Introduction
Chapter 7 of the 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide covers treasure in two halves: what a hoard actually contains, and when and how much of it to hand out. This guide covers the first half plus the pacing side of the second - coins, trade bars and goods, gemstones, art objects, and the Magic Items Awarded by Level guidance. It does not re-cover the magic item system itself (categories, rarity tiers, activation, Attunement, or the Magic Items A-Z catalog) - that content lives on the Best D&D 2024 Magic Items guide, which this guide links to wherever "what an item does" matters more than "how much treasure to place."
For the DM-only rules this chapter assumes, see the DM's Toolbox guide. Return to the Dungeon Master Guides hub for the full chapter map.
Treasure Themes
Monsters in the Monster Manual have treasure preferences expressed as themes, which tell you what kind of loot fits a given hoard beyond a flat pile of coins:
| Theme | Appropriate Treasure |
|---|---|
| Arcana | Gemstones plus magic items of an eldritch or esoteric nature |
| Armaments | Coins or trade bars plus magic items useful in battle |
| Implements | Coins, trade bars, or trade goods plus magic items that focus on utility |
| Relics | Art objects plus magic items with religious origins or purposes |
Matching a hoard's theme to the monster guarding it is a quick way to make loot feel like it belongs to someone, rather than a generic pile the DM dropped in.
Hot Take: A themed hoard is more memorable than another roll on a random table. An Armaments hoard that funds a martial threat and holds a battle-ready reward tells the party something about the creature they just beat.
Coins
The base unit of treasure: Copper Pieces (CP), Silver Pieces (SP), Electrum Pieces (EP), Gold Pieces (GP), and Platinum Pieces (PP), with relative values set in the Player's Handbook. Fifty coins of any denomination weigh 1 pound - worth remembering before a party tries to haul off a hoard of ten thousand coppers.
Trade Bars
Large coin piles are awkward to carry and count, so many merchants deal in trade bars instead - ingots of precious metal, usually silver, valued by weight and dimension:
| Bar | Dimensions | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Small silver bar | 5 in. long x 2 in. wide x 1/2 in. thick | 10 CP |
| Large silver bar | 5 in. long x 2 in. wide x 3/4 in. thick | 25 CP |
| Gold bar | 6 in. long x 2 in. wide x 1 in. thick | 250 CP |
Trade Goods
Merchants also commonly barter goods directly instead of using currency:
| Cost | Goods |
|---|---|
| 1 CP | 1 lb. of wheat |
| 2 CP | 2 lb. of flour, or one chicken |
| 5 CP | 1 lb. of salt |
| 1 SP | 1 lb. of iron, or 1 sq. yd. of canvas |
| 5 SP | 1 lb. of copper, or 1 sq. yd. of cotton cloth |
| 1 GP | 1 lb. of ginger, or one goat |
| 2 GP | 1 lb. of cinnamon or pepper, or one sheep |
| 3 GP | 1 lb. of cloves, or one pig |
| 5 GP | 1 lb. of silver, or 1 sq. yd. of linen |
| 10 GP | 1 lb. of silk, or one cow |
| 15 GP | 1 lb. of saffron, or one ox |
| 50 GP | 1 lb. of gold |
| 500 GP | 1 lb. of platinum |
Gemstones
Gemstones pack more value per pound than coins and are correspondingly easier for a party to carry and fence. The book sorts them into value tiers - roll on a tier once and treat every gem in the hoard as that stone, or roll multiple times for a mixed collection:
| Tier | Example Stones |
|---|---|
| 10 GP | Azurite, banded agate, hematite, lapis lazuli, malachite, moss agate, obsidian, tiger eye, turquoise |
| 50 GP | Bloodstone, carnelian, chalcedony, citrine, jasper, moonstone, onyx, sardonyx, star rose quartz, zircon |
| 100 GP | Amber, amethyst, chrysoberyl, coral, garnet, jade, jet, pearl, spinel, tourmaline |
| 500 GP | Alexandrite, aquamarine, black pearl, blue spinel, peridot, topaz |
| 1,000 GP | Black opal, blue sapphire, emerald, fire opal, opal, star ruby, star sapphire, yellow sapphire |
| 5,000 GP | Black sapphire, diamond, jacinth, ruby |
Art Objects
Idols, jewelry, paintings, and similarly one-of-a-kind valuables round out a hoard. Roll once per art object in the hoard - duplicates are fine:
| Value | Representative Examples |
|---|---|
| 25 GP | Silver ewer, carved bone statuette, gold bracelet, embroidered silk handkerchief, gold locket with a painted portrait |
| 250 GP | Gold ring set with bloodstones, carved ivory statuette, bejeweled gold bracelet, well-made 10-by-10-foot tapestry, gold birdcage with electrum filigree |
