Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 andypalmer Jul 24, 2006 12:04:56	One of the features of 2nd Edition Dungeons and Dragons that I miss is the lair treasure, the old “B, 5xQ” etc. With the 3rd Edition rules, it is far more difficult to create a lair of humanoids or similar creatures and give them appropriate comprehensive treasure. After some trial and error, I developed the following method which is both firmly founded in 3rd Edition and which allows DMs to populate humanoid lairs with both characters and appropriate treasures. To illustrate this method we will be going to go through the creation of a Goblin lair. 1. BASELINE POPULATION. First, we take the tribe information from the Monster Manual and roll/calculate the size of the tribe. In this case, we have a tribe of 280 goblins, with 280 non-combatants, 14 level 3 sergeants, a 5th level lieutenant, a 7th level leader, 18 worgs, and 4 dire wolves. 2. LEADER CREATION. As our next step, we need more detail on our leaders. Level is already determined, but we need to determine their classes. Reading through the Monster Manual entry, we develop a couple of basic percentage charts. [INDENT]01-40 Rogue 41-65 Fighter/Rogue 66-75 Adept/Rogue 76-78 Cleric/Rogue 79-80 Sorcerer/Rogue 81-90 Fighter 91-95 Adept 96-97 Cleric 98-99 Sorcerer 100 Special[/INDENT] [INDENT]SPECIAL 01-30 Ranger/Rogue 31-40 Bard/Rogue 41-44 Barbarian/Rogue 45-50 Wizard/Rogue 51-80 Ranger 81-90 Bard 91-94 Barbarian 95-100 Wizard[/INDENT] As you can see, these charts follow the guidelines of the Monster Manual entry and have the favored class as the multi-class option. Similar charts can be created for all of the humanoid races and DMs can even vary the charts between tribes of the same race, as environmental and other circumstances dictate. Rolling on these tables, we get the following: [INDENT] Sergeants: 7 Rogues, 3 Fighters, 3 Fighter/Rogues, and a Ranger/Rogue Lieutenant: Cleric/Rogue Leader: Adept[/INDENT] In cases where the leader is multi-classed, there is a 60% chance that the 3rd level will be the favored class (Rogue in this case) [this gives us 2 Rog2/F1 and 1 Rog1/F2]. For the Lieutenant, we use this same methodology, but dynamically adjust the percentage 20% toward the class with the lower percentage, and toward the favored class if even. For example, the Cleric/Rogue gains Rogue as his 3rd level, but then has only a 40% chance of taking Rogue at 4th level. This would drop to a 20% chance if going into 5th level as a C1/Rog3 but would return to 60% chance if going into 5th level as a C2/Rog2. In our case, we end up with a C2/Rog3 (the most common outcome given the above). For attributes, we use the Elite attributes in the Monster Manual (8,10,12,13,14,15) [I actually use 10,11,12,13,14,15] and assign them as best for the character. In addition, we use the following chart to add a bit of randomness to the numbers. [INDENT]2 -1 3 -1 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 1 11 2 12 +2d3[/INDENT] I recommend assigning the attributes after rolling on this chart. After this, flesh out each leader by assigning skill points and selecting feats. 3. TREASURE DETERMINATION. Now that we have our leaders established, we turn to treasure determination. They key aspect of this is to determine the size of a Squad. In the case of Goblins, as there is one sergeant per 20 goblins, 20 goblins is the size of a squad. The Encounter Level of 20 goblins is about 6 (3=1, 6=3, 12=5, 24=7) so we have 14 ECL6 standard treasures. Add to that 14 ECL3 treasures (the sergeants) and then treasure for the worgs and other two leaders and we end up with 20 ECL6 and 14 ECL3 treasures. Note: there is some fudging here as we want to limit ourselves to 2 ECL types. Instead of rolling randomly on the chart, we instead proportionally assign treasure types, based upon the number of each treasure. For example, 2 of the 20 ECL6 treasures have no coins, 2 have copper, 3 have silver, 12 have gold, and 1 has platinum. This is done to ensure a good mixture of items, as would be typical of a Goblin tribe. Additionally, we will want to modify the items part of the treasure table to increase the odds of having mundane items (as humanoids, unlike greater creatures, would put these to good use). In our case, we change ECL6 to 21-59 mundane. This should provide a very good mix of monetary treasure, as well as sufficient mundane and magical items to outfit the 16 leaders with equipment befitting their levels. For treasure distribution, we can even distribute a percentage of the coinage among the warriors while keeping the rest in the various treasure rooms of their lairs. It is important that most, if not all of the treasure is usable by the goblins, so we will need to greatly modify the percentage of armor that is small vs medium (in my case, I actually made ALL of the mundane and magical items small sized). 