Roll d20

"What has he got in his pocketses, anyway?"
Treasures that lead to adventures
by Ed Greenwood

At long last, the brave band of adventurers
corner their arch-foe. Their blades
flash faster than his spells, and soon he
crumples lifeless to the ground. It?s treasure
time!

The wise Dungeon Master has prepared
what the party will find in advance, of
course?but what if the chosen treasure
seems boring or ill suited to a particularly
easy (or difficult) victory? What if the
player characters have ambushed a random
NPC instead of their arch-foe or
(gulp!) have laid low the wrong spell-
hurler? Perhaps the play is a pick-up session,
hastily organized by a DM who hasn?t
prepared the loot beforehand. Or maybe
the DM is eager to find ways of introducing
intriguing subplots, red herrings, and
treasure trails for the PCs to follow up in
later play. All of these circumstances can
be handled in a variety of ways.

Here is one way to handle this problem,
used in many FORGOTTEN REALMS
campaigns over more than a decade: the
Treasure Hook Table. Entries on this table
should be expanded, altered, or replaced
whenever an idea strikes. Every DM
should personalize such a table, and (of
course) should never use the same entry
twice. The following table is given as an
example only (?Change everything to entertain
the guilty,? as Elminster has been
known to say).

To use the Treasure Hook Table, roll
1d20 and refer to the indicated result,
rolling again if a particular result is inappropriate,
and altering circumstances
freely to fit your own campaign.

Treasure Hook Table
1: A rogue stone (see "Rogue Stones and
Gemjumping," in issue #116 of DRAGON®
Magazine), in the form of a 5,000-gp ruby
of brilliant cut and chatoyance. It radiates
a faint dweomer. Any use of magic upon it
or by anyone carrying it will draw the
attention?and, subsequently, the presence
?of the mage Kordeerlar ?Krakenhand,?
who will seek to slay or disable everyone
in the vicinity, take all magical or other
items of value they possess, and teleport
away.

Kordeerlar's statistics are: Int genius; AL
CE; AC 4; MV 12; M16; 41 hp; THAC0 15;
#AT 1; Dmg by weapon or spell; S 7, D 17,
C 11, I 18, W 12, Ch 14; ML 14; ring of
protection +3, bag of holding, potion of
extra healing in a steel vial at his belt, two
nonmagical daggers. His spells include
magic missile ×3, fireball, lightning bolt,
wall of fire, and feeblemind (among others).
He will be protected by Serten?s spell
immunity and will appear right beside the
gem, attacking instantly. He will not be
carrying his spell books.

2: A rare, highly prized material component.
One example: a beholder?s central
eye, preserved in a solution of Keoghtom?s
ointment and ?everwater? (embalming
fluid) so that it retains its anti-magic gaze
property for an indefinite time. This component
should be somewhat difficult to
sell for its proper value, and it may be
eagerly sought by many powerful NPCs
(including, perhaps, its ?rightful? owner),
but it should be too valuable or potentially
useful for the PCs to simply discard.

3: Regalia recently stolen from and
sought by a ruler?the jewelled scepter of
a local lord, for example (complete with
hollow compartment containing a map,
cryptic message, or parchment bearing a
symbol trap to harm thieves or other
unauthorized handlers of the thing), or the
Wyvern Crown of Cormyr, won by the
present royal family an age ago when they
defeated the Witch-Lords of the
Wyvernwater, to consolidate their hold on
the fledgling Forest-Kingdom. The Wyvern
Crown is said to be fashioned of some
rare, unknown star-metal and adorned
with active ioun stones. Many conflicting
rumors speak of its strange powers.
Though not an active crown of state like
the High Crown of Cormyr, the Wyvern
Crown is one of the most valued pieces in
the Royal Strongcrypts. King Azoun has
sent messengers to all Purple Dragon
outposts and to neighboring rulers; any
local lord would do the same. Rewards are
offered for the return of the item; the
reward its wrongful possessors will earn is
likely to be swift death.