| 750 GP | Silver chalice set with moonstones, carved wooden harp with ivory inlay, gold idol, detailed life-sized dragonborn skull cast in electrum, painted gold war mask |
| 2,500 GP | Fine gold chain set with a fire opal, old masterpiece painting, platinum bracelet set with an emerald, gold circlet set with four aquamarines, a necklace string of small pink pearls |
| 7,500 GP | Jeweled gold crown, jeweled platinum ring, gold statuette set with rubies, jade game board with gold playing pieces, ceremonial gold armor with black pearls |
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Start BuildingAwarding Magic Items
Awarding magic items is entirely the DM's call - use the story, not a strict entitlement schedule, as the trigger. A campaign that never rains down loot and one that showers the party with it are both valid, as long as the table's expectations match what actually happens.
Are magic items necessary? No. Characters and monsters are built to face each other without magic items in the mix. A magic item makes its owner more powerful or versatile than a generic character of the same level, which is exactly what makes it a genuine reward rather than a required patch on the encounter math - a DM never has to hand one out just to keep the party competitive with the campaign's threats.
Magic Items Awarded by Level. The DMG's own guideline table targets roughly one hundred magic items total across a full campaign, from level 1 to 20, weighted toward Common and Uncommon items at low levels and shifting toward Rare, Very Rare, and Legendary items at higher tiers of play. Artifacts are deliberately left off this table - they function as plot devices in high-level play more than as routine loot, and characters rarely hold onto one for long either by design (the Artifact gets destroyed) or because the campaign is winding down.
Player wish lists. Encourage your players to keep a running wish list of magic items they'd like their characters to eventually find. When you want to award an item but don't have a specific one in mind, pull from a player's wish list at the appropriate rarity instead of inventing something on the spot or rolling cold.
Overstocking an adventure. When building or modifying an adventure, assume the party won't find everything you place in it. A common approach is to include roughly 25 percent more magic items than the pacing guidance calls for (rounding up) - an adventure meant to carry characters from level 1 to 4 might include a few extra items over the baseline count, on the expectation that some will go unfound.
Magic Item Tracker. The DMG includes a tracker sheet for logging how many items of each rarity the party has received at their current level range, so a DM can check at a glance whether they're over- or under-awarding a given rarity before reaching for the dice.
Randomizing rarity. When you want to roll rather than choose, the Magic Item Rarities table lets you roll 1d100 against the party's level range and read off a rarity - lower rolls trend toward Common and Uncommon at low levels, and the odds shift toward Rare, Very Rare, and Legendary as the party's level range climbs. Use it as a starting point for what kind of item a hoard should contain, then pick (or roll on the catalog tables) for the specific item.
Starting items for mid-campaign characters. If a campaign begins above level 1, decide starting items by DM choice (you pick), player choice (they pick within a rarity band), or random determination from the catalog tables - matching table type to class role (Arcana for primary spellcasters, Armaments for martial classes, Implements for skill-focused classes, Relics for divine casters) keeps the picks thematic even when the process is random.
Recharge Timing
Many magic items recharge fully or partially at the next dawn or another named time. If that event does not occur normally on the current world or plane, the DM decides when the item recharges. Cursed-item, Attunement, and activation mechanics belong in the Best D&D 2024 Magic Items guide, which covers the item's rules rather than the pacing decision.
Related Guides
For the DM-only rules this chapter assumes (curses, environmental effects, hazards), see the DM's Toolbox guide. For the magic item system itself - categories, rarity, activation, Attunement, and standout items by tier - see the Best D&D 2024 Magic Items guide. For fitting treasure pacing into a longer arc, see the Creating Campaigns guide. Return to the Dungeon Master Guides hub for the full chapter map.
