The Anukharan tomb glittered with the wealth of a dead kingdom. Gold spilled across the room, accompanied by jewels, stones, necklaces, swords, and apples made of diamond. Cade collapsed to the ground. After all they had gone through; trials and tribulations, monsters and magic… they had reached the legendary lost treasure vault.
After an encounter-packed adventure, the characters will be expecting something to reward them for their efforts. Without a proper reward, the players will quickly lose interest, and lose a sense of accomplishment. It can be tempting to write the encounter with the goblin and have it be over and done with, but adding a chest of loot that the goblin collected is the critical cherry on top for the adventure.
Don’t overinflate the valuables of the world, either. If you’re on session one of a campaign, give them a taste of what’s to come. Ten gold pieces. A valuable necklace. Don’t dump money on the players, because that erases the worth of all the treasure yet to come, since the GM would inevitably have to either keep making bigger payouts or the treasure to come is less so than the one the characters just got.
5e has a copper to platinum monetary system, but anyone who’s played a game in their life knows that everyone uses gold. Keep in mind that gold is still valuable, though. Don’t let it completely replace silver in terms of worth. The big treasure hordes of gold traditionally come at the end of the campaign, or sometimes after grueling boss fights.
Let yourself get more creative than just gold. Spice up the treasure chest with amethysts worth a certain amount of gold. Ancient artifacts. Precious jewels. They all mean pretty much the same thing (lots of gold!) but differentiating the treasure makes it feel special and unique.
Magic items are a great way to shake up the reward system, too. 5e and other TTRPGS have a lot of magic items in their books that GMs can easily draw from, but it’s pretty easy to make one yourself. Just think of a traditional weapon or piece of armor in the game and give it a “superpower”. Swords can’t fly. Well, now this one can! Helmets can’t let the wearer see in the dark. Now it can! Your items don’t have to be complicated. Your players will appreciate anything you give them.
As we make our Goodberry Adventure Zines, one thing Ivo Hoying and I have been trying to keep in mind is where we give the magic items. Giving them at the end of the adventure is an option, if it’s really short, but it also doesn’t let the characters use the item in the fights. Try to find a way to reward your players with an item early on, so they can use the piece of treasure they’ve been given.
Remember, the real treasure wasn’t the friendships we made along the way. The real treasure was the treasure.
By Inti Navia
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