4: A portable hole of palm size. Its extradimensional
space is 4? in diameter and 1?
deep, and it holds a complete set of
thieves? picks and tools, a silver-bladed
dagger, and a 9? -long magical iron baton.
The baton counts as a magical weapon (no
pluses, deals damage as a club) that, upon
command, extends in one round into a 36?-
long pole ladder, with a hook at the top
and crossbrace footholds every 6? along
its length. Retraction requires a reverse
command and another round. There is
also a scrap of parchment in the hole that
contains the message: ?. . . Six paces sunward
from the crypt sundial stands a
stone, amid tall grass and much ruin. At its
base are four tiles. Beneath the tile
marked with the fish symbol is a key,
carved of rock-crystal. It will unlock the
spell book hidden by Orthabbas in . . . ?
The location of the key and the spell book
(as well as the nature of its contents) are
up to the DM. The hole has been recently
stolen and is sought by local authorities,
their agents, and patrols.

5: A tiny figurine of an angry-looking
woman in a dark blue gown. She wears no
armor but has a girdle of armor class 2
beneath her gown; her bare arms are
raised as if in supplication or warding off
a threat. The figurine is a real mage,
trapped long ago by an enemy who
tricked her into imbibing a potion of diminution;
he then placed her in temporal
stasis. If freed, she will be enraged and
will attempt to find and destroy her foe?
the Arch-Mage Anthilar, dead now for
over 300 years. She will also be confused
at the changes in the Realms that have
occurred since her entrapment and will do
anything to get spell books. The figurine is
Nanzil Starspeladine, of Untisczer, a city
now lost (destroyed by Calimshan in a
long-ago war) that stood east of Tashluta.

Nanzil?s statistics are: Int genius; AL CN;
AC ? 1; MV 12; M11; 32 hp; THAC0 17;
#AT 1; Dmg by weapon or spell; S 11, D
17, C 16, I 17, W 12, Ch 16; ML 13. Nanzil
was trapped at a ball, and her only other
magical item is a dagger +1 strapped to
her thigh beneath her gown. She lacks
spell books but does have material components
hidden in various pockets in her
ornate eveningwear. She carries the following
memorized spells: charm person,
comprehend languages, dancing lights,
spider climb, darkness 15? radius, ESP,
invisibility, levitate, dispel magic, fireball,
hold person, lightning bolt, dimension
door, polymorph other polymorph self
cone of cold, feeblemind, and telekinesis.
Nanzil is fiery-tempered, clever, and very
alluring (and knows it). She is also fearless
and manipulative, and she thinks nothing
of plunging into combat with a dagger,
darts, or staves.

6: A silver ring, fashioned with two
horns, and between them the inscription:
?Thelm Horn.? Sages will identify this ring
(which bears a dweomer but has no apparent
powers) as one of ?The Lost Rings of
Thelm Horn? (Thelm Horn being a famous
human mage of long ago). It is not; instead,
it is a device placed on Faerun by an ultrodaemon
also named Thelm Horn; each
time the ring?s inscription is read aloud,
there is a 5% chance (not cumulative) that
the daemon will hear and investigate.

7: A map of the known sewers of Waterdeep,
the City of Splendors. The map may
be accurate or not, as the DM wishes (and
may be devised freely or taken from the
sewer map given in the AD&D accessory
FR1 Waterdeep and the North). The map
should show a secret entry to Piergeiron?s
Palace and a ?Treasure Cache? chamber
watched over by a ?Guild Guardian? (DM?s
choice of monster and treasure).

8: A black opal gem, fist-size and radiating
a faint dweomer. It is worth 5,000 gp
on the open market and more to a gemcutter
or other being (such as a dwarf skilled
in gem-mining) able to examine it minutely;
he will see a tiny, ever-pulsing
sparkle in its depths. The gem is in reality
a long sword +1, +3 vs. shapeshifters
and all creatures employing powers of
mutability (e.g., +3 against mages using
polymorph spells, dopplegangers, or
druids while shifting to or from beastform).
The item shifts form back and forth
uncontrollably; it is a sword whenever any
magical item or artifact is within 60? of it,
but it is a gem otherwise (scrolls and potions
do not ?activate? it). The gem/sword
transformation could easily damage a
carrying-pouch or purse, or even injure a
creature impaled by the forming sword. If
carried by hand or kept close by pocket or
pouch, it ?attacks? as a 4-HD monster for
1-4 hp damage when it changes.

