Treasure parcels from the Holy Roman Empire

You think you've got this nifty sword, having +400 vs AC, 1d100+1000 on hit? You think you've got some really cool treasure, 2 statuettes of 40,000GP each? You think you've got prestige because the local lord awarded you a medal? Think again.

I've just returned from a short holiday to Vienna and Munich, and have taken the opportunity to visit some of the old royal treasuries. All pictures in this post come from the treasure chamber in the Residenz, München.

Having seen these treasures, I make a promise to all my current and future players. Never again will a simple medal be a simple medal. Just look at the medal you got in Bavaria when you became a knight:


Never again will a statuette worth 1000 GP be a nameless statuette. Instead, it will be made of gold and coral, and show an archetypical pose of a well-known deity:


Priceless cups wil be made of a single polished precious stone and decorated with small depictions of even more deities:


And last but not least: whenever I feel like awarding you a bunch of diamonds, I will make sure some artisan has taken the trouble of increasing their worth:

Loxar the Spellscarred

Inspiration comes from many places. For me, deviantART is one of them. Recently I was planning an adventure in which I wanted my player to encounter the effects of the Spellplague. I was writing, rewriting and rewriting again, until I stumbled on this picture:

At one, it all became clear. This was Loxar the Spellscarred. She used to be a promising swordmage from the Forgotten Realms,  until one of her adventures brought her to spellplagued land. An unforunate accident caused the scar below her eye.

At first, the effect seemed purely cosmetic. But soon she learned how the scar could give her additional powers, manifesting themselves in all-consuming flames of blue fire. And soon after that, she noticed how the spellscar replaced the memories of her training. Until all her remaining powers revolved around the scar.

Spellscarred people are shunned by society, and Loxar chose a new career. She became a highwayman in the western regions of Cormyr, earning a living by robbing trade-caravans coming from the Thunderpeaks and Sembia.

And so, the encounter wrote itself. Loxar will try to rob my player. Given the fact that she is a very intelligent women without a death wish, the encounter can be run as either a skill challenge or ordinary combat.

I'm very excited to see how my player will react to her...

 

Download MonsterBuilder statblock