Loot is the soul of any role-playing game. It’s why heroes delve through dungeons deep and caverns old. It helps those of the adventuring lifestyle afford their inn stays and tavern crawls. It empowers them to take on more dangerous challenges and keep up with their ever-stronger foes. And it lets them eventually pay for that castle they’ve always wanted — along with some good will from the local lord.
When plundering prey and prize, many types of items of value can be found and taken for exchange. Most types of loot act as currency — that is, selling them to specific vendors will net their full value as opposed to half, like most items. See a list of items below and examples. But first, what do you usually find loot in? Containers!
From smallest to largest:
- Loot bags: Usually contains coins and gems. Occasionally, you might find a small wondrous item or a consumable. These are often carried by fallen enemies.
- Armor and weapon stands: These contain equipment and are often found in armories, training rooms, bedrooms, and guard stands. Note that if there’s a stand dedicated to it, it stands to reason that it could be particularly powerful.
- Chests: Valuables are usually hidden in treasure chests. These can contain just about anything of value, but often contain treasure, wondrous items, and powerful equipment. Chests are usually locked.
- Fallen: Anything that fallen people and monsters were carrying can be looted. Even the fallen themselves, if there’s a good reason to carry them around with you. As if adventurers like you ever needed a good reason.
- Treasure caches: The dragon’s horde, the king’s treasury, or the bandit crew’s haul when they robbed the caravan. Treasure caches have it all, and usually in great amounts. These are more than likely the aim of any adventure.
Types of loot:
- Coins: Coppers, silvers, and golds. As these are true currency, they’re obviously worth their own value. Coins have no weight.
- Gems: Gems sell for their full value. They’re also commonly used as reagents in crafting and spells. Aside from coins, they’re the most common type of loot.
- Treasure: Large items such as vases, busts, paintings, and other items of great value. These are the most prized form of loot, as they’re worth a very pretty penny. Each piece of treasure has a weight of 1, and they sell for their full value.
- Equipment: Armor and weapons available to equip. These can be sold at equipment shops for half their value or used.
- Wondrous items: Magical curiosities, baubles, and artifacts. These will rarely be available for purchase, but nearly any vendor will buy them for half of their value.
- Common items: Items of everyday use such as consumables, provisions, and ammunition. General stores might buy these off of adventurers at half price, especially the more valuable ones.
- Contraband: Items that are known to be illegal, stolen, or dangerous in some other way. Not many vendors will purchase these, but those that do will buy them for a very high price. Some vendors won’t even deal with you if they see you bring contraband into their store.
Speaking of vendors, there are several types that can be found in most villages and cities. A list of vendor types, what they buy and sell, and where they can usually be found is below. These are guidelines, not rules.
- Alchemist: These types of vendors offer deals in potions and consumables of all kinds, magical or not. In villages, they tend to deal in minor goods and have a small inventory, sometimes acting as town healers. In towns and cities, they usually have much more esoteric goods available.
- Collector: Collectors love to buy treasure. They’re quite wealthy, usually eccentric, and actively seek out adventurers to take their goods from them. Collectors are quite common in most towns and cities, though the occasional retired one might inhabit a village or hamlet.
- Fence: Fences are few and far between, but they’re the only reliable method of pawning contraband and stolen goods. Finding a fence in a small town is difficult, but they’re generally available in large cities if you know where to look.
- General Store: Buys and sells cheap consumables and provisions. Occasionally buys gems and treasure if they’re particularly affluent. Found in just about every village. Usually carries between 100 and 1000 gold worth of inventory and coin.
- Jeweler: These vendors buy and sell precious gems, usually with a large inventory. They also tend to deal in magical jewelry. Jewelers are among the most wealthy vendors, and as such tend to only appear in large cities.
- Smithy: Buys and sells armor and weapons. Some of them specialize. They usually won’t buy treasure, but they tend to like gems. Every village usually has one, and cities will have multiple. They carry between 50 and 5000 gold worth of inventory and coin.
- Sorcerie: Sorceries are generally run by mages and specialize in enchanting services and magical goods. Aside from the niche location in a village, these are generally only found in cities where a great variety of clientele might visit them. Successful sorceries carry near limitless inventories of goods and coin.
Rules for Looting
When enemies fall and rooms are cleared, heroes will loot. When pockets are rifled and treasure chests are opened, heroes will loot. To sustain the greater need (or the greater greed), use the following rules for determining loot.
Rolling for Loot
When an enemy falls, the slayer rolls Discovery and compares the result to the enemy’s loot table. The result of the roll as shown on the loot table can be found on the fallen in their pockets, in loot bags, or splayed across the ground near them.
Sometimes, powerful enemies will require a second or third Discovery roll. If this is the case, the DM will choose other players at the table to roll as well. Rarely, an enemy so powerful will fall that all players at the table will roll Discovery. If there aren’t enough players to satisfy the amount of loot, some will make multiple rolls.
Mundane Equipment
Battle takes its toll. Any mundane equipment worn by the enemy is assumed to be destroyed beyond usability in combat. “Worn equipment” is always an option on loot tables though, so it may appear occasionally, which indicates that it survived battle.
Some items are always lootable. You’ll see these appear next to the monster’s loot table under the Loot entry. Generally, these are items that are indestructible because they’re made of special materials or they’re a reward for defeating a particularly powerful foe.
A note on “magical” items: Items that are magically enchanted are not considered indestructible by default. These can be lost in battle as any other item. They’ll only be lootable if they’re rolled on the loot table. See the Optional Gameplay Rules section for more information, though.
Example Loot Tables:
[When I get around to designing them]