Dragonblade
Adventurer
Those are cool artifacts! Having had the privilege of playing SHARK's game before, you definitely "get" the feel of his world.
Treasures For The God-King!
- Thread starter SHARK
- Start date
Those are cool artifacts! Having had the privilege of playing SHARK's game before, you definitely "get" the feel of his world.
Dragonblade
Adventurer
Very nice list there.
I would think that those treasures useful to or to the taste of the last rulers would be out in the palace for use and enjoyment.
If I was a sensible ruler, and I had treasure i didnt care for, id use it to reward allies, or sell it or swap it , for something I wanted. (And If I was a stupid decadent ruler, id waste it.)
Overall, I think there should be millions of gp of useful treasure.
But...there should be millions of gp of expenditure required to run the kingdom.
Some random ideas
"IOU"
The royal treasuries are like a bank. Much of the commerce of the kingdom is via The Crown. Rather than have to lug gold about, lots of transactions are done by having the ownership of gold or other valualbles in the central treasuries altered. So lots of boxes of gold..all with owners who will not be happy if the entire economic basis of civilised life is stolen from them.
"IOU2"
The Treasuries are quite empty of valuables but contain a lot of bits of paper
that say "Subject A owes The King B gp to be paid by date C or forfeit property D". And thats a really simple record. Imagine the Derivatives Vault.
And the above two ideas are complicated further if the Treasuries were run by Royal Economists rather than Royal Accountants.
Player: "Tell me scribe - how much is all this worth"
Scribe: "Why sire, the National Debt is a meagre 125 million gp."
Player: "125 million ! Im frickin rich! Whoo-hoo!"
Scribe: "No sire...you owe 125 million gp"
"Where has it all gone?"
The moment it became apparent the regime was doomed, just about everyone started looting.
"The Vault of Lost Treasures"
Loads of shelves and cases with wonderful items.
On closer inspection, the items are illusions or fakes. Each has an inscribed tablet describing when it was made, how the mighty rulers of the past used it, and how and when it got sold/pawned/lost/stolen/broken.
If I was a sensible ruler, and I had treasure i didnt care for, id use it to reward allies, or sell it or swap it , for something I wanted. (And If I was a stupid decadent ruler, id waste it.)
Overall, I think there should be millions of gp of useful treasure.
But...there should be millions of gp of expenditure required to run the kingdom.
Some random ideas
"IOU"
The royal treasuries are like a bank. Much of the commerce of the kingdom is via The Crown. Rather than have to lug gold about, lots of transactions are done by having the ownership of gold or other valualbles in the central treasuries altered. So lots of boxes of gold..all with owners who will not be happy if the entire economic basis of civilised life is stolen from them.
"IOU2"
The Treasuries are quite empty of valuables but contain a lot of bits of paper
that say "Subject A owes The King B gp to be paid by date C or forfeit property D". And thats a really simple record. Imagine the Derivatives Vault.
And the above two ideas are complicated further if the Treasuries were run by Royal Economists rather than Royal Accountants.
Player: "Tell me scribe - how much is all this worth"
Scribe: "Why sire, the National Debt is a meagre 125 million gp."
Player: "125 million ! Im frickin rich! Whoo-hoo!"
Scribe: "No sire...you owe 125 million gp"
"Where has it all gone?"
The moment it became apparent the regime was doomed, just about everyone started looting.
"The Vault of Lost Treasures"
Loads of shelves and cases with wonderful items.
On closer inspection, the items are illusions or fakes. Each has an inscribed tablet describing when it was made, how the mighty rulers of the past used it, and how and when it got sold/pawned/lost/stolen/broken.
I personally wouldn't stiff the PCs or do something mean. This sounds like a monumental task, an event of a campaign, so the treasure should be well worth it.
But, depending on the levels of the PCs, I would definitely be wary of just handing them the monty haul holy grail. Instead, items of frivolousness to adventurers, but worthy none the less. An orchestra of instruments that play themselves. And endless font of wine, or spices that reproduce themselves. A room that magically sustains food (a fridge, in other words). Robes that keep one clean and perfumed no matter the circumstance (deserts: hot, sticky, ew).
... as well as a menagerie of entities which would be useful for PCs (A unicorn or pegasus, gryphons, a pseudodragon scholar, something from the elemental plane of cute and fuzzy adorableness, and so on.
But, depending on the levels of the PCs, I would definitely be wary of just handing them the monty haul holy grail. Instead, items of frivolousness to adventurers, but worthy none the less. An orchestra of instruments that play themselves. And endless font of wine, or spices that reproduce themselves. A room that magically sustains food (a fridge, in other words). Robes that keep one clean and perfumed no matter the circumstance (deserts: hot, sticky, ew).
