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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Truename" data-source="post: 5321624" data-attributes="member: 78255">You may have heard that Essentials does away with the treasure parcel system from DMG1 and replaces it with random tables. This isn't entirely true. The new system is described in the back of the Rules Compendium, so I analyzed the new system and compared it to the treasure parcel system.Short version: I love it. It IS the treasure parcel system, but now with added dice rolling fun. What you have is a way of generating parcels through random rolls rather than a small list of options.First, the DMG1 approach. At level 6, DMG1 says:And the Rules Compendium says:You're supposed to roll ten "treasures" (their new name for "treasure parcel") using this table. You roll in advance, when prepping your adventure. Each treasure consists of four d20 rolls, one for each line in the table. If you hit the number listed, add that to the treasure. You're still supposed to assign the treasures to encounters as you see fit, and they recommend grouping treasures into hoards so that some encounters have a lot of treasure and some have none.Now, if we look at the average results here--and you will get close to average results, what with 40 d20 rolls each level--the average level 6 party will get:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Magic item, level 10</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Magic item, level 9</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Magic item, level 8</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Magic item, level 7</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">5 sacks of gold containing 360 gold each = 1800 gp</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">7.5 gems worth 100gp each and 0.5 gems worth 500gp each = 1000 gp</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">3 art objects worth 250gp each = 750 gp</li> </ul>Or, four magic items and total monetary treasure of 3,550 spread over 10 parcels. Which is almost exactly what the DMG says. In short, this is just the treasure parcel system all over again, with dice and more variety. The only difference I see is that the Essentials approach has no healing potions.Here's an example of the system in action:[sblock]Treasure #1: roll 2, 5, 18 (2), 112 art objects worth 250gp eachTreasure #2: roll 2, 12, 18 (2), 62 art objects worth 250gp eachTreasure #3: roll 1, 4, 16, 19 (3)1 common level 9 magic itemTreasure #4: roll 4, 5, 18 (2), 16 (4)2 art objects worth 250gp each1 uncommon level 10 magic itemTreasure #5: roll 14 (32), 4, 9, 19 (4)320 gold pieces1 common level 10 magic itemTreasure #6: roll 7, 12, 15, 19 (2)1 common level 8 magic itemTreasure #7: roll 12 (38), 5, 4, 14 (2)380 gold pieces1 uncommon level 8 magic itemTreasure #8: roll 14 (45), 9, 3, 4450 gold piecesTreasure #9: roll 9, 20, 8, 19 (2)one gem worth 500gp1 uncommon level 8 magic itemTreasure #10: roll 4, 13, 9, 10nada![/sblock]</blockquote>

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