by David Howery

 
 

Furs && Pelts	Skins	Ivory	Teeth && Claws	Horns && Antlers
Poisons	Carcasses	Feathers	Eggs && Young	Miscellaneous Monster Items
Plant products	Monster body parts	Placement of natural treasures	Dragon 137	Dragon

Mention treasure to AD&D® game play
ers, and they will probably think of gold,
jewels, and magical items. But the AD&D
game thrives on variety, and other things
can be used in place of gold to make a
treasure hoard more interesting.
Probably the most neglected treasure
items are the products that come from the
flora and fauna of the world: furs, ivory,
skins, and so on. These items are mentioned in two short tables on page 27 of
the DMG  and in a few
passages in the monsters' descriptions.
There is no provision for these items in
determining random treasure from the
treasure tables in  MM and  MM2 <correction: MM && FF -- there are no treasure tables in the MM2>
Certain plant and animal products are
valuable because they are scarce in AD&D
game civilizations. Most of them come
from faraway lands and are available only
during certain seasons. Since there are no
trucks or airplanes in the AD&D game,
these products must be hauled by cara
vans or ships. The trade routes are
fraught with danger, as they are obvious
targets for bandits and humanoid raiders.
Armed men must escort the traders,
which only adds to the cost of the
products.

These treasures of nature can add both
variety and difficulty to a treasure hoard.
Some are of considerable value; a sable
coat is worth more than most gems. How
ever, these products tend to be bulky and
fragile. For example, gold is more compact
and hardy than a bag of furs. In general, it
takes more transportation and care to
convert natural products into cash ? but
nobody ever said that the life of an adven
turer was easy.

Using the tables from the  DMG  as a
start, the list of valuable products from
plants and animals can be greatly expand
ed. Carrying the idea a step further, there
are many products that can be taken from
monsters, too. This article gives several
lists and tables of these items. Note that
the prices given are average values that
can be raised or lowered by up to 10% to
represent items of higher or lower quality.

F u r s   a n d   p e l t s
The fur trade exists everywhere that
civilized men go. Barbarians often gather
pelts to sell to traders, and trappers and
foresters roam wilderness areas to set trap
lines. As the pelts are processed into
capes, robes, trimmed garments, and
blankets, their values increase, sometimes
by vast amounts.

Furs are valued for three reasons: beauty, durability, and special use. Few furs
have all of these qualities. Some are durable but not exciting (e.g., beaver, badger,
and skunk). Others are beautiful but poor
in durability (e.g., leopard and chinchilla).
A few are valued for some special quality
of the fur itself (e.g., wolverine). For the

purpose of simplicity, this article deals
with furs that have only one or two of
these qualities. If furs with all three quali-
ties are desired, they should be devised by
the DM especially for this purpose.

Table 1 is an expanded version of the list
on page 27 of the  DMG.  Included in this
list are the fur-bearing animals from the
Monster Manual, Monster Manual II,  and
the FIEND FOLIO® tome. The problem
with these creatures as written is that a
very high value is placed on the raw pelt.
Placing them into the table creates a common system for all furs ? that is, low
values are given for all pelts, but values
increase as the pelts are processed into
garments. Also added are a few creatures
with potentially valuable fur, although
they were not specifically mentioned as
being valuable. Entries in Table 1 marked
with an asterisk are explained below.

Table 1
Values of Animal and Monster Furs
 

Creature	Pelt	Trimming	Cape or Jacket	Coat, robe, or blanket
Aurumvorax	5	40	400	800
Bear*	5	20	100	200
Beaver	2	20	200	400
Bobcat	2	20	125	250
Caterwaul	7	75	2,250	4,500
Bunyip	5	25	125	250
Chinchilla	3	90	2700	5400
Common furs*	1	10	100	200
Devil dog	5	30	200	400
Ermine*	4	120	3600	7200
Fisher*	3	30	300	600
Fox, hoar	5	100	1000	2000
Fox, red	3	30	300	600
Fox, silver	4	40	400	800
Giraffe	5	20	125	250
Lynx	2	20	125	250
Marten*	3	30	300	600
Mink*	3	90	2700	5400
Musk-ox*	5	-	-	50
Nonafel	7	75	2250	4500
Otter	2	25	250	500
Otter, sea - A Tlingit man skinning a Sea Otter	3	30	300	600
Owlbear	5	20	200	400
Panther	7	75	2250	4500
Sable*	5	150	4500	9000
Seal	5	25	125	250
Snow leopard	8	80	2500	5000
Spotted cats*	4/6	70	2000	4000
Tiger	5	20	125	250
Winter wolf	5	75	2500	5000
Wolverine*	3	30	-	-
Yeti	5	30	200	400
Zebra	5	20	125	250

All values given in this table are in gold pieces.
* See notes in the text regarding this creature

Bear:  Black and polar bear furs are
worth 10% more in each category.

