20 Things to Loot from a Dead Wizard
During the course of their adventures, our heroes are likely to slay many evil wizards (and loot their bodies). Sadly, most such individuals seem to never carry anything beyond a spell component pouch, a few magic items and some loose coinage.
Use the list below, to add depth and flavour to a dead wizard’s possessions:
An amulet comprising a single, yellowed dragon’s tooth suspended from a leather thong. A rune for protection is carved into the tooth.
A small flask of powered silver (worth 50 gp). The leather flask itself has a small strap allowing it to be carried over the shoulder.
A silver dagger concealed is concealed in one of the wizard’s boots. The dagger is clearly unused—its blade is sharp and polished to a high sheen.
A silver bracelet from which hang several charms. Each is decorated with a single rune—fire, water, air, earth, dragon, devil, demon—among them. The whole thing is worth 75 gp.
A leather scroll tube crudely painted bright blue. It is stoppered with a leather bung that clips into the place. The bung has been painted red.
These fine leather boots have four small, unobtrusive pockets hidden inside. Most of the pockets hold commonly available spell components, but two hold a single platinum coin.
This plain scroll tube contains several pieces of parchment the wizard used to make observations of the stars. These comprise several complicated diagrams of various constellations and cryptic notes regarding “the wanderer."
The torn and scorched cover of Agananzar’s Workbook is wrapped in cloth and hidden in the wizard’s pack. Sadly, nothing else of the book’s contents remains.
A pouch contains a variety of small bones—probably finger bones—clearly “harvested” from a variety of different creatures. Each is in pristine condition—all the skin having been boiled away.
Three empty potion vials; one is marked “invisibility” while the other two smell slightly of cinnamon.
A locket holding a lock of coarse black hair. It is evident from the hair’s texture—and the slight smell of rotten eggs—the hair is not from a natural source.
A dozen small semi-circular stones worn perfectly smooth. An esoteric rune—depicting various types of magic—adorns each stone.
A slender belt pouch specially treated to be waterproof. Inside the pouch, the wizard stored a variety of dried herbs. Each bunch is tied together with twine.
The shattered stub of a wooden stake. Black blood covers the stake’s tip. Barely visible under the blood is some kind of rune, but its meaning is impossible to determine as part of it is missing.
Three quills wrapped in an ink-stained cloth and two small vials of ink—red and black—all carried in a small pouch along with several scraps of crumpled parchment.
A bent iron spike, the head of a hammer and a shard of incredibly tough stone.
A black velvet cloth inlaid with golden thread wrapped around a dried and perfectly preserved red rose. The rose’s thorns are yet sharp and its flower emits a particular heady scent.
A small treatise depicting the various protective circles—against good, evil and so on—along with notes on how to quickly create such protective barriers. A perceptive reader skilled in the arcane arts may note that several of the diagrams are fatally flawed.
A flask of holy water and a flask of unholy water—both clearly labelled in Elven—along with a fine painter’s brush, two owlbear feathers and one gigantic feather (perhaps from a roc or other huge bird).
A small red velvet pouch. The pouch is all but empty—however a determined examination reveals a few flecks of diamond dust stuck to the pouch’s lining.
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This article is an extract from The Thingonomicon. Add the book to your GM’s toolkit today! Alternatively, check out the 20 Things Archive for more handy, flavoursome and time-saving 20 Things articles ready for immediate use in your campaign.
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If you have ancient necropolises, bustling marketplaces, creepy graveyards, cultists’ lairs, curio shops and pawnbrokers, dark caverns, fallen dwarven holds, forts on the borderland, goblin lairs, haunted houses, hill giant steadings, kobold warrens, corpses, necromancer’s lairs, noisome sewers, ocean voyages, seedy taverns, slavers’ compounds, smugglers’ lairs, subterranean mines, sun-scorched deserts, troublesome treasures, war-ravaged lands, wilderness camps or wizard’s towers in your campaign The Thingonomicon has got you covered!
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The Thingonomicon is a System Neutral Edition GM’s Resource by Alexander Augunas, Aaron Bailey, John Bennett, Creighton Broadhurst, Ronald Calbick, Seamus Conneely, Kalyna Conrad, Jeff Gomez, Eric Hindley, Cole Kronewitter, Jacob W. Michaels, David Posener, Paul Quarles, Alex Riggs, David N. Ross, Amber Underwood and Mike Welham
Design Creighton Broadhurst Art Rick Hershey
