Treasures and such - help, please?

[gurgleflep]

Hey everybody, I've been DMing for a fair amount of time and I still stink at doing the treasure stuff. How much money should be in a cave/dungeon/camp/etc. system, how many items there should be, regular items, cursed items... I don't understand the charts at all :smallfrown:
Could I get some advice and tips how to do this better, please?

[Matticussama]

Which part(s) of the charts don't you understand? To break it down in simplest terms, each encounter gets treasure based upon its Challenge Rating, as shown on Table: Treasure Values per Encounter (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/treasure.htm). So a CR 1 fight gives 300GP worth of treasure, a CR 5 fight gives 1,600GP worth of treasure, etc. As an addendum, notice that under the entry in the Monster Manual that some creatures have different values; they might say 1/2 standard treasure, double standard treasure, etc. In that case, you just modify that CR number based upon the treasure entry. So a CR 5 fight that says double standard treasure should give 3,200GP; twice the entry listed under the CR 5 treasure listing.

The additional tables break down treasure that you can randomly roll, balanced out by how much treasure should be given out per encounter. However, if you get confused by the % rolls and the necessity to roll 3 times for different kinds of treasure, you can just ignore it and use the lump sum given on that first table. The additional charts are just given to help you randomize different kinds of treasure drops, so it isn't as monotonous as "you find 300GP worth of coins" for every fight.

I, personally, ignore the random treasure tables. I give creatures treasure that make sense for the encounter. If the party encounters a CR 2 Fighter, then the 600GP loot will largely be weapons and armor. If the party encounters a CR 5 Dragon, the 4,800GP (triple standard) will be a mix of coins, gems, art objects and the weapons/armor of fallen adventurers who tried to slay the dragon in the past.

I find adding in art objects helps mainly to flesh out the personality of the monster; maybe the particular dragon prefers sapphires, so in addition to sapphire gems the dragon has a golden circlet inset with sapphires. Or maybe a tyrant King has many expensive paintings throughout his mansion; pull examples from the great late Medieval or early Renaissance painters if you want a good reference, then add in details to the paintings that make sense for the region.

[gurgleflep]

Which part(s) of the charts don't you understand? To break it down in simplest terms, each encounter gets treasure based upon its Challenge Rating, as shown on Table: Treasure Values per Encounter (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/treasure.htm). So a CR 1 fight gives 300GP worth of treasure, a CR 5 fight gives 1,600GP worth of treasure, etc. As an addendum, notice that under the entry in the Monster Manual that some creatures have different values; they might say 1/2 standard treasure, double standard treasure, etc. In that case, you just modify that CR number based upon the treasure entry. So a CR 5 fight that says double standard treasure should give 3,200GP; twice the entry listed under the CR 5 treasure listing.

The additional tables break down treasure that you can randomly roll, balanced out by how much treasure should be given out per encounter. However, if you get confused by the % rolls and the necessity to roll 3 times for different kinds of treasure, you can just ignore it and use the lump sum given on that first table. The additional charts are just given to help you randomize different kinds of treasure drops, so it isn't as monotonous as "you find 300GP worth of coins" for every fight.

I, personally, ignore the random treasure tables. I give creatures treasure that make sense for the encounter. If the party encounters a CR 2 Fighter, then the 600GP loot will largely be weapons and armor. If the party encounters a CR 5 Dragon, the 4,800GP (triple standard) will be a mix of coins, gems, art objects and the weapons/armor of fallen adventurers who tried to slay the dragon in the past.

I find adding in art objects helps mainly to flesh out the personality of the monster; maybe the particular dragon prefers sapphires, so in addition to sapphire gems the dragon has a golden circlet inset with sapphires. Or maybe a tyrant King has many expensive paintings throughout his mansion; pull examples from the great late Medieval or early Renaissance painters if you want a good reference, then add in details to the paintings that make sense for the region.

This was quite helpful, thank you :smallsmile:
I also like the monster's personality bit - it's the first time I've heard of anybody doing that!

[Matticussama]

Glad I could help! It is easy to get confused by all of the different charts.

If you're struggling to help define a certain enemy's personality, you can also use art objects for the reverse of what I originally said. You can roll on the random treasure table and, once you have the unique art object it determines, base a personality from there.

So if you roll for a ceremonial electrum dagger with a star ruby in the pommel (one of the art objects in the random treasure table), then imagine what sort of person would have that kind of ceremonial dagger. Maybe this enemy is or was a part of some prestigious organization that would award such; maybe they were knighted in their home country, or received it as a gift from a noble for their acts. After all, for every knight in shining armor paraded in public by a kingdom there is an operative rewarded in private for acts the king/duke/whatever doesn't want known publicly.

[CaladanMoonblad]

The OP may find this link (http://donjon.bin.sh/d20/treasure/)useful.

I like to find the range of treasure, and mix and match results until I get a hoard I like in the range of wealth I think appropriate. It has the benefit of being both random and rational.

[gurgleflep]

Glad I could help! It is easy to get confused by all of the different charts.

If you're struggling to help define a certain enemy's personality, you can also use art objects for the reverse of what I originally said. You can roll on the random treasure table and, once you have the unique art object it determines, base a personality from there.

So if you roll for a ceremonial electrum dagger with a star ruby in the pommel (one of the art objects in the random treasure table), then imagine what sort of person would have that kind of ceremonial dagger. Maybe this enemy is or was a part of some prestigious organization that would award such; maybe they were knighted in their home country, or received it as a gift from a noble for their acts. After all, for every knight in shining armor paraded in public by a kingdom there is an operative rewarded in private for acts the king/duke/whatever doesn't want known publicly.

Yet another great idea/suggestion :smallbiggrin:
Something tells me you've spent a lot of time preparing for your campaign(s). How long does it take you to think up stuff like this through just a monster/person and an item?


The OP may find this link (http://donjon.bin.sh/d20/treasure/)useful.

I like to find the range of treasure, and mix and match results until I get a hoard I like in the range of wealth I think appropriate. It has the benefit of being both random and rational.

That is quite handy. Thank you :smallsmile: I see this site also has maps and such as well, so that'd pretty neat too.