So my son asks, after I’ve been the GM for the second session of Hoard of the Dragon Queen, ‘Where’s the treasure?'”
“We really need to find some treasure,” he continues. “I wanna buy that thing that will let me shoot an arrow with a line so we can climb up walls.”
“You mean, some kind of grappling line?”
“Yeah. But my rope is too heavy for an arrow.”
Yes, it is.
“I might need a crossbow, too.”
That would be handy, I agree.
“That takes money. We need to find some treasure.”
It is so gratifying to hear my preteen son grasp the most basic tenets of Dungeons and Dragons: Kill monsters, take their stuff, buy goodies for the PC.
The adventure has treasure. There’s a sidebar about kobolds and cultists running around with the spoils they’ve collected from ransacking the village. These rampaging cultists have d6 x 10 gp worth of trinkets stuffed in their pockets.
But the group’s cleric declared this treasure off limits. Blood money taken from the people of the village they are trying to protect, he says. And from this perspective, he’s right. (Of course, scruples about monster treasure is always contextual. Where’d that loot in the dungeon come from? It’s not like those goblins and bugbears got their gold pieces from working a shift at Culver’s Butterburgers.)
So when the dust settles, where will the treasure come from?
> Gifts from the villagers? Unlikely. They’ll need every dime to rebuild once the cultists are routed.
> Reward from the castle’s governor? It would be a typical GM move. But largess from the folks in charge seems even less likely, in my opinion. Maybe I’m reading the adventure wrong, but it seems to be that the governor would be the sort to pat the adventures on the head with an attaboy and send them on their way.
> Love offering from the temple? This has possibilities. The PCs rescued the priest and his flock. It would be in their nature to express their gratitude. But it would be a modest gift (but enough to get my son his grappling contraction).
> Get to one of the bad guys’ bosses? I like this one. Those folks have whole batches of treasure unconnected to the town, and it would be fun to upturn their purses. And beating a big bad should entail some treasure. The governor would probably like to tax or claim the lot of it, I suppose, but he’s hardly in a position to assert his authority or quibble about it.
Finding a means to reward the adventurers within the context of the module’s story is always more gratifying than some easy bequeathing of treasure from on high. Think about where the treasure will come from.
I’ve got a PC who has a grappling hook to purchase.
How about the Guv sending the adventurers towards a new ‘threat’, like the bad guys’ bosses, and then them finding the treasure.
Have the Guv say something about he doesn’t want anything to do with said bad guy. This way the players can keep all the treasure without feeling bad.
Not to spoil the adventure, but that’s the tack for Episode 2.
I hope it surprises no one, but I write these articles in advance. We are farther along in the module than this article indicates.
Rationalizing where the treasure comes from is one of the sore spots in fantasy games. The bad guys often stole it from someone else. If you’re the good guys, shouldn’t you return it? Alas, the usual solution is not to think about this too hard lest the game lose its fun.
That said, there are a few ways you can offer the PCs rewards while including the moral lesson of returning stolen items to their rightful owners:
1. The villagers are thrilled with what the PCs have done. Though they are not wealthy they offer a small reward.
2. People in small villages often have very little coin wealth but can offer items and services as rewards. Possibly someone even has a grappling hook hanging in their barn that would serve better in a young hero’s kit than gathering cobwebs.
3. Some of the recovered treasure can come from people who died without surviving relatives. It’s ethically more reasonable for the PCs to claim this treasure for themselves.
4. Is the governor at all grateful? He could pay a modest reward or bounty out of his treasury. You know, the treasury accumulated by taxing the populace for, among other things, protecting them.
Rationalizing where the treasure comes from is one of the sore spots in fantasy games.
That’s largely the conclusion I’ve come to as well. One of the most glaring examples was a game where a Paladin was playing as very pious, even burying his foes at the end of combats. But he also wanted loot, and would twist his characterization to ensure that his allies could remove the loot before he buried his foes.
Inherent bonuses is one solution; if you’re not on an upgrade treadmill, it’s easier to be generous–or to blow the money on a big night on the seedy side of town.
@Blackjack
Solution 2 is my favorite. Unfortunately not all players are as forthcoming about what they want or need, as Troy’s son. Far too often they are amassing treasure for the sole purpose of going on a “shopping spree.” Something I’ve outlawed a long time ago for the same line of reasoning that is being discussed here—Rationalizing where all those wonderful toys came from!
On a side note, I’ve never really cared about where my treasure came from. It’s a cruel world, stuff happens, sometimes that stuff belonged to someone else. Are PCs turning down the reward from the possibly unscrupulous town elder who may or may not have taxed the heck out of his fellow townsfolk? Are they thinking about where other treasure comes from? Goblins slay travelers; Elves slay goblins; Elves pay PCs to rescue friend. The above example of the cleric seems like just an annoyingly simple character trope if not pursued to its fullest. Apologies if that’s a preteen gamer as well:)
Final rationalization: The treasure we “earn” now, helps make us powerful enough to help a far greater number of folks later.
In low level games I routinely use all 4 solutions in combination. Each highlights a different dimension of the story. Approach #2 works well to show the PCs that they get recognition for their good deeds, even if that recognition does not involve rich financial reward. Villagers shower them with baked goods, provide free room and board, mend their gear and clothes, lend or give them ordinary equipment, etc. Pretty soon, in most cases, the PCs are embarrassed by the generosity and politely ask the villagers to stop.
Good suggestions. Though I tend to agree that rationalization of treasure is one of the games’ rabbit holes, dealing with it situationally does work. I think in the above example, our cleric is more calculating than he lets on. Not plundering the Kobold mauraders’ pockets is more about lifting the party’s profile among the toe
Wn’s defenders. The party doesn’t loot, they MUST be the good guys!
I’ve also generally assumed any group of bandits sizable enough to threaten a community will have a bounty of some sort on their heads by the local baron or duke.
It makes sense for local nobles to place bounties on villainous organizations as suitable incentive for wandering adventurer parties to risk life and limb to take them down.
In regards to recovered treasure anything more specific than “gold” is usually gem stones and other valuables in the form of jewelry. Jewelry of any value I usually assume is likely unique pieces stolen from wealthy people who will offer a reward of some sort for its safe return, especially if the pieces are family heirlooms.
(One could make a short series of adventures out of returning the contents of a jewelry case to its rightful owners)
Aside from monetary rewards wealthy nobles/merchants can also offer adventurers discounts at any business they happen to own, or even small pieces of land for them to manage if the GM wishes to tie them to a specific area more permanently.
Even poor townsfolk can offer a reward of free lodging at the inn and priority service on armor repairs and top shelf booze at the local waterhole at below list prices.
More than such rewards however is the reputation gain adventurers receive upon returning valuable treasure to its rightful owners.
If the local Duke needs someone to fetch his kidnapped daughter or retrieve the crown jewels he’s much more likely to choose the adventuring party with a rep for honesty and righteousness over greed.
It also would make sense for him to likely be a bit more generous with the reward, or at least in helping to outfit such “good people” for the task at hand.
As it turns out, I opted for multiple solutions, too. As the PCs saved various elements in town, each was able to provide a reward appropriate to each PC. Many of the suggestions here were in the same line as those actually used.