Dungeon Master's Guide

CHAPTER 7: TREASURE
DVENTURERS STRIVE FOR MANY THINGS,
including glory, knowledge, and justice.
Many adventurers also seek something more
tangible: fortune. Strands of golden chains,
stacks of platinum coins, bejeweled crowns,
enameled scepters, bolts of silk cloth, and
powerful magic items all wait to be seized or unearthed
by intrepid, treasure-seeking adventurers.
This chapter details magic items and the placement of
treasure in an adventure, as well as special rewards that
can be granted instead of or in addition to magic items
and mundane treasure.
TYPES OF TREASURE
Treasure comes in many forms.
Coins. The most basic type of treasure is money,
including copper pieces (cp), silver pieces (sp), electrum
pieces (ep), gold pieces (gp), and platinum pieces (pp).
Fifty coins of any type weigh 1 pound.
Gemstones. Gemstones are small, lightweight, and
easily secured compared to their same value in coins.
ee the "Gemstones" section for types of stones, gems,
and jewels that can be found as treasure.
Art Objects. Idols cast of solid gold, necklaces
tudded with precious stones, paintings of ancient
kings, bejeweled dishes- art objects include all these
and more. See the "Art Objects" sectiori for types of
decorative and valuable artworks that can be found
as treasure.
Magic Items. Types of magic items include armor,
potions , scrolls, rings, rods, staffs, wands, weapons,
and wondrous items. Magic items also have rarities:
common, uncommon, rare, very rare, and legendary.
Intelligent monsters often use magic items in their
possession, while others might hide them away to
ensure they don't get lost or stolen. For example, if a
hobgoblin tribe has a +llongsword and an alchemy jug
in its treasure hoard, the tribe's warlord might wield the
word , while the jug is kept somewhere safe.
RANDOM TREASURE
The following pages contain tables that you can use
to randomly generate treasures carried by monsters,
tashed in their lairs, or otherwise hidden away. The
placement of treasure is left to your discretion. The key
is to make sure the players feel rewarded for playing,
and that their characters are rewarded for overcoming
dangerous challenges.
TREASURE TABLES
Treasure can be randomly allocated based on a
monster's challenge rating. There are tables for
challenge rating 0- 4, challenge rating 5- 10, challenge
rating 11- 16, and challenge rating 17 and higher. Use
these tables to randomly determine how much money
an individual monster carries (the D&D equivalent of
pocket change) or the amount of wealth found in a larger
treasure hoard.
USING THE INDIVIDUA L TREASURE TABLES
An Individual Treasure table helps you randomly
determine how much treasure one creature carries on
its person. If a monster has no interest in amassing
treasure, you can use this table to determine the
incidental treasure left behind by the monster's victims.
Use the Individual Treasure table that corresponds to
the monster's challenge rating. Roll a dlOO, and read the
result across to determine how many coins of each type
the monster carries. The table also includes the average
result in parentheses, should you wish to forgo another
roll and save time. To determine the total amount of
individual treasure for a group of similar creatures, you
can save time by rolling once and multiplying the result
by the number of creatures in the group.
If it doesn't make sense for a monster to carry a large
pile of coins, you can convert the coins into gemstones
or art objects of equal value.
USING THE TREASURE HOARD TABLES
A Treasure Hoard table helps you randomly determine
the contents of a large cache of treasure, the
accumulated wealth of a large group of creatures (such
as an ore tribe or a hobgoblin army), the belongings of
a single powerful creature that likes to hoard treasure
(such as a dragon), or the reward bestowed upon a party
after completing a quest for a benefactor. You can also
split up a treasure hoard so that the adventurers don't
find or receive it all at once.
When determining the contents of a hoard belonging
to one monster, use the table that corresponds to that
monster's challenge rating. When rolling to determine a
treasure hoard belonging to a large group of monsters,
use the challenge rating of the monster that leads the
group. If the hoard belongs to no one, use the challenge
rating of the monster that presides over the dungeon
or lair you are stocking. If the hoard is a gift from a
benefactor, use the challenge rating equal to the party's
average level.
Every treasure hoard contains a random number of
coins, as shown at the top of each table. Roll a dlOO and
consult the table to determine how many gemstones or
art objects the hoard contains, if any. Use the same roll
to determine whether the hoard contains magic items.
As with the individual treasure tables, average values
are given in parentheses. You can use an average value
instead of rolling dice to save time.
If a treasure hoard seems too small, you can roll
multiple times on the table. Use this approach for
monsters that are particularly fond of amassing
treasure. Legendary creatures that accumulate treasure
are wealthier than normal. Always roll at least twice on
the appropriate table and add the results together.
You can hand out as much or as little treasure as you
want. Over the course of a typical campaign, a party
finds treasure hoards amounting to seven rolls on the
Challenge 0- 4 table, eighteen rolls on the Challenge
5- 10 table, twelve rolls on the Challenge 11- 16 table,
and eight rolls on the Challenge 17+ table.
CHAPTER 7 I TREASURE
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