How do you give out treasure in your campaign?

[wormwort]

I'll use e-tools to generate an appropriate treasure pile and then pick through and discard the bits I don't like.

So, like a lot of things in my games, I use a randomizing element to help seed my creativity.

 

[Chingerspy]

I don't think I've ever rolled for treasure in a P&P game. Its always pre-planned treasure in the chest or on the NPC. That way I can have long term NPCs gain stuff that may later be found upon their person.

I just don't get rolling for treasure unless you're winging a game (even then I kinda had index card NPCs so I knew what the characters may get if they defeated them.

 

[Berandor]

I don't have "random" encounters, per se. That doesn't mean that all encounters pertain to the adventure, but that I lay out encounters beforehand.
And that is complete with treasure. Sometimes, for random encounters, I might roll a few things up to spice the treasure and give it some, well, randomness, and in rare cases I might have players roll for treasure simply to harken back to old times and give them the feeling they have control over the game

 

[Ibram]

the only time I roll for treasure is to see how many coppers some random thug had in his pocket before he got punked by a PC.

 

[Stormborn]

The PCs in my campaign donot get treasure regularlly, mainly becuase the people/things they fight and the culture they are in does not afford them opportunity to do so, nor do they have much to spend it on as magic items are not for sale. however, I do try to roughly keep up with the suggested wealth levels in the DMG, to this end while they may not gain any treasure from multiple encounters, they occasionally find great hordes (its a a baroque game BTW)

 

[The Grackle]

the only time I roll for treasure is to see how many coppers some random thug had in his pocket before he got punked by a PC.

Do you DM some kind of Prison game?

I never have random treasure. All magic stuff is in the posession of important NPCs and Villains. So it's planned as to what the NPCs would need\use and what I want the PCs to find after they loot the bodies.

 

[dreaded_beast]

Thanks for all the replies.

What I have been doing is having the players roll for treasure, based on the encounter level or levels.

For example, if they defeat three trolls (EL 8), I have them roll on the treasure table for EL 8. In terms of scrolls and potions, I just tell them straight-up what they find, such as Potion of Cure Light Wounds or a Scroll of Detect Magic. For magic weapons and armor, I just make a note of what it is, then have the PCs ID it.

Or if they plow through a dungeon with various ELs, I find the total EL for all the "bad guys" and place it in the treasure room. If the PCs find the treasure room, then they can roll for what is in there.

This is assuming these are "planned" encounters. Sometimes, I let them roll for "random" encounters, but usually not.

I like the rolling method, because it makes the players feel like they are "in control" by rolling the dice. In addition, I find it very balanced. They get alot of gold, but hardly any permanent magic items. They can spend the gold to buy whatever magic they want within reason.

However, the above is in addition to any treasure an NPC may carry, if any. Also, if the PCs are hunting for a specific item, the cost of the item is deducted from the amount of Treasure the PCs can get. In those cases, I pick the treasure the PCs find.

 

[Galethorn]

Basically, I (through their NPC employer) give them a reward that matches the task, the conditions, the party's reputation, and the NPC's available funds. As well, they find logical amounts of treasure in dungeons and dungeon-like places; you're just plain notgunnafind a chest of gold in every room of a thieves' hideout.

However, I play using Grim Tales, so there's a bit more room to give huge sums of money, and/or leave the PCs destitute, without making them over- or under-powered in combat. That said, the PCs are pretty rich at the moment in my game...but they're stuck in a besieged city, so there isn't much to buy.

 

[FireLance]

In my current Eberron campaign, every PC is tied to an organization that gives them equipment appropriate to their level. Every time they level up, they turn in whatever they have left of their old equipment (plus treasure found in the interim) and get whatever new equipment they want, up to the standard wealth value for a PC of their new level. I've found that this shifts attention towards the character and story elements, and away from the penny-pinching accounting that has characterized many of my previous campaigns (PCs tend to avoid using charged and one-shot items, loot every last piece of equipment from dead bodies to sell, and keep track of every single arrow and copper piece).

I'm basically aiming for a James Bond type of story where the PCs get to use cool gadgets, but they are the stars, not their equipment.

 

[DragonLancer]

Thats not a bad idea Firelance. I may have to borrow that at some point.