Common furs:  This includes such mun
d a n e   f u r s   a s   s q u i r r e l ,   r a b b i t ,   r a c c o o n ,
m u s k r a t ,   a n d   s i m i l a r   c r e a t u r e s .

M u s k - o x :   These hides are made into
robes and blankets, not trimming or capes.
Spotted cats: Small cat pelts (e.g., ocelot
and margay) are worth 4 gp; large cat
pelts (e.g., leopard, jaguar, kamadan, and
cheetah) are worth 6 gp.

W o l v e r i n e :   This fur is used to trim
hoods, since it does not collect water or
freeze; it is not made into garments.
The pelts of giant counterparts to furbearing animals (beaver, squirrel, weasel,
etc.) are worth five times the value of the
normal-sized pelt. Garments made from
giant pelts are worth 20% more in each
category.

Weasels and giant weasels actually
include a variety of other creatures, such
as stoats, ferrets, martens, fishers, sables,
and minks. The difference is important
with regard to the value of furs. Treat 25%
of these creatures as stoats and ferrets
(worthless), 50% as weasels, 10% as martens and fishers, 10% as minks, and 5% as
sables. Weasels are valuable only if taken
in winter (ermine).

Of course, pelts are taken from many
other animals, such as wolves, deer, apes,
etc., but these pelts have value only to
locals for use as clothing and shelter. They
are worthless in other lands.
Pelts taken from animals killed by edged
weapons are worth only half their normal
values. Furs exposed to fire, lightning, or
other such forces are worthless.

S k i n s
Table 2 lists various skins and hides that
can be sold, though they are not considered furs. Entries in Table 2 that are
marked with an asterisk are explained
below.

Table 2
Values of Animal and Monster Skins
 

Creature	Value (gp)
Behemoth	20-50
Bulk hides*	1/HD
Displacer Beasts	3000
Dragon*	50% of subdued value
Dragon horse	20,000
Dragonfly, giant	600/sq. ft.
Dragonne	1800-2000
Gorgon	500
Hippopotamus	10-40
Ki-rin	25,000
Neo-otyugh	700
Otyugh	500
Reptiles*	2/HD

*   S e e   n o t e s   i n   t h e   t e x t   r e g a r d i n g   t h i s
c r e a t u r e .
H D :   H i t   d i c e   o f   i n d i v i d u a l   c r e a t u r e.

B u l k   h i d e s :   This assumes that there is an
AD&D game version of the bison-hide
industry that once existed in America.
These hides can only be taken from herbivores that live in large herds. In addition
to bison, this trade could include wild
cattle, mammoths, mastodons, and caribou. If found as treasure, these hides are
tied into bales of 11-20 hides each.

D r a g o n :   The scaled skins of dragons are
worth 100-400 gp per hit point.

R e p t i l e s :   This is the AD&D game version
of the industry that once existed to deal
with crocodilian skins. In the game, this
includes all large reptiles, excluding
snakes, armored reptiles (turtles, ankylosaurus, etc.), and other reptiles mentioned
in Table 2.

I v o r y
Ivory is the hard, creamy-white dentine
(tooth material) from the tusks of various
mammals. Note that tusks are generally
different from teeth in that they have a
solid core and grow outside the mouth
(thus, large teeth do not qualify as ivory).
Not all tusks are valued; those of boars are
worthless. Table 3 lists the ivory-bearing
animals in the AD&D game.

All ivory, regardless of the source, has
encumbrance equal to one-fourth its goldpiece value. Ivory from elephants and
their kin is the most valuable, being worth
5-6 gp per pound. The extremely rare
ivory of the baku and hollyphant are
included herein.

Lesser ivory comes from behemoths,
catoblepases, hippopotamuses, walruses,
and giant walruses. This ivory is worth 3-4
gp per pound. The tusks of giant walruses
are rarely seen; these scarce creatures live
only on islands in the polar seas and come
to the mainland once a year to breed.
Hunting them is a perilous task (for their
statistics, take those listed for the walrus
in "What's for Lunch?" in this issue, and
double all values for hit dice and damage).
The ivory of narwhals is the poorest
kind, being worth only 2 gp per pound.
But some people believe that a chalice
made of narwhal ivory neutralizes or
reveals poison. As an option, the DM may
allow high-level clerics to enchant
narwhal-ivory chalices so that they neutralize (25%) or change the color (75%) of
any poison placed therein. These cups
would be in great demand by unpopular
kings and the like.

