Original D&D Discussion - Another Kind of "Treasure Types"

« Another Kind of "Treasure Types" »

Welcome Guest. Please Login or Register.
May 21, 2013, 2:22pm

Original D&D Discussion :: Dungeons & Dragons (1971-1978) :: Monsters & Treasure (1974) :: Another Kind of "Treasure Types"

Page 1 of 2 » Jump to page Go

Author

Topic: Another Kind of "Treasure Types" (Read 2,582 times)

waysoftheearth
Moderator

member is offline

[avatar]

[ImmersiveInk]

Joined: Sept 2008
Gender: Male

Posts: 1,216
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Karma: 195

Another Kind of "Treasure Types"
« Thread Started on Nov 1, 2010, 8:57am »

One thing that has always felt a bit awkward to me is the "treasure type" sub-system. Perhaps I am just doing it wrong, but treasure generation seems to me to have three principle issues;

It isn't clear how (or even if) the number of monsters encountered should influence the amount of treasure generated,
It takes a whole lot of long-winded rolling to arrive at what is essentially a gp value plus occasional specials,
It generates loot which is monotonously monetary in nature, with occasional specials. Not surprisingly, it is the "occassional specials" that bring the most joy to the players.

So, like any willful hobbyist I set out to "fix it up". Here's where I've arrived so far...

Re-Badged Treasure Types

First up, let's make the treasure type codes vaguely meaningful with each "treasure type" being the first letter of what it really represents.

"G" and "S" should be for "Gold" and "Silver", for example. Here's a full list:

A Art (paintings, sculptures, costumes, etc.)
B Brilliants (gemstones, pearls, bibelots, trinket, etc.)
C Copper (coins, metals, worked metals, etc.)
D Documents (scrolls, maps, missives, tomes, writing stuffs, etc.)
E Estate (furnishings, fixtures, trappings, habiliments, etc.)
F Furs (furs, pelts, skins, teeth, ivory, etc.)
G Gold (coins, metals, worked metals, etc.)
H Hardware (tools, ropes, lanterns, shovels, firewood, carts, etc.)
I Ingredients (rare earths, herbs, liquids, and so on for the alchemist, apothecary, etc.)
J Jewellry (rings, broaches, necklaces, tiaras, bracelettes, etc.)
K Mixed Koins (3:2:1 cp:sp:gp)
L Livestock (chickens, pigs, goats, sheep, etc.)
M Musical instruments (pipes, whistles, lutes, drums, horns, etc.)
N Niceities (soaps, perfumes, mirrors, combs, handkerchiefs, snuff, tobaccos, etc.)
O Ore (coal, iron, copper, silver, gold, mithril, etc.)
P Plantstuffs (flowers, seed, timber, yew, mistletoe, wolvesbane, etc.)
Q Queeriosities (pets, grand designs, information, projects, diaries, etc.)
R Rations (ale, meat, fish, fruit, bread, vegetables, etc.)
S Silver (coins, metals, worked metals, etc.)
T Textiles (fabrics, carpets, tapestries, clothing etc)
U Utensils (glassware, kitchenware, cutlery, goblets, candelabra, etc.)
V Victims (remains, prisoners, slaves, etc.)
W Weaponry (armour, shields, helms, weaponry, etc.)
X eliXirs (ale, wine, mead, brandy, spirits, remedies, etc.)
Y Young (eggs or younglings to be catputred, sold, tamed, etc.)
Z Zilch!

So What Have They Got?

Now let's make treasure more interesting by giving each monster type not one, but six treasure type letters (one for each face of a d6, as explained below).

These can be whatever the referee likes -- each letter can be unique (such as "BCGJSW"), or fewer letters can appear multiple times each (e.g., "CCGGSS"). "Z" would appear six times ("ZZZZZZ") for a monster with absolutely "Zilch" treasure.

Here are some proper examples (my apologies for the awful formatting -- proboards is not the best for this)...

Men:
--Brigands HKLRWZ
--Berserkers FKLVWZ
--Merchants AFKNTU

Demihumans:
--Dwarfs EGHKOX
--Elves AJMNTX
--Gnomes BGHIQU
--Halflings EKLNRU

Humanoids:
--Goblins CHLRZZ
--Hobgoblins KRVWWZ
--Orcs HKORWZ
--Gnolls CKLWZZ
--Ogres KLRSVZ
--Trolls CKRSZZ

Giants:
--Stone EHKKOV
--Frost BEFKSU
--Fire BCEKUW
--Cloud AEGJKU

Undead:
--Zombies ZZZZZZ
--Ghouls KVZZZZ
--Wights KJUVZZ
--Mummies AGKSZZ
--Spectres ADQZZZ
--Vampires ADEGJN

Dragons:
--White BFJKKS
--Black BIJKSS
--Green BGJKPS
--Blue ABGJKS
--Red BGJNSS
--Gold BDGGJS

The referee can adjust a monster's treasure type to reflect the wealth of the folks the monster has been despoiling, campaign flavour, or personal taste as appropriate.

