Some other ideas for loot: Tapestries were very expensive to make, and therefore worth a lot. Purple dye was super expensive, worth more than its weight in gold, so a small container of purple dye is probably worth more than a chest of coins.
Another thing that was super valuable in Real Life during the medieval period: spices. Some of the most valuable loot in a lord's castle might be the box full of spices from foreign lands. The lady of the manor usually held the key to this box.
@@Bluecho4 additionally, SALT (its technically not a spice just a preservative & flavor enhancer) can be super valuable, especially in inland empires. Famously Mali participated in the gold salt trade where they bought salt with gold for a 1:1 ratio by weight. I also believe that in the region of South America where the legend of El Dorado originated the locals used Salt pucks as money (gold was for the gods). Other interesting currencies include shells (wampum) by the Iroquois confederacy (and presumably other natives in the region), the Aztecs used chocolate (they didn't have sugar so they used peppers). Moral of the story, get creative with what has value to a given culture, you could probably add maple syrup as a high value luxury item only the woodelves know how to make and guarding the secret is a cornerstone of their economy. Maybe a local bird has beautiful feathers and the locals ethically collect them when they shed them annually but this year poachers are a problem (hey look free sidequest).
@@Bluecho4 in real life medieval history pepper to gold would be 1:1, 3:1 or even 5:1 by weight in different regions. Especially remote ones. Good weapons and armour were also expensive as hell, as well as quality horses - a fancy white young stailion is worth a ton of money.
Small caveat though, all this falls apart the second a cheaper alternative is found. For example, when a reliable and cheap purple dye was finally sinthesized in 1860 no one really wanted to buy Thyrean Purpur anymore. So if there is any way to get this stuff easily in-universe, then it's gonna be a lot less pricey. Similarly, if an in-universe good is really rare, then even if demand isn't all that high it's still going to be super expensive.
The part about how mages would store stuff inspired me so hard i had to stop the video, design a whole "small independant magic academy/study" and come back, only to get inspired for more world building, so thank you !
This also smoothly brings the mind towards thinking about secret placements and localisation. A chair with a skirt (I don't know the correct name, so just go with it) would be a good place to hide a key (stuck under it) for a minor secret, something personal for example.
The real treasure was the goblins we slaughtered along the way! But seriously having enemies carry loot with them makes way more sense than them leaving it in a chest somewhere.
Also, monsters can be butchered for valuable items. Hunters famously hunted many creatures to near extinction and poachers are still trying to repeate those sins just for pelts and bones and ivory. Add in magical properties such as a unicorn's horn and suddenly it becomes very worth while to properly field dress & butcher monsters. Also you can have bounties where you need to bring back proof of kills, or just mercenaries or goblins carrying their valuables on them and not leaving them in a chest somewhere for easy raiding by others.
@@matthewquan9083 My kobold Necromancer wouldn't be excited about killing people, even if he gets corpses to turn into skeletons and/or zombies and/or (much later) wights out of it. Animating corpses isn't what he became a Necromancer for, anyway: He was after the Clone spell. (And yes, I know, any Wizard can learn Clone, but he didn't know that at the time, and story-wise it makes more sense become a Necromancer if your goal is to "cheat death", as some people would call it.)
@@jasonreed7522 Already doing something like this! I had one player fake his death by chugging some venom from a homebrewed monster encountered a little earlier, it took me by surprise and it was a really neat way to get past a stealth sequence.
When our group played through Rise of the Runelords, we looted damn near everything: we took decorated doors off their hinges, we hauled off furniture and statues, we chiseled out architectural features from dungeons, took some creepy stained glass windows from the ruins of a haunted mansion, we even managed to haul a sunken barge from the bottom of a lake to restore it. Treasure is what you make of it!
@@9Johnny8 hey. You can get a shit load of armor out of a solid adamantine vault door. That's totally worth ignoring the treasure in the vault for once.
@@5peciesunkn0wn Exactly my point! The DM only thought of the hardness and the difficulty of getting into the vault. The players saw that the real treasure was the door they looted on the way...
