KotS treasure

[Nail]

Thanks! I could certainly use those...

nikosandros (at) gmail (dot) com

Done.

Sent to Plane Sailing and Milambus too.

Cheers!

 

[Nail]

So the adventure shortchanges you by 9 magic items? Really?

Errrr....

....without giving too much away: Some of the magic items are hidden. Well hidden. So missing them as you play through is a real possibility.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Errrr....

....without giving too much away: Some of the magic items are hidden. Well hidden. So missing them as you play through is a real possibility.

Exactly - this is why I mentioned the items that the party in my game had found (I was vaguely aware that there are other things in there, behind secret doors and such, but I'd only got written down handily the things my party had found)

 

[Plane Sailing]

Looking at the treasure parcels in the DMG, I would expect H1 to cover levels 1-3, and as such would have 12 magic items.

1x level 2
2x level 3
3x level 4
4x level 5
3x level 6
2x level 7
1x level 8

Obviously I looked at the first 4 levels when I created this list, which is why there are 16 items. Rolls eyes at self.

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

Done.

Sent to Plane Sailing and Milambus too.

Cheers!

That's a great idea.

I would ask for it, but I'm trying to make sure that I "re-skin" each item to give it a better history and sense of place. For example, the armour that Irontooth has in his lair I've said is the armour from a lost Dwarven adventurer that our Dwarf paladin has heard of.

 

[Nebulous]

I've been semi-following the parcel rules in the DMG. Yeah, i noticed earlier that the adventure did not follow the guidelines. I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing, other than the fact that this is an introductory adventure and should stick to the rules to teach people the basics. After that, DMs can fiddle with the rules however they want, although keeping in mind the balance of math the game is based on. And that players like getting cool trinkets.

I've added in new potions, different armor and weapons than what is listed in the book, and even added in a few magic items with 1st edition flair (our wizard is going to love his Staff of Dweomered Darts). I've also added enchanted ammunition, which for some reason is not allowed in 4e per the rules. It says you can't have an arrow +1, just a bow +1 (for example).

Why is that? It's an expendable resource, a magic arrow, and when it's gone it's gone.

 

[Nail]

That's a great idea.

I would ask for it, but I'm trying to make sure that I "re-skin" each item to give it a better history and sense of place. For example, the armour that Irontooth has in his lair I've said is the armour from a lost Dwarven adventurer that our Dwarf paladin has heard of.

That's what I did too: "re-skin" the items.

If you're interested, I could send you the original PP file, in which you could easily re-write the fluff material. (I use Grandpa's power card format, found here.)

 

[MrMyth]

Ok I think that covers what I was talking about. You still have to have key items of a certain power for your level or you will suck. I was hoping that would not be the case. I haven't looked at much stuff in detail past the first few levels.

Yeah, but the only way to change that would be to make it so that magic items have *no* effect on a character at all. The advantage of making it so that only a few key numbers are relevant is that you can remove magic entirely, give out those bonuses as part of normal leveling, and characters function just fine.

 

[Nail]

Exactly - this is why I mentioned the items that the party in my game had found (I was vaguely aware that there are other things in there, behind secret doors and such, but I'd only got written down handily the things my party had found)

If you think about it, this really throws a wrench in the "Treasure Parcels" concept.

For example, it's a D&D staple that some of the goodies you find are actually long-lost items, hidden long ago by the original occupants of the now ruined "whatever". These goodies are well-hidden - that's the point, really - so some parties (many partys?) might not find them.

...and if that's the case, the PCs get less treasure than they are 'supposed" to. In 1e and 2e, that was part and parcel of the game. If you missed stuff, tough luck! But now that treasure is keyed and balanced to PC levels, it's now required for DMs to re-balance the treasure if the PCs don't have enough.

Put more bluntly:
"PCs, don't worry! If you'd like, forget searching for secret doors, and ignore any obviously dangerous parts of the dungeon! Only go where you'd like to go, and where the gettin' looks easy because - surprise! - the DM must give you one treasure parcel over the next several encounters. Don't go looking for treasure, because it will come looking for you!"

...and if the DM is following the DMG, he'll ask you for what items you want, and then give them to you.

 

[Jhaelen]

But now that treasure is keyed and balanced to PC levels, it's now required for DMs to re-balance the treasure if the PCs don't have enough.

I disagree. It's now recommended. The whole treasure parcel system is just 'recommended'.

Personally, I'd only take care that the pcs have level-appropriate items of the 'big three' categories: armor, weapon/implement, neck slot.

Typically these will be hidden in plain sight, i.e. they're worn/used by monsters/npcs (even if they don't benefit from them).
Everything else is nice-to-have and can be hidden as well as I damned please