Killing the dragon is all fine and well, but it wouldn't be nearly so tempting without the promise of the hoard, or the hand of the princess and half the kingdom, or whatever the going rate for dragon-slaying is.

The trouble with these sorts of awards, though, is that unlike real life, it's easier to accumulate than to spend. I've known many GMs who suddenly find that the PCs have amassed a huge amount of money, and then what do you do? Where's their motivation for continuing to adventure?

Well, for one thing, hopefully by the time they've gotten rich, they're not just in it for the money anymore. Hopefully by now they've acquired some other goals along the way.

Revenge, holy quests, the need for something that a pile of gold just can't buy, a rescue effort, and other such tasks can provide just as much, if not more, motivation for going adventuring.

But this month, we're here to talk cash and other rewards. How to give them fairly, how to encourage spending, and when all else fails, some suggestions on leeching away the rest.

Treasure and Other Goodies

In my column on dungeon design, I mentioned that very few monsters had nothing better to do than to sit around all day guarding a treasure chest.

Same goes for treasure ... most of the time, whoever has it will have better things to do with it than to scatter it through a dungeon in little bits and pieces and fits and starts.

So, as with your dungeon floorplan and dispersement of monsters, there has to be a reason. It has to make sense.

If the evil king once stored his wealth in the deepest chamber guarded by the most devious traps and all, it should realistically still be there ... unless other factors have come into play, such as small monsters carrying away a few items here and there. Or maybe previous efforts by thieves who subsequently died on the way out with their booty have resulted in the introduction of some treasure into the rest of the dungeon, where those items might then be collected by other critters.

But whatever the reason, wherever they get it whether from the purse of the robber that just accosted them on the roadway or as payment from a grateful monarch, PCs and characters alike tend to have a fondness for treasure.

When designing your world, one of the things that you would have taken into account is the monetary system. Most fantasy worlds use precious metals for currency, coins struck by the various governments (and probably of differing values; I've found that few things confound players so fast as having to keep track of monetary systems varying from kingdom to kingdom).

The AD&D standard was ten copper pieces to a silver, ten silvers to a gold, and so on (even making use of electrum and platinum, though I for one have never even heard of this in the real world, and always figured they just did it that way to make even more impressive piles o' loot). GURPS uses the GURPS dollar, with each sourcebook telling you how much a dollar equals in that particular world; it could be a shilling or a credit or anything in between.

In my current world, the currency changes depending on where you happen to be. The dwarves of Underearth love their good hard coinage, the humans of the Northlands also deal in metal coins, but the elves of the Emerin have coins of wax and bills of paper to represent money.

So it would be a lot easier to carry a million Emerinian valn kairis than it would be to carry a million Underearth thanes, but the thanes would have value just about anywhere, while it's next to impossible to spend a kairis outside of the Emerin.

Gems and jewelry make great treasure. They are pretty, they are expensive, gems might have supposed beneficial properties, they lend themselves well to becoming magic items. Sometimes, though, a GM will prefer to just give bulk coinage rather than have to describe each item of jewelry -- and if you game with the sort of players I always have, they will want to know what each and every piece looks like.

In these cases, I suggest whipping up a handy table, depending on what sorts of precious metals and gems are available in your world and what forms of jewelry are most common.

So you've got your coins (and occasional bars of gold), got your loose gems and jewelry ... what's left?

'Stuff.'

I love 'stuff.'

'Stuff' is big. Tapestries, rugs, paintings, platters, chalices, statues and statuettes, chess sets, thrones, furniture ... maybe antique, or inlaid, or bejeweled ... valuable so they want to take it ... but big, bulky, awkward, so it's almost more of a pain in the tail feathers than it's worth.

Books are great 'stuff.' In a fantasy/medieval society, they are hard to come by, even priceless. They might contain secrets or spells or clues to even more fabulous treasure.

One 'stuff' sub-category -- 'stuff' that is priceless but impossible to sell -- would include things like the jewel so big that no one can afford it, the crown that everyone would recognize and thus can't be sold, or the cursed bloodstone chalice of the evil priests. Just getting rid of them once they're gotten can make for adventure in itself.

In addition to coins, jewels, and 'stuff,' there's also 'junk.' I love 'junk' too. Sometimes called 'dungeon dressing' or 'flavor,' this category includes all the things and knickknacks that might have no massive monetary value but are interesting and memorable and sentimental all the same ... and best of all, might be valuable or magical so might be worth taking along!

For 'junk,' take a look in your purse or pockets and see just how much of what's in there is actual money ... and what's left. Look around your living room.

NPCs and monsters have 'junk' too. When a PC nabs a pouch off a fallen foe, don't just tell them how many silver and how many copper ... throw in some 'junk' ... a handkerchief, a snuffbox, a pocketknife, whatever.

Why? Mostly because I'm kind of a psychologically sadistic GM and if the party goes and kills someone, even justifiably, and then finds a letter from his mother while pawing through his belongings, they'll feel bad.

I once pitted the characters against some elven wizards. They won after quite a fight, then they noticed that one of the elves wore a wedding ring. *Boom.* Guilt set in, and they wound up taking an unexpected side trip to find the widow and return her husband's possessions. Which led to even more guilt as they had to explain to the sobbing woman (and trembly-lipped elfchildren) just how he'd happened to die ... oh, they were writhing.

'Junk' can do that. It can give a hook for a new adventure, it can reduce the gratuitous kills that seem to plague a lot of games. It can be, and usually is, just plain fun.

Moderation

Characters want to feel rewarded and motivated for all their hard work and suffering. GMs usually want to keep them poor, hungry, and easily motivated.

Too many stingy adventures and low payoff, and you'll have a mutiny on your hands. The trick is to give them the validation they crave, without going overboard.