I had forgotten about Ancient Rome's use of amphoras, or large fluted ceramic jugs. These were used to transport wine, grain, and sometimes coinage. They were made to be carried upon a man's back and were shaped such that they could be stacked for easier transport aboard ships. These make a great alternative to chests. If you're looking for alternate treasures, consider: -Trade goods: Yeah, I know, boring, but this was the major item raided for in past wars. - Livestock: the treasure that walks itself. - Land grants: Royalty and nobility would never suffer a rival to build upon their lands. Being granted a plot of land was a big deal in the past, and could set up a future stronghold or other base. Hell, a big enough reward might be the fortification itself. - Titles: Being a Lord, Lady, Laird, Baron, etc, comes with it's own buff to access and status. Sometimes, it's all in the name. - Allies: Followers, retainers, companions, pets, familiars and other allies are worth more than their weight in gold to the right player. - Romantic options: Some players are in it for the luuuuv. - Precious artwork: Valuable to some, really valuable to others, and loaded with plot hook options. - Magic items that scale with the player characters: Items that level with the players, unlocking new abilities or powers is always cool, and my players eat that up. This also unlocks other possible fetch quests and the like. - Luxury clothing, rugs, and other textiles: Looking good is great. Making others look great is better. - Special travel access: If players find things like planar portals, teleportation circles they control, or even cool vehicles like sailing vessels or airships, expect them to unlock future adventures and guard these things jealously. - Crafting materials: Players who want to craft magic items, custom spells, potions or scrolls eat this up like candy. That's just off the top of my head.
Great video, My only add on and this goes for adventure paths mostly, Cater your loot! Some magic long sword is cool and all, but if no one uses one, change it to something someone does.
As an early DM, I used to shower my players in magic items. It got to be disheartening to hear them call these items "trade bait" because they couldn't use them. I have since done as you suggest and it goes over so much better. I can absolutely vouch for this tip.
A common practice was a clay pot full of coins put under a loose flagstone or floorboards. Dwarven stonecunning can clue them in, but consider a pressure plate trap earlier to get their paranoia up.
The DMG has a very useful section on art items and similar non-monetary valuables at the very beginning of the Treasure chapter, on page 134. Great way to spice up your loot without boring the players with heaps of trade goods. Giving NPCs lootable trinkets on occasion can also make treasure-hunting more engaging without actually increasing the overall value of the haul.
me and my party have a habit to see the ENEMIES as the loot we try to salvage as much body parts from monsters as possible we go monster hunter on our enemies whenever possible!
@@theuncalledfor absolutelly! meat is meat and if you have too much, you can always sell it if its still fresh enough at the next town. also good to keep your stock of rations up, especially if you have a way to either smoke it or dry it. Salt pouch
...What if the small loot chest that somehow holds halbards and staves WAS a loot item? I'd be interested as hell in having a chest that can hold more than it's volume would imply. It's like a more stationary bag of holding.
Would be funny if there were multiple rusted spears in a chest that they should not fit into.... (Plot twist, the spears are worthless rusted out pieces of junk and the real treasure is the chest of holding they were stashed in...) Or at the very least have a small six inch by six inch chest that contains 40 old boots.... (Would be funny to see the players dig though the boots and not question how so many boots fit in such a small container.)
I think the cruelest thing I've never done as a DM is give the players a literal ton of gold. In the form of a single statue they couldn't figure out how to move.
Put a sword of midas at the start of a dungeon and have no other gold in the dungeon, with evidence of the sword being used previously (golden statues and walls/pillars) You could have an interesting role playing moment if you accidentally hit a creature or party member, you could use it as a utility item for puzzles. The party would have to go around hitting small stuff with the sword to get gold, maybe even grabbing golden chairs or tapestries
One reason for random gold and such is if the last adventurers to raid the dungeon didn't return. If a place is full of dead adventurers, it should be full of random adventuring gear.
I dunno about you, but I think a magical storage device that keeps leaves fresh as spell ingredients is probably far more valuable than whatever it stores.
@@masterthedungeon I always thought I wanted a real TARDIS to explore time and space, but you have helped me realize that the true blessing of a TARDIS would be better organization. Now I want one even more!
3:15 yes this is a very destructive habit I would evan go so far as to suggest Most people don't take money with them in excess of intended expenature. Think about it do you normally cash your paycheck just to put it in your purse or wallet?
