This is part of a series of posts on advice for starting a campaign.
Go to Forget the Tavern: Introduction or to Forget the Tavern: That Was Me! Part 1
Boons are related to the That Was Me! activity in that they consist of a past event that a player claims for their character. Unlike That Was Me! entries, only the GM writes them, and they tend to be longer than the That Was Me! options.
Here’s an example of one wrote for an Empire of the Ghouls campaign from Kobold Press. The game was set in Kobold Press’s Midgard.
The Stranger
One evening during your trip accompanying Zobeck city Councilor Halsen Hrovitz to Stefansfor Keep on the border of Morgau, you were gathering wood for the fire when a stranger shrouded in tattered clothing that enveloping him as effectively as deep-cowled robe, approached you, holding hands up in a sign of friendship. When you asked who he was, he replied in a raspy, hesitant voice, “I…I…I am…Rufous. Rufous, I think.” Concerned by the uncertainty and confusion in his voice, you asked if he needed help, and told him you had a camp nearby with food and shelter.
“I saw,” he replied. “I need no help. Just questions. Can you answer my questions?” You indicated that you would try. He first asked you where you were, and when you told him he replied, “Not far, then.” He then asked you what year it was, followed by the day when you told him the year. Finally, he asked if you would be traveling into Morgau. “25 miles beyond Stefanfor Keep,” he said, “is the village of Dunmore. Tell Nada that I am sorry.” When you told him you weren’t traveling beyond Stefanfor Keep, he nodded, and suggested that if you told them in the keep someone might take the message to her. With that, he thanked you, turned, and walked away. You called after him but he didn’t respond, so you finished gathering the wood and returned to camp.
Before I ask players to choose a Boon, I tell them that each boons comes with a benefit. It might be a favor owed, or a reward of future aid. It might be a one-time game mechanic benefit, spell, ability, or magical effect. The effect is, in part, based on the narrative, but it will also be situational — if they call on their boon at 2nd level, it’s going to be of a different magnitude than if they call on it at 11th level. They’re encouraged to call on them when they think it’s appropriate, and I also have the option to invoke their boon at a particularly opportune time. When I write these, I have an idea of what the boom is, but I don’t have predetermined moment for the boon to be used.
After a player chooses their boon, I asked them if they keep the item, fulfilled the request, or whatever the boon involved. In the case of The Stranger, I asked if the PC did leave Rufous’ message at Stefanfor Keep. The player said yes.
So, what’s going on here in the example of The Stranger? Rufous is a newly revived darakhul and already strongly suspects he is a ghoul. Darakhul are free-willed, intelligent ghouls, and The Ghoul Imperium (the Empire of the Ghouls for which the published campaign is named), is governed by darakhul. Because they have free will, not all darakhul are innately evil, although they do suffer the hunger that drives them to eat flesh. Rufous, I decided, would maintain his neutrality, but realizing there was no place for him above ground, he will find his way into the Underdark and, eventually, to the Ghoul Imperium.
At some point during the game, likely when the PCs were in the Underdark or in an outpost or the capital city of the Ghoul Imperium, Rufous would be there at a time of need. Maybe when the party is lost and out of supplies. Maybe when they’re about to be discovered to be living beings rather than undead. Maybe they need a guide. Maybe they need to be broken out of prison. In that moment, Rufous can be there to repay what he feels is a debt.
Rufous is the oddball of the boons for that campaign in that I was much more likely to invoke Rufous than the player, and so I kept open the idea that Rufous might show up more than once. And a couple of times before Rufous was brought into play, I told the player that their character saw, or thought they saw, him but was too far away or the PC was too occupied to pursue.
Having introduced the idea of Boons and how they work, I’ll provide two more examples in the next Forget the Tavern post.