D&D 5E Rolling for treasure - my method

[McMechanism]

I am trying to come up with a quick way to roll treasure for my players. For various reasons that are not worth explaining, we do not use money or gems as treasure, only art objects and magic items. I''d like to simplify the treasure rolling process as set out in the DMG. I know the process I've come up with below LOOKS complicated but ultimately it's just 3-4 dice rolls. The trouble is, I can't tell how often my method may throw up amazing/overpowered treasure for the PCs or if there are any other problems with my method. I'm favouring this method because myself and my group love to roll for stuff and this will actually save me from prepping treasure and painstakingly reading through the magic items in the DMG to pick something for my group that's cool but not totally over powered.Please tell me if you do something similar in your group or how I can improve my method below.

My method (untested):Is there treasure?If there is the chance for treasure to be found (at end of encounter or searching an abandoned cottage etc.) roll a d6 UNLESS:
you as the DM decide there definitely isn't treasure (a pack of wolves in the wilderness or a swarm of insects etc)
OR there definitely IS treasure (epic encounter, major set piece/vampires' castle etc. in which case you can pre-plan some cool loot stuff)

Roll a d6
1-4: nothing found
5-6: treasure.

Treasure is found (roll d6)
1-2: Art object only
3-4: Magic item
5-6: Both

Quality of art object (roll d6)
1: Re-roll
2: 25 GP
3: 250 GP
4: 750 GP
5: 2,500 GP
6: 7,500 GP
Now roll on appropriate table on PG 135 DMG

Rarity of magic item (roll d20)
1-10: Common
11-14 Uncommon
15-17: Rare
18-19: Very rare
20: Legendary (do I remove legendary items all together?)
Now roll on the magic items by rarity table (as extra page in DMG)

 

[Ancalagon]

I'm favouring this method because myself and my group love to roll for stuff

.... I don't get it. There are tables that do this very task for you in the DMG...

 

[McMechanism]

Perhaps this is just a badly worded post. My bad.

What I'm trying to say is, the treasure tables in the DMG contain gold and gems which my group does not use, and are generally based on the CR of the defeated monster. I am trying to streamline those tables into a simple catch all treasure roll that omits gold and gems and is not reliant on CRs. I came up with the simple example I posted but don't really know if it is balanced enough. I should test it and see I guess.

Are there any other super quick methods people use for treasure hand-outs? I read about one guy who put a load of items (useful and useless) on powerpoint slides. When the PCs found treasure he goes to the next slide to see what they get etc. No pre-planning or calculating treasure drops.

 

[Oofta]

I don't roll for treasure because I don't track XP. Characters level up when it feels right and on how quickly I want the campaign "pace" to be (I discuss this ahead of time with players of course).

So I just use average treasure and hand out what makes sense based on the what was encountered. It can vary from a treasure chest because the group just fought pirates to custom crafted magical items because they just did something for the wizard's guild.

 

[the Jester]

Are there any other super quick methods people use for treasure hand-outs?

My monster conversion document, which includes an entry for each monster type in the MM just for this, has a "treasure" listing for each monster. For a couple of example:

Blindheim Treasure: A blindheim gathers reflective objects in its lair. A solitary blindheim is 10% likely to have 1d10 x 25 cp, 1d10 x 10 sp, 1d6 x 5 ep, 1d6 x 5 gp, 1d4 gems and 1d2 pieces of jewelry. A group of up to twelve blindheims are 30% likely each to have 1d4 x 100 cp and sp, 25% likely each to have 1d10 x 25 ep and gp, and 10% likely each to have 1d6 gems and 1d4 pieces of jewelry. Larger blindheim communities, numbering between 13 and 100, typically have 1d6 x 1000 gp in assorted coins, with a 25% chance each for 1d10 gems and 1d8 pieces of jewelry.

Brain in a Jar Treasure: A brain in a jar's laboratory usually contains 1d12 x 500 gp in alchemical components. There is a 25% chance that it will also have 1d6 random potions and a 15% chance for 1d4 scrolls.

Cyclops Treasure: A cyclops has a 25% chance to carry 1d4 x 50 gp in assorted coins. The lair of four or more cyclopes has a 60% chance to have 1d8 x 100 gp in trade goods and a 50% chance each to contain 2d6 x 200 cp, 1d10 x 100 sp and 1d10 x 100 gp. If the lair is home to at least 12 cyclopes, it instead has an 80% chance to have 1d6 x 500 gp in trade goods, a 50% chance each to contain 2d6 x 500 cp, 1d10 x 500 sp and 1d6 x 500 gp, and a 10% chance to contain 1d4 potions (1-4) or 1 random magic item (5-6). If the lair is home to at least 60 cyclopes, it instead has 1d8 x 1,000 gp in trade goods, a 65% chance each to contain 2d8 x 1,000 cp, 1d10 x 1,000 sp and 1d10 x 1,000 gp, and a 20% chance each to contain 1d4 potions and 1 random magic item.