Yes, sapient enemies should probably keep their valuables stored in a safe place, but the more they have, the more they can afford to keep on their bodies as spending money. Additionally, some more powerful enemies might consider their body to be a safer storage site than whatever stash they might have, since the stash would be unattended whenever they're not there, but loot on their body is always in sight, so if they're perceptive enough to spot pickpockets and powerful enough in combat to fend off bandits, gold on their body could considered safer than anywhere else.
When placing loot, in dungeons or other areas inhabited by monsters, especially sapient ones, I like to throw loose coins and jewelry and such around as decorations. While the value of gold as an economic good is not going to be on their minds, the fact that it's shiny is.
Some other ideas for loot:
Tapestries were very expensive to make, and therefore worth a lot.
Purple dye was super expensive, worth more than its weight in gold, so a small container of purple dye is probably worth more than a chest of coins.
Another thing that was super valuable in Real Life during the medieval period: spices.
Some of the most valuable loot in a lord's castle might be the box full of spices from foreign lands. The lady of the manor usually held the key to this box.
@@Bluecho4 additionally, SALT (its technically not a spice just a preservative & flavor enhancer) can be super valuable, especially in inland empires. Famously Mali participated in the gold salt trade where they bought salt with gold for a 1:1 ratio by weight. I also believe that in the region of South America where the legend of El Dorado originated the locals used Salt pucks as money (gold was for the gods).
Other interesting currencies include shells (wampum) by the Iroquois confederacy (and presumably other natives in the region), the Aztecs used chocolate (they didn't have sugar so they used peppers).
Moral of the story, get creative with what has value to a given culture, you could probably add maple syrup as a high value luxury item only the woodelves know how to make and guarding the secret is a cornerstone of their economy. Maybe a local bird has beautiful feathers and the locals ethically collect them when they shed them annually but this year poachers are a problem (hey look free sidequest).
@@Bluecho4 in real life medieval history pepper to gold would be 1:1, 3:1 or even 5:1 by weight in different regions. Especially remote ones.
Good weapons and armour were also expensive as hell, as well as quality horses - a fancy white young stailion is worth a ton of money.
Small caveat though, all this falls apart the second a cheaper alternative is found. For example, when a reliable and cheap purple dye was finally sinthesized in 1860 no one really wanted to buy Thyrean Purpur anymore. So if there is any way to get this stuff easily in-universe, then it's gonna be a lot less pricey. Similarly, if an in-universe good is really rare, then even if demand isn't all that high it's still going to be super expensive.
I'm pretty sure this channel is roughly 50% of my ID&Deas-playlist by now...
Turned on the notifications.
It is so worth it
Haha, glad that we could be so helpful! Hopefully your players don't figure it out!
The part about how mages would store stuff inspired me so hard i had to stop the video, design a whole "small independant magic academy/study" and come back, only to get inspired for more world building, so thank you !
This also smoothly brings the mind towards thinking about secret placements and localisation.
A chair with a skirt (I don't know the correct name, so just go with it) would be a good place to hide a key (stuck under it) for a minor secret, something personal for example.
These are great examples! Sounds like you've almost created Oprah's dungeon ("Everyone check under your chair! It's new armor!")
@@masterthedungeon Oh no...
I'm definitely doing that.
The real treasure was the goblins we slaughtered along the way!
But seriously having enemies carry loot with them makes way more sense than them leaving it in a chest somewhere.
The Necromancer agrees with you. They are more excited finding corpses than loot.
Also, monsters can be butchered for valuable items. Hunters famously hunted many creatures to near extinction and poachers are still trying to repeate those sins just for pelts and bones and ivory.
Add in magical properties such as a unicorn's horn and suddenly it becomes very worth while to properly field dress & butcher monsters.
Also you can have bounties where you need to bring back proof of kills, or just mercenaries or goblins carrying their valuables on them and not leaving them in a chest somewhere for easy raiding by others.
@@matthewquan9083
My kobold Necromancer wouldn't be excited about killing people, even if he gets corpses to turn into skeletons and/or zombies and/or (much later) wights out of it.
Animating corpses isn't what he became a Necromancer for, anyway: He was after the Clone spell. (And yes, I know, any Wizard can learn Clone, but he didn't know that at the time, and story-wise it makes more sense become a Necromancer if your goal is to "cheat death", as some people would call it.)
