Wanted to ask other DMs if they use other loot generators besides the DMG hoard tables, homebrew or otherwise. I don't like the DMG generators. They cough up way too much gold and potions and scrolls and not nearly enough magic items.
The formula I'm currently using is this- roll 2d100 gold and 6d100 silver, adding a x0.5 cumulative multiplier per level (x10 @ lvl 20). Now roll a 1d4 to see if a gem or art object is added- 3:gem 4:art object. The gem/art object has an increasing probability of being in a higher value bracket per the DMG as player level increases. Roll another d4 to see if consumables are added. 3: 1 consumable 4: 2 consumables. I split them up 1/3 healing potion 1/3 all other potion 1/3 spell scroll. Rarity increases with player level. Now roll a final d4 to see if a magic item is added- 3 & 4 = yes. I separate them 1/5 weapon, 1/5 armor, 1/5 ring, 1/5 rod/wand/staff and 1/5 wondrous item. Rarity increases with player level.
I'll typically deal out 2-3 of these hoards per dungeon, with one being after defeating the boss and 1-2 more hidden or in challenging side areas.
So anyways, does anyone have a different way to generate treasure besides DMG hoard tables?
i don't have any help for you, as I find the DMG treasure tables similarly unsatisfying. I like your system of partitioning the treasure between consumable and non-consumable items, and biasing in favor of healing potions (which are, ounce for ounce, the most useful potions in the game). So I can't really help you except to say... I like your system a lot and may try it out.
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WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
I usually end up just adding in magic items if I think the party should get one. The random tables too often give you something no one can actually use. They can be cool to give out weird utility items I might not thing of, but I can’t tell you how many times I roll something like a +1 spear for a party when no one uses spears, so I end up changing it to a weapon someone actually uses. Also, a side issue I have is with gems and art. With the exception of gems that are needed as material components, I find players just end up writing down the GP value and ignoring the extra step of finding someone to sell it to before it becomes GP. I know they are a classic form of treasure, and more flavorful than just gold, but I don’t think players really appreciate them.
They can be cool to give out weird utility items I might not thing of, but I can’t tell you how many times I roll something like a +1 spear for a party when no one uses spears, so I end up changing it to a weapon someone actually uses.
As a player, not just a DM, I have always found it immersion-breaking if all, or nearly all, magic weapons and armor the party finds are something at least one person in the party could use. There are so many different weapons... unless the gods are actively intervening to alter fate, the majority of magic weapons found ought not to be the few in which the party specializes. Sometimes you just keep it as a memento of a foe vanquished or a friend fallen.
Additionally, I will often give the magic weapon to the enemy, if he or she could reasonably use it, and thus the party must first face it in the hands of a foe, before obtaining it. So if the Orc chief uses a greataxe as a weapon, and I roll up (in the loot stash) a "weapon +1", I might just give the orc chief a greataxe +1, and let him use it against the party. Then when they kill him, if they take it off his body, they have a magic great-axe as a memento that they killed Grog the Orc Chief. (Maybe it'll even be called "Grog's Greataxe" and have some small additional feature besides being +1 to hit and damage.) Maybe no one in the party currently uses a great-axe but the fighter decides to swap to it, since it's a neat weapon. Or if no one wants it, they can trade it, sell it, or hang it on the wall of their base (if they have one).
I do think that, eventually, everyone should get a magic version of their favorite weapon. But I don't restrict magic treasure to "stuff someone in the party could definitely use." I think part of what makes magic treasure interesting is finding stuff that doesn't specifically suit anyone in the party and figuring out what, if anything, to do with it. And sometimes... just keeping it as a cool memento is perfectly enjoyable.
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WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
i don't have any help for you, as I find the DMG treasure tables similarly unsatisfying. I like your system of partitioning the treasure between consumable and non-consumable items, and biasing in favor of healing potions (which are, ounce for ounce, the most useful potions in the game). So I can't really help you except to say... I like your system a lot and may try it out.
Thanks BioWizard glad you like it. I'll go into a bit more details on what exactly I mean by increasing rarity per level then do a mock roll so you can see it in action.
