Question for equipping NPCs

[Diachronos]

I'm currently running a game and the PCs have gotten to the main lair of the cult who worships the BBEG. Among the cultists are necromancers who have each built a set of necrocrafts to support their allies, plus an extra one to act as a bodyguard.

The issue I'm running into is that I'd like to get them some embalming thread to use on their bodyguard necrocrafts to give them DR/slashing and adamantine, but I'm not sure whether the thread should be counted against the necromancers' equipment cost. It would cost 10,000g per thimble of thread, which is enough to cover 2 of the bodyguard necrocrafts so one thimble could be split between two of them.
When equipping an NPC with single-use items that have to be used well in advance of combat, such as embalming thread or the onyx gems used for animate dead, should these be counted toward the NPC's equipment totals since they're things that the NPC is going to use? Or are you not supposed to include any items that the party has no way of getting their hands on?

Before anybody brings it up: Yes, I'm aware that embalming thread specifies zombies and flesh golems, but necrocrafts weren't introduced until Bestiary 4 came out in 2013, whereas embalming thread came out in Ultimate Equipment in 2012. Since necrocrafts weren't a thing at the time embalming thread was created and since you can build a necrocraft with the "Mostly Zombies" trait to give them DR 5/slashing, I personally don't think it's too much of a stretch to allow it to be used on a necrocraft that has the Mostly Zombies trait.

[VRMH]

Yes, added equipment bumps the DC of an NPC encounter. On the other hand, it also adds to the reward so I wouldn't worry about it too much. Just consider for a moment what the PCs might do with the stuff first, apart from just selling.

[d'Eon]

VRMH wrote:

Yes, added equipment bumps the DC of an NPC encounter. On the other hand, it also adds to the reward so I wouldn't worry about it too much. Just consider for a moment what the PCs might do with the stuff first, apart from just selling.

Generally, yes, but the embalming thread cannot be reused in this instance. So it's making the encounter harder without increasing the reward.

You should include all of an NPC's stuff when considering how much WBL they have, even if the party can't get it from them. It's still making the encounter tougher for the players. On the other hand, adding adamantine to their DR doesn't seem game breaking. Maybe leave a few strands of the thread lying around the lair so the PCs can maybe find them, ID them, and get a clue about the modifications the necromancers made?

[Deadmanwalking]

Yeah, they should probably count. Small costs can probably be ignored without worrying about it too much, but 5k in gold isn't a small cost.

On the other hand, if concerned about them lacking sufficient funds, giving an NPC full PC level wealth just raises their CR by 1, so if the costs get prohibitive, do that and the encounter will likely still work.

Or, if you're instead concerned about the PCs not getting rewarded enough, you can add on useless treasure (like pretty non-magical jewelry) equal to the sell price of the consumables.

[Bane Wraith]

Deadmanwalking wrote:

Or, if you're instead concerned about the PCs not getting rewarded enough, you can add on useless treasure (like pretty non-magical jewelry) equal to the sell price of the consumables.

Maybe a stash of adamantine plates or precious metals from failed experiments to reinforce their fleshy fiends... Maybe with some more decrepit things still attached...

[Diachronos]

I'm more worried about giving the party too much loot since I've been overly generous earlier in the campaign. It's my first time DMing a from-scratch game that's run this long and I didn't want to give them nothing but potions and scrolls for loot for the first 6+ levels.

Besides, most of the party has come in with new characters at level 10 with appropriate WBL due to an unfortunate encounter with a magma dragon, which is so far the only encounter that's actually given them trouble.

[johnlocke90]

Diachronos wrote:

I'm more worried about giving the party too much loot since I've been overly generous earlier in the campaign. It's my first time DMing a from-scratch game that's run this long and I didn't want to give them nothing but potions and scrolls for loot for the first 6+ levels.

Besides, most of the party has come in with new characters at level 10 with appropriate WBL due to an unfortunate encounter with a magma dragon, which is so far the only encounter that's actually given them trouble.

You can always give NPCs powerful consumables so that the party doesn't get the extra wealth.

I had a GM give a bunch of enemies necklaces of fireball. They would kamikaze with all the fireballs when they got low ensuring we didn't get the magic item.

[PossibleCabbage]

Diachronos wrote:

I'm more worried about giving the party too much loot since I've been overly generous earlier in the campaign.

There's a realistic chance the PCs won't think to cut the thread out of the gross undead thing in hopes that it would be useful or valuable. You could also fiat that "corpse stitching" really isn't the sort of thing that can be recovered and reused. I don't think actual stitching (for people or things) is ever recovered and reused, so that's a common sense approach.

It takes multiple hours and a DC 20 check to put that stuff in, and it's just sewing+magic. Even if you could take it out, it should be more difficult than that.

Like if the NPCs get magic tattoos to make them more powerful, it might be *possible* for the PCs to to extract the magic ink from the skin, but it's going to be really messy and involved.

[Diachronos]

PossibleCabbage wrote:

Diachronos wrote:

I'm more worried about giving the party too much loot since I've been overly generous earlier in the campaign.

There's a realistic chance the PCs won't think to cut the thread out of the gross undead thing in hopes that it would be useful or valuable. You could also fiat that "corpse stitching" really isn't the sort of thing that can be recovered and reused. I don't think actual stitching (for people or things) is ever recovered and reused, so that's a common sense approach.

It takes multiple hours and a DC 20 check to put that stuff in, and it's just sewing+magic. Even if you could take it out, it should be more difficult than that.

Like if the NPCs get magic tattoos to make them more powerful, it might be *possible* for the PCs to to extract the magic ink from the skin, but it's going to be really messy and involved.

Even if they do think to cut the thread out, embalming thread can't be used again once you've successfully applied it to a creature.

[Diachronos]

Follow-up question to all of this: Is there a section in one of the books that explains how to handle the loot that's just lying around the lair or in their treasury?

I ask because their are a total of 47 cultists scattered throughout the lair (44 now, after the party forced their way into the warehouse they were using as a makeshift church), all between level 9 and level 11, and I'm not sure if there should be additional loot on top of what they're getting from the bodies.

[Drahliana Moonrunner]

Diachronos wrote:

Follow-up question to all of this: Is there a section in one of the books that explains how to handle the loot that's just lying around the lair or in their treasury?

I ask because their are a total of 47 cultists scattered throughout the lair (44 now, after the party forced their way into the warehouse they were using as a makeshift church), all between level 9 and level 11, and I'm not sure if there should be additional loot on top of what they're getting from the bodies.

You are not obligated to give out a set amount of goodies. The bestiary suggestions are guidelines nothing more. Keep an eye on what your party has already has for wealth. If you think that the party has already gotten what it should have. than don't bother giving them more. Otherwise just put in what you think the group should get.