Rewards

[wz. As]

So, if a scenario were to have no combat in it, what would be a good reward, or motivation? The trouble is that if there is no combat, then the party can really be any level, and so there would be no way to tell if items would benefit them or not.

 

Is advancement of plot sufficient for completing quests? (I mean "quests" in the loosest possible sense: anything that requires the player or the party to complete a given task) Or should there be something else? Flashy technical tricks? Special spells?

 

The reason I ask is that I'm not very creative when it comes to making combat, and I have no particular desire to be so because I don't particularly like combat myself. So, any ideas? I know some BoE scenarios didn't really have combat — how did they handle this issue?

[The Loquacious Lord Grimm]

Sometimes plot can be a good device to get a party going. But it has to be a good plot.

 

New toys for destruction and spells and money are always good motivators, so long as the player believes that enduring the plot is worth the reward, and in an RP sense, the characters believe that getting through the plot is worth the reward (though the plot is, as I said, sometimes its own reward).

If you can find the right balance between motivation for goods and motivation for skill points and the right balance of combat and exploration and expostition (three-way-balance), you should be able to lead your audience through your story with no problems.

Although leading them on with flashy technical stuff and hints of or using a few cool items definitely helps.

 

Me, I'm a sucker for a well-written cutscene, if it enhances the exposition properly.

 

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The Silent Assassin has decided that he will create an Item so powerful that anyone who wields it will most definitely overcome any obstacle placed before him.

He will then use this Item to destroy France, Canada, Khasakstan, and Ohio, after looting them of all things of monetary and historical value.

What I want to know is what he holds against Khasakstan.

[Dikiyoba]

You could always reward experience for completing the "quests." Maybe not a lot, but some.

 

I'm sure there is some way to determine what level a party starts at and give experience according to what level they are at, though I couldn't tell you exactly how to go about doing that.

 

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Dikiyoba once met a sleep talker. One night, he (the sleep talker) dreamed that he was friends with a giant chipmunk named Puff Daddy. After the giant chipmunk razed his hometown for him, he went to Belgium and destroyed it just to get his hands on the recipe for Belgium waffles. True story. Or at least as true as dreams get.

 

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Edit: Clarification.

[Grain of Salt]

I don't think that every quest needs a reward. Advancement of the story should be enough, and if you have no combat you probably have a pretty good story.

 

Look at most modern BOE scenarios. No real rewards at the end.

 

EDIT: Post 100!

[Ash Lael]

The concept of a "reward" is a bad one in game design, I think. If your scenario is so boring that you have to give the player rewards for playing it, well, you have bigger issues than deciding what the reward should be.

 

In short, the scenario should be its own reward. Regardless of whether the fun comes from flashy cutscenes, fun combat, a good story, a mix of them all, or something else entirely, as long as it's fun to play, you're set.

[Zeviz]

Some scenarios (if I remember correctly, Apology is one of them) give you no traditional "reward" even if they have a lot of combat, because the party comes out of them too imbalanced. So you shouldn't feel bad about having a good story and fun gameplay be their own reward. That said, gameplay is more fun if characters get a stat boost, some custom spells, or other such things occasionally, especially if these things turn out to be useful afterwards. (Sure, a door might require 0 Tool Use to open, but that doesn't matter as long as the player thinks they were just able to pick the lock due to a technique their character learned earlier.)

[wz. As]

OK. All of this was pretty much what I was hoping to hear; it's nice to have it affirmed. Thanks all.

[Imban]

And remember - if it makes sense to have a reward (for example, if the characters have accomplished something significant, even though it didn't involve killing stuff), some rewards like experience or skill points benefit characters of any level equally.