Mundane treasures--what's the point?

[Crothian]

Like most things in the game the point for having them has to be established by the DM. If doesn't make them worthwhile or a reasoin to have them then the players won't care.

 

[the Jester]

My groups always take the 'mundane' (non-magical) loot. Sometimes their eyes are bigger than their pack animals, if you know what I mean.

In the low-magic game I'm running, the party has, over four sessions, earned a total of prolly about 125- 150 gp, including items. They're even scooping up stuff like the nice boots in the corner of the bandit bedroom ("ooh, they're worth 4 sp!").

 

[kigmatzomat]

IMC the players are fond of nick-nacks. In part it's b/c they have 10 pieces of property to furnish but also for style. The gnome is perhaps the worst as he's always looking for things to spruce up his temple but the mage isn't far behind; a crown or necklace is the foundation of a magic item.

They have realized that art can alter in value by location and may try to sell off otherwise mundane art as something rare and exotic (paintings of and by elves in a desert, perhaps) but there's the chance it will be seen as worthless junk. I taught them that it's easier to get a better price during a fair since people are prepared to spend money which leaves them hoarding treasure for months at a time. (Like I'm not going to hit *that* target eventually!)

NPCs help. Once they found a treasure that had a huge number of copper pieces (~10,000 cp). Since it was already packed into chests, they took them to an ally's residence via teleportation. When they finished their trip and returned a few weeks later they found a bag of gold in place of the twenty-odd chests. Curious, they asked what he'd used 10,000 cp for. Their friend escorted them to the great hall, where 10,000 cp had been attached to the ceiling joists and rafters, giving the hall a nice coppery glow. (IMC the cp have a hole in them so the poor can keep their money on a string) It was only 100gp worth of decoration but there's an unmistakable style to having a hall decorated in money.

 

[Diremede]

In my campaigns mundane treasure is extremely important if the characters want to attain any wealth. While coin can be found, some of the more valuable items I have placed in my campaign ( other than a few magical ones ), have been mudane. Some of these have included artistic sculptures of stone that collectors have found valuable, books containing lore of times forgotten, fancy and ornate table wear and furniture peices ( chests, music boxes, candlebra, ornate bowls or containers, etc.) , and paintings.

With the advent of item creation feats to 3rd edition it isn't really all that necessary to add magical items as treasure, and often times I opt not to in order to make item creation a valuable and desirable feat, as well as make NPC item creators a valuable asset to story lines and adventuring.

 

[fafhrd]

I've made it mechanically advantageous to hold on to mundane treasures, and it works especially well with jewelry. I allow the value of an item to offset the cost of converting it into a magic item. That 1,000 gp necklace lowers the market cost of a periapt of wisdom by 1000 gp. Find loot of significant value and you may only need to spend some time and xp. I see it as setting up a similar efficiency with wanted vs unwanted magic items. If you keep that magic sword, you keep its full value, or you can sell it for half. With mundane items, you can capture that gp value through item creation or convert it into half that value in coins.

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

I think part of the issue lies in my group's not really caring much about wealth. In nearly 20 years of DM'ing, very few of my regular players have cared that much about treasure, at least the non-magical kind (that's what I mean by mundane). They'll gather up the coins, etc, but leave a lot of the other stuff behind, not wanting to deal with carting it off to sell somewhere. I've actually had games where the treasure consisted of 100% non-magical goods, and all they took were a handful of gems, leaving the rest behind.

They're an odd bunch.

 

[philreed]

I've actually had games where the treasure consisted of 100% non-magical goods, and all they took were a handful of gems, leaving the rest behind.

Sounds to me like they need to be followed by a group of NPCs that pick over what they leave behind. Let them find out some NPCs have been selling off the stuff the party abandoned and they'll start to get a little more interested.

Probably a situation where they hit town, cash in their coin and unwanted magic items, and then the villagers get excited and start closing shop. It seems some adventurers have discovered the lost Crown of the Ancients and one of them is being accepted as the new ruler of the village and surrounding lands -- without question! When the PCs investigate have one of them recognize the crown as one of the items they just left behind before coming to the village.

 

[VirgilCaine]

I've made it mechanically advantageous to hold on to mundane treasures, and it works especially well with jewelry. I allow the value of an item to offset the cost of converting it into a magic item. That 1,000 gp necklace lowers the market cost of a periapt of wisdom by 1000 gp. Find loot of significant value and you may only need to spend some time and xp. I see it as setting up a similar efficiency with wanted vs unwanted magic items. If you keep that magic sword, you keep its full value, or you can sell it for half. With mundane items, you can capture that gp value through item creation or convert it into half that value in coins.

Thus explaining why magic weapons and items are usually made of precious metals and adorned with gems and such--the orderly nature of the materials allows for spells to "take" better.

 

[fafhrd]

Thus explaining why magic weapons and items are usually made of precious metals and adorned with gems and such--the orderly nature of the materials allows for spells to "take" better.

Exactly. The emphasis magic places on value isn't without precedent. The material and foci component systems for spells often state requirements in terms of x item worth at least y gold pieces. There's something native in spell crafting that evaluates worth in the same way as thinking creatures.

 

[was]

I try to put a little more flavor into them. I like to use unique, stylized jewelry/armbands/circlets etc.. ,especially with nature or animal themes that appeal to certain players.