Mudmaw Treasure: Mudmaws gather no treasure. Any treasure their victims have is usually lost in the boggy ground of the mudmaw's territory.

...And so forth. So, quick and easy? Not really, but individualized and to my taste.

I also have generated my own custom magic item charts that go by type (akin to the 1e DMG, with "magic clothing" as one example category) rather than by rarity.

 

[Lackhand]

I also have generated my own custom magic item charts that go by type (akin to the 1e DMG, with "magic clothing" as one example category) rather than by rarity.

Share it please! I'm super interested.

 

[Fanaelialae]

I am trying to come up with a quick way to roll treasure for my players. For various reasons that are not worth explaining, we do not use money or gems as treasure, only art objects and magic items. I''d like to simplify the treasure rolling process as set out in the DMG. I know the process I've come up with below LOOKS complicated but ultimately it's just 3-4 dice rolls. The trouble is, I can't tell how often my method may throw up amazing/overpowered treasure for the PCs or if there are any other problems with my method. I'm favouring this method because myself and my group love to roll for stuff and this will actually save me from prepping treasure and painstakingly reading through the magic items in the DMG to pick something for my group that's cool but not totally over powered.Please tell me if you do something similar in your group or how I can improve my method below.

My method (untested):Is there treasure?If there is the chance for treasure to be found (at end of encounter or searching an abandoned cottage etc.) roll a d6 UNLESS:
you as the DM decide there definitely isn't treasure (a pack of wolves in the wilderness or a swarm of insects etc)
OR there definitely IS treasure (epic encounter, major set piece/vampires' castle etc. in which case you can pre-plan some cool loot stuff)

Roll a d6
1-4: nothing found
5-6: treasure.

Treasure is found (roll d6)
1-2: Art object only
3-4: Magic item
5-6: Both

Quality of art object (roll d6)
1: Re-roll
2: 25 GP
3: 250 GP
4: 750 GP
5: 2,500 GP
6: 7,500 GP
Now roll on appropriate table on PG 135 DMG

Rarity of magic item (roll d20)
1-10: Common
11-14 Uncommon
15-17: Rare
18-19: Very rare
20: Legendary (do I remove legendary items all together?)
Now roll on the magic items by rarity table (as extra page in DMG)

It looks to me like every treasure roll has a roughly 1% chance of resulting in a legendary magic item, and a 2% chance of a very rare item. As a DM who rolled three natural 100s last night in a handful of d100 rolls (a series of deadly wandering encounters that brought the party to the edge of TPK), I can say with certainty that such things do happen. With a few lucky rolls, a low level party could end up with a Staff of the Magi. Now that's not the end of the world if it's how you like to play, but you should definitely ask yourself whether you're okay with something like that happening.

If you're not okay with a low level party ending up with a legendary item, then the major issue I see with your system is that it does not take into account the difficulty of the encounter or the level of the party. I might be okay with a system that allowed a chance for a Staff of the Magi being found in a rat's nest, but IMO it shouldn't be the same odds as finding one in the hoard of an ancient dragon.

If you're concerned with balance, I would recommend making the magic item table encounter CR or level based. The downside of a level-based approach is that a level 20 party is just as likely to find a Staff of the Magi in a rat's nest as a dragon's lair, but at least the item is appropriate for their level in that instance.

I'd recommend something like the following:

Rarity of magic item (roll d20 + encounter CR)
1-13: Common
14-23: Uncommon
24-30: Rare
31-37: Very rare
37-40: Legendary

I'd also recommend that consumable items make up the bulk of what is found, if rolls are relatively common. However, only you know how often you'd be rolling for treasure so you'd probably need to adjust the above based on those assumptions. Here's an analysis that breaks down what an average party might acquire under the DMG system:
http://www.enworld.org/forum/showth...al-quot-Magic-Item-Distribution#ixzz3LsaAPCqb

One final thing that I would note is that, aside perhaps from the availability of magic weapons at higher levels, 5e doesn't assume magic items in its math. Like the earlier editions, having the right magic items simply makes the game easier. It should, however, be playable without them at a higher but not impossible difficulty. That's something to keep in mind when determining how many magic items will be floating around in your campaign.