Scribbles and Horrors

“Our first assignment—“
“Our, that’d be… me and you.”
“—will be to locate and restore to its owner a somewhat tasteless lamp, indeed among lamp collectors considered the crown jewel of tasteless lamps, a lamp so stupefyingly tasteless it makes nonsense of the tasteless lamp category itself. Too horribly tasteless ever to have been photographed. Cameras break, eyeglass prescriptions are drastically rewritten, crowds of spectators run screaming out of exits they then get jammed up in. Tasteless Lamp Quarterly runs out of space to contain the overflow of readers’ indignation. How tasteless it is, this lamp, known in underworld Esperanto as La Lampo Plaj Malbongusto.

Through some perverse law of secondary markets, the more vehemently denounced, the more valuable it has become….”

—Thomas Pynchon, Shadow Ticket

In addition to the OD&D treasure categories of Copper, Silver, Gold, Gems, Jewelry, Magic, and Maps, here are new categories, to be assigned a percentage-chance in each treasure type and level.

Beneath each category are subcategories and example, which may be ignored, picked, or determined randomly.

Note that what is listed here is treasure, not mere goods. Every Orc outpost will of course be stocked with ordinary coffee, but the Coffee treasure subcategory indicates coffees of great value.

Ideally each category will have its own table, but in a pinch the jewelry and gem GP values can be used. Sometimes the value will be apparent to only a select few, and many treasures are not easily liquidated.

Comestibles

Cocktails or liquors
Delicacies
Cheeses
Eggs
Spices, herbs, powders
Teas and coffee
Drugs or medicine
Tobacco
Candy and sweets

Collectibles

Rare coins
Stamps
Baseball cards
Nick-knacks

Displayables

Pottery, silverware, china
Sculptures or art installations
Furniture
Statuettes
Appliances (lamps, refrigerators, etc.)

Wearables

Clothes, costumes, accessories
Hats
Wigs, false mustaches, toupee
Makeup, creams, gels, and soaps

Intellectual

Poems
Folk songs or stories
Systems of philosophy
Mathematical proofs
Names
Recipes
Secrets
News
Languages
Infohazard (“the funniest joke in the world”, etc)
Prophecies

Paper

Books
Paintings
Drawings
Prints
Non-treasure maps
Photographs
Historical documents or records
Contracts, bonds, deeds, other legal documents
Playing cards

Non-material

Friends
Sights to see
Employment opportunities
Self realization or actualization
Political office, religious title, or other bestowed role
Awards, accolades, monikers, nicknames

Devices

Hard-to-find spare parts/gizmos
Timepieces: watches, clocks, hourglasses, sundials
Keys
Boxes, bags, jars, containers
Musical instruments
Writing utensils
Beads, marbles, and jacks
Chance

Biological

Animals—pets
Animals—work
Organs and body parts
Bones, skins, teeth, claws, or fingernails
Relics
Hair or feathers
Stuffed or preserved specimens
Living plants
Diseases

Environmental Samples

Rocks/minerals
Water
Air or gasses
Isotopes

Commodities

Chemicals
Textiles
Foodstuffs
Ores or soils

Equipment

From equipment lists
High technology, etc.

Machinery

Radio transmitters
Computers
Microfilm readers
Printing presses
Lathes
Ovens
Vats

Potions/Scrolls
Potions
Scrolls

Artifacts

—————–

Here is a generator for these categories, with a distribution that seemed decent: https://chartopia.d1 … ev.com/chart/120948/
Print version: https://chartopia.d1 … /chart/120948/print/

And here is an example generator for OD&D Underworld Treasure Level 5, with Additional Categories appearing with a 25% chance: https://chartopia.d1 … ev.com/chart/114820/