D&D General What do you do with mundane treasure details?

[J.Quondam]

Looking at random treasure tables or the hoard descriptions in adventures, you find lots of somewhat detailed descriptions of jewels, trinkets, sometimes even coins. I don't refer here to magic items or macguffins or quest items. Rather I just mean the mundane treasure which value is mainly in its superior portability to gold, things like "a pair of fine jade earrings in the shape of owls with garnet eyes (60gp)" or "brightly painted wooden articulated snake toy (5gp) " and the like.

In my experience, after a hoard is parceled out, rarely does the description of those items ever matter. Only their value matters when they get cashed in at the nearest town's "Ye Olde Shady Fence & Treasure Exchange." And if only their value really matters, then why bother?

So a few questions to start with:

- Do you actively use descriptive mundane treasure text elsewhere in the game? Or is it just needless filler to you?

• As a GM, do you automatically provide published descriptions on to players, or just say "200 gp in jewels, enough to fill a small sack"?
• Do you ever change descriptions? Why?
• Have you ever used mundane treasure descriptions to drop clues? impact PC/NPC relations? exploit or gauge player reactions? Anything else?

- As a PLAYER, do you pay attention to mundane treasure descriptions? Do you ever refer to them later?

 

[Cadence]

I had been describing random stuff in detail in the 5e B2, but there is just so much of it. The party probably either has, or will, switch over to a total of something like 'gp value after we get back to town".

 

[Irlo]

I sometimes enjoy describing the treasures but my players don't seem especially interested, so it's frequently wasted effort. I'm not even sure they're reliably recording their finds. They probably could put them to use, to prove the success of a bounty or to prokove an enemy, but they don't do much of that.

As a player, I'm always on the look-out for mundane treasures that could be useful as rare material components for spellcasting or a nifty little accessories for my character.

 

[el-remmen]

• As a GM, do you automatically provide published descriptions on to players, or just say "200 gp in jewels, enough to fill a small sack"?

I provide descriptions since the PCs rarely have a way to know exactly how much gems and jewelry are worth. The descriptions help differentiate them before values are determined and allow PCs to determine if they want to keep something for their own collection (like wearing those jade owl earrings).

Sometimes I will say something like "60 semi-precious stones of various kinds" but they still need to determine the value. They have a fence they trust since no one in the group is much of appraiser by skill, background, or inclination.

I also have varied values based on where they try to sell it. Trying to sell some platinum and diamond brooch that once belonged to an ancient emperor's paramour in some small town means you won't get nearly as much as it it worth or not being able to find a buyer there at all. (The benefit of their fence is that he can send out word through back channels and get the best price minus a service fee).

Heck, once coin amounts near or surpass a thousand I don't tell the players how much they have unless they specifically take the time in the dungeon (or wherever) to count it all. Once they found such a big pile of copper pieces I told them, tell me how much you want to take and I will tell you how long it takes to collect it all - since assumption was it was too much for them to carry all of and it was only copper.

• Do you ever change descriptions? Why?

Sure! Reasons range from: whim, thematic sense, too valuable (or undervalued) for their level, etc. . .

• Have you ever used mundane treasure descriptions to drop clues? impact PC/NPC relations? exploit or gauge player reactions? Anything else?

Definitely! For example, one of my current groups found an old but lightly damaged painting among some garbage/treasure and determined the artist was an ancestor of a local noble, who was unknown in life but had become a valuable collectible in death. The PCs used the painting to create contacts with that family and awarded to them as a gift to gain their favor.

Earlier, they had found an ornate gold locket beneath the armor of a hobgoblin mercenary they defeated. It held a tiny painted portrait of her wife - which served both to change their perspective on hobgoblins - and later they met her wife (also a mercenary) creating tense stakes for why she wanted the party to pay once she found out these were the people responsible for killing her wife (they killed her too). The locket was also an early clue of a plot regarding a large number of said mercenaries having been moved into the area on a semi-permanent basis, hired by unknown forces.

The above mentioned brooch (called "Brooch of the Lich-Bride") has provided an avenue for giving them some ancient lore and a possible source for more very valuable treasure in the future.

 

[Hexmage-EN]

Gems and such I'll usually just list a lump gp amount unless there are any particularly valuable ones. Art objects are lightly described.

One of my players in my current campaign actually seems to prefer non-valuable items that fit his general theme of being a long death Monk, like a necklace of Pixie skulls.

I'm thinking in my next campaign I might add a simple homebrew subsystem to encourage PCs actually choosing to wear or otherwise display treasures instead of just converting them to currency. Displays of wealth (and what form they take) could influence NPC attitudes towards the PCs.

 

[Hexmage-EN]

Also everything el-remmen just posted sounds like the kind of thing I'd like to do if I had more time.

 

[Vaalingrade]

I do specific items as Fallout-style environmental storytelling, never as just a random object though.

 

[not-so-newguy]

Looking at random treasure tables or the hoard descriptions in adventures, you find lots of somewhat detailed descriptions of jewels, trinkets, sometimes even coins. I don't refer here to magic items or macguffins or quest items. Rather I just mean the mundane treasure which value is mainly in its superior portability to gold, things like "a pair of fine jade earrings in the shape of owls with garnet eyes (60gp)" or "brightly painted wooden articulated snake toy (5gp) " and the like.

In my experience, after a hoard is parceled out, rarely does the description of those items ever matter. Only their value matters when they get cashed in at the nearest town's "Ye Olde Shady Fence & Treasure Exchange." And if only their value really matters, then why bother?

So a few questions to start with:

- Do you actively use descriptive mundane treasure text elsewhere in the game? Or is it just needless filler to you?

• As a GM, do you automatically provide published descriptions on to players, or just say "200 gp in jewels, enough to fill a small sack"?
• Do you ever change descriptions? Why?
• Have you ever used mundane treasure descriptions to drop clues? impact PC/NPC relations? exploit or gauge player reactions? Anything else?

- As a PLAYER, do you pay attention to mundane treasure descriptions? Do you ever refer to them later?

This is one of the reasons why I like to use pre-made settings with a good wiki (or wiki equivalent). I use Mystara, but could easily apply to Forgotten Realms et al.

I like to mention where treasure could come from, if it makes sense that the PC would know. I'll just attach a piece to a place. It's a good way to introduce different parts of the setting outside of the adventure. Usually the players just shrug their shoulders and "whatever" it, but sometimes it'll peak interest. In that case I'll copy&paste some info and send it to that player.

All in all, it's not a big thing. Just a bit of nuance.

 

[aco175]

I find a lot gets hand-waved in my games. I might tell the players that they find 50gp, 50sp, a gem worth 100gp, and a gold necklace with gems worth 500gp. At some point the group is back in town and the player tracking treasure just tells everyone they each get 165gp and 14sp. It could be better, but I want to focus on other areas.

 

[Hexmage-EN]

I find a lot gets hand-waved in my games. I might tell the players that they find 50gp, 50sp, a gem worth 100gp, and a gold necklace with gems worth 500gp. At some point the group is back in town and the player tracking treasure just tells everyone they each get 165gp and 14sp. It could be better, but I want to focus on other areas.

I find that, I general, there are a lot of things I'd ideally like to do in a campaign that I either never get around to or they fall by the wayside over time because the bookkeeping doesn't seem worth the final result (it doesn't help that I also have a hard time organizing the extra details).