... as well as a menagerie of entities which would be useful for PCs (A unicorn or pegasus, gryphons, a pseudodragon scholar, something from the elemental plane of cute and fuzzy adorableness, and so on.
The Roman emperor's personal treasury (or fisc) was huge, around 27 million gold pieces during the time of the Julio-Claudians. Sure, some of that money had to be spent on donatives, public works programs, bailing out an impoverished Senate, compensating for economic disasters, renumeration after disasters, but that didn't stop the princeps from having enough money to do almost anything he wanted, and enough money to pay his servants almost anything they desired.
And that's with a tax rate in Rome of about 0.5%. (In the provinces it was higher).
And that's with a tax rate in Rome of about 0.5%. (In the provinces it was higher).
A single book sitting on a stand.
The book contains the history of their adventures in the campaign...right up to this point.
And then it ends.
I am sure that their imaginations will fill in the "ending" in the worst way possible.
And if they are very clever, by writing the ending that they want in the book, it appears for them.
The book contains the history of their adventures in the campaign...right up to this point.
And then it ends.
I am sure that their imaginations will fill in the "ending" in the worst way possible.
And if they are very clever, by writing the ending that they want in the book, it appears for them.
It all depends on what the purpose of the treasure is.
What do you want to happen next?
a) This is the end of the campaign. The treasure is there to reward the players and give them happy warm memories of the campaign
b) The characters will continue being itinerant adventurers.
This is 'just another' treasure haul - albeit a really big one.
So the aim is to close the gap between i) The huge reward the characters deserve and ii) the even more massive hugeness of the haul.
c) The characters are going to settle down and run the kingdom:
- so the treasury is tied up with their political headache - part resource, part problem.
d) The characters are going to rule the kingdom, but rather than a 'political' game, it is going to be a resource base for the next adventures. Saving the world from The Old Ones, etc.
- so the treasure is part resource, part plot macguffins.
What do you want to happen next?
a) This is the end of the campaign. The treasure is there to reward the players and give them happy warm memories of the campaign
b) The characters will continue being itinerant adventurers.
This is 'just another' treasure haul - albeit a really big one.
So the aim is to close the gap between i) The huge reward the characters deserve and ii) the even more massive hugeness of the haul.
c) The characters are going to settle down and run the kingdom:
- so the treasury is tied up with their political headache - part resource, part problem.
d) The characters are going to rule the kingdom, but rather than a 'political' game, it is going to be a resource base for the next adventures. Saving the world from The Old Ones, etc.
- so the treasure is part resource, part plot macguffins.
Whisper72
Explorer
Well... thinking of a cool book about a fictionalized sack of Troy, the treasury is empty. The King needed to pay for all his armies, assassins etc. in trying to stave off the advance of the players. There is simply nothing left. The last batch of treasure was paid to several major assassin's guilds as a 'fail clause', if the Kingdom fails, these assassins are to try to take revenge on the party...
Ydars
Explorer
Hi Shark!
Here are a few ideas based on your Persian theme. I was thinking that much of the treasury would be tribute collected from neighbouring Satraps and Client Kings. Haven't worried too much about mechanics as I figure you will tweak everything/anything to fit anyway. Enjoy!!
1) A gold encrusted sedan chair carried on the backs of four bronze Minotaur constructs. The Minotaurs need neither food nor rest and can carry the chair at the rate of 100 miles per day. Whilst inside the chair, the occupant is unaffected by heat or cold. The constructs will not fight or let go of the chair under any circumstances.
2) A box of 150 cloud pearls; these beautiful lustrous pearls, when thrown into the air, cause rain-clouds to form overhead over the next few hours and result in a continuous day of rain within a twenty mile radius. These are used in bad years when lack of rain threatens the harvest.
3) Mithridaic cocktail; a chest containing wax sealed ibex horns filled with a combination of poisons in minute amounts that if consumed every day for 30 days allows immunity to all poisons for a year and a day but lead to the loss of 2 points of constitution for the same period. There is enough supply for 10 years of poison immunity.
4) A chest of spiced wood containing hundreds of clay tablets. If a question is asked in the presence of the chest on any subject relating to religion/history/taxes/geography/local knowledge, the chest opens and a clay tablet pops up that allows even an untrained person to attempt to answer the question with a +10 check result. Note that such knowledge is limited to "what government records" could be expected to have recorded.
5) A golden fleece; this fleece has the power to heal 500 points of damage before becoming useless, but can even bring back the dead if they died within a minute of the fleece being placed over them. The fleece can be used multiple times until a total of 500 damage is healed. The healing takes place overnight.