4. FINAL PRODUCT In my case, I wanted to create a Goblin lair that was self-sufficient. I gave the Cleric Scribe Scroll and the 7th level Adept Scribe Scroll, Brew Potion, and Craft Magical Arms and Armor. I modified the mundane item chart to make it more indicative of what goblins would create, changing the values under both armor and shields as follows (with all items being goblins sized). [INDENT]01-12 Chain Shirt 13-50 Masterwork Studded Leather 51-60 Breastplate 61-72 Masterwork Chain Shirt 73-80 Masterwork Breastplate 81-90 Darkwood ............01-50 Buckler ............51-100 Shield 91-100 Masterwork Shield ............01-17 Buckler ............18-60 Light wooden shield ............61-100 Light steel shield[/INDENT] Additionally, I fudged some on the weapon type rolls, turning any uncommon weapon that did not seem goblin appropriate to a Morningstar and re-rolling any common melee/ranged items that didn’t fit. For magical items, I modified the Random Magic Item Generator to limit selection to only items the clan could produce. [INDENT]01-06 Armor and Shields 07-15 Weapons 16-55 Potions 56-100 Scrolls[/INDENT] The selection percentages for both Potions and Scrolls were changed in order to limit to just spells that the cleric and adept could cast, including creating the following Adept Spell Scroll charts (levels 1 and 2). [INDENT]01 09 Bless 10 15 Burning Hands 16 21 Cause Fear 22 30 Command 31 36 Comprehend Languages 37 50 Cure Light Wounds 51 53 Detect Law 54 58 Detect Good 59 71 Endure Elements 72 83 Obscuring Mist 84 86 Protection from Law 87 94 Protection from Good 95 100 Sleep[/INDENT] [INDENT]01 01 Aid 02 04 Animal Trance 05 13 Bear's Endurance 14 22 Bull's Strength 23 31 Cat's Grace 32 43 Cure Moderate Wounds 44 49 Darkness 50 58 Delay Poison 59 67 Invisibility 68 70 Mirror Image 71 79 Resist Energy 80 85 Scorching Ray 86 94 See Invisibility 95 100 Web[/INDENT] The final product is a dynamic, flavorful Goblin clan that includes: 40 goblin warrior Worg riders (albeit with only 18 worgs) led by 3 Goblin Sergeants that are 3rd level fighters, with masterwork chain shirts or breastplates, +1 longswords, and which ride dire wolves 20 goblin warriors, with higher Wisdom, which support/guard the Cleric Lieutenant and Adept Leader. The higher wisdom (using the standard 8,9,10,11,12) allows for better spot/listen and positions them as potential adepts/clerics should circumstances warrant. 220 goblin warriors, led by 11 Goblin sergeants. Most of the sergeants have masterwork studded leather and masterwork weapons. The Ran1/Rog2 has a darkwood buckler and a masterwork composite longbow to go along with his 20 dexterity, making him an especially dangerous adversary. A smattering of potions is spread among the sergeants and both spellcasters have significant repertoires of spells on the scrolls they carry. As a DM, I can much better use this force than a standard, quickly rolled up one. The leaders have personality and purpose, as determined by their attributes, skills, and items and the treasure, while not insignificant, in appropriate in size and scope to the challenge this goblin clan provides.
#2 ilthorin Aug 02, 2006 10:57:55	No offense but I don't see how what you have come up with is anywhere near as simple as the old "this monster has treasure type H," I agree with you completely however that rolling up treasure in 3/3.5 is a total chore. So much so that I simply pick and choose treasure now rather then roll it up like it did back in 2nd ed. Why the tables for 3rd are spattered throughout some 40 pages of the DMG I will never understand. I definitely miss the old single main table that told you what percentage chance the monster had for having each item. And to be honest I don't understand why a creature has either 1d3 mundane items or 1 minor magic item and no chance of both?? Unless I am using the tables wrong, which is a possibility. I do hope with all of the reprinting of materials and alternate rules that they come up with a better system. I was disappointed that the DMG2 didn't have anything better.