Treasure by Level

Table 10–9: Party Treasure by Level on the next page shows how much treasure you should give out over the course of a level for a group of four PCs. The Total Value column gives an approximate total value of all the treasure, in case you want to spend it like a budget. The next several columns provide suggestions for breaking down that total into permanent items, which the PCs keep and use for a long time; consumables, which are destroyed after being used once; and currency, which includes coins, gems, and other valuables primarily spent to acquire items or services. The final column gives the amount of currency to add for each PC beyond four in the group; use this only if you have more than four characters in the game. (Different Party Sizes on page 510 provides more guidance on this.)

For instance, between the time your PCs reach 3rd level and the time they reach 4th level, you should give them the treasure listed in the table for 3rd level, worth approximately 500 gp: two 4th-level permanent items, two 3rd-level permanent items, two 4th-level consumables, two 3rd-level consumables, two 2nd-level consumables, and 120 gp worth of currency.

When assigning 1st-level permanent items, your best options are armor, weapons, and other gear from Chapter 6 worth between 10 and 20 gp. The treasure listed in the row for 20th level represents a full level’s worth of adventures, even though there is no way to reach 21st level.

Some creature entries in the Pathfinder Bestiary list treasure that can be gained by defeating an individual creature; this counts toward the treasure for any given level. Published adventures include a suitable amount of treasure throughout the adventure, though you should still monitor the party’s capabilities as the PCs progress through the adventure to make sure they don’t end up behind.

Currency

A party will find money and other treasure that isn’t useful on its own but that can be sold or spent on other things. The gp values in the Party Currency column don’t refer only to coins. Gems, art objects, crafting materials (including precious materials), jewelry, and even items of much lower level than the party’s level can all be more interesting than a pile of gold.

If you include a lower-level permanent item as part of a currency reward, count only half the item’s Price toward the gp amount, assuming the party will sell the item or use it as crafting material. But lower-level consumables might still be useful, particularly scrolls, and if you think your party will use them, count those items at their full Price.

Other Types of Treasure

Not all treasure has to be items or currency. Crafters can use the Crafting skill to turn raw materials directly into items instead of buying those items with coins. Knowledge can expand a character’s abilities, and formulas make good treasure for item-crafting characters. A spellcaster might get access to new spells from an enemy’s spellbook or an ancient scholar, while a monk might retrain techniques with rarer ones learned from a master on a remote mountaintop.

Different Party Sizes

If a party has more than four characters, add the following for each additional character:

• One permanent item of the party’s level or 1 level higher
• Two consumables, usually one of the party’s level and one of 1 level higher
• Currency equal to the value in the Currency per Additional PC column of Table 10–9

If the party has fewer than four characters, you can subtract the same amount for each missing character, but since the game is inherently more challenging with a smaller group that can’t cover all roles as efficiently, you might consider subtracting less treasure and allowing the extra gear help compensate for the smaller group size.