Expedition: general discussions.

Whether to get something for free or not is a matter of role-playing and whether the hero ended up in the right area. Revan's argument is also valid: "the master wanted to create a super-sword, but didn't want to deal with something unclear that was clearly outside his area of expertise" – this is quite reasonable. In different expansions, I had characters who got something for free somewhere. What about the handsome Shen! A great guy, a sweetheart, a slightly less naive male version of Livia, he would fit into the JoJo universe if I had known what it was back then, and he even had a son, although he doesn't know about it. And there were those who not only didn't get anything for free but ended up dying in a village outhouse from poisonous fruits. And whether to eat the fruit or not is entirely his decision, not something the GM should force him to do. For example, in Nebka's game, I played a very promiscuous sorceress who the blacksmith (and not only him) treated as an average woman, which she basically was. What did she get in return? A discount on a helmet, not even a gift