Favorite Non-magical (Monetary) Treasure

[Thurbane]

Hey all,

Just wondering if anyone has any tales of noteworthy loot that wasn't magic items?

You know, things like a ruby studded statue of a gnome on the latrine, or an ivory back scratcher? :smallbiggrin:

Cheers - T

[BowStreetRunner]

There was the time we opened a chest to find it filled with forged letters patent. Talk about an early Christmas!!! With those documents we must have passed off various members of the party as nobility over the course of a dozen different adventures. Very useful stuff.

[daremetoidareyo]

Weird pets get them every time. Thieving monkey? Loyal scorpion that acts like a dog? The players love it, then they find a way to derail everything you planned with it.

[tiercel]

"We cleared out the Dread Keep of Mount McGuffin? Sweeeeet, free base of operations. Bow before the new Lord McGuffin!"

There's usually at least one player who wants to dig through the Stronghold Builder's Handbook, sometimes with blueprints and AutoCAD ready to go.

There's usually at least one player who wants to smack a title in front of his character's name, either to move in society, or at least as an Achievement Unlocked.

There's usually at least one player who wants at least a foothold toward TAKING OVER THE WORLD BWUHAHAHAHA (ahem).

Sometimes these can be the same player, but the whole fort/land/title thing is a pretty good score for most groups.

[Inevitability]

There's some really interesting alchemical items out there. How about paste made from dead shriekers that screams when exposed to light? How about filth fever-spreading grenades? Perhaps chalk that functions on ice?

[Jowgen]

Alchemist's Fire.

It is simple, everyone knows it, great at low levels, and even at high levels it is easy to finad a situation where a vial (or a bag thereof) can come in handy. Fun for the whole Party. :smallbiggrin:

[MaxiDuRaritry]

I like shapesand. A naturally psychoreactive substance that can shapeshift into any mundane item I want of the same mass, so I only need a jug of it instead of 50 lbs of equipment, and that I can magically enhance any way I want? Sign me up.

[manyslayer]

In a recent adventure, one player slapped a wad of titan gum (alchemical superglue from Dragon magazine) over the mouth of an enemy spellcaster he was grappling. She was not happy.

I've always liked the simple sun rod as a throw away light to drop down chasms, throw down corridors, etc.

Marbles can be fun too.

[Thurbane]

Alchemical stuff is great, but any interesting jewelry, or art objects?

I'll post some of mine when I'm at home at have access to my desktop.

[BowStreetRunner]

...any interesting jewelry, or art objects?

In one campaign we discovered an abandoned garden full of beautiful statues that one of the PCs had transported to his keep to adorn the great hall. Turns out those were petrified victims of a cockatrice that we ran into a couple of adventures later. :smalleek:

[DrMotives]

Most noteworthy one I can recall was from a published adventure, Tomb of Horrors. There's a room with a fake decoy lich, some minor undead who pretends to be the Big Bad, reclining on a gold couch. It's illustrated, looks like Freud's famous psychoanalysis couch only solid gold. Anyway, the party was inspired to make their own dungeon with a minor servitor undead & this couch. The dungeon's first room was the lobby, where a skeletal secretary would take visitors names down in a book, and direct them to wait on the gold couch.

[Thurbane]

Most noteworthy one I can recall was from a published adventure, Tomb of Horrors. There's a room with a fake decoy lich, some minor undead who pretends to be the Big Bad, reclining on a gold couch. It's illustrated, looks like Freud's famous psychoanalysis couch only solid gold. Anyway, the party was inspired to make their own dungeon with a minor servitor undead & this couch. The dungeon's first room was the lobby, where a skeletal secretary would take visitors names down in a book, and direct them to wait on the gold couch.

I know exactly the couch you mean, and that's a pretty awesome use for it!

[Bullet06320]

In one campaign we discovered an abandoned garden full of beautiful statues that one of the PCs had transported to his keep to adorn the great hall. Turns out those were petrified victims of a cockatrice that we ran into a couple of adventures later. :smalleek:

done similar, but with medusa

check out this thread
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?453619-Art-Objects-Pimp-your-BBEG-s-crib!

[Inevitability]

The orb of gambling.

It's a beautifully engraved sphere that appears to be made from solid silver or some other valuable material with a low melting point. However, if weighed (which probably happens when the players try to sell it), it is revealed the orb is too heavy/light to be actually made from solid silver.

