Treasure
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Heroes may quest for justice, for a higher purpose, for the salvation of their queen and country, but just as many adventurers seek treasure—a horde of shiny rupees, full armaments of powerful magic items, and jewels or gemstones hidden away long-forgotten dungeons. As the Dungeon Master, you decide where treasure can be found and in what amount.
It may be important to remember that Legends of Hyrule is playable with or without treasure. A party of capable adventurers can make it to 20th level without even earning a single rupee. The more riches and magic items they earn, however, the more capably they can overcome obstacles along the way. By contrast, a party that earned almost every magic item herein might find their adventures far too easy, but there would still be ways to challenge such an overpowered group of heroes.
Although you are empowered to award treasure and additional rewards however you like, this section will focus on three balanced methods of doing so: piecemeal, chests, and stockpiles.
Piecemeal Treasure
Simply put, you award rupees, magic items, or other treasure without referencing any other materials or tables. While there are no hard rules on how often or how much you award, the best games usually have the party earning modest but useful rewards early on, with increasingly powerful and game-changing benefits as the campaign progresses.
Treasure Chests
This method is best if your party attains higher levels primarily through experience points earned in combat.
Every creature in the bestiary has on its page a "Treasure Chest" table. Simply enough, when that creature is subdued or slain, roll the dice listed on the table and award the listed result. This could be awarded immediately as loot found on the monster's body, loot found in a nearby area that was perhaps guarded, or "stored" to later be rewarded at a more thematic or appropriate time. There's no need to force this treasure onto the party, either—if you decide the treasure is found on the monster's body, the party should only get that treasure if they actually look for it.
A Treasure Chest table is based on the corresponding monster's XP value. Whether it be rupees, spoils, gemstones, magic items, or something else, each entry on a Treasure Chest table is assigned a value in rupees. The average result of a table will usually have a rupee value that is equal or nearly equal to the monster's XP value. There are occasionally some exceptions; for example, a champion chilfos can award a frostspear, which is normally too valuable for a monster like this but an exception is made for its thematic merit and the relatively low chance of rolling it.
You need not necessarily roll for a Treasure Chest table to make use of it. The table may simply inspire options for you to award as piecemeal.
Compared to the Treasure Stockpile method below, Treasure Chests provide a comparable total value, but is more random in the results. While it varies depending on what monsters the party faces, Treasure Chests are more likely to award more magic items overall but fewer magic items of high rarity.
Treasure Stockpiles
This page or section is incomplete, and will eventually be expanded with more information. |
This method is based on official guidance from the Dungeon Master's Guide and Xanathar's Guide to Everything.
For every member of the player party, you have a "stockpile" of rupees and magic items based on the character's current level. Your mission is to make approximately that much treasure available to the party before they reach the next level. This treasure can be spread throughout the level, awarded all at once, or even saved for later levels. If you're using level milestones, it might be thematically appropriate for each chapter or level to end with a hefty reward of all the level's treasure at once in one huge hoarded reward.
This table is meant to represent each individual character. If there are three characters in the party all of the same level, for example, then simply multiply the result by three.
Level | Rupees & Spoils | Minor Magic Items | Major Magic Items | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
common | uncommon | rare | very rare | legendary | common | uncommon | rare | very rare | legendary | ||
1st | 700 (3d4 × 100) | 1 (1d3‑1) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
2nd | 1,000 (3d6 × 100) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
3rd | 1,400 (4d6 × 100) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
4th | 2,700 (5d10 × 100) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
5th | 22,000 (4d10 × 1,000) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
6th | 27,000 (5d10 × 1,000) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
7th | 33,000 (6d10 × 1,000) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
8th | 38,000 (7d10 × 1,000) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
9th | 44,000 (8d10 × 1,000) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
10th | 49,000 (9d10 × 1,000) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
11th | 70,000 (3d4 × 10k) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
12th | 100,000 (4d4 × 10k) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
13th | 140,000 (4d6 × 10k) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
14th | 180,000 (4d8 × 10k) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
15th | 270,000 (5d10 × 10k) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
16th | 440,000 (8d10 × 10k) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
17th | 700,000 (3d4 × 100k) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
18th | 1,400,000 (4d6 × 100k) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
19th | 1,800,000 (4d8 × 100k) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
>=20th | 2,200,000 (4d10 × 100k) |
Additional Rewards
Although treasure is tangible and renowned, adventurers may seek or find rewards of a less distinct nature.
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