¶ Treasure Maps
"Gold lies hidden in the bones of the earth. Only those with patience, wit, and a steady hand may unearth the wealth of ages past."
¶ How It Works
Across Narumer, adventurers may come across treasure maps. These fragile parchments guide seekers toward long-buried hoards, but they are never simple, never direct.
Each map has a limited number of uses. This represents the ink fading, the parchment tearing, or the reader’s own misinterpretation. The number of uses may vary by map tier or be randomized when found.
- On each use, the map gives a cryptic hint:
- If you are several areas away, it will indicate the distance in areas.
- If you are in the correct area, it will indicate the direction from your current location.
- If you are within 5 meters, a buried cache spawns as a placeable object. Interact with it using a shovel to dig up the treasure.
When all uses are spent, the map crumbles to dust, whether the treasure was found or not.
¶ Why Maps Work This Way
Treasure maps are not magical dowsing rods that point unerringly toward gold. They are the relics of other hands, often crude and unreliable.
- Many maps were created decades ago, sometimes more than fifty years in the past.
- Their authors could have been goblins, orcs, bugbears, or desperate humans scribbling with a piece of charcoal.
- Their cartography is imprecise and flawed, marked with strange symbols, half-remembered landmarks, or directions based on things that may no longer exist.
Each use of the map represents the reader’s attempt to orient themselves with these crude instructions. You are trying to align the half-rotted parchment with the real world, hoping to make sense of the sketches, notes, and faded trails.
This is why the maps have limited uses. They are fragile guides to secrets that might have been lost forever without them.
¶ Map Tiers
There are three tiers of treasure maps, each with different durability and reward quality.
- Tier I (Common): Usually near the location the map was found, should have more than enough uses to use liberally.
- Tier II (Uncommon): Usually a bit away from where the map was found, you want to use the charges sparingly.
- Tier III (Rare): Can usually be quite far, and the number of uses is minimal, you will really need to put on your thinking cap for these ones.
The balance is intentional. More casual maps provide breathing room, while rare maps offer high risk and high reward.
¶ Skill Interaction
The process of reading and interpreting maps is not just guesswork. Characters may use skills to preserve charges and improve their odds.
- Each time a map is used, a character makes a check that uses two skills, with the following formula: [(1d20+Survival + 1d20+Knowledge: History) divided by 2].
- A d100 is then rolled, and if the d100 result is under the result of the formula above, the map’s charge is not consumed for that use.
This mechanic rewards adventurers who are both worldly and resourceful.
¶ Persistence
Treasure maps remain valid across server resets. As long as the area the map points to still exists, you can continue your hunt over multiple play sessions.
- Once a map successfully reveals the diggable hole, the map is consumed and destroyed.
- The diggable hole persists until the next server reset.
- After digging, the treasure chest remains for 5 minutes before despawning, so adventurers must claim their reward quickly.