9. A plain ivory coffer (itself worth 1 gp)
that radiates a dweomer. It is latched, but
has no lock and is not trapped. When
opened, it releases a swirling cloud of
winking motes of light, the source of the
dweomer. The cloud rises up around the
head of any one character of the DM?s
choice and coalesces into a ring of 3-12
ioun stones (DM?s choice of types and
sizes). They circle the head of the character,
no doubt attracting unwanted NPC
attention?but they do not exist. Dispel
magic will end the illusion, but the stones
always dance away to avoid a touch and
cannot be ?destroyed? by physical attacks
or touch attempts that seem to succeed.
The illusory ioun stones radiate a
dweomer but do not, of course, have any
of the protections or beneficial powers of
real ioun stones.

10: A hand-size brass jewel box, without
a lock. When opened, it emits a small
glowing globe that springs wildly up into
the air. The globe evades any attacks or
capturing attempts, bounces to the
ground, and rolls 40? in a random direction.
As it rolls (AC -8), a magic mouth
emanates from it and says, in a peevish
male human voice: ?So I said to him, ?Why,
yes, of course black sigils are dangerous,
because they do this!?? At that point, the
globe explodes, doing 4-16 hp damage to
all within 30? (no save). It is up to the DM
to determine what powers ?black sigils?
have and who knows the secrets of creating
them. They are evil delayed-action
symbols triggered by conditions similar to
those for a magic mouth spell.

11: A key of polished electrum, 1? in
length and quite heavy. It radiates a faint
dweomer and displays the inscription
?Alsimbra.? If this command word is said
aloud, the key shrinks. Sixteen such
shrinkages cause the key to shrink to
nothingness, to be lost forever. If the key
is touched to any one chain, knot, lock,
winch, bolt, or bar when the command
word is spoken, its magical unlocking
power shatters, dissolves, or parts the
restraining mechanisms. The key?s power
even works upon command without direct
contact with the lock or restraint if it is
held, carried, or touched by any number
of beings who are under that physical
restraint. This key of free passage cannot
be recharged, its shrinkage cannot be
reversed or halted, and its power cannot
be nullified by physical or magical means.

12: An old, worn, stone box, one hand
wide and thick by 10 hands long. It has
rusting iron clasps all around it and opens
to reveal-nothing. Physical examination
of its interior reveals an invisible mace,
fashioned of one piece of metal. Whenever
it is grasped, a male-voiced magic mouth
on the mace (called a mace of doom) roars,
?Destroy them! Destroy them!? every three
rounds. The mace remains invisible at all
times, although substances smeared on it
or scarves tied to it remain visible and can
be used to readily locate the weapon. The
mace is dedicated to destroying dragons;
upon contact with any dragon, it explodes
and vanishes forever. The magical blast of
the mace of doom does 4-24 hp damage to
the wielder and all other beings within
20?, unless they save vs. spells for half
damage. A dragon so struck by this mace
takes 8-48 hp damage (no save).

13: An electrum sword scabbard, empty
and unadorned. It is finely made, handsome,
and radiates a dweomer. It is, in
reality, a doppleganger who has employed
a potion of diminution, who will attack
when the majority of nearby beings are
asleep, wounded, or at ease and not alert.
The doppleganger?s potion is effective for
thrice the normal duration. A sword inserted
in the scabbard will not harm the
doppleganger. The monster has a second
extrapowerful potion of diminution that it
will use to take the shape of a plain brass
ring (which will also radiate a dweomer) if
it escapes notice by others while attacking
its first victim.

14: A glass globe containing a swirling,
milky-white gas. It radiates no dweomer. If
the globe is shattered, it releases the gas in
a cloud that expands rapidly into a cloud
of pale white haze, before dissipating into
harmlessness after four rounds. In the
first round, the cloud expands to a 10?
radius; in the second round, the cloud is
20? in radius; in the third and fourth
rounds, the cloud has a 30? radius. Any
beings who breathe the gas or whose skin
comes into contact with it will be overcome
by a frenzied urge to slay. Spellcasting
and rational thought are
impossible, and all affected beings launch
physical attacks against the nearest other
creatures. All beings are allowed a saving
throw vs. spells to avoid this effect. If they
succumb, they make twice their normal
attacks each round, caught in a reckless
frenzy with no thought for their own
safety or waiting for good opportunities
for assault. Gas effects on beings last only
for the round(s) in which they are in contact
with it. Under the influence of this
rare horrible vapor, friends and even
mates attack each other without hesitation.
All attacks are at -1 to hit but are
+1 to damage due to their savagery.