Table 3
Values of Animal and Monster Ivory
 

Creature	Tusk value (gp)
Baku	50-200
Behemoth	40-240
Catoblepas	3-18
Elephant	100-600
Hippopotamus	20-120
Hollyphant	11-20
Mammoth	100-600 (+50%)
Mastodon	100-600
Narwhal	10-40
Oliphant	100-400
Walrus	6-36
Walrus, giant	11-36

Teeth and claws
These items have little value by themselves but may have some value as novelty
or jewelry items. The novelty value of
teeth and claws must be partially judged
by the DM as to whether someone wants
to pay for them or not. For example, if
there is a tavern in the characters? town
that caters to adventurers, the owner

would probably want to have several
interesting sets of claws or teeth mounted
on the walls. However, he won?t want to
buy very many. Thus, teeth and claws are
items of limited worth useful for low-level
characters short of cash. A good base
value for these items is 1 gp per hit die for
uncommon or common carnivores, 3 gp
per hit die for rare creatures, and 5 gp per
hit die for very rare monsters.

The large teeth of some animals may be
used for artistic purposes (such as engravings).
For example, an artist in an oceanside city might engrave a nautical scene on
a sperm whale's tooth, or a caveman might
carve a hunting scene on a sabre-tooth
tiger's fang. So, while the characters may
not be able to sell "normal" teeth, they
could find engraved teeth as treasure with
a base value of 20-120 gp each.

Small teeth and claws are often used to
make jewelry. For example, shark teeth
and bear claws could be sheathed in silver
and mounted on a chain. Such jewelry
have values based solely on the settings.
As a general rule, however, they have a
base value of 20-120 gp each.

Horns and antlers
True horns and antlers grow mainly on
herbivorous mammals. A few monsters
also have them. Antlers are growths of
bone which are shed and regrown every
year. Horns are permanent layers of hardened skin tissue. Other horns may actually
be layers of hardened fibers (such as the
horn of the rhinoceros).

As with teeth and claws, antlers and
horns have a novelty value and may generally be sold to the same people time after
time. However, they are not used for
sculpture or jewelry. The DM should
decide if any particular set of horns is
valuable or not (that is, if an animal head
is of trophy quality). Trophy sets of antlers
and horns are worth 2-5 sp per hit die of
each creature. Typical examples include
deer (e.g., hart, stag, and Irish deer), wild
bovines (e.g., bison, buffalo), giant sheep,

and giant goats. Horned monsters with
extraordinary powers or appearances
(e.g., perytons, gorgons, minotaurs) are
worth an additional 2-5 gp per hit die.
The horn of a rhinoceros is very valuable. Some cultures believe (falsely) that a
rhinoceros horn has great aphrodisiac
powers. Fantastic prices have been paid
for small amounts of such horns, particularly in Hindu and Oriental cultures. Robbery, extortion, and murder have been
committed for these items. People who
value rhinoceros horns are often fanatical.
A rhinoceros horn can be sold in a
chunk directly off of the beast?s head, but
it is worth half of its regular value that
way. The price for a complete horn is 21-
40 gp per pound. The front horn of a twohorned rhinoceros weighs 9-12 pounds.
The back horn of a two-horned rhinoceros
and the single horn of a one-horned rhinoceros weigh 4-7 pounds. (The wooly
rhinoceros has two horns.)

Usually, a horn is ground into powder
and mixed with other substances. This
powder is far more valuable than a chunk
of horn. Powdered rhinoceros horn is
worth 30-60 gp per ounce and is found in
bags containing 20-120 ounces.

As noted in the    ,  a unicorn's horn retains its special powers even
after the creature?s death. This is the most
valuable of all horns, being worth 11,000-
16,000 gp. A ki-rin horn is similar in
worth, but lacks the curative powers of a
unicorn horn. Nevertheless, a ki-rin horn
is worth 7,000-10,000 gp. No good-aligned
being will deliberately hunt for these
items, of course, unless the creatures from
which they are taken are already dead.

Poisons
Many monsters in the AD&D game have
a poisonous attack. These poisons can be
sold to various buyers. For instance, an
assassin will undoubtedly be interested in
buying poison. Alchemists and sages may
also be in the market for poison to use in
research. Even good-aligned hospitals or
houses of healing may buy poisons in
order to brew antitoxins.

As noted on page 20 of the  DMG,  monster poisons are generally superior to
manufactured poisons, since monster
venoms are both ingestive and insinuative.
Thus, the value of monster poisons are
fairly high. Note that the values of monster poisons given in Table 4 are base
values only. The total value is found by
adding the base value to a number of gold
pieces equal to the monster?s full hit
points. For example, the venom of a giant
centipede with 2 hp is worth 102 gp. If the
poison has some special effect (damage
taken even if saving throw is made, paralyzation plus damage, etc.), multiply the total
value by 150%. Table 4 gives values for
types of poisons rather than listing every
poisonous monster. This was done not
only to avoid boring the reader with a
long list but also to allow for different
sizes of the same type of monster and to
allow for new monsters that may be
invented later.

Poisons can be collected from dead
creatures or ?milked? from live monsters
that are rendered helpless. Poison must be

stored in a tightly sealed jar. If even moderate care is taken, there should be no
danger to the characters by either collecting or transporting poisons. Table 4 lists
the base value for a one-pint jar of poison
collected from such monsters.

