Treasure Tropes

Following

A list of tropes that deal with different aspects of treasure.

See also: Bejeweled Tropes, The Gilded Index, Luxury Tropes, and Rich People.

Tropes

• All-Natural Gem Polish: Freshly mined gems that look like they came straight from a master jeweler's workshop.
• All That Glitters: Something seems or is said to be treasure, but isn't.
• Broken Treasure: A treasured possession is broken or lost.
• Cheap Gold Coins: People spend solid gold coins like they were pennies.
• Chest Monster: A creature from fantasy Role-Playing Games and related settings, that takes the appearance of a treasure chest to lure adventurers.
• City of Gold: A fabled city made of and filled with gold and treasure, where even the paupers are stinking rich.
• Crystal Landscape: Gems, jewels and crystals dominate the landscape.
• Crystal Spires and Togas: A setting where everything is made out of crystals, and where its people have opulent lifestyles reminiscent of certain ancient civilisations.
• Death by Materialism: Your obsession with the treasure leads to your Karmic Death.
• Dragon Hoard: A treasure guarded by a dragon.
• Edible Treasure: The treasure is actually food.
• Enough to Go Around: Treasures that are one-of-a-kind in-universe but can be obtained multiple times and/or by multiple players.
• Friend-or-Idol Decision: When you can only save the treasure or your companion and you must choose one.
• Funny Terrain Cross Section: Treasure chests and crowns and the like are common among the missed finds.
• Gold Fever: The allure of gold drives everyone crazy.
• Gold Makes Everything Shiny: Gold and golden colors used freely to make things look better.
• Gold–Silver–Copper Standard: A setting where gold, silver and copper coins are the main units of money.
• Inexplicable Treasure Chests: Chests full of treasure pop up in the oddest places.
• Loot Drama: An item or treasure so precious and rare that it will cause any party that finds it to devolve in infighting.
• Nazi Gold: Large amounts of gold stolen and hidden by the Nazis, still awaiting discovery.
• Ownerless Treasure Morality: A treasure has no owner but for some reason people can't, or don't want to, take it.
• Pirate Booty: Troves of gold and jewels plundered by pirates and buried in faraway places to await discovery.
• Sentimental Shabbiness: It may not look like treasure, but the reason it's so beat-up is because it was loved!
• Striking Oil: Discovering oil, a highly prized commodity that is called the "black gold" of the modern era.
• Tasty Gold: Testing the purity of gold coins by biting them.
• Treasure Chest Cavity: Hiding treasure inside someone's body.
• Treasure Hunt Episode: An episode of a series focused on the characters hunting for treasure, either real or fictional.
• Treasure Is Bigger in Fiction: In fiction, gems are a lot bigger and gold a lot less heavy than in real life.
• Treasure Map: A map leading to hidden treasure.
• Treasure Room: A room full of heaps and heaps of treasure.
• Trophy Room: A room full of trophies and prizes.
• Worthless Treasure Twist: The treasure turns out to be worthless or just plain not there.
• Worthless Yellow Rocks: What we think is very valuable, other people find worthless.
• "X" Marks the Spot: Marker on a map or location indicating the presence of something valuable.