@@jasonreed7522 Already doing something like this! I had one player fake his death by chugging some venom from a homebrewed monster encountered a little earlier, it took me by surprise and it was a really neat way to get past a stealth sequence.
When our group played through Rise of the Runelords, we looted damn near everything: we took decorated doors off their hinges, we hauled off furniture and statues, we chiseled out architectural features from dungeons, took some creepy stained glass windows from the ruins of a haunted mansion, we even managed to haul a sunken barge from the bottom of a lake to restore it. Treasure is what you make of it!
There is a legendary tale of players taking the adamantine vault door off its hinges, while ignoring the contents of the vault...
@@9Johnny8 hey. You can get a shit load of armor out of a solid adamantine vault door. That's totally worth ignoring the treasure in the vault for once.
@@5peciesunkn0wn Exactly my point! The DM only thought of the hardness and the difficulty of getting into the vault.
The players saw that the real treasure was the door they looted on the way...
@@9Johnny8 So, note to self; tiny adamantine vault with maybe enough for like, a helmet. lol
Your group sounds like my Druid.
I had forgotten about Ancient Rome's use of amphoras, or large fluted ceramic jugs. These were used to transport wine, grain, and sometimes coinage. They were made to be carried upon a man's back and were shaped such that they could be stacked for easier transport aboard ships. These make a great alternative to chests.
If you're looking for alternate treasures, consider:
-Trade goods: Yeah, I know, boring, but this was the major item raided for in past wars.
- Livestock: the treasure that walks itself.
- Land grants: Royalty and nobility would never suffer a rival to build upon their lands. Being granted a plot of land was a big deal in the past, and could set up a future stronghold or other base. Hell, a big enough reward might be the fortification itself.
- Titles: Being a Lord, Lady, Laird, Baron, etc, comes with it's own buff to access and status. Sometimes, it's all in the name.
- Allies: Followers, retainers, companions, pets, familiars and other allies are worth more than their weight in gold to the right player.
- Romantic options: Some players are in it for the luuuuv.
- Precious artwork: Valuable to some, really valuable to others, and loaded with plot hook options.
- Magic items that scale with the player characters: Items that level with the players, unlocking new abilities or powers is always cool, and my players eat that up. This also unlocks other possible fetch quests and the like.
- Luxury clothing, rugs, and other textiles: Looking good is great. Making others look great is better.
- Special travel access: If players find things like planar portals, teleportation circles they control, or even cool vehicles like sailing vessels or airships, expect them to unlock future adventures and guard these things jealously.
- Crafting materials: Players who want to craft magic items, custom spells, potions or scrolls eat this up like candy.
That's just off the top of my head.
Great video, My only add on and this goes for adventure paths mostly, Cater your loot! Some magic long sword is cool and all, but if no one uses one, change it to something someone does.
Great tip!
As an early DM, I used to shower my players in magic items. It got to be disheartening to hear them call these items "trade bait" because they couldn't use them.
I have since done as you suggest and it goes over so much better. I can absolutely vouch for this tip.
A common practice was a clay pot full of coins put under a loose flagstone or floorboards. Dwarven stonecunning can clue them in, but consider a pressure plate trap earlier to get their paranoia up.
Great way to apply your "traps in a bottle" idea.
Also the spell Minimus containment could be rampant in a mage's lair.
The DMG has a very useful section on art items and similar non-monetary valuables at the very beginning of the Treasure chapter, on page 134. Great way to spice up your loot without boring the players with heaps of trade goods. Giving NPCs lootable trinkets on occasion can also make treasure-hunting more engaging without actually increasing the overall value of the haul.
A locked chest was the safe of the day.
me and my party have a habit to see the ENEMIES as the loot
we try to salvage as much body parts from monsters as possible
we go monster hunter on our enemies whenever possible!
Don't waste the meat! If the monster is edible, anyway.
@@theuncalledfor absolutelly!
meat is meat and if you have too much, you can always sell it if its still fresh enough at the next town. also good to keep your stock of rations up, especially if you have a way to either smoke it or dry it.