Table 4
Values of Animal and Monster Poisons
 

Effect of Failed Saving Throw	Base value (gp)
1-8  or 2-8 hp dmg	80
3-12  hp dmg	85
4-16  hp dmg	90
5-20  hp dmg	95
Paralyzation	75
Sleep or catatonia	50
Sickness and incapacitation	25
Save at +4 or death	100
Save at +3 or death	150
Save at +2 or death	200
Save at +1 or death	250
Normal save or death	300
Save at -1 or death	350
Save at -2 or death	400
Save at -3 or death	450
Save at -4 or death	500

Carcasses
The only carcasses listed as valuable in
the rule books are those of the whale and
the thork. By extrapolation, there are
several other creatures that could be
hunted for similar reasons. In the real
world, sharks and giant tortoises are used
for many products. Some monsters in the
AD&D game offer the same opportunities,
particularly in a medieval-style world that
often suffers severe food shortages. An
afanc or verme could feed a hungry village
for a week. Large turtles and tortoises
(including AD&D game creatures that
resemble them) are desired both as imme

diate food and stored food, since they can
live a long time without nourishment.
Giant crabs and crayfish, usually a delicacy in their smaller sizes, can feed many
more people. Other creatures, such as the
firedrake and thork, are desired for some
part of their bodies; likewise, it is easier to
transport carcasses than living creatures.

Table 5 is a list of creatures whose carcasses can be sold. Those marked with an
asterisk on Table 5 are explained here:
Fish, giant.  This includes afanc, gar, pike,
barracuda, verme, catfish, and carp.
Phoenix.  Individual parts of this creature
have separate values as noted in the  Monster Manual II.
Wild game.  This includes such creatures
as deer, bovines, antelope, goats, sheep,
and large birds. Wild game can only be
sold in areas that are short of food, since
peasants can generally raise enough to
support everyone. However, some noblemen may buy wild game as novelty food.

Table 5
Values of Animal and Monster Carcasses
 

Creature	Value in gp
Archelon ischyras	71-90
Crab, giant	31-40
Crayfish, giant	41-50
Dragon turtle	HD x 1-20
Firedrake	201-220
Fish, giant*	HD x 5
Lung wang	HD x 1-20
Phoenix*	21,000 - 26,000
Shark	HD x 10
Tarrasque	50,000 - 100,000
Thork	200
Turtle, giant sea	51-70
Whale	HD x 100
Wild game*	HD x 1

* See notes in the text regarding this
creature.
HD: Hit dice of individual creature.

F e a t h e r s
T h e   f e a t h e r s   f r o m   t r o p i c a l   b i r d s   a r e
v a l u a b l e   i n   m o r e   n o r t h e r n   o r   s o u t h e r n
l a n d s .   B r i g h t l y   c o l o r e d   f e a t h e r s ,   l i k e   t h o s e
o f   p a r r o t s   o r   e g r e t s ,   a r e   w o r t h   2 - 8   s p
e a c h .   O s t r i c h   p l u m e s   a r e   w o r t h   1   g p   e a c h .
T h e   D M   c a n   d e c i d e   i f   f e a t h e r e d   m o n s t e r s   h a v e   i n t e r e s t i n g   f e a t h e r s   o r   n o t ,
s i n c e   t h e   d e s c r i p t i o n s   p r o v i d e d   a r e   v a g u e .
M o n s t e r   f e a t h e r s   t h a t   a r e   b r i g h t l y   c o l o r e d
a r e   w o r t h   1 - 6   g p   e a c h ,   d u e   t o   t h e i r   n o v e l t y
v a l u e .   T h e   e x c e p t i o n   i s   t h e   p h o e n i x ,   w h o s e
f e a t h e r s   a r e   w o r t h   5 0   g p   e a c h .

