Question about Treasure

[bert1000]

Okay--so balance the extra treasure to the XP--that makes more sense. Do I keep it at 1st level or move up to 2nd?

Also: how exactly do I do that--my understanding is that the "parcel" for 1st level contains up to a 5th level magic item. Certainly I wouldn't put those in the optional encounters. Is there a "standard half"? Maybe the monetary portion but less magic?

Does the book address this?

-Marco

For each level, there are 10 suggested parcels. 4 magic items ( 1 each of party level +1 to level of party + 4), and 6 parcels of money items. This is based on roughly 10 enounters per level and you can mix and match as you like (e.g., 4 parcels for 1 encounter, 2 parcels each for 3 encounters, and none for the rest)

 

[Spatula]

Note that not every encounter will have treasure--but I wanted to put something in the bottom of the giant-rat-maze in case they went down there. Some kind of reward for going "off the beaten path"--and, yes, this will give more Xp than the "beaten path" would suggest--but that's okay. It's more the *treasure* that's the issue.

I can't just "stock the dungeon" with some gold, a few magic items, and go with that: it seems, by the rules, I need to manage parcels for optional encounters ...

Well, the parcels are not "rules" they're guidelines. The DMG suggests that a party of 5 should get 4 magic items and N gold at every level, and gives you several pre-made parcels at each level to assist you in handing it out (and instructions on modifying the parcels for different size parties). It's a DM aid, not an ironclad YOU MUST DO THIS.

My suggestion is to give out rewards roughly in line with the parcels for the party level, and don't worry too much about the exact numbers. If they have a little bit of extra gold it's not going to wildly imbalance things. Because yeah, it does get wonky when you consider the impact of optional treasure, which isn't even necessarily tied to optional monster XP. There could just be a hidden chest, for example.

 

[Marco]

For each level, there are 10 suggested parcels. 4 magic items ( 1 each of party level +1 to level of party + 4), and 6 parcels of money items. This is based on roughly 10 enounters per level and you can mix and match as you like (e.g., 4 parcels for 1 encounter, 2 parcels each for 3 encounters, and none for the rest)

That's how it was described to me--yes. But one of the things was a lvl 5 magic item. If I'm doing "extra" encounters, I assume I'd want to use more middle-of-the-bell-curve stuff. I wondered if there were any specific rules for treasure vs. Xp as suggested here.

-Marco

 

[2eBladeSinger]

Okay--so balance the extra treasure to the XP--that makes more sense. Do I keep it at 1st level or move up to 2nd?

Also: how exactly do I do that--my understanding is that the "parcel" for 1st level contains up to a 5th level magic item. Certainly I wouldn't put those in the optional encounters. Is there a "standard half"? Maybe the monetary portion but less magic?

Does the book address this?

-Marco

I don’t have the books yet, so I don't know how they address this. All the information on treasure and parcels I have is from the excerpt. A ‘parcel’ is just a way of saying ‘a portion of the treasure from level X to X+1’ There is no requirement that a parcel contain any specific treasure only a value. In the case of an optional encounter, the value of the parcel is roughly proportionate to the value of the experience earned in the option. If you need the PCs to have a magic item, do not place it in a parcel in an optional encounter.

The problem you might have is that, yes, the PCs might level up before your adventure at its conclusion. Thus at the end of your adventure if there is some sort of climactic battle, the PCs will waltz through it. In this case I don’t think there is any reason to alter the treasure. I would suggest…
1) Not adding more than a 20% swing in experience and treasure via optional encounters, it will lessen the chances of your PCs being too powerful. (Note, 20% is just my best guess, it’s not a book suggestion, but it would seem that 20% over or under wouldn’t make or break your adventure)
2) If the PCs are, in fact, level 2 when your designed level 1 encounter conclusion comes around, beef it up – scaling encounters is extremely easy in 4e.
3) You don’t need to move parcels around – look at the treasure of your PCs after it’s all said and done, if they’re under-treasured add what they need to the next parcels. If they’re over treasured – remove some from the next parcels.
4) Remember, this isn’t 3x. Having more or less treasure by level isn’t something that’s going to ruin a game or result in a TPK.

 

[bert1000]

That's how it was described to me--yes. But one of the things was a lvl 5 magic item. If I'm doing "extra" encounters, I assume I'd want to use more middle-of-the-bell-curve stuff. I wondered if there were any specific rules for treasure vs. Xp as suggested here.

-Marco

yes, that's right:

level 2, 3, 4, 5 magic item + 720gp of cash.

But you are overthinking this as bladesinger says.

 

[TheLordWinter]

I can't just "stock the dungeon" with some gold, a few magic items, and go with that: it seems, by the rules, I need to manage parcels for optional encounters ...

Honestly, I don't think this is even a little true. The total of your level 1 treasure parcel (meant to represent all your treasure between levels one and two) is 720 gold pieces. The next level up is 1040 gold. So if you want to play around with fifty, one hundred or even two hundred gold, you aren't going to be overburdening your campaign. Just be aware if you do it consistently, the PCs will have a bit more buying power than expected.

 

[Marco]

Honestly, I don't think this is even a little true. The total of your level 1 treasure parcel (meant to represent all your treasure between levels one and two) is 720 gold pieces. The next level up is 1040 gold. So if you want to play around with fifty, one hundred or even two hundred gold, you aren't going to be overburdening your campaign. Just be aware if you do it consistently, the PCs will have a bit more buying power than expected.

I'm not concerned about the gold--more about the magic items. The notes that it's not exactly like 3.5 are very helpful in that regard. I wanted to put some magic weapons / armor in the optional encounters--and that will mean matching magic weapons to additional Xp in some way I'd think.

If the extra adventure is worth 550Xp then maybe that's an additional L1 and L2 magic item?

-Marco

 

[TheLordWinter]

A level one or two item which might be useful to the party would be a good choice during a side trek. Depending on the composition of your party, something that is less than optimal would be a fine choice - if you've got a Fighter, a Warlock, a Wizard, A Cleric and a Rogue, then perhaps toss in a +1 Longbow or a +1 Dagger. Most of the characters could use them, but they aren't spectacular and it's just a small bonus for them. Feel free to play around with treasure a bit as well - by and large the PCs should be getting the items listed in the treasure parcels, but consider them closer to guidelines rather than absolutes.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

So long as you don't harm any cats . . . .

If you don't look, you won't know.

 

[NMcCoy]

Another suggestion, if you've got no compunctions about quantum treasure, is to have standard-value parcels in the off-the-beaten-path encounters, but tailor the magic items (or even the way the characters find them) to be especially suitable and/or memorable for the characters. Have the cleric make a perception roll, and he notices something shiny in a stray beam of sunlight filtering through an overhead grating. Turns out it's a +1 holy symbol of his god. (If he fails horribly on the check, he trips over the holy symbol instead.) Perhaps it's got some familiar initials engraved on it.