What is a Treasure Hoard?
In the ancient, dust-covered annals of the Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014), there is a section on awarding treasure and giving your players a Treasure Hoard. These hoards of treasure hold dozens, hundreds, or thousands of gold coins, dozens of gems and/or art objects, as well as the biggest prize of them all… magic items!
But what is a Treasure Hoard? How do you use it in your game? How often do you award a Treasure Hoard? And what is your party supposed to do with so many ‘art objects’?
What is a Treasure Hoard?
A treasure hoard is a large pile of riches to give your party a reward. In Dungeons & Dragons, wealth is often given out as a reward (even if the game doesn’t necessarily give you anything to do with that wealth) and players are expected to find 7 Treasure Hoards from CR 0-4 monsters, 18 Treasure Hoards from CR 5-10 monsters, 12 Treasure Hoards from CR 11-16 monsters, and 8 rolls from CR 17+ monsters.
This means, there are 45 Treasure Hoards sitting out there for the players to find in a typical Level 1 to 20 campaign. Taking the average of every Treasure Hoard roll, each character is expected to earn over 786,000 gold pieces.
What is in a Treasure Hoard?
From relics and coins to paintings and statues, a Treasure Hoard could hold anything of value. Dragons and other ancient creatures may have collected art pieces from past civilizations that are difficult to find collectors for, like marble statues of forgotten heroes, platinum weapons made by masters, or idols blessed by the gods. While more brash and younger creatures may only collect cheap brass lamps, crudely made silverware, or tarnished coins.
Some things of value, like a black grimoire dripping with acidic ink, may only be valuable to some individuals, but adventurers are just the people to find a collector willing to offer large sums for such unique materials.
When deciding what items adventurers would find in a Treasure Hoard, think about the creature and what it likes. Dragons love gold, ghosts hold onto those things dear to them in life, kobolds and goblins love shiny, while a wizard would hold onto anything magical and toss the rest into a chest for handing out to adventurers for dirty work.
How to Determine What’s in a Treasure Hoard
If you are using the Dungeon Master’s Guide, it is as easy as rolling on the charts found on page 133. You’ll first determine the number of coins by rolling the appropriate dice, and then simply take your d100 dice and give it a roll. The result is a single Treasure Hoard.
That said, the DMG suggests that you roll two times when ever the party finds a ‘hoard,’ and that you can roll up to four times for especially large hoards. Every time you roll, it counts as a Treasure Hoard, so while the book tells us that the party can expect to find 18 Treasure Hoards, the hoards may be located right next to each other in the dragon’s lair. And make sure you roll the appropriate dice for coins as well.
If you are not using the DMG, then it is up to you how much treasure is in a hoard. Perhaps you multiple 1d10 by 1d10 to determine how much gold is in a low challenge rating hoard, but by level 17+, you are rolling 1d1000 x 1d1000 to determine how much treasure the party finds.
After that, include artwork, gems, statues, fine weapons, weird abstract art made of fine metals, idols to ancient beings, ancient tomes of hidden knowledge, magic items, and more to round out the Treasure Hoard.
Example Treasure Hoards
When looking at the charts, you may be dissatisfied with 3d6x100 silver pieces or be stumped when it comes 2d4 25 gp art objects. On one hand, an average of 1,050 silver pieces isn’t an interesting treasure. While adventurers love money, simply writing down “1,050 sp” on the character sheet doesn’t create memories of when and how they got the Treasure Hoard. The same goes for a 25 gp art piece. What could it be?
The following are examples of Treasure Hoard generated the same way that you would generate a Treasure Hoard, just with added flavor. I’ll first provide the typical rewards, and then how you could customize the treasure to fit your theme and party.
Treasure Hoard: Challenge 0-4
2,100 cp, 1,050 sp, 70 gp
x7 50 gp gems, 3 magic items on Magic Item Table A
Theme: House
- a set of silverware worth 200 sp
- x3 large portraits of nobles worth 10 gp each
- a fine ebony smoking box with a set of ivory pipes worth 20 gp
- several bottles of fine whiskey worth 15 gp
- a master crafted desk made of elemental wood worth 50 gp (weighs 500 lbs)
- a matching necklace and earrings set worth 20 gp
- an assortment of fine jewelry worth 41 gp
You can either split the gems up in different locations or add them to the fine jewelry for 391 gp worth of jewelry and gems.
