Loot-O-Matic: A Couple Of Tweaks, And More To Come

Loot-O-Matic: Try new Magic Zero

With all of my recent work on Talents within Tunnels and Trolls it seems that I
"may" have got a little distracted and, put the Loot-O-Matic on the back burner. I've not forgotten it though. In fact I have had a few more thoughts on it and, how I'd like to tweak it even further.

My first thought is to create two standard initial tables. Both set to the silver standard, one offering magical treasure, one not. The reasoning behind this is that whilst a solitaire player may want the opportunity to loot the occasional magical item from fallen foes, a GM using a random generator probably doesn't want to distribute magical objects willy-nilly. Of course the GM could just ignore any magical treasure rolled up but, that tips the balance of the table as I have written it. It just wouldn't be fair.

So, the idea that I am working with at the moment will increase the general value of non-magical treasure rolled (on the non-magical table), whilst maintaining balance if magical treasure is a possibility. It's still a work in progress but I should have something to post up soon enough.

Secondly I have been giving some consideration to the coins used in the game world. More accurately who mints them? There are guidelines in the original treasure generator as to who uses what but, I am thinking more along the lines of the real world issues surrounding currency. I mean, you can't spend Dollars in the UK anymore than you can spend GBP's in the US. Now when dealing with valuable metals this is less of a concern but it's unlikely that Elves will be all that interested in a handful of Iron coins when the standard that they deal in is Silver pieces.

To this ends I am generating a series of mint tables (one for each type of coin) that you can roll on optionally to determine the coins origin. When spending the coin with the Kindred that minted it, say Iron coins with Orcs, it is worth it's face value. When spending the same coin with a Kindred that didn't mint it but do use it, say Goblins, it is worth 3/4 it's face value. If you try to spend that same coin with a Kindred that neither minted it or generally uses it, it'll only be worth half it's face value.

This is all still very much at the drawing board stage however, but updated tables for the type of treasure being generated (replacements for the 7.5 initial treasure table) shouldn't be too far away, replacing the the replacement that I originally posted here.

We also now have a Loot-O-Matic tag that'll make finding posts on this subject much easier.. Which I should have done a lot sooner.

Loot-O-Matic: Coins Of Different Kinds

Following on from my previous post where I set out to "fix" the 7.5 random treasure generator issue of spitting wealth at you like a broken ATM, I have got as far as tweaking the coinage. Here's what I have so far:

Money Table (2D6, DARO)

2-9: Iron (Worth 0.01SP each)

10-16: Steel (Worth 0.1SP each)

17-22: Copper (Worth 0.1SP each)

23-27: Orichalum (Worth 0.2SP each)

28-31: Bronze (Worth 0.5SP each)

32-34: Silver (Worth 1SP each)

35-36: Gold (Worth 10SP each)

37+: Mithril (Worth 100SP each)

When rolling for the amount of coins, roll 3D6, TARO.
All coins weigh 1WU each.

Anyone with the original 7.5 rulebook will notice that I have made some considerable changes. I have altered the value of the coins, how many coins you get, as well as removing some completely.

I like the idea of the monsters in Trollworld running under a seperate currency, so I kept the Iron and Steel pieces but the idea of Elven Silver and Trollish Gold seemed a little too specific to me. I was also at a loss as to why they were worth so much on the original table. What can you actually do to silver to increase its value by a factor of 50!? I've also recast the role of Orichalum, which is now the new "2 Copper Piece" instead of the extremely rare mythical metal of Atlantis. I just figured that with Mithril being available, do I really need another thin on the ground resource? Mithril's cool enough. :0).

At this point I should probably point out that whilst the treasure may seem to have gone from one extreme to another (bountiful to pitiful), this table and the one in my previous post were created with a method of treasure generation slightly different from the norm in mind.

Players now roll 1D6 for every 10 MR that their opponent had (or fraction of 10) and, any D6 that rolls within the monsters "range" allows one roll on the random treasure generator. So a MR 40 beastie might allow up to 4 rolls on the generator! (Possibly 5 if that were 41).

The only problem with the "range" idea is that beyond Buffalo Castle, I can't think of any solo that uses the range mechanic. Of course I could be wrong. Either way it's not a problem for three reasons:

1 - I plan to work my way through every solo I can lay my hands on and assign ranges, posting them up here.

2 - I also plan to create a generic list of all monsters commonly found in Trollworld; adding ranges; which should cover most of what I miss with point one.

3 - A new feature I'm working on called the Wandering Monster Stable will give you themed wandering monster tables; including ranges; that you can insert into any solo you already happen to own that uses the wandering monster mechanic. The idea being that you can season your solo's to taste. :0).

Loot-O-Matic

The Loot-O-Matic from Grimtooth Industries

Some people ponder the big questions. Why are we here? Where are we going?
What would happen if I taped a piece of toast to a cats back butter-side up and dropped it? Not me though, I'm pondering how my solitaire adventures through Trollworld compare to other peoples and, given a choice which random treasure generator would you use?

There are a lot of fine choices out there. From the bog standard generators that come with the rules (which we'll be focusing on in this post), on-line generators, generators from other systems that you can convert to Tunnels and Trolls, your own homebrew creations that best represent your own vision of Trollworld and, of course the fine generators that can be found in Elder Tunnels.

Personally given a choice between 5.5 and 7.5, I prefer the generator in the latter. Not that there's anything wrong with the 5.5 generator.. It's just not as interesting. It produces coins, jewels and, jeweled items. That's it!

7.5 however can produce all of that (in greater variation) plus weapons, armor, potions and, other magical bits and bobs. Which sounds great, in theory. The only problem is that it can go a bit (and for a bit, read WAY) overboard in the net worth of the treasure it dishes out, in one case handing a 1st level character a necklace worth in excess of 23,000... Yeah.. Just a "bit" overboard.

Other than it's Mad Hatter nature though, it's a good generator, so what to do? Enter homebrewing to fix an error that should have frankly been glaringly obvious from the word get go, the first table.

The first table in the 7.5 rulebook makes it just as likely that you'll roll jewels as coins, with a separate entry for jeweled items, meaning that it is now four times more likely that you'll find jewels of some description when compared to 5.5 and, twice as likely that you'll find jewels instead of coins.. Which common sense would tell you just isn't right.

My solution

Replace the first table in the book with the following one:

2D6 DARO

2-7: Money [See Money Table]

8-12: Weapon [See Weapon Table]

13-16: Armor [See Armor Table]

17-19: Jewels [See Jewels Table]

20-21: Jewelry [See Jewelery Table]

22+: Potion [See Potion Table]

Admittedly it's only a start but it I feel it goes a long way towards "fixing" the generator. Given time I will probably end up modifying all of the 7.5 tables along the same lines and, maybe introduce a few other McGuffins such as mundane items and a more robust et of tables for generating magical items.