E g g s   a n d   y o u n g

S e v e r a l   c r e a t u r e s   i n   t h e   r u l e   b o o k s   a n d
s o m e   m o d u l e s   h a v e   a   v a l u e   s h o w n   f o r
e g g s   o r   y o u n g .   T h i s   l i s t   c a n   b e   g r e a t l y
e x p a n d e d   t o   i n c l u d e   m a n y   o t h e r   m o n s t e r s .
T a b l e s   6 - 9   l i s t   t h e s e   c r e a t u r e s .
In general, eggs and young of some
c r e a t u r e s   a r e   d e s i r e d   b y   c e r t a i n   p e o p l e s   i n
o r d e r   t o   r a i s e   a n d   t r a i n   t h e m   a s   s t e e d s ,
s e r v a n t s ,   g u a r d s ,   o r   h u n t i n g   b e a s t s .   ( O f
c o u r s e ,   s o m e   c a n   s e r v e   i n   s e v e r a l   c a p a c i t i e s   a t   o n c e . )   N o t e   t h a t   t h e   t e r m   ? y o u n g ?   a s
u s e d   h e r e   r e f e r s   t o   r e c e n t l y   b o r n   c r e a t u r e s   t h a t   h a v e   n o   e f f e c t i v e   a t t a c k   a n d
h a v e   n o t   y e t   l e a r n e d   t o   u s e   a n y   s p e c i a l
a b i l i t i e s   t h a t   t h e y   m i g h t   h a v e .   N o t e   a l s o
t h a t   c r e a t u r e s   f r o m   o t h e r   p l a n e s   a r e   n o t
i n c l u d e d   h e r e ,   s i n c e   t h e y   a r e   u s u a l l y   a b l e
t o   r e t u r n   t o   t h e i r   p l a n e s   o f   o r i g i n .
S e v e r a l   c r e a t u r e s   a r e   l i s t e d   a s   b e i n g
s t e e d s ,   b u t   o n l y   a   f e w   h a v e   v a l u e s   g i v e n
f o r   t h e m .   T a b l e   6   l i s t s   a l l   t h e s e   c r e a t u r e s .
S o m e   o f   t h e s e   c r e a t u r e s   h a v e   v e r y   l i m i t e d
m a r k e t s ;   f o r   e x a m p l e ,   g i a n t   e e l   e g g s   a r e
u s u a l l y   o n l y   s o l d   t o   a   l o c a t h a h   c o l o n y .   A s   a
general note, taking eggs or young to be
s o l d   c o u l d   b e   a n   a d v e n t u r e   i n   i t s e l f .
S e r v a n t   m o n s t e r s   a r e   t h o s e   t h a t   a r e
b a s i c a l l y   m a n - s h a p e d   a n d   f a i r l y   i n t e l l i g e n t .
M o s t   a r e   c a p a b l e   o f   d o i n g   m a n y   t a s k s ,
s i n c e   t h e y   p r o b a b l y   h a v e   h a n d s   o f   s o m e
s o r t .   T h e s e   c r e a t u r e s   d e p e n d   m o r e   o n
i n t e l l i g e n c e   t h a n   i n s t i n c t .   T h u s ,   i f   r a i s e d
p r o p e r l y ,   t h e y   c a n   a s s u m e   a n   a l i g n m e n t
d i f f e r e n t   f r o m   t h a t   n o r m a l   f o r   t h e i r   b r e e d .
F o r   e x a m p l e ,   a   l a w f u l - g o o d   t e m p l e   i n   a
s w a m p y   a r e a   c o u l d   h a v e   a   f l o c k   o f   e b l i s
messengers raised from eggs. Since the
c r e a t u r e s   k n o w   n o   o t h e r   w a y ,   t h e y   w o u l d
b e   f e r v e n t l y   l a w f u l   g o o d .   T a b l e   7   l i s t s
t h e s e   c r e a t u r e s ,   e x c l u d i n g   h u m a n o i d s   a n d
d e m i - h u m a n s   ( w h i c h   g e t s   t o o   d e e p   i n t o
s l a v e r y   i s s u e s ) .

M a n y   m o n s t e r s   c a n   b e   u s e d   a s   g u a r d s   o r
h u n t i n g   b e a s t s .   O f   c o u r s e ,   t h e s e   c r e a t u r e s
m u s t   h a v e   s u f f i c i e n t   i n t e l l i g e n c e   t o   b e
t r a i n e d ;   f o r   t h i s   r e a s o n ,   f e w   i n s e c t s   a r e
i n c l u d e d   i n   t h e   t a b l e .   I n s e c t s   a r e   u s u a l l y
e i t h e r   t o o   u n i n t e l l i g e n t   t o   t r a i n ,   o p e r a t i n g
o n   b l i n d   i n s t i n c t ,   o r   a r e   s o   h i v e - o r i e n t e d
t h a t   t h e y   a r e   u s e l e s s   i f   r e m o v e d   f r o m   t h e
c o l o n y .   C o n v e r s e l y ,   a   c r e a t u r e   c a n n o t   b e
t o o   i n t e l l i g e n t   o r   p o w e r f u l ,   o r   i t   w i l l   b e

impossible to control. No one can hold a
beholder for very long if it doesn?t wish to
serve. Finally, noncorporeal and burrowing creatures are not included for obvious
reasons. Those entries in Table 8 that are
marked with an asterisk are explained
further below.

Canine, wild:  Those with extraordinary
or magical powers (devil dogs, hell
hounds, etc.) are worth 100-400 gp per
adult hit die.

Dinosaur, carnivorous:  This includes
bonesnappers, pterosaurs, and marine
specimens.

Dragon:  Young dragons are worth the
normal subdued value of 100-800 gp per
hit point.

Feline, wild:  Those with extraordinary
or magical powers (caterwaul, etc.) are
worth 200-500 gp per adult hit die.
Table 9 is a list of creatures whose eggs
and young are desired for miscellaneous
reasons. For example, denzelians are
wanted for mining, firedrakes for their
blood, etc. One special entry is marked
with an asterisk:

L i v e s t o c k ,   w i l d :   This  includes  cattle,
boars, rams, goats, and various giant
forms of these creatures.

