Lists of non-magical treasures

[Dannyalcatraz]

Have you been looking at my PDF catalog?

Technically, no- but as I explained to Hussar, I'm actually a far-future version of himself from another dimension...and guess what?

Actually, I've been handing out non-magical treasures since 1991 or so, which means we're probably thinking along the same lines.

What about plans for doomsday machines? As in the kind of stuff Leonardo and others werer designing for their patrons- "tanks" "airplanes" and the like...

 

[Chaldfont]

My players loved the tapestry with a scene on it just like the one in Conan the Barbarian where Thulsa Doon's followers have their, eh, party. Yeah, you know what I mean.

Cool furniture, tapestries, decorations for the PC's lair always goes over well.

What about magical things or things created by magic that have no real game-mechanical use? I once gave out a flawed crystal ball that only showed random beautiful landscapes.

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

Ornamental arms and armour? Gem encrusted swords, gold inlaid armour and that kind of thing.

Although it's possibly jewellry, depending on point of view?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I don't know- that could just as easily be things that are symbols of office, presentation awards granted by rulers to subjects of great importance, or the equivalent of a war medal.

 

[tobensg]

Rare Liquors and Spirits

I've tried on several occasions to give my players rare liquors. They always get consumed in the celebration that follows bbeg fights.

Me: "You find 2 very dusty bottles placed carefully on a rack."
PC's: "If it smells like scotch/whiskey/wine I drink it!"

I had the players find a book of recipes from an areas famous chef. They sold it to the chef at their favorite inn. Made the chef quite happy and the players liked putting me on the spot describing new and interesting dishes that were prepared using said recipes.

 

[AuraSeer]

Foodstuffs (ten smoked hams, or a few sealed barrels of fresh water)
Construction materials (a cartload of cedar shingles, dressed timbers, or sculpting clay)
Drugs (alcohol, tobacco, or a huge crate of some highly illegal substance)
Musical instruments (a Stradivarius violin, or an inventor's prototype harpsichord)
Live animals (a rare songbird in a wicker cage)
Taxidermy (a realistically stuffed and mounted owlbear)
Intellectual property (a deed granting exclusive rights to perform Gimble's Third Symphony within the kingdom's borders)

"Software": In a D&D world, this will be nonmagical instructions that can be used for magical devices. You might find wording let you safely wish for a particular effect outside the normal limits (wish spell not included). Or a researcher might have created specific, highly detailed instructions for iron golems; if you recite them verbatim to your golem, it gains an attack bonus or even a new feat.

 

[Rhun]

I've tried on several occasions to give my players rare liquors. They always get consumed in the celebration that follows bbeg fights.

Me: "You find 2 very dusty bottles placed carefully on a rack."
PC's: "If it smells like scotch/whiskey/wine I drink it!"

Happens with my group all the time. One of the PCs is a Drunken Master PrC. But if that's what they want to do with hundred year old vintage brandy worth a tidy sum of coins, that's their choice.

 

[Sejs]

"Software": In a D&D world, this will be nonmagical instructions that can be used for magical devices. You might find wording let you safely wish for a particular effect outside the normal limits (wish spell not included). Or a researcher might have created specific, highly detailed instructions for iron golems; if you recite them verbatim to your golem, it gains an attack bonus or even a new feat.

Along similar lines - magic related blueprint type documentation. A book that details a particular way to craft the body for iron or stone golems that when completed gives them particular abilities such as a higher dex, an attack bonus, the ability to run, etc.

Alchemical manuals that detail a treatment process that would allow one to manipulate the properties of a particular material. One that makes wood as hard as iron, keeps plant material alive even after it's been crafted into a shape, allows hard stone or glass to be moulded like clay and then set back to its original hardness with a second trigger, something that makes a treated slab of stone radiate cold or warmth.

 

[Maldin]

In my campaign, I also use arcane, or "wondrous" materials... not really spell components, not magical like a magic item would be... but... ummm... the best way to describe it is by example. I have a bunch of them up on my website at...
http://melkot.com/arcane/materials.html
Finding out what the "specially package/preserved/protected mysterious substance" is good for is worthy of a quest in-and-of itself.

Another biggie that I use, already described in this thread, is documents and books.

Denis, aka "Maldin"
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Maldin's Greyhawk http://melkot.com
Loads of edition-independent Greyhawk goodness... maps, magic, mysteries, mechanics, and more!

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Hmmm ... do whores count?

- Olgar, digging for buried treasure in Moletown