Rookie question on random encounters

[Naglfarthedwarf]

I'm sure I've just totally missed something, but I can't figure out the loot situation from random encounters. I've run adventure paths before where the loot is all built in, so I've never had to think about it.

Now I'm planning to run the Pathfinder version of Rappan Athuk, which is intrinsically difficult and the group is looking forward to testing themselves against it. But it has a lot of random encounters and a lot of the '32 bandits live here' type stuff, with no loot specified. Is the adventure written with the expectation that the PCs will get random appropriate loot from those encounters?

Basically, if I hand out loot for random encounters is WBL going to make the adventure more easy than it is supposed to be (which we don't want), or will it be at the designed difficulty level if the only loot players get are those specifically laid out?

[That Crazy Alchemist]

Typically when you defeat an encounter there is an expectation that there is loot. Not every battle necessarily has to have a dragon's hoard of treasure but if the enemies in question are intelligent enough to see value in objects, or tend to kill and eat other creatures who see value in objects, then most likely they have said objects somewhere, either on their person or hidden nearby.

I know nothing about Rappan Athuk but if it's a complete module or adventure path and you are fighting many encounters that logically would have loot, but have no loot listed, then I'm guessing it's intended to be randomly rolled.
There's a great random treasure generator on Archives of Nethys that I use all the time. It's pretty balanced and you can customize the rolls pretty well to account for lowering or raising the WBL as needed.

[Naglfarthedwarf]

Thanks for the input, I'll check out that loot generator.

I've considered just keeping an eye on WBL and assigning loot to keep it balanced. But the one thing that has left me disinclined to do that is that Rappan Athuk is considered a mercilessly difficult megadungeon and we're running it to face that challenge specifically. The last thing I want to do is make it easier (or heaven forbid, harder) by handing out more loot than was intended by its creators, hence why I'm trying to really work out how Rappan Athuk is 'supposed' to be run.

[Tacticslion]

Naglfarthedwarf wrote:

I've considered just keeping an eye on WBL and assigning loot to keep it balanced.

This is generally what it's expected you do when GMing things without specified loot sources (and even if they do have them, depending on the gaming group and expectations).

Naglfarthedwarf wrote:

But the one thing that has left me disinclined to do that is that Rappan Athuk is considered a mercilessly difficult megadungeon and we're running it to face that challenge specifically. The last thing I want to do is make it easier (or heaven forbid, harder) by handing out more loot than was intended by its creators, hence why I'm trying to really work out how Rappan Athuk is 'supposed' to be run.

Advice

More advice

Even more advice

Even more stuff on it

These are literally just quick google searches.

Quick forum search. One and two (the second is possibly less useful).

Hope those help!

[Naglfarthedwarf]

Thanks for that Tacticslion, I've read a few of those and will check out the others.

Maybe I'm asking something that doesn't really have an answer, expecting someone to say something like "Rappan Athuk was written for first edition so it's supposed to award random loot according to the creatures entry in the bestiary, hence why there is so little loot included in the book" or alternatively, "Rappan Athuk's designers stated they included very little loot deliberately to make it harder, so no loot except what's in the book".

But maybe it is just a case of leaving it up to GM so I need to make a decision on how I'm going to do it.

[Mark Hoover 330]

One other thing to consider re: loot from Random Encounters is the value of the monster itself. There's an optional rule, I think in Ultimate Wilderness, re: Trophies. If the PCs are willing to take the time they might take Trophies for cash. Other opportunities might be Poisons that can be harvested, and with a little modification on those 2 rules a homebrew rule could be made re: harvesting arcane ingredients from monsters for profit.

But why stop there?

Remember that RA is as infamous as it is lethal. Adventurers are ALWAYS looking for an edge in the Dungeon of Graves. Clever PCs might take the time to generate maps, scribe journals; sell the information gathered from their journeys to the highest bidder. Then there's the background environment of the dungeon, the "dressing." If the random encounter takes place in a hallway or antechamber, perhaps there are old Cold Iron candle stands 3' tall in niches in the walls; decrepit tapestries which, if repaired using Mending and Prestidigitation would fetch a decent profit; ancient mundane scribblings and tomes of historical note tossed aside in a pile of bones.

There are many ways to deliver loot to the party. Some of these may not be as straightforward and obvious as sacks full of coins. As a GM you might give the players a gentle nudge towards some of these and see where the party takes it from there.

The nicest thing about these "alternative revenue sources" is that it eats up time. This is one way to avoid the "15 minute adventuring day" that seems to plague many groups. If your PCs descend into a dungeon, even one as massive as RA, they may choose to only stay long enough for their powers to last. So if the arcane spellcaster has, say, 5 spells of high enough level to actually make a positive impact on the party's survival and didn't think to back that up with wands or scrolls, then they may only tarry in the dungeon near the entrance while they use up those 5 spells.

That's 5 fights say, with an average of about 2.5 combat rounds each. That's approximately 2 minutes of their day with travel between fights, pre-fight buffing perhaps and such. Then add in another 2 minutes in searching those fight scenes for obvious treasure like coins, gems, and what not contained in chests or pouches, and then say another 11 minutes of general exploration around the larger area (5.5 minutes in, another 5.5 minutes back out while using caution, checking for traps and such) and the heroes have only spent 15 minutes of their actual day having an adventure.

Now add in harvesting Poison, taking Trophies, removing expensive furnishings, sketching unique wall art or friezes, and so on... suddenly your PCs are down in the dungeon for hours. During that time they COULD grow a lot more wealthy, if they're lucky and make it back out. But also during that time you as the GM get to finally engage some of the bigger environmental rules like Cold or Heat rules, Disease checks, perhaps Forced March effects and so on.

[Mysterious Stranger]

Not all encounters need to have loot. I rarely run published adventures as I prefer to write my own so I cannot really give an insight into the specifics. What I would advise is look at the loot that is listed in the adventure and compare it to the WBL table. If it is close to the suggested wealth don’t give out any extra loot.

Loot can also be the normal gear that the enemy is using. For example the weapons and armor of the 32 bandits could be considered loot. Also harvesting parts from encounters can also be considered loot. The pelt of the tiger you killed is probably worth something. This may require the players to have some skill to actually be able to harvest them.

[Naglfarthedwarf]

Thanks for all the suggestions, def some good ideas in there.

To be honest, I'm less worried about how to hand out loot and more with whether I should hand it out. No one wants me to make the megadungeon easier with more loot than was intended so I'm really just trying work out how this adventure was intended to be run as far as loot goes.