2016-09-01 NPC Treasure

I was wondering about non-player character treasure, on Google+. I like rolling on a table and I might say stuff like “this magic user is so powerful, I’ll just use the Vampire treasure type”. What else might I look into?

on Google+

I like rolling on a table

I knew about the treasure table in the Dungeon Masters Guide but I remember them resulting in a very different mix of magic items than has been common in my campaign.

Dungeon Masters Guide

So here’s my table.

Fighter, Dwarf, Elf, Halfling

This is stuff for a fighter that’s part of a non-player party, the leader of a few men. Armor appropriate to stature. This is what fighter levels usually mean in my campaign, and the bonus for the treasure table below.

+-------+-------+--------------------------------+
| Level | Bonus |              Role              |
+-------+-------+--------------------------------+
|     1 | +0    | guards, bandits                |
|     3 | +2    | veterans, village heroes,      |
|       |       | sergeants, squad commanders,   |
|       |       | leading ten men-at-arms        |
|     5 | +4    | town leaders, captains,        |
|       |       | company commanders, leading a  |
|       |       | unit of a hundred men-at-arms  |
|     7 | +6    | lieutenants,                   |
|       |       | second-in-commands             |
|     9 | +8    | rulers of a castle, of a hex,  |
|       |       | of a tribe, barons             |
+-------+-------+--------------------------------+

In the treasure table below, horses and chariots are all found only outside a dungeon, obviously.

+-----+--------------------------------+--------------------------------+
| 1d6 |           Equipment            |            Treasure            |
+-----+--------------------------------+--------------------------------+
|   1 | Poor: chain, spear             | 1d4×10 gold                    |
|   2 | Solid: plate, shield, helmet,  | 1d6×10 gold                    |
|     | sword                          |                                |
|   3 | Rich: as above plus lance,     | 1d10×10 gold                   |
|     | horse                          |                                |
|   4 | Noble: as above plus barding   | 3d6×10 gold                    |
|   5 | Loot: as above plus bow        | 3d6×10 gold, 1d4 gems          |
|   6 | Benefactor: as above but with  | 3d6×10 gold, 1d6 gems          |
|     | elven sword +1                 |                                |
|   7 | Aide: as above but with elven  | 3d6×10 gold, 2d6 gems          |
|     | lance +1                       |                                |
|   8 | Elf Friend: as above but with  | 3d6×10 gold, 2d6 gems, 1d4     |
|     | elven bow +1                   | jewelry                        |
|   9 | Ruler: as above plus special   | 5d6×10 gold, 2d6 gems, 1d6     |
|     | item (see below)               | jewelry                        |
|  10 | Lord: as above but with a set  | 5d6×10 gold, 3d6 gems, 1d6     |
|     | of elven arms and armor: plate | jewelry                        |
|     | +1, shield +1, matching helmet |                                |
|  11 | Delver: as above but with      | 5d6×10 gold, 3d6 gems, 2d6     |
|     | a set of dwarven arms and      | jewelry                        |
|     | armor: plate +2, shield +2,    |                                |
|     | matching helmet, sword +2, and |                                |
|     | a chariot                      |                                |
|  12 | Powerful: as above but with a  | 5d6×10 gold, 4d6 gems, 2d6     |
|     | flaming (+1d6 damage) sword +2 | jewelry                        |
|     | or a dwarven throwing hammer   |                                |
|     | +3 if a dwarf, gauntlets of    |                                |
|     | ogre power (strength 18)       |                                |
|  13 | Higher Calling: as above but   | 5d6×10 gold, 4d6 gems, 3d6     |
|     | with angelic or hellish and    | jewelry                        |
|     | armor: plate +3, shield +3,    |                                |
|     | matching helmet, special sword |                                |
|     | of light or darkness +3 (see   |                                |
|     | below)                         |                                |
|  14 | Special: as above but with a   | 5d6×10 gold, 5d6 gems, 3d6     |
|     | very special sword (see below) | jewelry                        |
+-----+--------------------------------+--------------------------------+

Jewelry: 3d6×100 gold (average is about 1000 gold each) – rings, hair bands, crowns, bracelets, necklaces, amulets, hair needles, etc.

Gems: use the table below (average is about 200 gold each)

+-------+-----------+
| 1d20  |   Gems    |
+-------+-----------+
| 1–4   | 10 gold   |
| 5–9   | 50 gold   |
| 10–15 | 100 gold  |
| 16–19 | 500 gold  |
|    20 | 1000 gold |
+-------+-----------+

Special item:

+-----+--------------------------------+
| 1d6 |          Special Item          |
+-----+--------------------------------+
|   1 | A random potion, roll 1d8:     |
|     | 1. *diminuition* (6”, 2h),     |
|     | 2. *ferocity* (double damage,  |
|     | 2h), 3. *fly* (2h), 4.         |
|     | *healing* (1d6+1, 3×), 5.      |
|     | *invisibility*, 6. *love*, 7.  |
|     | *shape-changing*, 8. *speed*   |
|     | (two action per round)         |
|   2 | A random ring, roll 1d4: 1.    |
|     | *djinni calling* (1/day, for   |
|     | a day), 2. *fire resistance*   |
|     | (immune to normal fire, +2     |
|     | to saves, all fire damage      |
|     | dice -1), 3. *minor creation*  |
|     | (non-magical, portable things, |
|     | 2h), 4. *protection* (AC +1)   |
|   3 | A random miscellaneous         |
|     | item, roll 1d4: 1. *bag        |
|     | of holding* (opens a small     |
|     | portal to another sphere),     |
|     | 2. *boots of speed* (double    |
|     | movement speed), 3. *elemental |
|     | summoning device* (it takes    |
|     | 10min to perform the ritual,   |
|     | the element is determined by   |
|     | the device: bowl means water,  |
|     | brazier means fire, censer     |
|     | means air, stone means earth), |
|     | 4. *elven cloak* (hiding       |
|     | 5-in-6 when not moving)        |
|   4 | Their weapon is special: it    |
|     | can glow as bright as daylight |
|     | produce a dark mist like the   |
|     | *continual light* spell and    |
|     | its reverse, at will           |
|   5 | Their weapon is special: it    |
|     | grants them a permanent aura   |
|     | of *authority* (charisma 18)   |
|   6 | A *horn of battle* that will   |
|     | summon 2d4 barbarians from the |
|     | next world to fight for you    |
|     | until killed, HD 1+1 AC 7 1d6  |
|     | MV 12                          |
+-----+--------------------------------+

Swords with a higher calling:

+-----+--------------------------------+
| 1d4 |            Calling             |
+-----+--------------------------------+
|   1 | +1/+3 vs. lycanthropes, forged |
|     | by the high inquisitors        |
|   2 | +1/+3 vs. spell casters,       |
|     | forged in the philosopher’s    |
|     | war                            |
|   3 | +1/+3 vs. undead, an angelic   |
|     | sword forged in heaven         |
|   4 | +1/+3 vs. dragons, an old      |
|     | elven sword forged in the      |
|     | dragon wars                    |
+-----+--------------------------------+

Very special weapons:

Add more special weapons as needed...

Thief

todo

Use the special item table above.

Magic-User

todo

Use the special item table above.

​#RPG ​#Old School ​#Treasure