One thing to keep in mind about treasure is that it's heavy. Gold and silver are heavy. So you can let them find a chest of gold, knowing that they won't be able to get it all. Someone who is in all likelihood already lugging around several pounds of armor and weapons isn't going to be able to heft that chest and sling it over his shoulder for the trip back out.

Trouble is, they'll know that too, and they'll do anything they can to be ready to maximize their haul. As the GM, you have to be mindful of this.

I once ran a game in which one of the characters, Brogan the Axe, earned the nickname "Bring-A-Wagon." Because that's just what he'd do. Bring a wagon. The better to tote back gold by the cartload. Now, a lot of the time a wagon's just not going to be feasible; the treasure's usually going to be inside and few dungeon corridors and stairwells are built to accommodate a wagon. But that didn't stop Brogan, a tough dwarven fellow, from making as many trips as he could.

The all-purpose magical shortcut to the bring-a-wagon is the ever-popular Bag of Holding, and its bastard cousin, the Portable Hole. Let one of these fall into the hands of your PCs, and you will probably come to regret it (unless you let them get it, fill it, and then steal it, as was done in a memorable Knights of the Dinner Table issue).

That's the problem with presenting an awesome treasure trove. They'll want to take it all, and they'll prove geniuses at figuring out ways to do it. You can only pull the collapsing structure shtick (as seen in Krull, The Mummy, and countless other fine motion pictures) so many times before the players cry foul.

By the time they've 'cleared' the dungeon (code for "killing everything that moved and some things that didn't"), it's not like you could chase them out with a surprise big-monster appearance either.

So, sometimes, they're going to come away with a king's ransom. That's okay ... just because they have it doesn't mean they'll be able to keep it!

Easy Come, Easy Go

Once they've got it, how to get it away from them? Can't always pick their pockets or steal it from them; once in a while is fine but too often is unfair, and it might send the party into a vengeance-minded frenzy.

The best thing to do is encourage them to spend it on 'consumables,' things that are used up and then gone. Good food, fine wine, nights on the town, brothels, and other forms of entertainment can whittle down a fortune in a hurry and leave the character with little to show for it but fond memories and the occasional side-effect.

Other good consumables, if your world has magic available, would be alchemical potions and elixirs, and one-shot enchanted items like scrolls that lose their power after a single spell.

In my ElfLore game, set in the Emerin, I introduced a businessmage whose new product was the "Box" series: "Huntsman in a Box," "Scribe in a Box," "Valet in a Box," etc. Each contained "spellstones" that could be used once for the desired effect and then were gone. Quick, convenient, and portable. The PCs used up a lot of money on those, and I didn't have to worry about them having permanent magic items laying around.

Of course, if permanent magic items are available, they should be extremely expensive. If you really want to make a point, let the item require regular routine maintenance: the hero can buy the enchanted sword, but has to take it back to the shop every so often to get the magical equivalent of a tune-up.

Saddle the character with an NPC to whom he or she feels some sort of obligation. The ailing granny, the wastrel brother, the high-upkeep lover, the brood of hungry children from pre-adventuring days, anything can work.

Tempt them with transportation ... a horse is a horse of course, but an extra-special well-bred trained horse can cost ten times as much and still get them around at the same speed.

Encourage the characters to have a hobby, however weird a one it may be. I ran a game with a character whose passions were ropes and boots (uh, it's not what you think ... well, maybe a little). He had a rope collection. Elf-woven rope, Symbyan magical climbing rope ... if it was a new and unusual kind, he wanted it.

Keeping adventuring gear in good condition can be pricey. Have to sharpen those swords, pound the dents and repair the rents on that armor, buy new clothes or have the old ones cleaned and mended (dungeon crawls have a way of wreaking havoc on the wardrobe). Stock up on supplies.

Introduce them to gambling, especially crooked gambling. Throw in a few con men and shady investment opportunities. Offer them a deal on a run-down castle and watch them bankrupt themselves trying to repair, furnish, equip, and staff it; raise all the costs because of rumors that the castle is haunted and you've got extra layout of money plus the possibility of an adventure as they investigate to see if the rumors are true!

If they follow a particular god, hit them up for tithes and donations. If they have lofty social aspirations, soak them for fancy clothes and coach rentals and hiring servants. If they want to learn a specialized skill, be aware that sorcery tutors or weapons masters expect comfortable fees.

Above all else, remember the tax man! The local government is going to want a share of the wealth, especially if it was acquired within its boundaries.

Lands and Titles

Sometimes the 'glory' part of fortune and glory comes when the character is granted a title, a land holding, or the elusive hand of the king's only heir. While this is something to strive for, it's usually discovered to be not quite what the character was expecting.

A land holder has constant, serious obligations. There are disputes to be settled, livestock and farmlands and crops to worry about, border patrols and highway defenses to be maintained, and many other responsibilities.

A knight will be expected to drop everything and come running when the monarch calls, ready to go off to war at a moment's notice. A landed knight might further be expected to bring a small army along.

These new duties will leave the character far too busy for adventuring, or lead to severe repercussions if the character neglects them.

Few princesses (and probably even fewer princes) are liable to tolerate their spouses heading off into certain danger. For that matter, non-royal wives and husbands are apt to feel the same way.

Conclusion

Eventually, despite your best efforts, the characters will have reached the point where they have become so wealthy and/or powerful that it's difficult to motivate or challenge them in adventures any more. Occasionally, some of them might even live long enough for their advancing years and attendant infirmities to become a drawback.

The time will come, for whatever reason, when it's time to bring things to a reasonable conclusion. In next month's column, for our "Endings" issue, I'll be looking at some options for handling these transitions.

-- Christine Morgan

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