The players may decide to melt the sphere down at that point. If they do, the outer layer melts off (ruining the engravings) and below it another engraved orb is found, this one with a higher melting point (for example, gold).

Eventually, they start encountering layers with little material value (copper) but masterful engravings. From that point on, they'll have to choose between just taking the artful sphere and selling it, or melting it down (ruining its value) in hopes of finding more valuable metal beneath. Of course, after some time they'll just encounter a sphere of solid tungsten with no engravings.

Maybe have a note next to the item informing them of this, or have the engravings on the first sphere point it out. Watch the players agonize over whether or not to ruin the art.

[The Bandicoot]

Weird pets get them every time. Thieving monkey? Loyal scorpion that acts like a dog? The players love it, then they find a way to derail everything you planned with it.
The most memorable "Treasure" I've had was pretty much this. Except it was a trash-talking mimic named Phil that sold out his boss for some food.

We dragged him along everywhere and kept feeding him. More than one night we awoke to some poor thief that had tried to rob us unconscious on the floor due to Phil.

So far I think Phil has popped up in five games run by three different people, one of which didn't even know the story of Phil. I just threw a ration at what I thought was a mimic and when it was I yelled "DAMNIT PHIL WHAT ARE YOU DOING DOWN HERE" and the DM ran with it.

[Âmesang]

I've a high-level character with a noble background so she's fully adorned in all sorts of treasures and fancy things; granted, most of them can be found on typical "Art Objets" tables. I think her non-magical gear and guild membership fees account for roughly 10% of her total wealth.


bejeweled noble's outfit of starlight cloth
bejeweled noble's outfit of darkweave
bejeweled noble's outfit of glamerweave by Hellien Clamas Clebdecher
winter wolf fur cloak
entertainer's outfit with corset
silk robe
fine silver brooch set with a rich purple amethyst**
platinum earrings set with blue diamonds
silver-plated scabbard with jet cabochons
small perfume bottle of black crystal filled with a rare tincture distilled from dryad's blood
mithral comb with opal runes
bottle of elven moondrop with a gold and topaz bottle stopper cork
**Probably her most cherished non-magical, non-living possession aside from her starlight gown; she received it as a reward for saving a town from a great evil despite being no less villainous herself. It tickles her pink to be so cherished knowing that, in time, she could wreak more havoc than the foes she goes up against, and not only was she not stopped… she actually received aid and rewards for her acts!

I've also a low-level ranger who, while having some fancy non-magical weapons and armor, also has a lot of mundane gear including a custom-made "felling axe" that's poor in combat but great for chopping up or down anything that's wood based (trees, logs, doors, chests, &c).

[Eldan]

THis one is technically magic, but also sort of falls under "pet".

An illustrated story book that was weakly telepathic and adressed the one reading it by name.

The players became obsessed with the thing for some reason, thinking there must be a spirit trapped inside. So the psion used telepathy on himself, to make himself think that his name was "Hello, is there anyone in there".

The book read that name and since I was going with it, they actually had a conversation that started something like this.

"There once was a boy called "Yes, I am, help me."

***

Anyway. Art.

Books and so on are good, actually. Illuminated manuscripts, with gold paint and everything, beautifully illustrated. Index of interesting diseases. Herbarium. Beastiarium. Atlas of a fallen empire.

Sacred objects often have extra value. The bad guy could have plundered a temple. The priests would likely be very grateful for having their weeping statue of [insert god here] returned. Maybe pay in spells and free healing.

Noble titles have been mentioned, but what about land deeds? Those can be useful too. If only to maybe earn taxes.

[Cirrylius]

the psion used telepathy on himself, to make himself think that his name was "Hello, is there anyone in there".

The book read that name and since I was going with it, they actually had a conversation that started something like this.

"There once was a boy called "Yes, I am, help me."

I am absolutely yoinking this for Changeling.

I once found an ornamental silver skull with ruby eyes that turned out to be basically an otherwise unremarkable set of chattering teeth.

Same campaign, we plundered a gold ziggurat, abandoned by mind flayers, managed to avoid pissing off the gold golem sentries, eventually to the point that they followed our directions

I petitioned the DM to let me Disintegrate a huge pit in the earth, order them to jump in, and Fireball them into liquid assets (since their power was tied to the ziggurat, which was on a largely uninhabited alternate Prime) and showed so much interest in fixing up the ziggurat with dimensional portals home that the DM rolled his eyes and tossed me a scroll of Deus Ex Machina that let me bring the whole edifice.