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To leap right to it.
One of the two groups I DM for has a somewhat odd composition for its party members.
Their party composition is..
1. Synthesist Summoner.
2. Undead Master Cleric (str as dumpstat).
2a. A bloody redcap skeleton.
3. Fighter / Rogue
4. Fire Based Sorceress
5. Cleric / Wizard with aspirations of becoming a Mystic Theurg.
Now, commentary anybody might have on these classes aside, the loot situation is...weird.
I tend to rely, 80% of the time on randomized loot based on the tables in Complete Equipment. I also tend to favor trade goods over straight coin (enjoy your ton of beans, muahaha!)
But the issue is the party routinely encounters martial foes, and martial foes have martial gear. And the only people in the party who use martial gear are the fighter/rogue and the undead redcap.
The normal charts generate a lot of magic swords, armor and various other stuff, but the party actually disdains weapons as they are almost universally spellcastery types (except for the synth who relies on her natural attacks).
As such, the loot they typically pick up ends up somewhat underwhelming to them. Especially to the cleric who is primarily obsessed with acquiring very specific items.
So the point of this. Without abandoning the random method, how can I better feed the party stuff they'd find exciting.
This isn't a question on WBL, or balance or stuff like that, the party has crafting feats and is quite willing to sell gear off to procure gear they might want. Its a question of how to make the treasure seem worthwhile and fun instead of 'meh, no one can use that.'
If you are completely attached to random rolling, then generate some random tables of your own that are more weighted towards your party composition.
Also your martial foes could be using Rings of protection/cloaks of resistance/amulets of natural armor, rather than buying more magic armor or swords.
Hope this helps, but in my honest opinion I did away with random loot years ago for this reason, the exception being when encountering a vast treasure hoard, then I random about 20%, as my players enjoy what they call "Vendor Rolls".
Go to the GMG. Open to the random tables. Roll. Whatever you get, pick random, wierd spells to put in said items. Now decide what kind of power and the power level said abilities carry (appropriate to the current APL) and go from there. Ex:
- random roll results in masterwork gear
- random spell results in arcane cantrip
Result: rope of fear - This coiled chord has three knots bound into its length. It is considered a masterwork climbing tool and can be used in that capacity. 3 times per day however it can be used to imitate the sound of whirling vortex and explosion of air. The device is twirled over the head and then a knot is pulled violently apart, releasing the sound. This acts like the feat Dazzling Display but the foes must be able to hear you. Creation: CL3, Ghost Sound; creator must have Dazzling Display feat
Now your PCs have a wondrous item usable 3/day that can potentially demoralize all foes w/in 30' as a full round action. Not earthshattering but not mundane either. You can randomly generate these, spontaneously create them or combine a bit of both.
Finally a note: anything can be treasure. Your vilains are often martial, and that's fine, but sometimes people carry keepsakes. When I know my APL 4 PCs are going to be going against, say, a group of bandits holding a ruined tower I put some coins and fun stuff in the tower sure. But then I also throw wierd stuff on some individuals like a pewter snuff box gilt with bone and studded with garnets (200 GP) filled with 10 pinches of the finest Izmogen snuff (10 GP). Perhaps someone is carrying an empty scroll case made of brass and ivory with an onyx black dragon inlay as a trophy; another might have a masterwork cloak that grants +5 to Survival checks to endure the elements and is made of the finest oiled leather trimed in mink; still another may have a minor wondrous item in the form of a saddle that converts to any mount and allows any Enlarge Person spell that targets the rider at the time they're mounted it also enlarges the mount too.
Really wondrous items, consumables and "art objects" are your best friends here.
Is your party the type to kill everything, or do they tend to take prisoners? If they take prisoners, you can have them give information or be worth rewards from local law-enforcement.
Ideas for information they could trade:
An old stash I know about.
This one Fence I know that owes me a favor. They can get a hold of anything, for the right trade.
We were planning a job to break into a vault. I'll trade the specs for my freedom.
The gang's spellcaster cheated at cards; I know where they keep their key.
Oh, and somewhere on these boards someone had a good suggestion: the PCs devise their own rewards. For example you come to a pivotal moment where the PCs have a chance to look around and breathe. You take some time out of game to calculate that they've earned, say, 4000GP worth of treasure; each player has a 1000GP budget to work with.
The guy running the Undead Master cleric is like: My prayers to Urgathoa have yielded a ghoulish surprise: as I rise from bending a knee to the Palid Lady she rewards all of my sacrifices with a aura of necromancy that coalesces in my staff. A dark rune in the wood reveals itself and now my staff can cast Chill Touch 1/day.
The lady working the fire based sorceress reveals she's found a cache of alchemical gear hidden behind a wall block. Within she finds smokesticks, several pinches of flash powder and 2 potions of Burning Gaze.
Finally the fighter/Rogue decides he just wants full on loot. He declares that one of the packs picked up flippantly off one of the earlier guards in fact holds a pouch full of agage and onyx jewelry. There is also a ceremonial dagger of little use in combat but gilt with gold and encrusted with crystals.
These are just examples. I let one of my players have the soul of a knight she released from undead torment enter her blade. He not only gave the weapon a +1 but it also has the merest tingling of some form of telepathy. The weapon scans the mind of an enemy and provides a +2 to Knowledge checks for monster lore.