6) A gem encrusted miniature bronze/gold amphitheatre about 4 feet in diameter complete with animated figurines that battle in this arena and miniature animals such as lions, tigers, minotaurs and a hydra to be their opponents. There are also 4 miniature chariot teams that can be set to race. The amphitheatre will even accept and honor small bets (10 gp or less). Odds are displayed on metal wheels and winnings collected via coins ejected from inside the miniature.
7) 10 amphorae of scented oils. Bathing and applying the oils everyday for a month (1 amphorae per person) leads to a +1 permanent increase in charisma. This benefit can only apply to 1 character once ever.
8) A large 2 wheeled chariot with 4 bronze figures standing in it. The figures can play the most beautiful music if commanded to “play” and use exotic wind and percussion instruments to form a quartet of musicians. The figures know about 50 songs and can be commanded to play any one of them if the name of the song is uttered.
9) A huge white twisted/spiralled horn winds around one of the treasury rooms, over 50 feet long. The horn is hollow and the radial diameter at the open end is 3 feet but the horn tapers to 6 inches in diameter at the closed end. Every morning, the horn is found to be filled with an abundance of fruits; enough to feed 30 people for a day. It is a cornucopia and refills at exactly daybreak.
10) An everlasting amphorae of wine; this amphorae appears to have been carved out of white stone and weighs 50lbs but is always full of the sweetest tasting nectar that tastes pleasant and is only mildly intoxicating.
11) A huge marble table upon which a topographic map of the whole Kingdom is carved out in perfect relief, showing mountains and even seas. Armies appear on the map as small moving flags, as do fleets as tiny ships. Cities are also shown as golden or silver buttons. To take command of this table, the person must have been crowned as ruler of this nation. Once this is done, via a ritual lasting a night of devotion, the table will reset to show all friendly and unfriendly armies and their exact current position. The table cannot be deceived by magic unless the spell is greater than 5th level.
12) Ten ivory cylinders are found in a box of sandalwood. The cylinders allow encryption/decoding of a complicated and unbreakable cipher. Paper with a message is wound around the cylinder and the command word “Ackbar” is spoken, at which point the message appears as mundane list or set of business accounts. The cipher is unbreakable, even using divination magic. To decode, a message is rewound around a cylinder, at which point the message appears upon utterance of the command word “Kesha”.
13) An elephant (giant sized) is carved out of jade and stands 25 feet at the shoulder and has a palanquin that can hold 6 people on its back. The construct will animate on the command “Bathsheba” and can be ridden or used to batter down city gates. It has a strength of 40 but will not attack people/animates and stands motionless unless ridden or if someone stands in front of it (it will NOT trample). It has a speed of 50 feet, 150 HP (hardness 15) and can run all day and all night and can carry about 500 lbs in weight.
14) A beautiful embroidered tapestry of a summer land full of bounty. The Tapestry is a demi-plane in which a white marble palace is set on the shores of on a sun-drenched shallow sea; the demi-plane is less than 1 mile square. Object left in the plane remain there but it can hold no more than 300 lbs of equipment etc as well as 10 people. The tapestry is entered by removing a golden thread from the edge and pinning it to clothes of the person who would like to gain entry. The tapestry has 200 HP but if it is destroyed with people inside, they are flung back into this world, stunned for 1 round. This was the travelling accommodation of the Emperor and his retinue whilst visiting client Kings. Magic (arcane and divine) is completely impossible (unless the user is a Deity) inside the tapestry, making it a good neutral meeting ground for the PCs.
15) A silver astrolabe about twenty feet in diameter can predict the positions of the sun, moon and stars and thus can be used in occult divinations via astrology. This mechanical marvel is clockwork and can give precise planetary positioning up to ten years ahead. Anyone with knowledge (Arcane) can spend a day calculating with this device and receive omens of future events that affect the Empire within the space of up to ten years hence or, if a person’s birth-date and birth-place are known, the future of an individual can also be calculated.
Here are a few ideas based on your Persian theme. I was thinking that much of the treasury would be tribute collected from neighbouring Satraps and Client Kings. Haven't worried too much about mechanics as I figure you will tweak everything/anything to fit anyway. Enjoy!!
1) A gold encrusted sedan chair carried on the backs of four bronze Minotaur constructs. The Minotaurs need neither food nor rest and can carry the chair at the rate of 100 miles per day. Whilst inside the chair, the occupant is unaffected by heat or cold. The constructs will not fight or let go of the chair under any circumstances.
2) A box of 150 cloud pearls; these beautiful lustrous pearls, when thrown into the air, cause rain-clouds to form overhead over the next few hours and result in a continuous day of rain within a twenty mile radius. These are used in bad years when lack of rain threatens the harvest.