Of course, creatures that are not on
these lists may be needed for special reasons. Generally, these occurrences will be
one-shot deals invented by the DM. The
monsters on Tables 6-9 can be assumed to
always have a buyer in large cities.

Table 6
Values of Steed Eggs and Young
 

Creature	Egg	Young
Camel, wild	-	11-16
Dragonnel	2500	5000
Eel, giant	2000	4500
Elephant	-	500-800
Giant strider	1500	2500-2800
Griffon	2000	5000
Hippocampus	1500	2500
Hipppogriff	1000	2000-3000
Horse, wild	-	11-20
Mammoth	-	600-900
Mastodon	-	500-700
Oliphant	-	700-1000
Pegasus	3000	5000
Roc	4000	8000
Sea horse	-	2400
Sphinx, hieraco-	4000	6000
Unicorn	-	5000 - 8000
Wyvern	2000	5000

All values given in this table are in gold pieces.

Table 7
Values of Servant Monster Eggs and Young
 

Creature	Egg	Young
Aarakocra	120	200-500
Boggle	-	430
Bullywug	100	200-300
Centaur	-	400
Crabman	150	300
Dakon	-	150
Dire Corby	125	200
Eblis	250	300-500
Ettercap	-	500
Firenewt	100-400	200-500
Harpy	250	300-500
Hybsil	-	115
Kech	-	550
Kenku	250	300-500
Kuo-toa	100-300	200-400
Lizard king	100-600	200-700
Lizard man	100-300	200-400
Locathah	100-300	200-400
Merman	110	200-300
Muckdweller	50	100-300
Nixie	75	100-400
Quaggoth	-	125
Sahuagin	100-300	200-400
Su-monster	-	550
Tabaxi	-	225
Taer	-	360
Thri-kreen	300	600
Triton	100-600	200-700
Troglodyte	100-400	200-500
Vulchling	120	200-500
Wemic	-	580
Yeti	-	580
Yuan-ti	-	600-900

All values given in this table are in gold pieces.
 

Table 8
Value of Guard and Hunting Beast Eggs and Young
 

Creature	Egg	Young
Afanc	900	1800
Ape, gorilla	-	400
Ape, carnivorous	-	500
Axebeak	50-80	50-80
Babbler	300	500
Banderlog	-	380
Basilisk	2000	6000
Basilisk, greater	6000	10,000
Bear	-	200-400/adult HD
Behir	4000	6500
Blink dog	-	1000-2000
Bloodhawk	70-120	70-120
Boalisk	3000	5000
Bulette	4500	9000
Canine, wild*	-	1/adult HD
Catoblepas	-	9500
Cave fisher	1500	2750
Chimera	-	9000
Clubnek	50-80	50-80
Cockatrice	4000	7500
Crocodile	100	200
Crocodile, giant	400	700
Dinosaur, carnivorous*	100/adult HD	150/adult HD
Displacer beast	-	6000
Doombat	-	600
Dracolisk	5000	7250
Dragon*	50% of subdued value  of very small young	As per Monster Manual
Dragon turtle	As dragon	As dragon
Dragonne	3500	8500
Eagle	60-100	60-100
Eagle, giant	500-800	500-800
Falcon/hawk	20-80	20-80
Feline, wild*	-	2/adult HD
Firedrake	1500	3750
Frog, killer	75	150
Froghemoth	8000	16,000
Gorgimera	-	8500
Gorgon	-	8000
Gorilla bear	-	400
Grell	2500	5500
Hook horror	200	500
Hydra	2500	500/head
Hydra, lernaean	3000	600/head
Hydra, pyro-	3500	700/head
Kamadan	-	4200
Lizard, fire	5000	7500
Lizard, ice	3500	5750
Lurker above	900	1100
Mantari	150	350
Miner	900	1100
Mobat	-	400-600
Owl	10-60	10-60
Owl, giant	1000	2000
Owlbear	2000	5000
Peryton	110-200	110-200
Phororhacos	70-100	70-100
Pseudo-dragon	1100	2000
Pyrolisk	3500	5000
Quipper	1	3
Raven, giant	20-50	20-50
Raven, huge	10-40	10-40
Remorhaz	5000	9000
Rock reptile	3300	5000-7000
Sea lion	-	6000
Snake, constrictor	175	350
Snake, giant amphisbaena	4000	6500
Snake, giant constrictor	2000	5500
Snake, giant poisonous/spitting	1500	2000-5000
Snake, giant sea	4500	8000-10,000
Snake, poisonous	150	200-500
Spider, giant	2500	4400
Spider, huge	1100	2200
Spider, marine	4740	7700
Spider, phase	3000	5500
Spider, water	1500	3300
Thessalhydra	7500	12,000
Toad, giant	150	250
Toad, fire	2250	4250
Toad, ice	2000	4500
Toad, poisonous	100	200
Trapper	900	1100
Verme	900	1800
Vulture, giant	30-60	30-60
Weasel, giant	-	3300
Zorbo	-	4250

* See notes in the text regarding this creature.
HD: Hit dice of individual creature.