15: An eye of gold, actually an eye of
vision. This palm-size object is inset with
an obsidian and pearl ?eyeball? and is
worth 1,500 gp. If the inlay is removed or
the eye melted or hammered into another
shape, it explodes (3-12 hp damage within
20? radius; save vs. wands for half damage;
anyone in contact with the eye at the time
suffers 4-32 damage, no save). On the back
of every eye of vision is a single word (on
this one, the word is ?halass?). If this word
is uttered aloud by a being touching the
eye, the speaker is empowered to see the
whereabouts of any one particular creature
or physical object that he has seen
before. For example, a speaker could see
?the gem I saw atop the crown King Orvan
wore last Highfeast,? but could not see ?the
largest gem King Orvan owns.? Such directions
need not be spoken aloud but must
be concentrated upon (precluding reading,
spell-casting, or other mental activities and
requiring full attention). The eye then
vaporizes, but its activator receives a
mental vision (lasting 2-5 rounds) of the
desired being or object and its present
whereabouts, governed by light available
at the locale. No sense of the direction or
distance separating the target from the
activator is imparted, nor is any sound
transmitted. No spells can be cast through
the vision; it is not a mental link or portal.
Every eye of vision is a one-shot device;
such devices are very rare, and the secrets
of making them are thought to be lost.

16: A magical arrow. This finely made
arrow radiates a dweomer and can be
identified as an arrow of direction. It is
actually an arrow of monster location,
always pointing unerringly at the nearest
dangerous nonhuman or demihuman
creature. The creature may be any distance
away on the same plane. The arrow
will do this regardless of the commands it
is given.

17: A famous magical item or artifact,
sought by many mages of power. This
might be a book of infinite spells, a piece
of the rod of seven parts, or any item
appropriate to the DM?s own campaign.

18: An ivory slate adorned with hammered
gold corners (12 gp value). A spell
placed on the slate long ago causes these
words to appear silently on the slate when
it is touched: ?So you have come at last.
Know, before the Dark Dragons devour
the world, that there is a way to defeat
them: Find the Whip of Mastery. It lies in
the Tower of Crymon, on the island of
Ulm?s Hand in the Nelanther. Waste no
time.? The slate?s words then fade forever.
The DM should alter the treasure and
location to suit his own campaign. Details
of the dragon-controlling and dragonslaying
powers of the ?whip of mastery?
are likewise left to the DM.

19: A gold piece that radiates a faint
dweomer, found among several hundred
or so other nonmagical gold pieces. When
first touched, it causes the ghostly white
illusion of a harp to appear in midair,
approximately 2? behind and a little above
the head of the being who touches the
coin. The illusory harp plays faint, eerie,
intricate music constantly. Touching or
using magic on the harp will not affect it,
and it can pass through magical barriers,
walls, solid rock, and so on. The harp
vanishes when the gold piece is touched
again by a living being?whereupon another
harp illusion will appear, to trail the
second being who touched the coin. A
harp illusion disappears if the person
currently causing it dies, or if dispel magic
is cast on the coin. The coin can still cause
illusions later when next touched, unless it
is melted down or a limited wish is used to
permanently end its magic.

20: A sealed clay sphere, baked hard
long ago, light in weight but about the size
of a human head. The sphere radiates a
faint dweomer. It has no powers except a
total inability to be affected by any magic,
including fireballs, wish spells, and the like
(a protection that it cannot extend to beings
or other items). If shattered by a fall
or a deliberate blow, the sphere releases a
swarm of disembodied, animated eyeballs
of all types and sizes. These eyeballs float
about, clustering around and following
PCs until the spheres are destroyed (each
AC -2, MV 18, 1 hp). A successful to-hit
roll when using a net, or when a creature
attacks barehanded with the stated intention
of catching an eyeball, results in the
capture of an undamaged eyeball. The
eyeballs can then be used as material
components, decorations, food, or in ruses
(e.g., to suggest the presence of someone
who does not in fact exist watching an
intruder).