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Materials: A quick examination of the sample artobjects in the Dungeon Master’s Guide reveals thatart objects priced for heroic tier PCs are made ofgold or are embellished with inexpensive gemstones.Paragon tier characters find platinum items or golditems with precious gemstones, while epic tier PCsfind a variety of unusual and strange items, many ofwhich hail from other planes. For epic art objects,use items made from fantastic materials. Substancessuch as celestial gold, astral weave, and solidifiedelemental fire give you a way to attach fantasticalqualities to what is essentially an item with a highprice tag.Example: Derek’s hoard has 12,600 gp of artobjects. He divides the art objects into the largestdenominations appropriate to level 16–20 treasures(one worth 7,500 gp and three others worth 2,500 gpeach):✦ One 7,500 gp art object✦ Three 2,500 gp art objects✦ 100 gp left overThen Derek defines what kind of art objects are inthe hoard. The dragon’s lair is rather dank and haspuddles of water here and there. He decides thatclothing and furniture wouldn’t survive as treasurein it. He selects items made of hard substances—jewelry, musical instruments, and utensils—as theart objects.✦ One 7,500 gp piece of jewelry✦ One 2,500 gp piece of jewelry✦ One 2,500 gp musical instrument✦ One 2,500 gp utensil✦ 100 gp left overDerek then fleshes out the descriptions of those itemswith details consistent with the paragon level (platinum,or gold set with gems) and the region of thedragon’s lair (more opals).✦ One 7,500 gp circlet of elaborately twisted platinumwire✦ One 2,500 gp gold necklace inlaid with fire opalveneer that frames a central black opal✦ One 2,500 gp gold harp formed in the shape of aswanCONTAINERSA great way to add flavor to a dragon’s hoard is to putthe coins and other neat bits in interesting boxes. A silvercoffer full of gold, or a goblet loaded with jewels inject abit of diversity into the hoard. Just don’t forget to deductthe value of the container from the hoard’s monetarytreasure value. It’s easiest to deduct it from the coins.✦ One 2,500 gp platinum ewer engraved with dancingdragons✦ 100 gp left over (which he throws back into thecoins as gold pieces)Luxury and Adventuring ItemsDragon hoards include a variety of luxury and adventuringitems. Some items belonged to long-deadadventurers who thought to stake their claim onthe hoard, while others might be incidental items,common gear the dragon snatched up along withthe riches it was after. You can use this category tosprinkle in gear that the characters might need toreplace, either in the form of adventuring equipmentor luxury nonmagical items.Pick one or more kinds of luxury and adventuringitems that you prefer, or roll d20 to choose randomlyfrom the kinds given on the following table. In manycases, especially with higher-level hoards, it won’t befeasible to fill out this category with a single kind ofitem, so don’t hesitate to use whatever combinationof kinds you like. If you want this part of the processto be entirely random, roll 1d6 and use that result todictate how many times you roll d20.LUXURY AND ADVENTURING ITEMSd20 Type1–8 Adventuring equipment9–12 Luxury nonmagical item (weapon, armor, orshield)13–16 Residuum17–20 Ritual scrollAdventuring Equipment: This type of itemencompasses common nonmagical gear found in thePlayer’s Handbook or other sources, including armorand weapons. These items are typically interestingonly in low-level hoards. (If you’re filling out a paragonor epic hoard and you get this result on a roll ofd20, roll again.)Luxury Nonmagical Items: You can add interestingelements to what would otherwise be ordinaryadventuring gear. A luxury item is worth about two tofive times as much as a normal item of the same sort(as described in the Player’s Handbook). It has a highprice because of its quality, the materials from whichit’s made, or who owned it previously.A luxury item never confers a mechanical benefitand functions as a normal item of its kind. The storybehind an item makes it more valuable. For example,a luxury nonmagical longsword could be the work ofa famous dragonborn artisan. A fine backpack couldhave been owned by a famous adventurer thoughtlong lost.Such an item could serve as the springboard to aminor quest. After finding the longsword, the PCs canset out to locate the artisan’s forge, or the backpack68CHAPTER 2 | DM’s Guide to Dragons