Lapidary

Bling a ding ding

So… apropos to the almost geological pace at which I write for this here blog, I thought I'd de-cloak and share some tables I recently put together to help me when I'm keying up dungeons and gemstones pop up in a treasure stash. I like to give treasure a bit more character than its simple GP value, but I like to stick to Labyrinth Lord's tables and I didn't have a good specific randomizer, so I made one.

These are distilled from some gemstone posts Jeff Rients made a few years back that I stumbled on while whiling away a dull afternoon at work by hitting his "random post" button. He, in turn, I believe, distilled them from Gygax in the 1st Edition AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide. So there you are. (Here are Mr. Rients original posts, which have some very handy visuals:Ornamental Stones, Semi-Precious Stones, Fancy Stones, Precious Stones, Gem Stones, Jewels)

I reorganized the sources a bit, spread them out over the different value levels on the treasure tables I use, and added some tables to embellish and give the gems more character if desired. These are calibrated for Labyrinth Lord, and are included under the good ol' OGL.

If you can make use of 'em, cool. Enjoy.

Precious Stone Modifiers - Roll 1d10
01: Chipped, subtract 1d8 gp value
02: Small, subtract 1d4 gp value
03-05: Normal
06: Large, add 1d4X10 gp to value
07: Carved, Roll 1d4
    01: Good Luck Symbol, add 1d4 gp value
    02: Bad Luck Symbol, subtract 1d4 gp value
    03: Coat of Arms or Crest, add 1d6 gp value
    04: Plant, person, or animal design, add 1d8 gp value
    05: Carved into shape of plant, person, or animal add 2d10 gp value
08: Shot with silver, add 1d4X10 gp value
09: Shot with gold, add 1d8X10 gp value
10: Roll Twice/Again

Gemstone Modifiers - Roll 1d20. Gems with modifiers 16-20 will be known by a specific name (The Star of Jarnia, The Sultan's Lament, The Nightingale's Heart, The First Blue, etc. etc.) 
01: Cursed: -2 to all saving throws while owned. Subtract 1d10X100 gp value if curse becomes known.
02: Coveted: Whoever claims it will be unable to part with it unless save vs. spell is made. Roll up a sentient monster of appropriate level who wants the gem and will seek it out.
03: Bad History: Thought to be cursed. Isn’t. Subtract 1d6X10 gp from value
04: Chipped, subtract 1d8X10 gp value
05: Flawed, subtract 1d6x10 gp value
06: Small, subtract 1d4X10 gp value
07-11: Normal
12: Large, add 1d4X100 gp value
13: Tinged: Roll 1d6: Add 1d6X100 gp value
    1: Red, 2: Gold, 3: Green, 4: Blue, 5: Violet, 6: Magenta
14: Flawless, add 1d6X100 value
15: Exceptionally Clear & Bright Color, add 1d8x100 gp value
16: Roll Twice/Again
17: Star in heart of gem add 1d10x100 value
18: Discernable shape, plant or animal at heart of gem, add 1d12X100 gpvalue
19: Fist Sized, X2 value
20: Sentient - Roll intelligence and language table, languages known, Alignment, Psyche, and Detection Powers, as per Sentient Swords. X10 value to those of same alignment. X5 to different align.

10 Gold Piece Value Decorative Stones - Roll 1d10, 1 on d10 roll on precious stone modifiers table
    01 Azurite - Banded blue opaque stone or green flecked blue stone
    02 Hematite - Metallic grey magnetic stone
    03 Obsidian - Opaque black or grey stone
    04 Smoky Quartz - Grey tinged quartz
    05 Rock Crystal - Clear crystal
    06 Morion - Dark grey or black smoky quartz
    07 Banded Agate - Red, brown, yellow, and white striped translucent stone
    08 Eye Agate - Blue, grey, brown, and white striped translucent stone
    09 Moss Agate - Moss green, white, and dark green striped tranlsucent stone
    10 Onyx - Black stone with occasional white stripes.

25 Gold Piece Value Ornamental Stones - Roll 1d10, 1 on d8 roll on precious stone modifiers table
    01 Lapis Lazuli - Deep blue stone with speckles or gold flecks
    02 Malachite - Banded green stone
    03 Bloodstone - Mossy Green stone with red flecks
    04 Jasper - Red orange stone with speckles or brown stripes
    05 Blue Quartz - Swirls of deep blue and white translucent stone
    06 Sard - Deep brown red translucent stone
    07 Sardonyx - Layered combinatin of sard and onyx, blood red & white
    08 Rose Quartz - Translucent pink quartz
    09 Chalcedony - Bluish white or violet and white striped translucent stone
    10 Turquoise - Pale blue stone

50 Gold Piece Value Semi-Precious Stone - Roll 1d6, 1 on d6 roll on precious stone modifiers table
    01 Carnelian - Reddish orange translucent stone.
    02 Cairngorn - Gold tinged smoky quartz
    03 Tiger Eye - Brown and gold striped translucent stone
    04 Hawk Eye - Blue and white striped translucent stone
    05 Moonstone - Milky white with bluish tinging translucent stone
    06 Rhodochrosite - Translucent magenta stone

75 Gold Piece Value Precious Stones - Roll 1d6, 1 on d4 roll on precious stone modifiers table
    01 Zircon - Greenish blue gemstone
    02 Hyacinth - Yellow zircon gemstone
    03 Amber - Orange yellow transparent fossilized sap. (1 on d6 = Trapped insect (100 gp value))
    04 Jade - Milky green semi-translucent stone
    05 Coral - Pink to deep red
    06 Jet - Matte black fossilized wood.

100 Gold Piece Value Gemstones - Roll 1d4, 1 on d12 roll on gemstone modifiers table
    01 Chrysoberyl - Whitish yellow green gemstone
    02 Pearl - Round, iridescent sphere, ranges from white to green to pink
    03 Garnet - Deep red gemstone
    04 Spinel - Purple to red gemstone

250 Gold Piece Value Gemstones - Roll 1d4, 1 on d10 roll on gemstone modifiers table
    01 Amethyst - Pale purple gemstone
    02 Alexandrite - Purple, green, or brown gemstone, changes color in different light
    03 Black Pearl - Lustrous black iridescent sphere
    04 Violet Garnet - Pinkish purple gemstone

500 Gold Piece Value Gemstones - Roll 1d4, 1 on d8 roll on gemstone modifiers table
    01 Aquamarine - Pale blue or blue green gemstone
    02 Peridot - Grass green gemstone
    03 Blue Spinel - Rich cobalt blue gemstone
    04 Topaz - Brown, pink, or green gemstone

750 Gold Piece Value Gemstones - Roll 1d8, 1 on d6 roll on gemstone modifiers table
    01 Mystic Topaz - Rainbow colored topaz, magically treated.
    03 Opal - White opalescent stone
    03 Fire Opal - Fiery orange red gemstones
    04 Black Opal - Dark opalescent stone
    05 Emerald - Pale, Bluish green gemstone
    06 Black Sapphire - Inky black gemstone
    07 Jacinth - Deep red gemstone
    08 Dragon Pearl - Gold iridescent sphere

1000 Gold Piece Value Gemstones - Roll 1d6, 1 on d4 roll on gemstone modifiers table
(Note: "Sovereign" stands in for the real world equivalent of "Oriental" which might not apply in your campaign world.)
    01 Sovereign Amethyst - Rich purple gemstone
    02 Sovereign Topaz - Rich gold colored gemstone
    03 Sapphire - Blue to pale blue gemstone
    04 Diamond - White Gemstone
    05 Ruby - Pinkish Red Gemstone
    06 Sovereign Emerald - Rich green gemstone