One oddity of old-school D&D and many of its clones and variants is the way so many creatures you wouldn’t imagine to have the need to pay rent or buy clothes still have treasure. Why would an owlbear have coins and jewelry? Well, now it doesn’t.

Instead, convert any treasure listed for such creatures into gold paid to the heroes for the creature’s parts or for a bounty on its head as a nuisance. Potions, magic items, and spells need monster eyes, tongues, and gall bladders for their various effects. And the right people will pay well for them.

It’s a simple change that makes bringing monsters back to town fun and interesting. Items a monster dealer might salvage:

• Eyes
• Feathers
• Horns
• Teeth/fangs
• Blood/ichor
• Venom/secretions
• Tongue
• Ears
• Wings
• Claws/hooves/paws
• Tail
• Scales/hide and fur
• Heart and other organs (lungs, bladder, liver, etc.)
• Tears/sweat/saliva
• Carapace (from insectoid creatures)
• Flowers/leaves/vines/seeds/fruit (for plant-based monsters)
• Weapons/armor (for intelligent humanoids. But the weapons and armor of goblins, orcs, and such are of such poor quality and reputation that few civilized people would have anything to do with them at any price. This keeps low-level heroes turning into junk dealers.)

Not all such parts from all creatures will have any value, of course. Mainly, it will be parts that are important to the creature’s special abilities. For example, the basilisk’s gaze causes petrification, so its eyes would hold most of its value. But its hide might be of some value as well, so you might give the heroes 90% value if they just pop the eyes in a bag and move along rather than haul the whole beast back for stripping. Other than that, there’s little need to be specific about which parts of the creature have value. But here is a general idea:

• Internal organs for potions and spell components
• Heads for mounting
• Hides and carapaces for armor
• Hides and furs for clothing
• Teeth and claws for jewelry
• Horns and tusks for carving
• Bones and whole skeletons for study and decor
• Meat for an exotic feast

Good sources for what parts are of what value for each monster are the Heroes of Adventure game’s Monster Compendium and for menu value the Monster Overhaul.

The characters–and fighters and rangers in particular–should have a good idea of how much of the monster needs to be carted to a city to gain the full value of its “treasure”. I call this “monster lore” skill, and only the martial classes have it.