Rather than spend time with my mom, I have gone through the B/X monster roster and cross-referenced with the treasure tables. Tom Moldvay helpfully estimates the expected value of each treasure type (B45), which I’ll reproduce here.
Table | Expected Value | Critters |
A | 17000 (magic!) | Centaur, Men (Expert set), Mermen, Bandit, Troglodyte |
B | 2000 | Caelica, Hydra, Nixie, Berserker, Bugbear, Carrion Crawler, Ghoul, Halfling, Wight |
C | 1000 | Blink Dog, Devil Swine, Hellhound, Treant, Gargoyle, Gnome, Goblin, Harpy, Lycanthrope (any), Minotaur, Neanderthal, Ogre (+1000 gold), Owl Bear, Giant Rat, Thoul |
D | 4000 | Cockatrice, Displacer Beast, Dryad, Manticore, Mummy, Purple Worm, Troll, Gnoll, Hobgoblin, Orc |
E | 2500 (magic!) | Cyclops (+5000 gold), Giants (any, +5000 gold), Gorgon, Griffon, Spectre, Wraith, Wyvern, Doppelganger, Elf |
F | 5000 (magic!) | Basilisk, Chimera, Salamander, Vampire, Medusa, Shadow |
G | 25000 (magic!) | Dwarf |
H | 50000 | Dragon (any), Dragon Turtle, Sea Dragon |
I | 800 | Roc |
J | 25 | Kobold |
K | 125 | |
L | 250 | Rat, Stirge |
M | 15000 | |
N | 0 (magic!) | |
O | 0 (magic!) |
Some caveats:
- I’m only considering the “lair” treasure types
- This chart only lists the expected value of by-the-book treasure. YMMV.
- The chart only mentions magic items if odds are more than 15%.
- I also have calculated treasure-per-hit-dice-of-encounter, but I’m not sure how to present the data as there are several “special cases.” Maybe later.
Anyway, with those cautions in mind, here are some points of interest:
- So . . . Dwarves, eh? I hear they said bad things about your parents. Let’s get ’em!
- Men have great treasure, but in the Expert set it’s usually found in heavily defended wilderness camps.
- Giants too have pretty good loot but, dang, they are Giants and their lairs have zillions of beasts.
- Of the usual suspects Troglodytes have the best treasure by far.
- A lot of dangerous monsters – Djinn, Efreet – have no treasure in B/X. In fact, treasure is generally better among the Basic monsters than in the Expert set.
- Treasure Type C is a headache. Either the critters have lots of Hit Dice or enjoy significant special abilities, or the pushover critters are extremely numerous. Either way it’s a fair amount of work for pretty meager reward.
- Treasure Type F seems to be largely reserved for critters that can one-shot your sorry ass; even Chimeras and Salamanders are pretty tough.
- Several of the sea monsters have pretty good treasure, but how are you going to collect it?
- A lair of regular ol’ Rats has, on average, 10 times more treasure than a lair of Kobolds.
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