Table 9
Values of Miscellaneous Eggs and Young
 

Creature	Egg	Young
Beaver, giant	-	100-200
Denzelian	1000	1500
Firefriend	200-500	400-700
Livestock, wild*	-	1-2/HD of adult
Thork	50	100

All values given in this table are in gold
pieces.
* See notes in the text regarding this
creature.

M i s c e l l a n e o u s   m o n s t e r   i t e m s
There are a number of products listed as
being valuable in the rule books that do
not fit into any of the categories given so
far. For convenience, these items are listed
in Table 10.

Table 10
Values of Miscellaneous Monster
Items
 

Creature (part)	Value (gp)
Bee, giant (bread)	30
Bee, giant (unguent)	3000-8000
Beetle, fire (light glands)	600
Bulette (neck scale)	200-500
Cave fisher (proboscis rope)	500
Flail snail (shell)	5000
Gloomwing (mandibles)	25
Imorph (liver)	300-900
Pernicon (antenna)	350
Phoenix (talon, beak, or eye)	5000
Whale (ambergris)	1000-20,000

P l a n t   p r o d u c t s
Rare and valuable spices come mainly
from tropical areas. They are desired for
their sharp taste and smell. Typical examples include pepper, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, cinnamon, and allspice. The spice
trade is an important link between many
different cultures, and spices are the most

common items carried on tropical trade
routes.

The  DMG  shows rare spices as being
worth 1-4 sp per scruple ? an obscure
measurement equal to one-twenty-fourth
of an ounce. For convenience, the DM may
rule that spices are stored in containers of
300 scruples each, so that a container is
worth 15-60 gp (1d4 × 15). The exception
is pepper, which is stored in one-pound
containers worth 16 gp each.
Some types of woods from tropical and
subtropical lands are prized in more distant lands. Some examples are ebony,
tropical mahogany, and Lebanese cedar.
The DM is free to invent valuable trees,
such as the bronzewood and sablewood
trees in the WORLD OF GREYHAWK®
setting, or the hiexel and weirwood from
the FORGOTTEN REALMS setting (from
"Woodlands of the Realms," in DRAGON®
issue #125). When considering treasure

hoards, rare woods will not be found as
unworked logs, which are worth little and
are hard to transport. Instead, rare wood
will be found in the form of sculptures,
small chests, jewelry boxes, etc. These
items have base values of 200-800 gp.
The resinous saps of some tropical trees
are made into perfumes and incense. The
two best known resins are frankincense
and myrrh. As noted in the  DMG,  incense
is worth 5-30 gp per stick and perfume is
worth 1-6 gp per dram. It is possible that
the party could find containers of raw
resin as treasure, with each bag holding

As with the animal monsters, vegetable
monsters may be valuable if found in
immature form. Many plant monsters are
immobile and make excellent static guardians. Real-world plants reproduce by a
variety of means, such as seeds, spores,
and rhizomes. Translating these into
AD&D game terms is fairly simple. Any
plant that has flowers can also be assumed
to have seeds. Likewise, plants with spores
must also reproduce using them, although
some spores produced are infertile and
are used for other functions (like making
characters go insane).
Some plants could be found in a helpless

sprout form. Table 11 has a list of such
plants, those that are valuable. While
seeds are comparatively large and portable, spores are another matter. Spores
from monster plants and molds are usually deadly to encounter, but it is possible
that the PCs could think up some way to
collect jars of spores without harm. Note
that some plants (green slime, shambling
mounds, etc.) reproduce by fission (splitting off parts of themselves). These "buds"
are listed under the "sprout" column.

Table 11
 

Plant	Seed	Spores*	Sprout
Algoid	-	-	550
Ascomoid	-	600	-
Barkburr/direburr	150	-	200-600
Basidirond	-	500	-
Bloodthorn	450	-	500-3000
Choke creeper	250	-	400
Forester's bane	500	-	750
Fungi, violet	-	350	475
Green slime	-	-	200
Hangman tree	600	-	900
Kelpie	-	-	500
Mandragora	75	-	100-200
Mantrap	350	-	400-900
Mold, brown	-	300	-
Mold, russet	-	250	-
Mold, yellow	-	350	-
Myconid	-	100	100-600
Needleman	350	-	500
Obliviax	-	-	100-400
Phycomoid	-	400	-
Quickwood	450	-	500-1000
Retch plant	450	-	500-800
Shambling mound	-	-	800-1100
Shrieker	-	30	45
Slime, olive	-	-	250
Strangle weed	-	-	200-400
Sundew, giant	800	-	1000
Thorny	-	-	400
Treant	650	-	700-1200
Tri-flower frond	250	-	450
Ustilagor	-	300	-
Vegepygmy	-	-	100-600
Whipweed	-	-	300
Willow, black	100	-	120-190
Witherweed	-	-	300-600
Wolf-in-sheep's-clothing	700	-	900
Yellow musk creeper	350	-	-
Zygom	-	350	-

Monster body parts
Monster body parts that have a magical
ability (beholders? eyes, etc.) almost always
lose their powers upon the creature?s
death. Thus, it is often impossible to gain
those powers. The few exceptions, such as
the unicorn?s horn, are listed elsewhere in
this article.

