Hello folks, I was wondering if I could pick your brains. How do you handle loot from minor encounters like a handful of orcs or bandits. The DMG seems to say they should should carry a few coins that are determined by the individual treasure tables. Do you all stick to that, or do you throw in the odd spell scroll and such for high rolls? I've seen a couple of tables online that even award +1 weapons for very high rolls. That seems a bit over the top to me though.
It depends on what makes sense at the time. Like, if the orcs had a spell scroll, why didn't they use it in battle? Was there even a caster with the orcs?
If there seems like a special reason why an enemy would have loot, then logically they should, but for most minor enemies, the stuff in their pockets is probably not much different than the stuff in the players' pockets. Weapons, gear, provisions, etc-- things that are still useful if you're doing a hard-core resource-tracking wilderness survival game, but otherwise probably nothing of note.
Unless there's a story element, I use the DMG tables. If the table has a magic scroll then sure... the orcs had robbed a merchant, found a scroll tube and understand its value even if they can't cast it. If the encounter was a pack of wolves, maybe there was a hidden stash uncovered during the fight.
But I do find it better to roll loot when rolling the encounter. That way if there's a +1 greatsword the strongest orc will be using it. Or it's stuck in the hide of the meanest dire bear.
Unless there's a story element, I use the DMG tables. If the table has a magic scroll then sure... the orcs had robbed a merchant, found a scroll tube and understand its value even if they can't cast it. If the encounter was a pack of wolves, maybe there was a hidden stash uncovered during the fight.
But I do find it better to roll loot when rolling the encounter. That way if there's a +1 greatsword the strongest orc will be using it. Or it's stuck in the hide of the meanest dire bear.
Thanks. Are there any concerns that a couple of good rolls could make the party OP? It's my first time DMing and I'm running a modified version of Dragon of Icespire Peak.
It depends on what makes sense at the time. Like, if the orcs had a spell scroll, why didn't they use it in battle? Was there even a caster with the orcs?
If there seems like a special reason why an enemy would have loot, then logically they should, but for most minor enemies, the stuff in their pockets is probably not much different than the stuff in the players' pockets. Weapons, gear, provisions, etc-- things that are still useful if you're doing a hard-core resource-tracking wilderness survival game, but otherwise probably nothing of note.
Thanks, I might make a few different loot tables. I'm tracking provisions but not ammo.
Thanks. Are there any concerns that a couple of good rolls could make the party OP? It's my first time DMing and I'm running a modified version of Dragon of Icespire Peak.
It's not a video game. You decide what the party faces. If they get "OP" then start throwing tougher enemies at them. Gary Gygax created Tomb of Horrors (D&D's Deadliest Dungeon) for a convention to challenge the players who were boasting about how their characters could survive any challenge.
I've heard only one character made it through.
Modules usually have a list of the magic items inside them. Consumables are a one time use. So if you're worried about not knowing how to rebalance, just only give them access to magic items available from the module and then consumables such as potions and scrolls.
Thanks. Are there any concerns that a couple of good rolls could make the party OP? It's my first time DMing and I'm running a modified version of Dragon of Icespire Peak.
It's not a video game. You decide what the party faces. If they get "OP" then start throwing tougher enemies at them. Gary Gygax created Tomb of Horrors (D&D's Deadliest Dungeon) for a convention to challenge the players who were boasting about how their characters could survive any challenge.
I've heard only one character made it through.
Modules usually have a list of the magic items inside them. Consumables are a one time use. So if you're worried about not knowing how to rebalance, just only give them access to magic items available from the module and then consumables such as potions and scrolls.
Thanks, how plentiful would you say healing potions should be? A lot of loot tables I'm looking at hand them out for quite low rolls.
Healing Potions are something they should be able to purchase. Either from an alchemist in town or a traveling merchant. They need something to spend their money on. They can even craft them if they've got the Herbalism Kit proficiency and the environment allows.
Most minor or random encounters usually don't carry any treasure of value, either because it's beast or monstrosity without any gear or because they're humanoid monsters which equipment aren't worthed. If some monster carry treasure, i decide what it is or randomly determine it using the Individual Treasure Tables for instance. Magic items almost never show up under such circumstances and the core rules guidelines are that monsters rarely carry equipment you can use or sell.
Players Handbook: As a general rule, undamaged weapons, armor, and other equipment fetch half their cost when sold in a market. Weapons and armor used by monsters are rarely in good enough condition to sell.
Dungeon Master Guide: You decide how much of a monster’s equipment is recoverable after the creature is slain and whether any of that equipment is still usable. A battered suit of armor made for a monster is rarely usable by someone else, for instance.
Unless there's a story element, I use the DMG tables. If the table has a magic scroll then sure... the orcs had robbed a merchant, found a scroll tube and understand its value even if they can't cast it. If the encounter was a pack of wolves, maybe there was a hidden stash uncovered during the fight.
But I do find it better to roll loot when rolling the encounter. That way if there's a +1 greatsword the strongest orc will be using it. Or it's stuck in the hide of the meanest dire bear.