Salt pouch
New subscriber, love the content, love the delivery. Hard to find fresh perspectives for DMs for this game but this Channel has it.
Subscribed. I've been finding these to be good watches. Thank you!
I've been binchwatching all of your videoes. I love 'em
Your channel, art style and animation reminds me of Ted Ed animation short series❤️👏
What a wonderful complement, thank you! If only we had their production value!
1:28 Those containers look like they are worth a lot more than what is in them.
I use a weapon deterioration homebrew rule in my games and having items displayed like that works like a charm.
Awesome ideas! Loot is a fun part of the game, so we should make their storage and acquisition more interesting.
Absolutely. Why go to all the trouble of creating a descriptive location and ruin it with loot that doesn't fit?
...What if the small loot chest that somehow holds halbards and staves WAS a loot item? I'd be interested as hell in having a chest that can hold more than it's volume would imply. It's like a more stationary bag of holding.
@@jessegd6306 like that Quiver of Elona magic item or whatever it's called in the DMG.
Would be funny if there were multiple rusted spears in a chest that they should not fit into.... (Plot twist, the spears are worthless rusted out pieces of junk and the real treasure is the chest of holding they were stashed in...) Or at the very least have a small six inch by six inch chest that contains 40 old boots.... (Would be funny to see the players dig though the boots and not question how so many boots fit in such a small container.)
That is what I thought when I saw them pulling spears out of the small chest.
I'm stealing the boots one lol. (obviously everything they put into it should come out smelling like old, musty boots lol)
I think the cruelest thing I've never done as a DM is give the players a literal ton of gold. In the form of a single statue they couldn't figure out how to move.
*yoink*
Animate Object: Let the statue take itself back to town
Put a sword of midas at the start of a dungeon and have no other gold in the dungeon, with evidence of the sword being used previously (golden statues and walls/pillars)
You could have an interesting role playing moment if you accidentally hit a creature or party member, you could use it as a utility item for puzzles.
The party would have to go around hitting small stuff with the sword to get gold, maybe even grabbing golden chairs or tapestries
Another interesting video. Thanks for the effort you put into these.
Thanks, it's comments like this that fuel our fire. We really appreciate people like you who come back to the channel!
I've always pictured chests as roughly coffin sized.
One reason for random gold and such is if the last adventurers to raid the dungeon didn't return. If a place is full of dead adventurers, it should be full of random adventuring gear.
I dunno about you, but I think a magical storage device that keeps leaves fresh as spell ingredients is probably far more valuable than whatever it stores.
Ceramic urns were useful for both storing loot and holding down a trap's pressure trigger.
Clearly the traditional treasure chest is a type of TARDIS.
Very clearly. Although think of all the room clutter you could manage if you had one.
@@masterthedungeon I always thought I wanted a real TARDIS to explore time and space, but you have helped me realize that the true blessing of a TARDIS would be better organization. Now I want one even more!
Think of all the extra room you'd need if you were able to visit anywhere in time and space. Tchotchkes for days!
New trap idea. Give your players spears in a chest. Spring loaded.
A chest of holding
Alternately, players are paid to recover the remains of the previous party. That's one way to make sure the players get paid.
3:15 yes this is a very destructive habit I would evan go so far as to suggest Most people don't take money with them in excess of intended expenature. Think about it do you normally cash your paycheck just to put it in your purse or wallet?
Yes, sapient enemies should probably keep their valuables stored in a safe place, but the more they have, the more they can afford to keep on their bodies as spending money.
Additionally, some more powerful enemies might consider their body to be a safer storage site than whatever stash they might have, since the stash would be unattended whenever they're not there, but loot on their body is always in sight, so if they're perceptive enough to spot pickpockets and powerful enough in combat to fend off bandits, gold on their body could considered safer than anywhere else.
How does 5e handle appraisal checks? 3.5e had an actual skill for that
Also, what non-man-made "dungeons" like animal/monster dens?
0:52 it is because all chests are secretly chests of holding
unless they're mimics?
@@9Johnny8 no like a bag of holding but a chest
When placing loot, in dungeons or other areas inhabited by monsters, especially sapient ones, I like to throw loose coins and jewelry and such around as decorations. While the value of gold as an economic good is not going to be on their minds, the fact that it's shiny is.