For the magic items, you are most likely to either get potions or scrolls. You can place the potions of healing in a small ‘first aid’ kit, among the jars of fine whiskey, or in the private study of the owner for any headaches. As for scrolls, you can include them in the private study, nestled within old tomes, or lost in old crates in the attic.
And don’t feel constrained to just what I provided above. Anything in the house can be intricately crafted with rare metals to make it worth the adventurer’s while to pick it up. A door stopper in the shape of a kobold, made of gold, with ruby eyes could easily be found in a noble’s house, while an intricately carved towel holder that has a minor magical glamor on it that instantly casts prestidigitation on a towel could be worth 100 gp or more (and be an exciting find for adventurers who really like their grooming).
Treasure Hoard: Challenge 5-10
700 cp, 7,000 sp, 2,100 gp, 105 pp
x5 250 gp art objects, 4 magic items on Magic Item Table C
Theme: Crypts
- a large satchel of fine incense for keeping back spirits worth 100 gp
- an intricately carved holy symbol for a deity of death worth 50 gp
- an empty gnome-sized golden coffin covered in gems worth 500 gp
- an unused, marble grave marker worth 20 gp
- an intricately carved silver statue of a goddess worth 75 gp
- diamond dust sprinkled inside of a coffin worth 300 gp
- a magical cloak with silver and gold thread that resists dirt worth 400 gp
- dozens of golden teeth in a large jar worth a total of 75 gp
- grave jewelry worth 500 gp
- a beautifully crafted chest worth 100 gp filled with 50 pp stamped with the face of an ancient ruler
- a strange black orb that dark shapes can be seen within worth 250 gp
- a set of fine canopic jars made of rare metals worth a total of 600 gp
- a set of magically preserved organs worth 300 gp
- a cluster of ooze buds just beginning to hatch worth 87 gp
For the magic items, they can be placed within the sarcophagi or coffins and should match the people they are buried with (or the people should match the item buried with them since we are rolling for magic items, not dead people).
As for the art pieces, you might do giant rugs rolled up in mausoleums, intricate stained glass, portraits of the ancient dead, large statues, or chunks of rare metals and stone that nobles use as grave markers.
Treasure Hoard: Challenge 11-16
14,000 gp, 1,750 pp
x5 750 gp art objects, 2 magic items on Magic Item Table D
Theme: Wizard Tower
- a set of magical quill and paper that writes down notes worth 300 gp
- x10 enchanted gems that gleam with an inner radiance worth 100 gp each
- 1,500 gp worth of spell components (for transcribing spells)
- an animated chess set made of rare sky metals worth 700 gp
- dozens of summoning candles with gold inlays worth a total of 1,000 gp
- x5 crystal keys that can be used as attuning rods (unlinked) worth 300 gp each
- a set of tiny, intricately crafted electrum bells for attuning magical items worth 1,000 gp
- a pile of dragon scales (multiple colors) worth 2,500 gp
- a clockwork beetle made as a prototype worth 5,000 gp
- several vials of rare powders and dust, like stardust, worth 3,000 gp
- an hourglass made of platinum with tiny diamonds for sand worth 2,000 gp
- a spyglass worth 1,000 gp
- a large trunk of broken wands and staves that a wandmaker could attempt to fix and is worth about 500 gp (could be sold for more depending on a Persuasion check and how friendly the wandmaker is)
- a tiny puzzle box enchanted to be constantly shifting worth 500 gp
- an ancient tablet from a bygone era worth 1,000 gp to a collector
- an extensive collection of magical tomes and spellbooks worth 7,500 gp
- a vast collection of potion and elixir ingredients worth a total of 1,500 gp
For the magic items, they would be within the wizard’s lab (perhaps being studied for the wizard to learn how to make them) and there may be ‘extra’ magic items left half finished that your players can take and attempt to fix or just sell off to an interested buyer.