As the party gains levels, they receive a 25% scaling probability per level towards the next rarity tier, with the tiers being common-uncommon-rare-very rare-legendry-artifact. So if a magic item drops at lvl 1, it will always be common. If one drops at lvl 5, always uncommon. At lvl 7, it has a 50% chance of being either uncommon or rare. At lvl 16, 25% very rare 75% legendary.
The gems and art objects are scaled the exact same way with each value bracket per the DMG being a rarity tier , so to speak.
So let's give a lvl 8 party some treasure. Gold = 116 + 88 silver
Add gem/art? 1,2= no 3=gem 4=art 3 if yes what rarity? 1= uncommon 2,3,4 = rare 4
Add consumables? 1,2 no 3=1 4=2 3 what consumable? 1,2= healing potion 3,4= any other potion 5,6 = spell scroll 2. Rarity? 3.
Magic item? 2. What is it? 1,2 = weapon 3,4= armor 5,6= ring 7,8= staff/rod/wand 9,10= wondrous item 3. Rarity? 4
Ok so ouch they whiffed bad and got only 311 gold 1895 silver after applying the 4.5 modifier.
Let's just say they hit the consumable and magic item. They would have got a rare spell scroll (level 4 or 5 spell) and a rare armor, maybe a shield +2 or a dragonguard breastplate.
You could roll randomly among lvl 4 and 5 spells and rare armor, or just pick which ones to hand out.
Why not just pick what treasure you are awarding yourself? I know that might seem a little radical but you are the story teller after all, and it's your job to make things interesting and relevant for your players.
Picking is prone to making it either too apt or not apt enough to the party (depending on your own personal bias). Random generation provides a certain "objectivity" to it, as in "this is what the monsters would/should have," rather than, "This is the cool stuff the party would like to have that I will give to the monsters."
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WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Why not just pick what treasure you are awarding yourself? I know that might seem a little radical but you are the story teller after all, and it's your job to make things interesting and relevant for your players.
I still do that, mainly with quest completion rewards that the NPC and players agreed to before hand. But a random generator is A. Easier to use just plug in the formula and there it is, compared to planning every treasure pile and B. It is exciting for the DM to not know what the players will get, and seeing them put whatever it is to the best possible use, vs just tailoring the game by giving them everything they need on a silver platter.
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Wanted to ask other DMs if they use other loot generators besides the DMG hoard tables, homebrew or otherwise. I don't like the DMG generators. They cough up way too much gold and potions and scrolls and not nearly enough magic items.
The formula I'm currently using is this- roll 2d100 gold and 6d100 silver, adding a x0.5 cumulative multiplier per level (x10 @ lvl 20). Now roll a 1d4 to see if a gem or art object is added- 3:gem 4:art object. The gem/art object has an increasing probability of being in a higher value bracket per the DMG as player level increases. Roll another d4 to see if consumables are added. 3: 1 consumable 4: 2 consumables. I split them up 1/3 healing potion 1/3 all other potion 1/3 spell scroll. Rarity increases with player level. Now roll a final d4 to see if a magic item is added- 3 & 4 = yes. I separate them 1/5 weapon, 1/5 armor, 1/5 ring, 1/5 rod/wand/staff and 1/5 wondrous item. Rarity increases with player level.
I'll typically deal out 2-3 of these hoards per dungeon, with one being after defeating the boss and 1-2 more hidden or in challenging side areas.
So anyways, does anyone have a different way to generate treasure besides DMG hoard tables?
i don't have any help for you, as I find the DMG treasure tables similarly unsatisfying. I like your system of partitioning the treasure between consumable and non-consumable items, and biasing in favor of healing potions (which are, ounce for ounce, the most useful potions in the game). So I can't really help you except to say... I like your system a lot and may try it out.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
I usually end up just adding in magic items if I think the party should get one. The random tables too often give you something no one can actually use. They can be cool to give out weird utility items I might not thing of, but I can’t tell you how many times I roll something like a +1 spear for a party when no one uses spears, so I end up changing it to a weapon someone actually uses.