Just to add to this good advice. I often like to have the treasure back at the lair, especially with wolves. (They dragged their kill back to their den. They ate the person, but not the gold they were carrying, so there’s some random coins lying around.)
Then you can make the party kind of work for the treasure a bit more, let the person who tracks do some tracking, and have a secondary encounter (with the alpha wolf) back at the den. And if they don’t track it, they don’t get the stuff. I just find it makes the world more lived in if, like irl, people keep most of their good stuff at home.
I personally just give enemies that I think makes sense for them and I always keep it conservative as to avoid bloat. I focus on giving consumables in particular for effects players don't often pick and giving lots of opportunities for wizards to learn spells.
So you may have a tribe of orcs and examination on examination they have tattoos which are have components of a enlarge/reduce the orcs use these tattoos as a coming of age ritual to help them grow stronger. If the wizard studies the symbols they can get the information they need to learn enlarge/reduce as they would a scroll. Maybe if the wizard is a little evil they cut some skin off an over charge the runes to make an orc skin enlarge scroll. It's not much but it's interesting and gives some flavor to a random encounter and lets you do fun stuff like having orc skin scrolls appear in a shady shop later.
Combine that with standard weapons and orc style armor and that's enough. Especially if you go the effort of having towns people comment that they have orc style gear
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Hello folks, I was wondering if I could pick your brains. How do you handle loot from minor encounters like a handful of orcs or bandits. The DMG seems to say they should should carry a few coins that are determined by the individual treasure tables. Do you all stick to that, or do you throw in the odd spell scroll and such for high rolls? I've seen a couple of tables online that even award +1 weapons for very high rolls. That seems a bit over the top to me though.
Thanks
It depends on what makes sense at the time. Like, if the orcs had a spell scroll, why didn't they use it in battle? Was there even a caster with the orcs?
If there seems like a special reason why an enemy would have loot, then logically they should, but for most minor enemies, the stuff in their pockets is probably not much different than the stuff in the players' pockets. Weapons, gear, provisions, etc-- things that are still useful if you're doing a hard-core resource-tracking wilderness survival game, but otherwise probably nothing of note.
Unless there's a story element, I use the DMG tables. If the table has a magic scroll then sure... the orcs had robbed a merchant, found a scroll tube and understand its value even if they can't cast it. If the encounter was a pack of wolves, maybe there was a hidden stash uncovered during the fight.
But I do find it better to roll loot when rolling the encounter. That way if there's a +1 greatsword the strongest orc will be using it. Or it's stuck in the hide of the meanest dire bear.
Thanks. Are there any concerns that a couple of good rolls could make the party OP? It's my first time DMing and I'm running a modified version of Dragon of Icespire Peak.
Thanks, I might make a few different loot tables. I'm tracking provisions but not ammo.
It's not a video game. You decide what the party faces. If they get "OP" then start throwing tougher enemies at them. Gary Gygax created Tomb of Horrors (D&D's Deadliest Dungeon) for a convention to challenge the players who were boasting about how their characters could survive any challenge.
I've heard only one character made it through.
Modules usually have a list of the magic items inside them. Consumables are a one time use. So if you're worried about not knowing how to rebalance, just only give them access to magic items available from the module and then consumables such as potions and scrolls.
Thanks, how plentiful would you say healing potions should be? A lot of loot tables I'm looking at hand them out for quite low rolls.
Healing Potions are something they should be able to purchase. Either from an alchemist in town or a traveling merchant. They need something to spend their money on. They can even craft them if they've got the Herbalism Kit proficiency and the environment allows.
Most minor or random encounters usually don't carry any treasure of value, either because it's beast or monstrosity without any gear or because they're humanoid monsters which equipment aren't worthed. If some monster carry treasure, i decide what it is or randomly determine it using the Individual Treasure Tables for instance. Magic items almost never show up under such circumstances and the core rules guidelines are that monsters rarely carry equipment you can use or sell.
Just to add to this good advice. I often like to have the treasure back at the lair, especially with wolves. (They dragged their kill back to their den. They ate the person, but not the gold they were carrying, so there’s some random coins lying around.)
Then you can make the party kind of work for the treasure a bit more, let the person who tracks do some tracking, and have a secondary encounter (with the alpha wolf) back at the den. And if they don’t track it, they don’t get the stuff. I just find it makes the world more lived in if, like irl, people keep most of their good stuff at home.
I personally just give enemies that I think makes sense for them and I always keep it conservative as to avoid bloat. I focus on giving consumables in particular for effects players don't often pick and giving lots of opportunities for wizards to learn spells.
So you may have a tribe of orcs and examination on examination they have tattoos which are have components of a enlarge/reduce the orcs use these tattoos as a coming of age ritual to help them grow stronger. If the wizard studies the symbols they can get the information they need to learn enlarge/reduce as they would a scroll. Maybe if the wizard is a little evil they cut some skin off an over charge the runes to make an orc skin enlarge scroll. It's not much but it's interesting and gives some flavor to a random encounter and lets you do fun stuff like having orc skin scrolls appear in a shady shop later.
Combine that with standard weapons and orc style armor and that's enough. Especially if you go the effort of having towns people comment that they have orc style gear