3) Mithridaic cocktail; a chest containing wax sealed ibex horns filled with a combination of poisons in minute amounts that if consumed every day for 30 days allows immunity to all poisons for a year and a day but lead to the loss of 2 points of constitution for the same period. There is enough supply for 10 years of poison immunity.
4) A chest of spiced wood containing hundreds of clay tablets. If a question is asked in the presence of the chest on any subject relating to religion/history/taxes/geography/local knowledge, the chest opens and a clay tablet pops up that allows even an untrained person to attempt to answer the question with a +10 check result. Note that such knowledge is limited to "what government records" could be expected to have recorded.
5) A golden fleece; this fleece has the power to heal 500 points of damage before becoming useless, but can even bring back the dead if they died within a minute of the fleece being placed over them. The fleece can be used multiple times until a total of 500 damage is healed. The healing takes place overnight.
6) A gem encrusted miniature bronze/gold amphitheatre about 4 feet in diameter complete with animated figurines that battle in this arena and miniature animals such as lions, tigers, minotaurs and a hydra to be their opponents. There are also 4 miniature chariot teams that can be set to race. The amphitheatre will even accept and honor small bets (10 gp or less). Odds are displayed on metal wheels and winnings collected via coins ejected from inside the miniature.
7) 10 amphorae of scented oils. Bathing and applying the oils everyday for a month (1 amphorae per person) leads to a +1 permanent increase in charisma. This benefit can only apply to 1 character once ever.
8) A large 2 wheeled chariot with 4 bronze figures standing in it. The figures can play the most beautiful music if commanded to “play” and use exotic wind and percussion instruments to form a quartet of musicians. The figures know about 50 songs and can be commanded to play any one of them if the name of the song is uttered.
9) A huge white twisted/spiralled horn winds around one of the treasury rooms, over 50 feet long. The horn is hollow and the radial diameter at the open end is 3 feet but the horn tapers to 6 inches in diameter at the closed end. Every morning, the horn is found to be filled with an abundance of fruits; enough to feed 30 people for a day. It is a cornucopia and refills at exactly daybreak.
10) An everlasting amphorae of wine; this amphorae appears to have been carved out of white stone and weighs 50lbs but is always full of the sweetest tasting nectar that tastes pleasant and is only mildly intoxicating.
11) A huge marble table upon which a topographic map of the whole Kingdom is carved out in perfect relief, showing mountains and even seas. Armies appear on the map as small moving flags, as do fleets as tiny ships. Cities are also shown as golden or silver buttons. To take command of this table, the person must have been crowned as ruler of this nation. Once this is done, via a ritual lasting a night of devotion, the table will reset to show all friendly and unfriendly armies and their exact current position. The table cannot be deceived by magic unless the spell is greater than 5th level.
12) Ten ivory cylinders are found in a box of sandalwood. The cylinders allow encryption/decoding of a complicated and unbreakable cipher. Paper with a message is wound around the cylinder and the command word “Ackbar” is spoken, at which point the message appears as mundane list or set of business accounts. The cipher is unbreakable, even using divination magic. To decode, a message is rewound around a cylinder, at which point the message appears upon utterance of the command word “Kesha”.
13) An elephant (giant sized) is carved out of jade and stands 25 feet at the shoulder and has a palanquin that can hold 6 people on its back. The construct will animate on the command “Bathsheba” and can be ridden or used to batter down city gates. It has a strength of 40 but will not attack people/animates and stands motionless unless ridden or if someone stands in front of it (it will NOT trample). It has a speed of 50 feet, 150 HP (hardness 15) and can run all day and all night and can carry about 500 lbs in weight.
14) A beautiful embroidered tapestry of a summer land full of bounty. The Tapestry is a demi-plane in which a white marble palace is set on the shores of on a sun-drenched shallow sea; the demi-plane is less than 1 mile square. Object left in the plane remain there but it can hold no more than 300 lbs of equipment etc as well as 10 people. The tapestry is entered by removing a golden thread from the edge and pinning it to clothes of the person who would like to gain entry. The tapestry has 200 HP but if it is destroyed with people inside, they are flung back into this world, stunned for 1 round. This was the travelling accommodation of the Emperor and his retinue whilst visiting client Kings. Magic (arcane and divine) is completely impossible (unless the user is a Deity) inside the tapestry, making it a good neutral meeting ground for the PCs.
15) A silver astrolabe about twenty feet in diameter can predict the positions of the sun, moon and stars and thus can be used in occult divinations via astrology. This mechanical marvel is clockwork and can give precise planetary positioning up to ten years ahead. Anyone with knowledge (Arcane) can spend a day calculating with this device and receive omens of future events that affect the Empire within the space of up to ten years hence or, if a person’s birth-date and birth-place are known, the future of an individual can also be calculated.
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