I am designing a mini-dungeon for an upcoming session. I can't decide how much gold the dungeon contains, though i think it might be around 225 gold (including silver and bronze). Here are some numbers:
Party:
Level 1 barbarian
Level 1 paladin
Level 1 warlock (has a really strong weapon, quite powerful)
Level 1 wizard (necromancer, has healer feat)
Dungeon
Ambushed by 4 dretch on the way to dungeon
Fights a homebrew cr1 demon
Loot pile contains a cr1 demon disguised as a red gem
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Homebrew, homebrew, homebrew. I DM homebrew. I homebrew homebrew. My homebrew brews homebrew. I brewed by home. My home brews homebrewed homebrew, homebrewing homebrew that homebrews homebrewing homebrew.
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I enjoy placing objects d'art (paintings, ivory statues) that can have a cool backstory and also possibly worth money to a collector/antiquer; the party I am DM'ing are currently having the zombie servant trying to drag around an ornate, vibrant colored silken tapestry that's 20 ft long and weighs a hundred+ pounds which I think is pretty funny at the moment given how inconvenient it is; but someone in a big city will doubt pay big gold for the unique religious panorama of an obscure dwarven creation myth.
Going off of what Johnwinstonh said and Vedexent is that it does not always have to be gold. If you are using the DM guide you can use the treasure tables to estimate how much should be in the dungeon but then break it up into valuables. Magical items, artwork, statues, jewels in addition to actual currency pieces. Players love looking through every nook and cranny for valuables and honestly if you have any secret rooms place a few maybe choicer items that could help them in their fight or would be worth more. Nothing makes you feel better than finding a whole room with treatures. It also leads to interesting roleplaying moments when they try to figure out how to move some of the stuff, if any of the items are cursed or as you are doing having one of the gems be a monster (nice touch by the way.) Overall your price is fair for each PC gets roughly about 50+ gp which is a fair amount for level 1s.
There are various loot generators online that can automate the process of choosing loot from the loot tables in both the DMG and XgtE for you. My personal favorite is the ******* one.
There are various loot generators online that can automate the process of choosing loot from the loot tables in both the DMG and XgtE for you. My personal favorite is the ******* one.
I use this table tons, but also base the loot/gold off of how much difficulty the party goes through and what kind of area it is in
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just a person who likes games and has zero free time
The value of the treasure should be determined after consulting the various tables in the PHB and DMG. Im pretty sure there are tables for XP, treasure and encounter building that will give you a good target. Adjust however you see fit; cause you are the DM.
After you get the value target, then I think about what sort of items would collect in this monster's treasure. There are a couple typical sources. What has the monster gone out to collect, and now they save as treasured items. This can be expensive or very mundane stuff. If you go camping, you know how you might become quite attached to your camping utensils, plate, bowl, mug, and your cooking wear. But a general person that doesn't go camping would see this as junk. Even a large bowl to wash in and a pitcher to carry water would be important to a camper. And so would a comfortable bed and a dry / warm place to sleep. So some of the 'treasure' is going to be mundane stuff. But there will also be really cool stuff like money, jewels and art in there as well.
The second source of treasure might be 'tribute' some nearby folks offer the monster to leave them alone, or even defend the area. This would be stuff like food for the most part. But it could be treasure they obtained on their own adventures.
The third source of treasure will be the left overs from all the adventurers that encountered this monster before you came along. So this might include weapons, armor, backpacks, blankets and mundane stuff, but also some really valuable stuff that looks like mundane stuff, like a map. I have always used treasures to plant maps as "hooks" to entice the party to dive into an adventure I prepared as a side quest. Maybe instead of a map, it is a letter. Letters can achieve the same thing.
But, as a DM, I always want the treasure to make sense. I wouldn't have a flying monster encountered on the side of a mountain in or near their lair to have a collection of water breathing potions, unless I could really explain it. As a player, I find truly random treasures boring and disappointing. I recall one time my party defeated a Drow outcast and a handful of giant spiders in a basement of an abandoned building, only to find a trapped chest with gold pieces and a neatly folded Elven Chain armor shirt, and some other artworks. The treasure was inconsistent with the situation and I felt let down. I didn't say anything about it because I feel the DM is giving me a gift just to go through the work to prepare a dungeon, but in private I think he missed an opportunity to make a better story.