As for the art objects, they could be the half-finished magic items instead. Otherwise, the party could find magically enchanted portraits that talk, carpets that fly around short distances, talking and bickering statues, and more enchanted artist goods.
Treasure Hoard: Challenge 17+
42,000 gp, 28,000 pp
x4 5,000 gp gems, 6 magic items on Magic Item Table E
Theme: Dragon Hoard
- an incredible collection of coins (copper, silver, electrum, gold, platinum and other metals) worth a total of 100,000 gp
- dozens of finely crafted statues made of rare minerals or metals worth 50,000 gp total
- a pile of old dragon shells worth 2,500 gp to a collector
- a hundred pieces of jewelry covered in gems and rare metals worth 10,000 gp
- a single, massive pearl worth 22,500 gp
- multiple suits of armor from ancient heroes worth 17,500 gp total
- enough platinum goblets, sets of silverware, golden plates, and copper napkin rings for a thousand guests worth a total of 33,500 gp
- great melted lumps of gold, platinum, copper, and more worth a total of 20,000 gp and each lump weighs a hundred pounds
- half a dozen crowns from far off kings worth a total of 7,000 gp
- golden thrones sized for giants and covered in pearls, diamonds, and rubies worth a total of 32,000 gp
- an army’s worth of well maintained weapons worth a total of 3,500 gp
- large chunks of the dragon’s breath weapon crystallized in to gems worth a total of 5,000 gp
- a carefully constructed diorama of an ancient city made in marble and platinum worth 15,000 gp and weighs a ton
- a massive statue made of obsidian and marble depicting an ancient heroe worth a total of 3,000 gp and weighs several tons
For the magic items, many of them should be focused on defeating dragons or other legendary creatures, like a dragonslayer sword or armor that grants resistance to specific types of damage. In addition, there would also be magic items, like a ring of protection, that is meant for defense or good fortune.
You can include the gems as part of the massive hoard, or perhaps the dragon has set aside a favorite spot for its favorite gems, that way it knows where they are at all times and can keep an eye on the gems.
Incidentals and Minor Treasure
Not everything in a house, wizard tower, or castle can be taken into account for its worth, which is why I recommend you roll on the Individual Treasure Tables whenever the party finds something and wants to know how much it is worth.
Did the rogue steal a set of candle sticks? Time to roll on the appropriate CR Individual Treasure table and let them know it’s worth a few gold pieces so you can carry on with running the game. This lets them still fulfill their passion for theft, while you can remain focused on the game and not worry about how your pre-generated Treasure Hoards are impacted.
Splitting up a Treasure Hoard in a Dungeon
I recommend pre-generating your Treasure Hoard before the players find a large chest for two main reasons.
1) You don’t want to slow down play by rolling a bunch of dice, flipping through pages, and stumbling your way through handing out rewards. (That said, when I haven’t pre-generated treasure, I tell the players they found a Treasure Hoard and then have them roll all the dice so it’s their fault when they only find a single gold coin.)
2) The biggest reason to roll ahead for a Treasure Hoard is so you can split it up across a dungeon. A Lich isn’t going to let all their treasure sit in one place, they don’t have a single vault of gold. This is their wizard tower and they are messy creatures, and players will find magic items, gold coins, strange art pieces, and everything else decorating the walls and laboratories in the tower.
For example, if you are entering a haunted house, a portion of the hoard could be the silverware, in another room it might include a fine collection of smoking pipes made of ivory and dragon bone, and the master bedroom could have the family jewels. While none of these are a single, massive Treasure Hoard as provided in the Dungeon Master’s Guide, when you combine them at the end of adventure, they make up a treasure hoard.
This is especially handy if the boss at the end of the dungeon isn’t really a collector. Like a super-large zombie isn’t going to be spending its time polishing gems, but rather the players will find treasure in random spots where the boss zombie killed someone, and just left a valuable magic item in a closet or corner of the dungeon where no one has picked it up yet.
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