by greyarea » Wed Oct 09, 2013 7:56 pm
It sounds like you have difficulty with the percentages in the higher hoard classes (LL pg 105). Let's look at one to explain, and let's make it XXI for fun since that's one of the classes for the "men" monster:
If you look at the column for CP x1000, you will see that the result is 1d10 (45%). That means that there is a 45% chance that the opponent has 1d10x1000 CP. If you roll a d100 (or 2d10, with one die being 10's and the other 00s) and get 45 or less, then you roll 1d10 to determine how many CP the baddies have (so if you roll a 4 then they have 4000CP).
If you look at the next column for SPx1000, it's similar but 1d4 (25%), which means there's only a 25% chance of 1d4x1000 SP. So the hoard can have a between 1000 and 4000 Silver pieces.
With gems there is no modification to the roll, so there is a 30% chance of 1d8 gems. If you roll a 30 or less to determine if the gems are there, then roll on the gems table on the following page (LL106) to determine the value of the gems. For example, you roll a 25 to determine that there are gems and then a 4 on a 1d8 to determine that there are 4 gems. On the gems table, you roll 1d100 four times, getting a 25, 16, 66, and 37 as your results. This means there are four gems, two worth 25GP, one worth 50GP and one worth a whopping 100GP (GP meaning gold pieces, that is, the value in gold on the open gems market for that gem). Jewelry would work the same way.
Now for magic items, there is a 12% for 1 magic item, but it can only be a sword, armor or misc. weapon. You roll a 1d100 and get a 10, so the baddie has a magic item. Then you roll a d100 and look on the Random Magic Type and ignore (that is, reroll) any result lower than 67. (Alternately, you can roll a d6 and divide by 2 or any other way of choosing between the three item types). Let's say, it's a magic sword. Then you roll a 1d100 and compare the result against the Swords table (LL108) to determine the type of sword. Rolling a 1d100, you get a 65 which is a "Sword +1, +3 vs magical monsters".
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All that said, hoard class VIII through XXII are meant for a being lair. For instance, meeting a nomad tribe with their tents. If you meet an individual nomad, he's likely to have only something from hoard classes I through VII, which are meant for individuals. Since nomads don't have an individual designation in the LL monster section, you can either determine that they carry no personal treasure or use the hoard class of a similar baddie, such as the Berserker which has an individual hoard class of I.
Make sense?