hostile outsiders, wishes from cursed objects, and bad wishes as described above. Evil outsiders in particular are loath to grant wishes that don’t serve evil ends, and take every opportunity to twist them toward harm and suffering. A wish for eternal life may leave the wisher imprisoned in a decrepit yet still undying body. A wish for a powerful magic item can be granted by stealing the item from a powerful and vengeful lord. Wishes are best turned awry by adhering closely to the letter of the wish, but violating the spirit.

Deferred Results: Rather than denying a particularly powerful wish, such as for the throne of a kingdom, the wish can be granted over an extended period. The wish subtly reshapes reality, guiding the wisher through seeming coincidence, good fortune, and the timely appearance of helpful NPCs. Success is not assured unless the PC takes advantage of her opportunities.


Making Magic Items

Source GameMastery Guide pg. 116
In every campaign, there comes a time when the PCs are no longer satisfied with the magic items available to their characters. Whether looking for a power to complement their skills, a new twist on an old favorite, or just the sheer joy of invention, creating a new magic item opens up new venues for a PC. It is also a great way to leave a mark on the campaign—after all, even the oldest magic items were once new to the world.

Pricing a magic item is more art than science. Guidance on item pricing is given in Table 15–29 in the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook, but a trip through the magic item section shows the formulas are often not applied exactly. An example is the ring of invisibility, with a calculated price of 10,800 gp, but a book value of 20,000 gp. This is because the at-will nature of the ring offsets the biggest drawback of invisibility, namely that it ends after attacking. When pricing new magic items, watch out for any item that counteracts a basic weakness of an ability, class, or spell.

The best test for item pricing is to compare it to “must have” items in the game, like weapons, armor, and stat-boosting gear. Also compare it to other items that share the same slot, and items with similar powers. As a rule of thumb, if you’d take the item in a heartbeat over a more expensive standard item, it is probably too cheap. And if you’d never consider taking a 10,000 gp ring over a belt of physical might +2 or even a +2 battleaxe, it might just be overpriced. However, it is safer to price items too high rather than too low. After all, the PC gets a new, custom magic item out of the arrangement, and that’s worth paying a bit extra.


Ad-Hoc Pricing

Source GameMastery Guide pg. 117
If there’s no effect in Table 15–29 that matches the new item’s powers, try looking through existing magic items for something that’s close. For example, Seltyiel wants to add the bladethirst ability to his longsword, a power he’s come up with that lets him draw the weapon as a free action. This is essentially the Quick Draw feat, but tied to a single weapon. Even though it’s a weapon enhancement, Seltyiel wants it as a flat cost, like adding fire resistance to a suit of armor. Looking over the ability, the GM decides that this fits well, since it doesn’t really scale up with a more powerful weapon. Gloves of arrow snaring are a 4,000 gp item that grants a feat, so the GM uses this as the base price. Multiple different abilities on a magic item would normally increase this cost by 50%, but since the Quick Draw feat would allow drawing items other than just a single weapon, the GM splits the difference and makes it a 5,000 gp weapon enhancement.


Keeping the Balance

Source GameMastery Guide pg. 117
Watch out for magic items that provide benefits beyond the calculated price. Keep an eye toward preserving the existing power level of magic items in the game.

Disadvantages That Aren’t: Be wary of items that are designed with a class or alignment restriction in order to lower the price. Since the item’s restriction doesn’t restrict the character who is going to use it, it isn’t really a drawback at all and shouldn’t reduce the price.

Slotless Items: The Pathfinder RPG is designed with assumptions about how many magic items a character can reasonably use at the same time, requiring players to make hard choices about which magic items their PCs acquire. Slotless items like ioun stones are usually either relatively low-powered or specialized in purpose. Think carefully before allowing a new magic that essentially duplicates an old one, but without using up an item slot.

Good Item, Bad Formula: Take a look at what the magic item actually does, and compare it to the formula used. Consider tweaking the cost or powers to match the provided benefit. A ring that provides mind blank calculates to 153,000 gp, while one that casts mind blank once per day (at 24 hours per use) comes out to 55,080 gp. In truth, there’s not a large difference in utility between the two items, and the first ring is a better fit for the theme of continuous mental protection.