How Does It All Work?

All you have to do is to roll 1d6 for each HD of defeated monsters. That is it. Each die result represents one share of the resulting treasure.

But How Much is it Worth?

The referee can set the value of each share to whatever he likes. However, as a guide...

Each share of treasure types AFGIKMNS and U are nominally worth 100gp per monster HD. Each share of treasure types BD and J can be worth up to 10 times as much, while shares of treasure types CEHLOPRTW and X are worth only 1/4 as much. Treasure types QV and Y are of unpredictable value (referee's discretion), and treasure type Z has no value.

Shall we try it out?

Example 1

White Dragons have treasure type BFJKKS. Therefore each 1 will result in a share of (B)rilliants, each 2 a share of (F)urs, each 3 a share of (J)ewellry, each 4 and each 5 a 1 share of mixed (K)oins, and each 6 a share of (S)ilver.

Suppose the players defeat a lone White Dragon with 7 HD. The referee rolls 7d6 to determine the nature of its treasure and throws; 1, 2, 2, 3, 5, 6, 6.

The white dragon's hoard contains 1 share of brilliants, 2 shares of furs, 1 share of jewellery, 1 shares of mixed coins, and 2 shares of silver. With a nominal treasure value of 100gp per share per HD, each share of the dragon's hoard is worth 700gp. Therefore the PCs would have won 700+gp worth of brilliants, 1,400gp worth of furs, skins, teeth and ivory, 700+gp worth of jewellry, 700gp worth of mixed coins, and 1,400gp worth of silver (14,000 sp, or a mixture of silver coins, metal and worked metal objects).

Example 2

Orcs have treasure type HKORWZ. Therefore each 1 will result in a share of (H)ardware, each 2 a share of mixed (K)oin, each 3 a share of (O)re, each 4 a share of (R)ations, each 5 a share of (W)eaponry, and each 6 an empty (Zilch) share.

Suppose the players defeat a lair of 20 HD worth of Orcs (1 HD monsters). The referee throws 20d6 to determine the composition of the Orcish loot and throws; six 1s, three 2s, three 3s, two 4s, four 5s, and two 6s.

Thus, the Orchish trove contains 6 shares of hardware, 3 shares of mixed coin, 3 shares of ore, 2 shares of rations, and 4 shares of normal weaponry. The two 6s delivered zilch. With a nominal treasure value of 100gp per share per HD, each share of the Orcs' hoard is worth 100gp (but types HOR and W are worth only 1/4 that amount). Therefore the PCs would have won 150gp worth of miscellaneous hardware, 300gp of mixed coins, 75gp worth of bulky iron-ore, 50gp worth of food-stuffs (dried meat, salted fish, hard cheese and pickled onions), and 100gp worth of normal weaponry (spears, arrows and hand-axes).

What About Magic Items?

Enchanted items are so rare and wonderful that there is a reasonable argument that they should never show up as random treasure. There are also many tales wherein magical treasures appear to fall into the heroes' hands by chance alone. Should the referee desire to allow such luck, here is a simple addition to the above method;

Roll 2d6 for each monsters' lair sacked by the PCs.

If the result is less than or equal to the HD of the monster type, one item among the loot is enchanted. Subtract 1 from the HD and roll 2d6 again, repeating so long as magic items are indicated.

Return to example 1

The defeated White Dragon was a 7 HD monster, so there is a good chance it may have had a magic item in its treasure hoard. The referee throws 2d6 and scores a 5 which is less than or equal to 7, so at least one magic item is present. The referee throws 2d6 again and this time scores a 3 which is less than or equal to 6, so a second magic item is present. The referee throws 2d6 a third time and score a 9 which is greater than 5, so no thrid magic item exists. The white dragon's hoard contains exactly two magic items.

1d6 expendable items might appear in place of 1 permanent item. In any case, the referee can determine the exact nature of each magic item according to the guidelines beginning page 23 of Monsters & Treasure, as per usual.

So there you have it.

I haven't made any effort whatever to try to match values with the results generated by the official treasure table.

I have instead aimed for a quicker method which produces more variable treasures. I think the method described here meets those goals, but I'd be interested to hear what others think.

Enjoy

edit: corrected "Monsters & Treasure" reference

« Last Edit: May 21, 2012, 6:14am by waysoftheearth »