An interesting experience today was looking at my D23 document and wondering what bonus fun stuff I would do for my saturday treat writing, and looking at the treasure tables, which I wrote out lovingly, with careful consideration to weighted values and interesting magic items and then wondering to myself, "Hang on, when would I actually roll on this?"
Sometimes, we can get caught up on what we expect we need to write, rather than what we actually need to write for use at the table. This was such a case; I thought I would need a treasure table, which are neat, but actually, some of my rooms already have treasures in them and for many of the encounters I have, the treasure table would have a lot of inappropriate results. So I rejigged it to something a bit simpler, a bit cleaner. Each type of encounter (i.e. goblin encounters, cave lizard encounters, etc.) have their own treasure tables based off of Jared's rarity dice; thus each are appropriately flavoured, have some nice variety within themselves, while also not being actually all that much effort to write.
(To give myself some fun back though, I'm still going to write out a special 2d6 treasure table that some encounters can roll for rarer treasures, I'm not just going to completely ditch the efforts I've already gone too after all. Plus I like writing them so there.)
To preserve the old table for posterity though, I've edited it slightly to make it a bit more general, because I think the actual distribution of stuff on it is quite neat, and it might be a format I use again in the future, just for a different type of project.
Treasure Table (2d6)
2 - Spellbook (contain 2 random rituals), roll a d6:
- 1-3, belonging to a magical power within the dungeon
- 4-6, belonging to a magical power foreign to the dungeon
3 - Minor Magic Item, roll a d6:
- 1-2, goblin finger on a stick, those poked by it must Brawn Save or vomit profusely
- 3-4, a bag of marbles containing bird skulls, when placed on the floor they follow the shortest path to where the sky can be seen, pop after 100ft of rolling.
- 5-6, a dagger of milky white glass, embed the blade in the heart of a corpse and it will rise as a 3HD zombie as long as the blade remains. Grants no particular control over the zombie.
4 - Precious Art Object (d6 x 100sp), roll a d6:
- 1-2, gold goblet with four red rubies set into the cup
- 3-4, brass statue of curious deity, inlaid with electrum
- 5-6, brooch whose chain links are each esoteric icons
5 - Valuable Art Object (2d6 x 10sp), roll a d6:
- 1-2, goblet with golden rim and base
- 3-4, gilded candlestick
- 5-6, ring bearing occult insignia
6, 7, 8 - Tattered pouch containing [the 2d6 result] x 5sp
9 - Biological Treasure (d20 x 5sp), roll a d6:
- 1-2, Stink Sack - crush to produce a smell local dungeon fauna can’t stand
- 3-4, Alchemist’s Lily - grows without light, when crushed the pulp purifies water
- 5-6, Ultra-Violet Blossom - secrets an oil that kills floral or fungal infections
10 - Mineral Treasure (d20 x 20sp), roll a d6:
- 1-2, deposit of salt
- 3-4, iron-ore
- 5-6, flakes of quartz-crystal
11 - Useful Item, roll a d6:
- 1-2, a partial adventurer map, showing 2d6 nearby rooms
- 3-4, a thick iron key, unlocking a door on the next level
- 5-6, a valuable token of an intelligent monster two levels down
12 - Magic Weapon, roll a d6:
- 1-3, A blade of fine make, the blade is always frosted, and cold to the touch. Can freeze water with prolonged contact, and when making an attack test, if you roll your HD exactly you freeze the target, who must break free from the ice to act normally.
- 4-6, A well balanced arrow carved from unfamiliar bone. When fired, if the attack misses the arrow’s flight bends back around. Reroll the attack test. If it still misses the arrow returns to it’s firer’s quiver.