The Best Rewards

Most TTRPGs have a very clear and straightforward reward system. In exchange for defeating monsters or overcoming obstacles, the players are given gold, money, experience points, levels, etc. But these are not the only things with which a GM can reward players, and these things are usually bound by the game’s rules. The GM can only reward them at specific times. But what if you want to reward the players for cool roleplay? Or creative thinking? Or even for bringing snacks?

Science shows that when you repeatedly reward someone for doing something, they will do that thing more often in hopes of another reward. This is known as positive reinforcement. Using this basic psychology principle, you can create exactly the table you want to have in your game. If you want the players to speak in character more often, reward them when they do. However, rewarding them with too much experience or gold can unbalance the game, and rewarding them with too little makes it seem trivial. In addition, rewarding them with gold at random intervals could break immersion, and rewarding experience to players individually can result in an unbalanced party. You may have to get creative and think of other kinds of rewards.

The best rewards to give to players for making the game more fun are the ones that improve dice rolls. Many games already have a system for this built in. D&D 5e has Inspiration. EZD6 has Karma. Fallout RPG has Action Points. All of these are in-game rewards that benefit dice rolls in some way, and they are ideal tools for the GM to reward players individually and immediately. But there is another way to reward the players that I find works even better.

When I started using these reward systems, I was giving out Inspiration or Karma to players who did something cool or creative. But I found that I kept forgetting to reward them in the first place. To fix this, I tried allowing the players to give each other a limited number of roll-boosting rewards for cool and creative thinking. After all, the GM isn’t the only person at the table who should decide what is cool and fun. If a player does something that everyone at the table loves, then the other players should be able to reward them for that action. This group-oriented positive reinforcement has been improving my games ever since I started allowing the players to give rewards to each other instead of forcing myself to remember to give them out. 

Different tables may have different ideas of what great gameplay looks like. Some may reward excellent tactical strategy and combat decisions. Others may reward emotional roleplay. Some might even reward good jokes. Allowing the players to reward each other teaches everyone at the table what makes your game great, and those lessons compile into a constant improvement that helps your game evolve into the most fun you’ll have all week. 

About the Author:

From Saint Paul, Minnesota, Dennis Fleming started running TTRPGs in 2014. An avid player and GM, he has been in several streamed Actual Plays and has his own TTRPG YouTube channel, Okayest DM.