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Hey there, Gamer Nation.

I'm looking for advice on how to better do rewards, specifically on credits, in my Clone Wars era game.

All of the players currently work for the Republic in some way or other. The group is given pretty much what they need for missions (a loose requisition system) and they will occasionally loot for better gear. Some times the Jedi or the Republic office sending them on the mission would give them "mission funds" (thinking like what Qui-Gon had for trying to purchase a hyperdrive) that they can then use to buy gear or pay for incidentals.

Aside from this, the players are given a small monthly payment, figuring it's what left after they pay for rent and other monthly expenses.

It has worked okay but it has left the party with not much gear that could be considered their own and I'm not sure I like that. There have been some credit drops by baddies but my problem with those is that the Republic and Jedi have got to look very poorly on their agents deciding the ship and pile of creds that belonged to the crime lord they just took down ought to belong to them. Comparing this to the U.S. government and armed forces, this would very quickly result in a soldier or a government official going to prison.

Similarly, the U.S. government doesn't dump a big pile of cash on the soldiers it sends out on missions as payment and I doubt that's how the GAR operated with the clones, if they were paid at all, or how the Jedi Council motivated its knights.

How have you or your GM handled rewards for a similar party and how well did it work?

Thanks!
Sojourner

One option is to give them a credit account that they'll be held accountable for (no pun intended). In the real world you often see people who have a company credit card -- they can't just use that for groceries or baseball tickets; it's for purchases related to their work, and there's an accountant who looks at what he's buying with it.

So, similarly, you could have a "mission expenses" account that they can draw on but that is considered Republic Military money rather than personal cash.

You could have them commission things for the war effort. Prototypes and such. When we did the Clone Wars campaign, I got so sick of us getting our butts kicked in space combat with old style star destroyers by frigates (the only big thing I don't like about Star Wars...cruisers the size of battleships shouldn't be getting mauled and a half by frigates a third their weight...but that's neither here nor there...) that I wrote up a modified Dreadnought design for killing capital ships. I was playing the senior Jedi of the party, so I had the authority to request the design which was approved. Took a while in game to get (it is a capital ship) but it made a nice flagship.

So, let them take to the armorers and get equipment that is personally made to their specifications. Got a sniper? Let him describe what he wants and use the modification rules to fabricate a rifle for what he's looking for. Or a Jedi? Give him a crystal that's really rare for his lightsaber. I think things like that will work.

I feel like this could be a great opportunity to throw some really cool character-defining choices at the party by keeping the stream of credits low. If they're low on resources to call their own and this bothers them (which I don't completely understand...after all, if the Republic gives them mission stipends, then shouldn't they be able to get the equipment they need for their missions most of the time? What do they need the extra cash for?), have some scummy crime lord who isn't explicitly working either side offer them some cash if they send this guy the datapad of some official in the base they're about to raid. This may lead them to either make some interesting character choices by falling in with a crime lord or else wear their poverty like a badge of honor since they're poor (but honorable) by choice.

Or, alternatively, give them the chance to gamble with their own money. A Jedi can make a fortune in a casino if he's not caught!

That is in effect how I've handled it in terms of the mechanism to let them buy/requisition equipment they want/need.



That's an interesting idea, especially if it goes beyond using a tech specialist or superior tech to enhance a weapon or armor (which is what they usually do with the mission funds) to creating something unique to them. I can see that being really cool though making something interesting without being broken will take some effort.

Thanks for the thoughts.

So what got me thinking about this is recently it looked as though the party was going to abruptly leave the employ of the Republic and that got me worried about cash and equipment that they would have been low compared to what the book puts forth as a guideline (2000 x level per encounter). BUT, in considering this more, I think it would have just been fair to chalk that particular move up to a consequence of their actions. What I originally thought was constraining the players is really just encouraging them to plan ahead.

The other consideration was having something that wouldn't be expected to be turned over at the end of the mission, be it a tricked out blaster, a droid, a ship, whatever. I think the bottom line here is that you're not going to get rich working for the government. Some things are just going to require saving up in order to get that really good mechanic down the street to make that blaster fire better or to buy that Baudo-class yacht.

Or gambling as you suggest, always the answer to any financial difficulty.



Excellent suggestion. I very much like offering moral choices in the game and that's a good one.

Thanks!

The Republic has bounties on all of the CIS leaders. It would not be a large stretch of the imagination to believe they have bounties on all the CIS generals as well. If the PCs manage to kill to capture on of the generals, then the PCs could see the money added to a requisition fund, that is earmarked towards gear replacement.

PCs could also receive favors as rewards. Imagine saving a requisition officer from certain peril. I'm sure he'd do just about anything in return, even getting a hold of some rare equipment for the PCs.

Well, and remember that SWSE is meant to emphasize character over gear anyway. Apart from maybe a piece or two of signature gear (a pair of guns, a suit of armor, a lightsaber), equipment just doesn't matter that much. I would be just fine with having a group of level 10 characters start out with a couple hundred credits and one piece of gear* each, plus any kits needed to use particular skills. Maybe a free starship.


* The "one piece of gear" can be a weapon, armor, or other single piece of equipment worth less than 10,000 credits and can have one upgrade or tech specialization pre-installed. (A nonstandard lightsaber crystal counts as an upgrade.)

Maybe I missed something in one of the posts above, but every time I check this thread, I can't help but wonder:
If these Jedi are being ROLEplayed properly, how come the players &/or GM are obsessing about how to get more credits into the Jedi PCs' hands?

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Arkansas Regional Captain & proud member of Spice Runners Squadron
Kessel Base, The Rebel Legion

"The bad guys hardly ever quote Star Wars."
Harry Dresden, Cold Days

I've always been an advocate of having the players 'make their gear their own' in games like these. Since there isn't a +2 Heavy Blaster or a Vorpal Saber of Sith Slayer (well aren't they all). I try to get the players to take ownership in their weapons (sort of a "This is my rifle. There are many like it, but this one is mine" type feel) I do this by allowing them over time to make mechanics checks to improve the weapon in minor ways. (Making an E-Web lighter, adding a hidden blade in a pistol that does +1 damage when used in Melee things like that, that won't unbalance the game but makes the weapon theirs.

I have had characters name their weapons and encouraged it. Also building a 'renown' for the weapon itself also helps. "I once shot the tail off a Gundark at 40 meters with this pistol."

Money should never be a factor in a WAR themed campaign. Their reward should be their victories (and make them spectacular) also their notoriety. Make sure important people stop by and thank them for a job well done. Make them a big deal to the people they save. They should never have to pay for a drink on "planet 9" ever agian. Things like that are quite realistic and usually for soldiers in the real world things like that make them feel a lot better then their meager wages.

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May your feet move faster than the thing that is chasing you.

The Sunrunner Legacy- a Star Wars Roleplaying Campaign

The money's going to the Rodian War Orphans Fund, honest!

*Meanwhile the "Jedi" are dumping thousands of credits into Space Swiss bank accounts...*

Well, in most game systems there is an expectation that the characters will have a certain amount of resources when facing certain level opponents. If the characters don't have those resources available, the encounter will be more (possibly MUCH more) difficult to defeat.

At an extreme, this could result in character death, or the ending of the game because the players are no longer enjoying it. After all, how many low-level mooks can you fight, and get no XP, before you decide that you've had enough and the game is boring.

Just my Cr02, Z.

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There is a saying: yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the "present." - Master Oogway

Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they're yours. - Richard Bach

SWSE tends to not be one of those game systems; by 8th level you usually have all the cash you could want outside of kitting out a starship.

As long as you make sure expendables make it into the PCs hands (grenades, medpacs, etc), there's probably not a huge need to fork over big piles of cash. And even those expendables can usually be given as item rewards or loot rather than as cash.

Best reward I ever gave my PCs (in any game, any system, ever):

In our Alternate Universe game, the heroes save the life of Lando Calrissian. It was a long and harrowing adventure. In return - Lando gives them "a marker". It's made just like a debt marker from Lando's casino - but wrought in solid gold and platinum. It's engraved with the PC's name on it.

I made a huge scene of the PCs lounging about (waiting to have a thank-you dinner that evening with Lando), and they see a couple people ushered in (from thug-looking low-lifes to miners to nobles), each one handing an identical "marker" to Lando. In return, the PCs see Lando do "something amazing" for that person within Lando's considerable means: calling off a bounty; making a warrant "disappear"; settling a debt to a crime lord; providing "unobtainable" schematics or blueprints; etc.

The PC's figured out very quickly just what they had - and what a true "favor" from Lando could actually mean. These markers became prized possessions, and most of them have called them in for serious things they needed - one to even [gasp] advance the plot of the story with some much needed intelligence.

Just remember, the BEST rewards aren't credits. Because credits can't always buy power or influence.

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Peace, Love, and Good Gaming!

Brilliant!

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Lightsaber: An elegant weapon from a more civilized age, dangerous Jedi paraphernalia, or the galaxy's best utility knife?
Regardless, it never listens to the Order 66 Podcast.