Designing Encounters
The heart of any adventure is its encounters. An
encounter is any event that puts a specific problem efore the PCs that
they must solve. Most encounters present combat with monsters or hostile
NPCs, but there are many other types—a trapped corridor, a political
interaction with a suspicious king, a dangerous passage over a rickety
rope bridge, an awkward argument with a friendly NPC who suspects a PC
has betrayed him, or anything that adds drama to the game. Brain-teasing
puzzles, roleplaying challenges, and skill checks are all classic
methods for resolving encounters, but the most complex encounters to
build are the most common ones—combat encounters.
When designing a combat encounter, you first decide what
level of challenge you want your PCs to face, then follow the steps
outlined below.
Step 1—Determine APL
Determine the average level of your player characters—this is their Average Party Level
(APL for short). You should round this value to the nearest whole
number (this is one of the few exceptions to the round down rule). Note
that these encounter creation guidelines assume a group of four or five
PCs. If your group contains six or more players, add one to their
average level. If your group contains three or fewer players, subtract
one from their average level. For example, if your group consists of six
players, two of which are 4th level and four of which are 5th level,
their APL is 6th (28 total levels, divided by six players, rounding up,
and adding one to the final result).
Step 2—Determine CR
Challenge Rating
(or CR) is a convenient number used to indicate the relative danger
presented by a monster, trap, hazard, or other encounter—the higher the
CR, the more dangerous the encounter. Refer to Table: Encounter Design
to determine the Challenge Rating your group should face, depending on
the difficulty of the challenge you want and the group's APL.
Table: Encounter Design
| Difficulty |
Challenge Rating Equals… |
| Easy |
APL –1 |
| Average |
APL |
| Challenging |
APL +1 |
| Hard |
APL +2 |
| Epic |
APL +3 |
Step 3—Build the Encounter
Determine the total XP award for the encounter by looking it up by its CR on Table: Experience Point Awards.
This gives you an “XP budget” for the encounter. Every creature, trap,
and hazard is worth an amount of XP determined by its CR, as noted on Table: Experience Point Awards.
To build your encounter, simply add creatures, traps, and hazards whose
combined XP does not exceed the total XP budget for your encounter.
It's easiest to add the highest CR challenges to the encounter first,
filling out the remaining total with lesser challenges.
Table: Experience Point Awards
| CR |
Total XP |
Individual XP |
| 1-3 |
4-5 |
6+ |
| 1/8 |
50 |
15 |
15 |
10 |
| 1/6 |
65 |
20 |
15 |
10 |
| 1/4 |
100 |
35 |
25 |
15 |
| 1/3 |
135 |
45 |
35 |
25 |
| 1/2 |
200 |
65 |
50 |
35 |
| 1 |
400 |
135 |
100 |
65 |
| 2 |
600 |
200 |
150 |
100 |
| 3 |
800 |
265 |
200 |
135 |
| 4 |
1,200 |
400 |
300 |
200 |
| 5 |
1,600 |
535 |
400 |
265 |
| 6 |
2,400 |
800 |
600 |
400 |
| 7 |
3,200 |
1,070 |
800 |
535 |
| 8 |
4,800 |
1,600 |
1,200 |
800 |
| 9 |
6,400 |
2,130 |
1,600 |
1,070 |
| 10 |
9,600 |
3,200 |
2,400 |
1,600 |
| 11 |
12,800 |
4,270 |
3,200 |
2,130 |
| 12 |
19,200 |
6,400 |
4,800 |
3,200 |
| 13 |
25,600 |
8,530 |
6,400 |
4,270 |
| 14 |
38,400 |
12,800 |
9,600 |
6,400 |
| 15 |
51,200 |
17,100 |
12,800 |
8,530 |
| 16 |
76,800 |
25,600 |
19,200 |
12,800 |
| 17 |
102,400 |
34,100 |
25,600 |
17,100 |
| 18 |
153,600 |
51,200 |
38,400 |
25,600 |
| 19 |
204,800 |
68,300 |
51,200 |
34,100 |
| 20 |
307,200 |
102,000 |
76,800 |
51,200 |
| 21 |
409,600 |
137,000 |
102,400 |
68,300 |
| 22 |
614,400 |
205,000 |
153,600 |
102,400 |
| 23 |
819,200 |
273,000 |
204,800 |
137,000 |
| 24 |
1,228,800 |
410,000 |
307,200 |
204,800 |
| 25 |
1,638,400 |
546,000 |
409,600 |
273,000 |
For example, let's say you want your group of six 8th-level PCs to face a challenging encounter against a group of gargoyles (each CR 4) and their stone giant boss (CR 8). The PCs have an APL of 9, and Table: Encounter Design tells you that a challenging encounter for your APL 9 group is a CR 10 encounter—worth 9,600 XP according to Table: Experience Point Awards. At CR 8, the stone giant is worth 4,800 XP, leaving you with another 4,800 points in your XP budget for the gargoyles. Gargoyles are CR 4 each, and thus worth 1,200 XP apiece, meaning that the encounter can support four gargoyles in its XP budget. You could further refine the encounter by including only three gargoyles, leaving you with 1,200 XP to spend on a trio of Small earth elemental servants (at CR 1, each is worth 400 XP) to further aid the stone giant.
Adding NPCs: Creatures whose Hit Dice are solely a
factor of their class levels and not a feature of their race, such as
all of the PC races detailed in Races,
are factored into combats a little differently than normal monsters or
monsters with class levels. A creature that possesses class levels, but
does not have any racial Hit Dice, is factored in as a creature with a
CR equal to its class levels –1. A creature that only possesses non-player class levels (such as a warrior or adept)
is factored in as a creature with a CR equal to its class levels –2. If
this reduction would reduce a creature's CR to below 1, its CR drops
one step on the following progression for each step below 1 this
reduction would make: 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/6, 1/8.
High CR Encounters: The XP values for high-CR encounters can seem quite daunting. Table: CR Equivalencies
provides some simple formulas to help you manage these large numbers.
When using a large number of identical creatures, this chart can help
simplify the math by combining them into one CR, making it easier to
find their total XP value. For example, using this chart, four CR 8
creatures (worth 4,800 XP each) are equivalent to a CR 12 creature
(worth 19,200 XP).
Table: CR Equivalencies
| Number of Creatures |
Equal to… |
| 1 Creature |
CR |
| 2 Creatures |
CR +2 |
| 3 Creatures |
CR +3 |
| 4 Creatures |
CR +4 |
| 6 Creatures |
CR +5 |
| 8 Creatures |
CR +6 |
| 12 Creatures |
CR +7 |
| 16 Creatures |
CR +8 |
Ad Hoc CR Adjustments: While you can adjust a
specific monster's CR by advancing it, applying templates, or giving it
class levels, you can also adjust an encounter's difficulty by applying
ad hoc adjustments to the encounter or creature itself. Listed here are
three additional ways you can alter an encounter's difficulty.
- Favorable Terrain for the PCs: An encounter against a monster that's out of its favored element (like a yeti encountered in a sweltering cave with lava, or an enormous dragon
encountered in a tiny room) gives the PCs an advantage. Build the
encounter as normal, but when you award experience for the encounter, do
so as if the encounter were one CR lower than its actual CR.
- Unfavorable Terrain for the PCs: Monsters are designed with the assumption that they are encountered in their favored terrain—encountering a water-breathing aboleth
in an underwater area does not increase the CR for that encounter, even
though none of the PCs breathe water. If, on the other hand, the
terrain impacts the encounter significantly (such as an encounter
against a creature with blindsight
in an area that suppresses all light), you can, at your option,
increase the effective XP award as if the encounter's CR were one
higher.
- NPC Gear Adjustments: You can significantly
increase or decrease the power level of an NPC with class levels by
adjusting the NPC's gear. The combined value of an NPC's gear is given
in Creating NPCs on Table: NPC Gear.
A classed NPC encountered with no gear should have his CR reduced by 1
(provided that loss of gear actually hampers the NPC), while a classed
NPC that instead has gear equivalent to that of a PC (as listed on Table: Character Wealth by Level)
has a CR of 1 higher than his actual CR. Be careful awarding NPCs this
extra gear, though—especially at high levels, where you can blow out
your entire adventure's treasure budget in one fell swoop!
| Source: Paizo Blog
Gamemastery GuideIntroduction
Welcome,
Game Masters, to a collection of advice and inspiration, tools and
rules, designed for a game like none other: your own. Whether you’re a
new player excited to take your first steps into the limitless world of
fantasy roleplaying or a veteran Game Master with decades of
experience, the following information offers far more than just advice
on using funny voices and inventing quirky characters—it contains a vast
arsenal of tools and techniques designed to improve the gaming
experience for both you and your players, from the moment inspiration
strikes to the finale of any campaign.
For the
novice Game Master, you will find suggestions on how to begin a game and
make it as fantastical as you can imagine, recommendations on how to
find players and keep them coming back, tips on dealing with player- and
adventure-related problems, and details on creating everything your
game needs, from characters, to settings, to entire campaigns.
Defining
the Game MasterYou might already know what a Game Master is. The
likely definition, if you’re reading this, is “you.” But if you don’t
know, a Game Master (or GM) is the Pathfinder RPG player who arbitrates
the rules of the game and controls the actions of every game element
that isn’t explicitly controlled by the other players. But as any
experienced Game Master knows, being a GM is also much, much more.
Host:
Game Masters are the unifying force behind most of the game,
not just organizing a social event but providing excitement and
entertainment for those who participate. Chapter 1: Getting Started
focuses on the GM’s role as a host, presenting considerations on how to
start a game, how to prepare for a session, and how to select a tone and
rules that players will be eager to explore.
Mastermind: GMs work to keep a
game’s momentum moving in directions that entertain all the players
while exploring the stories and settings they desire. To such ends, a GM
manipulates dozens of elements, from how narrative components unfold to
what rules are used and how they function in every situation. Chapter
2: Running a Game addresses a variety of topics that help GMs handle
some of the most complicated aspects of their duties, from the details
of how a GM actually performs in-game and frames a story to ways to
create adventures and juggle the myriad aspects of a campaign.
Mediator: Just as GMs make
sure all of a game’s plots and rules work together to entertain, they
must also ensure that the players themselves mesh and cooperate. From
tips on handling unusual characters and common PC problems to the
delicate tasks of introducing new players and addressing the needs of
several gamer archetypes, Chapter 3: Player Characters offers GMs a
host of suggestions to help them avoid, ease, and handle the wide
variety of challenges that arise from both ingame characters and their
real-world players. Actor: Through the GM, the
cast of entire fantasy worlds takes the stage. In a given session, a
Game Master might play a generous peasant or a conniving king, a
rampaging dragon or an enigmatic deity. Whatever the persona, the GM’s
characters are only as convincing, endearing, despicable, or memorable
as the person who portrays them. Chapter 4: Nonplayer Characters deals
with designing and depicting nonplayer characters, encouraging players
to take a vested interest in NPCs, creating sinister villains, and many
more suggestions to bring even the smallest role to life.
Patron: While GMs constantly
confront their players with all sorts of dangers, they also serve as the
source of every reward the PCs ever gain, from each experience point to
treasures of legend. Chapter 5: Rewards aids GMs in creating and
managing a wide variety of rewards, and includes ways to handle common
challenges presented by character wealth and bring new life and
adventure to old treasures. World Builder: Whether
running games on Golarion, home of the official Pathfinder campaign
setting, or on a world of their own creation, GMs control nearly every
aspect of an entire fantasy reality. With not just one world, but
perhaps even multiple planets, planes, or even stranger settings under
the GM’s direction, the more insight and forethought invested into the
ways and workings of locations, the more believable these become.
Details on these elements, along with considerations on societies, time,
technology, and more fill Chapter 6: Creating a World.
Storyteller: Among a GM’s
most important tasks is imagining and telling engaging stories. To aid
in this task, Chapter 7: Adventures presents expansive discussions on
several of the settings most common in the Pathfinder RPG, focusing on
considerations and helpful rules GMs can employ wherever their tales
might take them. In addition, numerous idea-generating charts and random
encounter tables assure that GMs never lack for details or excitement
once their stories reach their destinations.
Game Designer: Even with the
vast range of options presented in the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook,
only GMs know what threats their players might face or powers they might
come to control. Just as GMs arbitrate the rules within their games, so
can they manipulate, repurpose, and wholly invent new rules to improve
their games. Chapter 8: Advanced Topics not only offers GMs a variety
of new rule subsystems and considerations for running challenging types
of adventures, but also expands upon several existing rules elements and
demonstrates how GMs can customize the rules they already know to
perfectly fit the types of adventures they want to run.
Director: Over the course of a
campaign, Game Masters have need of dozens of characters and hundreds
of encounters, choosing and customizing each and presenting them however
best aids the overarching plot. Yet creating these elements can prove a
repetitive and time-consuming task. To aid in this process, Chapter
9: NPC Gallery unveils a gallery of dozens of stat blocks for the
types of NPCs most commonly encountered in the Pathfinder RPG. These
characters can be used however the GM wishes, allowing him to focus on
other, more exciting aspects of his campaigns.
Regardless of skill or experience as a Game
Master, it’s likely that every GM can identify one of these roles as an
area in which she lacks experience or confidence. This GameMastery Guide
seeks to address such needs, counseling on challenging aspects of
campaigns, contributing new options and inspirations, and refreshing the
game’s classic elements. Most importantly, the countless tools herein
are designed not to change games or tell GMs how they should play, but
rather to inspire new stories and save effort, leaving GMs with more
time to run exactly the adventures they and their groups want to play—or
have been playing for years. Gamemastery Guide on Resting in a DungeonIt
happens to every adventuring party—you power through half dozen or so
encounters and suddenly the prospect of facing the tougher encounters at
the end of the dungeon with your depleted resources seems foolish.
Often, the party has progressed far enough into the dungeon that merely
leaving the dungeon and coming back isn’t an option—especially if there
are a lot of deadly hazards or traps along the way, or if the dungeon’s
denizens are likely to repopulate rooms with reinforcements. In
such situations, a group of adventurers often chooses to rest inside of
a dungeon. Don’t let this rattle you! In fact, you should consider
putting a few rooms in your dungeon (especially if it’s a large complex)
that can be easily defended or work well as campsites. When a group of
PCs decides to rest in a dungeon, decide if the threats that remain will
challenge the adventurers—if you know that they need to recover their
strength, you should let them rest (but only after instilling a little
bit of paranoia by getting a schedule of watches and details on how they
fortify their campsite). But if you know that the group still has the
resources to forge ahead, feel free to have wandering monsters come by
to harass the characters while they relax. If
your PCs are habitual dungeon relaxers who rest after every encounter,
the dungeon’s inhabitants should catch on after a few naps and set up
some ambushes or assaults on the characters’ campsite. The goal is to
keep the PCs challenged without making things hopelessly difficult, and
to allow them time to recover when you feel they really need it—don’t
let them dictate when they’ll have the luxury of a full night’s sleep! |
Awarding Experience
Pathfinder
Roleplaying Game characters advance in level by defeating monsters,
overcoming challenges, and completing adventures—in so doing, they earn
experience points (XP for short). Although you can award experience
points as soon as a challenge is overcome, this can quickly disrupt the
flow of game play. It's easier to simply award experience points at the
end of a game session—that way, if a character earns enough XP to gain
a level, he won't disrupt the game while he levels up his character. He
can instead take the time between game sessions to do that.
Keep
a list of the CRs of all the monsters, traps, obstacles, and
roleplaying encounters the PCs overcome. At the end of each session,
award XP to each PC that participated. Each monster, trap, and obstacle
awards a set amount of XP, as determined by its CR, regardless of the
level of the party in relation to the challenge, although you should
never bother awarding XP for challenges that have a CR of 10 or more
lower than the APL. Pure roleplaying encounters generally have a CR
equal to the average level of the party (although particularly easy or
difficult roleplaying encounters might be one higher or lower). There
are two methods for awarding XP. While one is more exact, it requires a
calculator for ease of use. The other is slightly more abstract.
Exact
XP: Once the game session is over, take your list of defeated CR
numbers and look up the value of each CR on Table: Experience Point
Awards under the “Total XP” column. Add up the XP values for each CR
and then divide this total by the number of characters—each character
earns an amount of XP equal to this number.
Abstract XP:
Simply add up the individual XP awards listed for a group of the
appropriate size. In this case, the division is done for you—you need
only total up all the awards to determine how many XP to award to each
PC.
Story Awards: Feel free to award Story Awards when
players conclude a major storyline or make an important accomplishment.
These awards should be worth double the amount of experience points for
a CR equal to the APL. Particularly long or difficult story arcs might
award even more, at your discretion as GM.
Placing Treasure
As PCs gain levels, the amount of
treasure they carry and use increases as well. The game assumes that all PCs of equivalent level have roughly
equal amounts of treasure and magic items. Since the primary income for
a PC derives from treasure and loot gained from adventuring, it's
important to moderate the wealth and hoards you place in your
adventures. To aid in placing treasure, the amount of treasure and
magic items the PCs receive for their adventures is tied to the
Challenge Rating of the encounters they face—the higher an encounter's
CR, the more treasure it can award.
Table: Character Wealth
by Level lists the amount of treasure each PC is expected to have at a
specific level. Note that this table assumes a standard fantasy game.
Low-fantasy games might award only half this value, while high-fantasy
games might double the value. It is assumed that some of this treasure
is consumed in the course of an adventure (such as potions and
scrolls), and that some of the less useful items are sold for half
value so more useful gear can be purchased.
Table: Character Wealth by Level
| PC Level* |
Wealth |
| 2 |
1,000 gp |
| 3 |
3,000 gp |
| 4 |
6,000 gp |
| 5 |
10,500 gp |
| 6 |
16,000 gp |
| 7 |
23,500 gp |
| 8 |
33,000 gp |
| 9 |
46,000 gp |
| 10 |
62,000 gp |
| 11 |
82,000 gp |
| 12 |
108,000 gp |
| 13 |
140,000 gp |
| 14 |
185,000 gp |
| 15 |
240,000 gp |
| 16 |
315,000 gp |
| 17 |
410,000 gp |
| 18 |
530,000 gp |
| 19 |
685,000 gp |
| 20 |
880,000 gp |
| * For 1st-level PCs, see table 6–1 in Equipment. |
Table:
Character Wealth by Level can also be used to budget gear for
characters starting above 1st level, such as a new character created to
replace a dead one. Characters should spend no more than half their
total wealth on any single item. For a balanced approach, PCs that are
built after 1st level should spend no more than 25% of their wealth on
weapons, 25% on armor and protective devices, 25% on other magic items,
15% on disposable items like potions, scrolls, and wands, and 10% on
ordinary gear and coins. Different character types might spend their
wealth differently than these percentages suggest; for example, arcane
casters might spend very little on weapons but a great deal more on
other magic items and disposable items.
Table: Treasure Values per Encounter
| Average Party Level |
Treasure per Encounter |
| Slow |
Medium |
Fast |
| 1 |
170 gp |
260 gp |
400 gp |
| 2 |
350 gp |
550 gp |
800 gp |
| 3 |
550 gp |
800 gp |
1,200 gp |
| 4 |
750 gp |
1,150 gp |
1,700 gp |
| 5 |
1,000 gp |
1,550 gp |
2,300 gp |
| 6 |
1,350 gp |
2,000 gp |
3,000 gp |
| 7 |
1,750 gp |
2,600 gp |
3,900 gp |
| 8 |
2,200 gp |
3,350 gp |
5,000 gp |
| 9 |
2,850 gp |
4,250 gp |
6,400 gp |
| 10 |
3,650 gp |
5,450 gp |
8,200 gp |
| 11 |
4,650 gp |
7,000 gp |
10,500 gp |
| 12 |
6,000 gp |
9,000 gp |
13,500 gp |
| 13 |
7,750 gp |
11,600 gp |
17,500 gp |
| 14 |
10,000 gp |
15,000 gp |
22,000 gp |
| 15 |
13,000 gp |
19,500 gp |
29,000 gp |
| 16 |
16,500 gp |
25,000 gp |
38,000 gp |
| 17 |
22,000 gp |
32,000 gp |
48,000 gp |
| 18 |
28,000 gp |
41,000 gp |
62,000 gp |
| 19 |
35,000 gp |
53,000 gp |
79,000 gp |
| 20 |
44,000 gp |
67,000 gp |
100,000 gp |
Table: Treasure
Values per Encounter lists the amount of treasure each encounter should
award based on the average level of the PCs and the speed of the
campaign's XP progression (slow, medium, or fast). Easy encounters
should award treasure one level lower than the PCs' average level.
Challenging, hard, and epic encounters should award treasure one, two,
or three levels higher than the PCs' average level, respectively. If
you are running a low-fantasy game, cut these values in half. If you
are running a high-fantasy game, double these values.
Encounters
against NPCs typically award three times the treasure a monster-based
encounter awards, due to NPC gear. To compensate, make sure the PCs
face off against a pair of additional encounters that award little in
the way of treasure. Animals, plants, constructs, mindless undead,
oozes, and traps are great “low treasure” encounters. Alternatively, if
the PCs face a number of creatures with little or no treasure, they
should have the opportunity to acquire a number of significantly more
valuable objects sometime in the near future to make up for the
imbalance. As a general rule, PCs should not own any magic item worth
more than half their total character wealth, so make sure to check
before awarding expensive magic items.
Building a Treasure Hoard
While
it's often enough to simply tell your players they've found 5,000 gp in
gems and 10,000 gp in jewelry, it's generally more interesting to give
details. Giving treasure a personality can not only help the
verisimilitude of your game, but can sometimes trigger new adventures.
The information on the below can help you randomly determine types of
additional treasure—suggested values are given for many of the objects,
but feel free to assign values to the objects as you see fit. It's
easiest to place the expensive items first—if you wish, you can even
randomly roll magic items, using the tables in Magic Items,
to determine what sort of items are present in the hoard. Once you've
consumed a sizable portion of the hoard's value, the remainder can
simply be loose coins or non-magical treasure with values arbitrarily
assigned as you see fit.
Table: Average Magic Item Values
| Magic Item Category |
Average Value |
| Minor Item |
1,000 gp |
| Medium Item |
10,000 gp |
| Major Item |
40,000 gp |
Coins: Coins in a treasure hoard
can consist of copper, silver, gold, and platinum pieces—silver and
gold are the most common, but you can divide the coinage as you wish.
Coins and their value relative to each other are described at the start
of Equipment.
Gems:
Although you can assign any value to a gemstone, some are inherently
more valuable than others. Use the value categories below (and their
associated gemstones) as guidelines when assigning values to gemstones.
Low-Quality
Gems (10 gp): agates; azurite; blue quartz; hematite; lapis lazuli;
malachite; obsidian; rhodochrosite; tigereye; turquoise; freshwater
(irregular) pearl
Semi-Precious Gems (50 gp): bloodstone;
carnelian; chalcedony; chrysoprase; citrine; jasper; moonstone; onyx;
peridot; rock crystal (clear quartz); sard; sardonyx; rose, smoky, or
star rose quartz; zircon
Medium Quality Gemstones (100 gp):
amber; amethyst; chrysoberyl; coral; red or brown-green garnet; jade;
jet; white, golden, pink, or silver pearl; red, red-brown, or deep
green spinel; tourmaline
High Quality Gemstones (500 gp): alexandrite; aquamarine; violet garnet; black pearl; deep blue spinel; golden yellow topaz
Jewels
(1,000 gp): emerald; white, black, or fire opal; blue sapphire; fiery
yellow or rich purple corundum; blue or black star sapphire
Grand Jewels (5,000 gp or more): clearest bright green emerald; diamond; jacinth; ruby
Nonmagical
Treasures: This expansive category includes jewelry, fine clothing,
trade goods, alchemical items, masterwork objects, and more. Unlike
gemstones, many of these objects have set values, but you can always
increase an object's value by having it be bejeweled or of particularly
fine craftsmanship. This increase in cost doesn't grant additional
abilities—a gem-encrusted masterwork cold iron scimitar worth 40,000 gp
functions the same as a typical masterwork cold iron scimitar worth the
base price of 330 gp. Listed below are numerous examples of several
types of nonmagical treasures, along with typical values.
Fine
Artwork (100 gp or more): Although some artwork is composed of precious
materials, the value of most paintings, sculptures, works of
literature, fine clothing, and the like come from their skill and
craftsmanship. Artwork is often bulky or cumbersome to move and fragile
to boot, making salvage an adventure in and of itself.
Jewelry,
Minor (50 gp): This category includes relatively small pieces of
jewelry crafted from materials like brass, bronze, copper, ivory, or
even exotic woods, sometimes set with tiny or flawed low-quality gems.
Minor jewelry includes rings, bracelets, and earrings.
Jewelry,
Normal (100–500 gp): Most jewelry is made of silver, gold, jade, or
coral, often ornamented with semi-precious or even medium-quality
gemstones. Normal jewelry includes all types of minor jewelry plus
armbands, necklaces, and brooches.
Jewelry, Precious (500
gp or more): Truly precious jewelry is crafted from gold, mithral,
platinum, or similar rare metals. Such objects include normal jewelry
types plus crowns, scepters, pendants, and other large items.
Masterwork Tools (100–300 gp): This category includes masterwork weapons, armor, and skill kits—see Equipment for more details and costs for these items.
Mundane Gear (up to 1,000 gp): There are many valuable items of mundane or alchemical nature detailed in Equipment
that can be utilized as treasure. Most of the alchemical items are
portable and valuable, but other objects like locks, holy symbols,
spyglasses, fine wine, or fine clothing work well as interesting bits
of treasure. Trade goods can even serve as treasure—10 pounds of
saffron, for example, is worth 150 gp.
Treasure Maps and
Other Intelligence (variable): Items like treasure maps, deeds to ships
and homes, lists of informants or guard rosters, passwords, and the
like can also make fun items of treasure—you can set the value of such
items at any amount you wish, and often they can serve double-duty as
adventure seeds.
Magic Items: Of course,
the discovery of a magic item is the true prize for any adventurer. You
should take care with the placement of magic items in a hoard—it's
generally more satisfying for many players to find a magic item rather
than purchase it, so there's no crime in placing items that happen to
be those your players can use! An extensive list of magic items (and
their costs) is given in Magic Items.
Although
you should generally place items with careful consideration of their
likely effects on your campaign, it can be fun and save time to
generate magic items in a treasure hoard randomly. You can “purchase”
random die rolls of magic items for a treasure hoard at the following
prices, subtracting the indicated amount from your treasure budget and
then rolling on the appropriate column on Table: Random Magic Item Generation in Magic Items
to determine what item is in the treasure hoard. Take care with this
approach, though! It's easy, through the luck (or unluck) of the dice
to bloat your game with too much treasure or deprive it of the same.
Random magic item placement should always be tempered with good common
sense by the GM.
| |
Paizo Pathfinder Community Use Notice
This website uses trademarks and/or copyrights owned by Paizo Publishing, LLC, which are used under Paizo's Community Use Policy.
We are expressly prohibited from charging you to use or access this
content. This website is not published, endorsed, or specifically
approved by Paizo Publishing. For more information about Paizo's
Community Use Policy, please visit paizo.com/communityuse. For more information about Paizo Publishing and Paizo products, please visit paizo.com. | |
|