Also, a side issue I have is with gems and art. With the exception of gems that are needed as material components, I find players just end up writing down the GP value and ignoring the extra step of finding someone to sell it to before it becomes GP. I know they are a classic form of treasure, and more flavorful than just gold, but I don’t think players really appreciate them.
As a player, not just a DM, I have always found it immersion-breaking if all, or nearly all, magic weapons and armor the party finds are something at least one person in the party could use. There are so many different weapons... unless the gods are actively intervening to alter fate, the majority of magic weapons found ought not to be the few in which the party specializes. Sometimes you just keep it as a memento of a foe vanquished or a friend fallen.
Additionally, I will often give the magic weapon to the enemy, if he or she could reasonably use it, and thus the party must first face it in the hands of a foe, before obtaining it. So if the Orc chief uses a greataxe as a weapon, and I roll up (in the loot stash) a "weapon +1", I might just give the orc chief a greataxe +1, and let him use it against the party. Then when they kill him, if they take it off his body, they have a magic great-axe as a memento that they killed Grog the Orc Chief. (Maybe it'll even be called "Grog's Greataxe" and have some small additional feature besides being +1 to hit and damage.) Maybe no one in the party currently uses a great-axe but the fighter decides to swap to it, since it's a neat weapon. Or if no one wants it, they can trade it, sell it, or hang it on the wall of their base (if they have one).
I do think that, eventually, everyone should get a magic version of their favorite weapon. But I don't restrict magic treasure to "stuff someone in the party could definitely use." I think part of what makes magic treasure interesting is finding stuff that doesn't specifically suit anyone in the party and figuring out what, if anything, to do with it. And sometimes... just keeping it as a cool memento is perfectly enjoyable.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
I use these:
https://donjon.bin.sh/5e/
Random generators for preety much all my needs.
Thanks BioWizard glad you like it. I'll go into a bit more details on what exactly I mean by increasing rarity per level then do a mock roll so you can see it in action.
As the party gains levels, they receive a 25% scaling probability per level towards the next rarity tier, with the tiers being common-uncommon-rare-very rare-legendry-artifact. So if a magic item drops at lvl 1, it will always be common. If one drops at lvl 5, always uncommon. At lvl 7, it has a 50% chance of being either uncommon or rare. At lvl 16, 25% very rare 75% legendary.
The gems and art objects are scaled the exact same way with each value bracket per the DMG being a rarity tier , so to speak.
So let's give a lvl 8 party some treasure. Gold = 116 + 88 silver
Add gem/art? 1,2= no 3=gem 4=art 3 if yes what rarity? 1= uncommon 2,3,4 = rare 4
Add consumables? 1,2 no 3=1 4=2 3 what consumable? 1,2= healing potion 3,4= any other potion 5,6 = spell scroll 2. Rarity? 3.
Magic item? 2. What is it? 1,2 = weapon 3,4= armor 5,6= ring 7,8= staff/rod/wand 9,10= wondrous item 3. Rarity? 4
Ok so ouch they whiffed bad and got only 311 gold 1895 silver after applying the 4.5 modifier.
Let's just say they hit the consumable and magic item. They would have got a rare spell scroll (level 4 or 5 spell) and a rare armor, maybe a shield +2 or a dragonguard breastplate.
You could roll randomly among lvl 4 and 5 spells and rare armor, or just pick which ones to hand out.
Why not just pick what treasure you are awarding yourself? I know that might seem a little radical but you are the story teller after all, and it's your job to make things interesting and relevant for your players.
Picking is prone to making it either too apt or not apt enough to the party (depending on your own personal bias). Random generation provides a certain "objectivity" to it, as in "this is what the monsters would/should have," rather than, "This is the cool stuff the party would like to have that I will give to the monsters."
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
I still do that, mainly with quest completion rewards that the NPC and players agreed to before hand. But a random generator is A. Easier to use just plug in the formula and there it is, compared to planning every treasure pile and B. It is exciting for the DM to not know what the players will get, and seeing them put whatever it is to the best possible use, vs just tailoring the game by giving them everything they need on a silver platter.