Steve Jackson Games - Site Navigation
Home General Info Follow Us Search Illuminator Store Forums What's New Other Games Ogre GURPS Munchkin Our Games: Home

Go Back   Steve Jackson Games Forums > Roleplaying > GURPS

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 09-03-2010, 04:49 PM   #1
Ejidoth
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Default DF Treasure Tables question

Does DF8 offer any way to scale the treasure, so that, say, the randomly-rolled treasure in an orc den is less valuable than the randomly-rolled treasure in a dragon cave?

I've been skimming through the pdf looking for some rule or tweak that would do that, but I haven't seen evidence of anything.

It seems like kind of an important thing to be missing.

EDIT:

Also, when you add embellishments, it normally multiplies the base cost, but not enchantments. How does this work with scrolls, where the entire cost represents the enchantment?

Last edited by Ejidoth; 09-03-2010 at 05:12 PM.
Ejidoth is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-03-2010, 07:11 PM   #2
Turhan's Bey Company
Aluminated
 
Turhan's Bey Company's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: East of the moon, west of the stars, close to buses and shopping
Default Re: DF Treasure Tables question

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ejidoth View Post
Does DF8 offer any way to scale the treasure, so that, say, the randomly-rolled treasure in an orc den is less valuable than the randomly-rolled treasure in a dragon cave?
Sorry, no. I did think about this when I was writing it, but I couldn't come up with a workable mechanism short of rebuilding all the tables, and even that wouldn't work reliably. The only advice I can give is, for various items, set minimum and maximum values as appropriate to the situation, keep track of item values as you roll them up, keep adding more items at least until you hit the minimum value, and if you get to the maximum, stop.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ejidoth View Post
Also, when you add embellishments, it normally multiplies the base cost, but not enchantments. How does this work with scrolls, where the entire cost represents the enchantment?
You may have noticed that the master random treasure table doesn't apply embellishments to scrolls. Since scrolls already come with their own rules for modifications (see the Scroll Properties Table), they just don't use the generic decorative embellishments.

Having said that, if you'd like to apply embellishments (say, a scroll with shiny brass studs and red silk tassels), I'd come up with a reasonable price for a blank scroll (say, $20), figure out the cost of the embellishments, and add that cost to the cost of the fully-enchanted scroll.
__________________
I've been making pointlessly shiny things, and I've got some gaming-related stuff as well as 3d printing designs.

Buy my Warehouse 23 stuff, dammit!
Turhan's Bey Company is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-03-2010, 07:31 PM   #3
Ejidoth
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Default Re: DF Treasure Tables question

Thanks!

I did think of that solution (keep adding treasure until reaching a certain $ value), I just wondered if there were any special tricks to vary treasure value. It's not as big a deal in DF as it would be in D&D, since the latter's so much more focused on equipment-scales-with-level than DF ever needs to be.
Ejidoth is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-04-2010, 03:43 AM   #4
Lord Herman
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: The Netherlands
Default Re: DF Treasure Tables question

Speaking of scaling, how do you handle embellishments on particularly cheap or expensive treasure? If I have, say, a $1 ceramic bowl, and make it gilded, it's $20. Should I say it's actually plated with a less valuable metal?

Similarly, how do I handle 'cheap' embellishments on an expensive golden crown? They can still add thousands of dollars to the crown's value, so should the material of the cheap fringe just be cheap relative to the material of the crown itself?
Lord Herman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-04-2010, 05:21 AM   #5
Azinctus
 
Azinctus's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Lyon, France
Default Re: DF Treasure Tables question

Ejidoth has lighted on a significant gap in Dungeon Fantasy. We have no scaled way of upgrading. none of the books give any indication of how to maintain balance between the party and the monsters.

At what point is it suitable to give out a An enchanted DB+2 Shield? How much cash should a GM give starting PCs after a major battle?

In D&D all such questions were standardised. But without levels for PCs, monsters and dungeons we can't begin to estimate appropriate amounts of treasure.

In my campaign each PC has around 80,000 dollars worth of gear at 450 character points. I let them buy more or less anything they wanted out of the books. They all have fitted Elven mail with DR+1 and DB+2 and all the fighters have penetrating weapons.

Does that sound like too much? Too little?
__________________
"wars and storms are best to be read of, but peace and calms are better to endure" Jeremy Bentham
Azinctus is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-04-2010, 05:49 AM   #6
Anders
 
Anders's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Gothenburg, Sweden
Default Re: DF Treasure Tables question

That's where the whole - no levels isn't a bug it's a feature - thing comes in. 450 point characters can mean a lot of different things. As long as you scale the encounters so that they are fun, it's an appropriate level of equipment.
__________________
“When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love ...” Marcus Aurelius
Anders is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-04-2010, 09:54 AM   #7
Turhan's Bey Company
Aluminated
 
Turhan's Bey Company's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: East of the moon, west of the stars, close to buses and shopping
Default Re: DF Treasure Tables question

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lord Herman View Post
Speaking of scaling, how do you handle embellishments on particularly cheap or expensive treasure? If I have, say, a $1 ceramic bowl, and make it gilded, it's $20. Should I say it's actually plated with a less valuable metal?
I don't have a problem with that value, so I'd just let the values fall where they may.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lord Herman View Post
Similarly, how do I handle 'cheap' embellishments on an expensive golden crown? They can still add thousands of dollars to the crown's value, so should the material of the cheap fringe just be cheap relative to the material of the crown itself?
DF, which is quick and dirty and kinda superficial, doesn't have a problem with that. Fancier design = more kewl = more valuable, and scaling be damned.

Low Tech, not surprisingly, will have a suggestion for handling such things more realistically. It's similar to what I described for the scroll. Start with a base price more reflective of the cost of essential workmanship rather than the unusual properties of the item, figure out the price of the embellishment based on that base price, and apply to the item separately from the cost of the materials. So if you've got a lightly decorated gold crown, start with the price of, say, a bronze crown, figure out the cost of those embellishments based on the bronze crown cost, and add that to the base cost of the gold crown.
__________________
I've been making pointlessly shiny things, and I've got some gaming-related stuff as well as 3d printing designs.

Buy my Warehouse 23 stuff, dammit!
Turhan's Bey Company is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-05-2010, 03:02 AM   #8
Greg 1
 
Greg 1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Default Re: DF Treasure Tables question

DF Treasure Tables is extremely useful. You just don't use it the way you used to use the Treasure Tables in your AD&D DMG.

The Treasure Tables in the DMG were a system for telling you how to place treausure from a list of treasures - kill a Dell Dragon, roll three times on table H and once on P, N and Z.

DF Treasure Tables randomly invents treasure for you (in much greater variety than the DMG ever did), and also doubles as a treasure-designing system. I have used it most in this second way. For a loot-based genre like DF, a book like Treasure Tables is invaluable.
Greg 1 is online now   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Fnords are Off
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 03:54 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.