When a creature from another plane is
slain on the Prime Material plane, its body
returns to its plane of origin. If the party
wants to collect the corpse, they will have
to kill the creature on its own plane. This
is the only way to collect things like phoenixes? feathers. Finally, as noted in folklore, when a lycanthrope is slain, the
creature returns to its human form. As a
result, it is impossible to collect a lycanthrope?s pelt.

Placement of natural treasures
Since plant and animal products are
subject to the effects of age, they will not
be found in a treasure hoard that has been
hidden away for centuries (as in ruined
cities and lich lairs). Instead, these
products may be found in towns connected to the trade routes or in the hands of
barbaric peoples. Natural treasures must
be matched to their areas of origin. For
example, if the DM?s world has a tribe of
natives who live around the North Pole,
minted coins would be a novelty to them.
The natives would have heavy furs, mammoth or walrus ivory, and a few gold
nuggets scrounged up from rivers. On the
other hand, a treasure hoard in the tropics
could have spices, incense, leopard pelts,
and elephant tusks.

In general, the treasure items listed in
this article are intended to be used in
place of coins, not in addition to random
treasures rolled. The exception is with
creatures that have valuable body parts
(such as a dragon?s skin). These treasure
items should be above and beyond any
treasure rolled up, since the characters
may not have a chance to collect the monster?s corpse.
Let?s look at a couple of examples. First
of all, consider a huge, ancient white
dragon with treasure types E, O, and S.

The rolls on the treasure table (after all
adjustments) result in the dragon having
10,000 sp, 4,000 gp, 10 gems, and five
magic potions. However, the dragon lives
far up in the polar regions where coins
a r e   r a r e .   T h u s ,   o n l y   1 0 %   o f   t h e   c o i n   t r e a sure is actually coins, resulting in only
1,000 sp and 400 gp. These coins, the
gems, and the potions were taken from
the very few adventurers who dared to
travel in the frozen lands. The dragon has
converting the remainder of the coin
treasure to a flat gold-piece value, there is
4,050 gp, divided as shown:
 

Item	Value (gp)
2 large mammoth tusks	1,800
1 hoar-fox cape	1,000
4 small mammoth tusks	600
3 devil-dog fur jackets	600
10 winter-wolf pelts	50

These items were collected as tribute
from native villages. Note that the dragon
itself has value as either a subdued creature or for its skin, neither of which is
figured into the random treasure rolls.
For another example, consider a lair of

bandits who raid the trade caravans coming up out of the tropics. The bandits have
treasure type A, which results in 5,000 sp,
1,000 ep, 8,000 gp, and 16 gems. Unlike
the poor dragon above, the bandits get
their loot from civilized people. Thus, 50%
of their coins are actually coins, resulting
in 2,500 sp, 500 ep, and 4,000 gp. The
gems are a secret store that the bandit
leader has set aside for hard times. After
converting the rest of the coins to a flat
gold-piece value, the remainder is 4,375
gp, divided as shown:
 

Item	Value (gp)
4 large elephant tusks	2,400
6 small elephant tusks	600
10 spice kegs (60 each)	600
100 crocodile skins	600
100 ostrich plumes	100
10 leopard pelts	60
3 tiger skins	1 5

Using these examples, large treasure
hoards can be divided in similar ways.
This is a much more realistic way: coins
have always been too common for the
medieval-style technology of the AD&D

game. Use of the treasure items in this
article will probably result in a lot of bartering, which is also logical.
DMs should not forget, too, that many
naturally occurring substances are much
sought by spell-casters for use as material
components in spells. The DM should
consult the article "It's a material world,"
originally printed in DRAGON issue #81
and reprinted in the Best of DRAGON
Magazine Anthology, vol. IV. Spell-casters
and magic shops might pay highly for
items that are difficult to locate or are
banned for use.

As a final note, remember that the treasure items listed in this article are valuable
because they are rare. If the characters
try to dump a large number of these items
on the market, lower the value accordingly. For instance, 15 sable coats in a city
that normally sees only four or five in a
year would only be worth 30-50% of their
normal worth. This should forestall any
weird plans the players might have, such
as polymorphing house cats into leopards
for their pelts, or casting mass death magic spells on bison herds.
(We all know how devious players can be.)