Sometimes the most memorable reward for adventurers is the prestige they acquire throughout a realm. Their adventures often earn them fame and power, allies and enemies, and titles the adventurers can pass on to their descendants. This section details the most common marks of prestige that adventurers might acquire during a campaign.
The best rewards in an adventure are directly related to the circumstances of the adventure. For example, if a merchant hires the characters to retrieve a family heirloom from a long-abandoned tower, the merchant might give the deed to the tower as a reward.
A fortification is a reward usually given to seasoned adventurers who demonstrate unwavering fealty to a powerful political figure or ruling body, such as a monarch, a knighthood, or a council of wizards. A fortification can be anything from a fortress in the heart of a city to a provincial keep on the borderlands. While the fortification is for the characters to govern as they see fit, the land on which it sits remains the property of the crown or local ruler. Should the characters prove disloyal or unworthy of the gift, they can be asked or forced to relinquish custody of the fortification. In that respect, the fortification is different from the characters’ Bastions (described in chapter 8). However, you can also use the gift of a fortification as a pretext for the characters acquiring their Bastions.
The individual bequeathing the fortification might offer to pay its maintenance costs for one or more months, after which the characters inherit that responsibility. The type of fortification determines its maintenance costs, as shown in the Maintenance Costs table.
A benefactor might provide adventurers with a letter of recommendation rather than payment. Such a letter is usually enclosed in a handsome folio, case, or scroll tube for safe transport, and it usually bears the signature and seal of whoever wrote it.
A letter of recommendation from a person of impeccable reputation can grant adventurers access to NPCs whom they would otherwise have trouble meeting, such as a duke, duchess, viceroy, or monarch. Moreover, carrying such a recommendation on one’s person establish a baseline of trust with local authorities.
A letter of recommendation is worth only as much as the reputation of the person who wrote it and offers no benefit where its writer holds no sway.
Although they are often fashioned from gold and other precious materials, medals have an even greater symbolic value to those who award and receive them. Medals are typically awarded by political figures for acts of heroism, and wearing a medal is usually enough to earn the respect of those who understand its significance.
Different acts of heroism can warrant different kinds of medals. The king of Breland (in the Eberron setting) might award a Royal Badge of Valor (shaped like a shield and made of ruby and electrum) to adventurers for defending Brelish citizens. The Golden Bear of Breland (a medal made of gold and shaped in a likeness of a bear’s head, with gems for eyes) might be reserved for adventurers who prove their allegiance to the Brelish Crown.
A medal doesn’t offer a specific in-game benefit to one who wears it, but it can affect dealings with NPCs. For example, a character who displays the Golden Bear of Breland is regarded as a hero of the people within the kingdom of Breland. Outside Breland, the medal carries far less weight, except among allies of Breland’s king.
Queen Yolande of Celene is grateful for adventurers’ aid.
A parcel of land usually comes with a letter from a local ruler, affirming that the land has been granted as a reward for some service. Such land usually remains the property of the local ruler or ruling body but is lent to a character with the understanding that it can be taken away, especially if the character’s loyalty is ever called into question.
Characters who receive a parcel of land are free to build on it and are expected to safeguard it. They may yield the land as part of an inheritance, but they can’t sell or trade it without permission from the local ruler or ruling body. If a character already has a Bastion (see chapter 8), the parcel of land might surround the Bastion or be close to it.
Parcels of land make fine rewards for adventurers who are looking for a place to settle or who have family or a personal investment in the region where the land is located.
A reward might be a favor the characters can call on at some future date. Special favors work best when the individual granting them is trustworthy. A Lawful Good or Lawful Neutral NPC will do whatever can be done to fulfill an obligation when the time comes, short of breaking laws. A Lawful Evil NPC does the same, but only because a deal is a deal. A Neutral Good or Neutral NPC might pay off favors to protect their reputation. A Chaotic Good NPC is more concerned about doing right by the adventurers, honoring any obligations without worrying too much about personal risk or adherence to the law.
A politically powerful person can reward characters by giving them special rights, which might be articulated in some sort of official document or proclamation. For example, characters might be granted special rights to attack pirate ships or other enemies of the crown, to lead rites or ceremonies in a community, or to negotiate on a ruler’s behalf. They might receive a lifetime of free room and board from the grateful citizens of a community or gain the sworn service of local soldiers to assist them as needed.
Special rights last only as long as the legal document dictates, and such rights can be revoked if the adventurers abuse them.
A politically powerful figure has the ability to dispense titles. A title often comes with a parcel of land (see above). For example, a character might be awarded the title Earl of Stormriver or Countess of Dun Fjord, along with a parcel of land that includes a settlement or region of the same name. Archfey are fond of granting whimsical (and alliterative) titles, such as Chancellor of Chocolates or Grand Duke of Giggles, which might come with minor supernatural gifts (see “Supernatural Gifts” in this chapter) rather than land.
A character can hold more than one title, and in a feudal society, those titles can be passed down to (or distributed among) one’s children. A character who holds a title is expected to act in a manner befitting that title. By decree, titles can be stripped away if the character fails to meet the obligations and responsibilities that come with the title.
A character might be offered special training. This kind of training isn’t widely available and thus is highly desirable.
The character must spend 30 days with the trainer to receive a special benefit. Possible training benefits include the following: