Special Bonuses

[heron61]

I've been thinking of letting every character have a single special bonus in a future campaign, and I need some more suggestions for bonuses. I want each one to be something that will be important, but not overwhelming, and will be personal (so not giving someone a really nifty ship, since the PCs all effectively share that). The ones I have so far are:

Every character gains 1 special bonus. Options include:
1) The character is a psion with a Psionic Strength of 1D6+6, who has spent several months being tested and trained in the use of their powers.
2) The character gained a vast windfall of Cr500,000, in addition to any other funds they gained from their careers.
3) The character has a single artifact well beyond TL 15 – a shimmersuit (that fits), a pair of linked teleportation portals, or something similar that isn't either a superweapon or anything too impressive.
4) Maybe one Attribute (other than SOC) at 15, but that's not very exciting.

At least 6 would be ideal. Thoughts?

 

[DickTurpin]

Those are pretty high powered bonuses. Gear instead of cash would probably be better, in my opinion. Possible bonuses:

1 ) Powerful prototype computer with some high bandwidth programs (maybe Intrusion?).
2 ) A robot/droid (Probably limited in some fashion to keep it from being overpowered. Make it a quirky servant rather than an automated killing machine.)
3 ) A trust fund/stipend that pays a set amount (annual or monthly, your choice), if they go to the planet where the fund is set up.
4 ) Cybernetic augmentation in the half million credit range.
5 ) Powered Armor/Battledress (with modifications to bring it up to a similar value. Could be pared with an advanced weapon as a set.)
6 ) Secret Information (Treasure map?) that can also serve as an adventure hook.
7 ) Property deed. It could be ownership of an asteroid mine, planetary estate, or even ownership of a small space station somewhere. It should come with property management headaches to keep it functioning to counter the large value of the property.
8 ) A valuable but distant commodity. (Warehoused trade goods several jumps away, a salvageable ship drifting out in the Oort cloud, starship weapons mothballed at an abandoned military facility in a remote system, an impounded small craft in another subsector - go there and pay the fines and it's yours!)

Ideally, the exact bonus would be linked to the character's past career(s) in some way. I think all should link the character to the campaign in some way rather than just being a free gift.

 

[heron61]

Those are pretty high powered bonuses.

Indeed they are, that's entirely the point.

1 ) Powerful prototype computer with some high bandwidth programs (maybe Intrusion?).

I like that, and it might be even more fun if it was a (friendly) AI with some of its own motivations.

2 ) A robot/droid (Probably limited in some fashion to keep it from being overpowered. Make it a quirky servant rather than an automated killing machine.)

Also nifty.

Ideally, the exact bonus would be linked to the character's past career(s) in some way. I think all should link the character to the campaign in some way rather than just being a free gift.

I entirely agree.

 

[ochd]

Maybe the option of trading in x number of skill levels to have level-3 in a skill of their choice. So, if someone's keen on playing a hotshot pilot, but the dice rolls didn't go their way, they could scrap Mechanic 1 and Leadership 1 and add another 2 levels to Pilot.

 

[Condottiere]

If players need power boosts beyond that can be normally acquired by character generation, your campaign may be unbalanced.

They could acquire a magic item with limited charges, whose effect leverages the primary weakness of the final boss.

One of the players could be misidentified as an incarnation of a local god, and instantly acquire a loyal, unquestioning cult following, that becomes a liability after the adventures conclusion, when the acolytes realize they've been duped.

 

[heron61]

If players need power boosts beyond that can be normally acquired by character generation, your campaign may be unbalanced

Or that some people, myself included prefer slightly higher power campaigns, like Leverage in space or something similar.

 

[AnotherDilbert]

Maybe the option of trading in x number of skill levels to have level-3 in a skill of their choice. So, if someone's keen on playing a hotshot pilot, but the dice rolls didn't go their way, they could scrap Mechanic 1 and Leadership 1 and add another 2 levels to Pilot.

Like.


I think an enduring role-playing characteristic would be more interesting than an item or cash bonus.

Psionic fits.
The character is famous, people will recognise him.
The character is infamous in some circles.
The character is secretly a member of some spy organisation (Imperial/foreign/Megacorp)
The character is the illegitimate child of someone important. The character may not know about it, but may be aware that sometimes obstacles simply disappears...
The character is a good musician, cook, or something personal.
The character has premonitions of the Empress Wave, and gets visions of future devastation...
The character has a bounty on his head by some underworld organisation.

 

[heron61]

I think an enduring role-playing characteristic would be more interesting than an item or cash bonus.

The right sort of item can be enduring and central to a character (like a portable fully AI hacking computer), but otherwise I definitely agree.

Psionic fits.
The character is famous, people will recognise him.
The character is secretly a member of some spy organisation (Imperial/foreign/Megacorp)
The character is the illegitimate child of someone important. The character may not know about it, but may be aware that sometimes obstacles simply disappears...

Those are all awesome, I see a lot of potential for all of these. Thanks!

 

[steve98052]

You have a butler who, like Jeeves, can resolve any social problem that comes your way, but only if he manages to persuade you to actually follow his advice.

You're the only living person from your homeworld to receive a Starburst for Extreme Heroism; most recipients are awarded posthumously, and the last one from your homeworld to receive one for non-fatal heroism died of old age.

The best benefit you received during character generation is more interesting than it sounds from the chart.
- For example, your Ally has become a significant noble, but hasn't forgotten her old friends.
- That space shuttle you received but didn't know what to do with when you rolled for it includes administrators who operate it as one of the shuttles between an interesting high-port and a more interesting down-port.
- Your contact is an Aslan who can get you drugs that, while useless to Aslan, serve as anagathics to humans – as long as you can find a way to get the deed to some airless moon as a home to his ihatei nephew, who doesn't really deserve good land.
- Your army buddy now owns a mercenary company, and can get you goodies that you're otherwise unlicensed for, assuming you can return the favor.
- You are your family's caretaker of an heirloom work of art (which you can't sell because it belongs to the family) that's notable enough that museums seek the privilege of exhibiting it for a half a year at a time, as long as you can get it to them.