Good luck and enjoy the game.
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I am designing a mini-dungeon for an upcoming session. I can't decide how much gold the dungeon contains, though i think it might be around 225 gold (including silver and bronze). Here are some numbers:
Party:
Dungeon
Homebrew, homebrew, homebrew. I DM homebrew. I homebrew homebrew. My homebrew brews homebrew. I brewed by home. My home brews homebrewed homebrew, homebrewing homebrew that homebrews homebrewing homebrew.
You can always just use the Treasure Tables in Chapter 7 of the DMG, to populate the treasure based on the CR of the monsters fought: https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dmg/treasure#TreasureTables
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
Loot also doesn't have to be gold/silver;
I enjoy placing objects d'art (paintings, ivory statues) that can have a cool backstory and also possibly worth money to a collector/antiquer; the party I am DM'ing are currently having the zombie servant trying to drag around an ornate, vibrant colored silken tapestry that's 20 ft long and weighs a hundred+ pounds which I think is pretty funny at the moment given how inconvenient it is; but someone in a big city will doubt pay big gold for the unique religious panorama of an obscure dwarven creation myth.
Boldly go
Going off of what Johnwinstonh said and Vedexent is that it does not always have to be gold. If you are using the DM guide you can use the treasure tables to estimate how much should be in the dungeon but then break it up into valuables. Magical items, artwork, statues, jewels in addition to actual currency pieces. Players love looking through every nook and cranny for valuables and honestly if you have any secret rooms place a few maybe choicer items that could help them in their fight or would be worth more. Nothing makes you feel better than finding a whole room with treatures. It also leads to interesting roleplaying moments when they try to figure out how to move some of the stuff, if any of the items are cursed or as you are doing having one of the gems be a monster (nice touch by the way.) Overall your price is fair for each PC gets roughly about 50+ gp which is a fair amount for level 1s.
There are various loot generators online that can automate the process of choosing loot from the loot tables in both the DMG and XgtE for you.
My personal favorite is the ******* one.
I use this table tons, but also base the loot/gold off of how much difficulty the party goes through and what kind of area it is in
just a person who likes games and has zero free time
Just to throw in my two cents ...
The value of the treasure should be determined after consulting the various tables in the PHB and DMG. Im pretty sure there are tables for XP, treasure and encounter building that will give you a good target. Adjust however you see fit; cause you are the DM.
After you get the value target, then I think about what sort of items would collect in this monster's treasure. There are a couple typical sources. What has the monster gone out to collect, and now they save as treasured items. This can be expensive or very mundane stuff. If you go camping, you know how you might become quite attached to your camping utensils, plate, bowl, mug, and your cooking wear. But a general person that doesn't go camping would see this as junk. Even a large bowl to wash in and a pitcher to carry water would be important to a camper. And so would a comfortable bed and a dry / warm place to sleep. So some of the 'treasure' is going to be mundane stuff. But there will also be really cool stuff like money, jewels and art in there as well.
The second source of treasure might be 'tribute' some nearby folks offer the monster to leave them alone, or even defend the area. This would be stuff like food for the most part. But it could be treasure they obtained on their own adventures.
The third source of treasure will be the left overs from all the adventurers that encountered this monster before you came along. So this might include weapons, armor, backpacks, blankets and mundane stuff, but also some really valuable stuff that looks like mundane stuff, like a map. I have always used treasures to plant maps as "hooks" to entice the party to dive into an adventure I prepared as a side quest. Maybe instead of a map, it is a letter. Letters can achieve the same thing.
But, as a DM, I always want the treasure to make sense. I wouldn't have a flying monster encountered on the side of a mountain in or near their lair to have a collection of water breathing potions, unless I could really explain it. As a player, I find truly random treasures boring and disappointing. I recall one time my party defeated a Drow outcast and a handful of giant spiders in a basement of an abandoned building, only to find a trapped chest with gold pieces and a neatly folded Elven Chain armor shirt, and some other artworks. The treasure was inconsistent with the situation and I felt let down. I didn't say anything about it because I feel the DM is giving me a gift just to go through the work to prepare a dungeon, but in private I think he missed an opportunity to make a better story.
Good luck and enjoy the game.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt