Treasure In A Land Without Coin Or Quality Goods

[Kaodi]

So my latest hair-brained scheme is a minimal-to-no magic Pathfinder game modelled on the Kingmaker adventure path but instead taking place in a context of colonization; the PCs have been hired to scout and explore these new lands (across the sea).

Now these lands are not entirely uninhabited, but I do not think they are going to have much in the way of currency, and quality finished goods are probably not going to be plentiful either.

So the question is: What sort of treasure do you place in encounters that are primarily composed of wild animals (in this particular case, these lands are inhabited only by animals and vermin of the giant or prehistoric variety)? Do you make the animals themselves the treasure? Such that, " You encounter and slay a giant scorpion in its lair. Only bones and other detritus lie about, but you could perhaps harvest some of its venom and chitin, which could be worth a substantial amount of money, " ?

What else could you award other than collectables, some food, and discovery of resources for later use?

 

[Scott DeWar]

animals = food and pelts. we use kingmaker and have a 10% rule where if there are 'marketable' resources, such as lumber or a mine or quarry, then it is annotated on that hex. perhaps a ruin from a lost civilization with a few artifacts of historical worth.

 

[Lord Crimson]

So my latest hair-brained scheme is a minimal-to-no magic Pathfinder game modelled on the Kingmaker adventure path but instead taking place in a context of colonization; the PCs have been hired to scout and explore these new lands.

Now these lands are not entirely uninhabited, but I do not think they are going to have much in the way of currency, and quality finished goods are probably not going to be plentiful either.

So the question is: What sort of treasure do you place in encounters that are primarily composed of wild animals (in this particular case, these lands are inhabited only by animals and vermin of the giant or prehistoric variety)? Do you make the animals themselves the treasure? Such that, " You encounter and slay a giant scorpion in its lair. Only bones and other detritus lie about, but you could perhaps harvest some of its venom and chitin, which could be worth a substantial amount of money, " ?

What else could you award other than collectables, some food, and discovery of resources for later use?

Materials from the slain is a good idea. Being a fur-trader used to be a fairly booming business back when the Americas were first being explored. So, fantasy-ize it - giant scorpion chitin for light plate armors, dragon scales (and other parts) for armors and magic, and cloaker pelts for magic items or just luxury.

Also, stuff in the explored territory (or even the territory itself) could be valuable:

Example 1: "You have now slain the last of the rabid bears in their underground den... strangely enough, the party's dwarf sees a glimmer in the back and his eyes begin to sparkle - 'Hey guys!' he says. 'That's a silver vein... and a good one from the look of it!"

Example 2: "Having driven off the harpies from the area, you find that there seems to be a particularly hearty and very tasty breed of apple growing here. Anyone got Profession: Farmer? Cool, you could easily turn this whole area into an orchard. And this box canyon nearby is very defensible. Might be a good place to build a settlement and, eventually, a fortress!"

Example 3: "After faithfully serving as scouts and soldiers in the expansion of Midnowhereville, the Duke has decided to award you with lands along the border. You each now have several hundred acres of the fertile valley according to ducal writ. All you have to do is clear out the creatures that have claimed it as their own."

 

[BriarMonkey]

Dittos.

Land itself is immensely valuable in a campaign of expansion. And with that land, any of the resources, be it critters, raw materials, or lost materials (ruins, etc.).

And don't forget that the PCs are probably going to have to report in from time to time. Depending on what they bring back as gifts or offerings to their liege/sponsor (think of things like wild animal gifts, maps of rich natural resources, and not to mention, any trophies of conquered or deposed humanoids/other peoples) they could also make out in titles and gifts as well.

After all, if the sponsor is in a position to send them out, she/he is probably in a position to try to exploit what the PCs have found - and in turn, the PCs would be rewarded to keep their loyalties. With that later type of thinking, the PCs would still be able to get their coin, it would just be defered for a while.

Too, just because they are exploring somewhere that is unknown to them and their's, it doesn't mean it's unknown to all. There may be humanoid tribes of various sorts living there. Some may be friendly, others, not so much. In that light, they may have some currency - but it may not be the same as what the PCs are thinking.

For instance, in ancient times in the areas of now Iran, Iraq, etc., a common form of "money" was actually coiled gold (I forget the name of it). The gold, or silver, was coiled around a bit of wood, about an inch thick, and that coil was then cut into rings as it was needed to pay for things. This same idea can be applied in this type of a situation. If there is a small cheifdom of, say, hobgoblins, being fairly organized they would probably have some mode of currency to keep dealings on the lawful side of things. Maybe they use animal teeth coated in gold for money. The larger the tooth, the more it's worth. After all, currency is meant to be an easy way to transport wealth.

Aside from those, there are the always popular ruins to be found. There may be found ancient coins - which back in civilization may fetch more than their old value for collectors or certain guilds.

Too, what about adventurers/explorers who came before? They would have gear and possibly coin. Finding their remains amongst the dens of animals or beasts would also be believable. (Imagine if when Cortez sailed ashore, instead of changing the history of the indians of the americas he and his entire band were eaten by dire tigers!)

Oooo. And what about smugglers or pirates? Maybe they have established strong points, or safe harbors so that they are out of reach of the authorities. There would definitely be some loot to be had there.

Umm... I think that's all I got off the top of my head...

 

[gamerprinter]

Land, titles, kingdoms.

Think of it this way. Before the new world explorers discovered Aztec/Inca gold, the whole point for being there was to establish colonies, expand the world power of sovereignties sending its explorers out, establish some kind of trade relationships. For those with a darker nature, finding a new slave pool to exploit.

These are all valuable commodities. They don't require an established manufacturing base or currency to give it worth.

Those later appointed as viceroys in the new world were practically as powerful as their sovereigns back home. You don't need to find gold to become a king - just land and people to control.

 

[Croesus]

If the new lands lack gold and silver as currency or decoration, then treasure in the D&D sense doesn't really exist.

Let's look at the exploration and colonization of North America:
-Fur trappers traded cheap items to the locals for beaver fur. Later they trapped their own. In either case, the "treasure" was the payment the trappers received from merchants for the furs.
-Later, when the beaver were mostly trapped out and tastes had changed, these mountain men moved onto hunting buffalo (mainly for their tongues, which were a delicacy). A bit later they were paid to pretty much eradicate the buffalo in order to deprive the plains tribes of their livlihood. Again, their treasure is payment for a product or services rendered.
-Settlers, on the other hand, tended to be financial or government-sponsored entities. Individuals or governments would pay to set up colonies, and be paid back with produce or natural resources. As GP mentioned land and titles are treasure in this case.

Such a campaign could be very interesting (I've thought of doing something similar with Kingmaker, though my "colonists" would be extraplanar refugees fleeing a demon invasion). This should work so long as your players can focus on goals other than the acquisition of items. Of course, the characters can be paid for their work, promised positions of influence, and so on. But going after that giant scorpion in hopes of finding a +3 sword and 2,000 gp won't happen, and the players need to be onboard with that.

 

[Aberzanzorax]

Favors.


Whether it's goodwill from the local druids, grudging respect from a worg leader of a pack, shipments of fine furs to nobles back in civilization, an agreement to aid in times of need, or simply non-agression, favors can be huge.

 

[Tonguez]

The three big things for this kind of colonisation setting are Usuable Items (crushed giant scorpion sting might be a good antidote to poisoning or the sting itself can be used as a spear tip), Natural Resources (cool another water hole!) and Influence (Favours). IMC I even use an Influence mechanic to show how many people a PC can expect to come to his aid when he asks.

 

[gamerprinter]

-Later, when the beaver were mostly trapped out and tastes had changed, these mountain men moved onto hunting buffalo (mainly for their tongues, which were a delicacy). A bit later they were paid to pretty much eradicate the buffalo in order to deprive the plains tribes of their livlihood. Again, their treasure is payment for a product or services rendered.

Eh, that's kind of misconstued, though there is some truth in that. Really consider the industrial revolution was occurring at the end of the 18th century, and belts were needed to drive gears for mills and other manufacturing equipment. There was no such thing as commercial rubber yet. Bison skin served as belts for all the early industrial machines, as it was thick, lasted a long time in use. There was far more usage for bison skin in the industrial age, than a need for a food delicacy or the removal of native americans of their infinite needs of it.

Really there was almost no consideration for the native Americans - it was more a side effect of needing some material before rubber replaced it.

 

[Croesus]

Eh, that's kind of misconstued, though there is some truth in that. Really consider the industrial revolution was occurring at the end of the 18th century, and belts were needed to drive gears for mills and other manufacturing equipment. There was no such thing as commercial rubber yet. Bison skin served as belts for all the early industrial machines, as it was thick, lasted a long time in use. There was far more usage for bison skin in the industrial age, than a need for a food delicacy or the removal of native americans of their infinite needs of it.

Really there was almost no consideration for the native Americans - it was more a side effect of needing some material before rubber replaced it.

Interesting. I've never read about that use for bison, though it wouldn't surprise me. Early industrialists could be very creative when they had to.

It's well documented that eliminating the bison herds was an overt policy of the US government at that time. That said, it's impossible to know exactly how much impact it had - any such questions fall into counterfactual history, which is usually just a guessing game.