Why is it in fantasy games monsters take money and stuff when it has no real value to them? Like, weapons, armor...

Why is it in fantasy games monsters take money and stuff when it has no real value to them? Like, weapons, armor, that kind of thing can be good for humanoid monsters and such but what are some other reasons that aren't just 'GM has to give party something as a reward?'

My cat likes to play with plastic bottlecaps from seltzer bottles. She hoards them in a corner of the house and whenever someone opens a bottle and she hears the hiss of escaping carbonation she comes running.

That's why.

Because they have to find SOME way to get Senpai's attention.

Make up a reason dummy
>dragons hoarding treasure
>troll killed travelling nobleman, dragged his corpse (with very expensive rings/amulet/dagger) back into its lair
>giant crow monster attracted to shiny things; has about 20 knights in shining armor lying dead around its nest
>wraith guarding its barrow riches
>rich vampire count who is like a "new money" Gatsby vampire

It's all a conspiracy to keep the adventurer economy going

This. It's not so much a "Ooo this might be useful" thing and more a "Ooo shiny!" thing.

To clarify, I'm not complaining or saying it's dumb, just asking.

Many monsters know that others find gold valuable.
Others just collect it from their victims, instead of throwing it out.

Bait.
Why waste time hunting when you can have adventurers deliver themselves?

As bait for their favorite prey: greedy cunts

Dragons in my setting are almost literally magical nuclear reactors. Gold absorbs the "heat" from their reactions extremely well. Such gold becomes "radioactive" in a magical sense. Adventurers can craft magical items by melting down these gold pieces and mixing them into an item. Magic items constantly refill themselves on ambient magic while not in use, so Dragons like to have them around as emergency reactor coolers for when they need to bust out all their wrath in a fight and it goes on long enough for them to risk a "meltdown".

Rate?

>Why is it in fantasy games monsters take money and stuff when it has no real value to them?
well, I always like to say that dragons hoard treasures for the same reason some birds will swipe watches and jewlery...

They have some intense fascination with anything "shiny"
which gold, jewelry and armor all happen to be because they all are made of polished metal.

So in a more industrial setting it's entirely possible to fight your way into a dragon's lair to find that their "horde" is just a pile of junk! from broken mirrors and bottles, to bits of clockwork and industrial machinery. You might find some expensive weapons, and armor, and magical items in there; but you are going to have to do some digging to find them.

Old school D&D had treasure = xp rule, and it was 1gp + 1xp. And because of that it was one of the main reasons D&D characters went to a dungeon in the first place, before the game switched to mainly giving xp for killing monsters. Monsters having treasure aside from the ones known to collect it , have treasure because this mechanic has sort of stayed a part of the game even though it's not as needed now a days.

I don't. Players are rewarded by people who pay them to kill things.
>Our town has been bothered by some owlbears recently we will give you 20 gold for each owlbear head you bring. Party might find some gear from a previous hunting party but that's pretty rare and even then they are generally better off returning the clothed bodies to the families for a reward than stripping gear the same quality as what they already have.

Consider it from their end. Gold is useless, but shiny. Some will gather it because shiny, like crows. They most likely will do this to impress a mate with their glittering lair.

Other more intelligent monsters are aware that dangerous humans will kill to have it. If you have a little, you're a target. Having a lot makes you a BIG target. Keeping a lot means you're one tough son of a bitch, probably tough enough to keep the tribe safe from dangerous humans.
To these monsters, then, having gold is a status symbol, a way of proving how strong and brave you are, and suddenly their tribal chiefs will fight over this useless stuff and pile it in their throne rooms to awe their subjects, and occasionally bribe some of those dangerous humans into their service with it. Less important members of the tribe will grab and hide what they can in hopes of eventually building up their own status, but it will often be taken from them by stronger members of the tribe.

So, just because they don't spend it doesn't mean it's not worth having.

I'm stealing this.

:3

That would explain neatly whu there are no magic item crafting industries, the need for dragon gold makes it supply side limited. All the pieces you see are handcrafted custom ones made to order.

Because the treasure was being carried by the previous adventurers, or the monsters were installed to protect the treasure.

They don't. We made our way from level 1 to level 8, getting money only for rewards and eventual professions, having to pay handsomely to train our levels.
I don't know what is a magical item. Never saw one. But heard stories, and went after one for an entire campaign, just to find it to not be there.

Offerings to their demonic gods is usually a good answer.

It's not their money. The 2d6 orcs in room 57 couldn't give less of a shit about hording treasure. They're already getting paid. The piles of coins and magic swords and ancient magical amulets have been placed there explicitly by the archwizards who run the joint solely because it makes for good TV.

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