Pyramid Pick
The Book of Unusual Treasures (for d20 System)
Published by Bad Axe Games, LLC
Written by Philip J. Reed
Illustrated by Christopher Shy
94-page b&w softcover; $13.95
Believe it or not, handing out the treasures and rewards after a successful dungeon fight can sometimes be a mechanically boring process. "Well, that's your necromancer nemesis dealt with. Now to his treasure . . . Let me see, you find a +2 Dagger, a jeweled ring worth 5000gp, four opals worth 350gp each . . . " and so on. Not that every game or DM is like that, of course. But dressing up treasures such that they are interesting of themselves rather than just for their monetary value does not come easy to every DM, and this is where The Book of Unusual Treasures comes in handy.
Written by Phil Reed, better known for his design work on games like Frag! and The Dork Tower Boardgame, this d20 System supplement compiles almost 350 items drawn from a series of mini-supplements published in PDF format through his self-publishing company, Ronin Arts. And while the various mini-supplements, such as 101 Mundane Treasures and 101 Arcane Spell Components, are still available to buy and download, nothing quite beats having an honest-to-goodness book in your hands. In compiling so much, The Book of Unusual Treasures not only details books and spell books, arcane spell components, arms and armor, clothing and jewelry, plus miscellaneous items, it also adds further unusual items in the form of new spells, feats, poisons, materials, . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: July 16, 2004
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