D&D 5E Income

[Blue]

Posted rewards and bounties. Capture the bandits to face trial, 10 gold a head and 200 gold for their tricky leader, Piers Plowsman. Slay the fearsome ogre of Grisham Pass, 500 gold.

Work for hire. Caravan guards - 10 gold upfront, 40 gold at the end if every wagon makes it, one share of loot of any bandits fought.

Have them part of an organization (knighthood, religious order, etc.) that takes care of their upkeep and they don't actually need gold for anything. Heck, they may be expected to tithe anything they do get, but as their renown grows they will become custodians of some of the rellcs (read: magic items) of the order.

Make one or more of the characters noble who's holding will provide a reasonable stipend but he also has responsibilities both up and down the line. And of course can expect hospitality for him and his retinue at any other noble house.

 

[AtomicPope]

The clever DM of our last campaign used our character's backgrounds to craft an interlude over the course of several years. I spoke Dwarven and had proficiency in carpentry so I helped rebuild the Mines of Phandelver and Thundertree. Our Barbarian had a magic Axe that always did maximum damage against plants. He cleared a path through the forest. Then the Dwarves graded the road and laid stones for a proper highway. Meanwhile, our Wizard was a Sage so he researched our treasure findings. The DM rewarded us with proficiencies and languages. I became proficient in Mason's tools, our Barbarian learned Dwarven, and our Sage learned some language like Undercommon or Qualith. Also, we were paid for our services. The point was to create a "Bilbo" situation where we did our adventures and now we're finished. Then after several years we were called on to adventure again, and our new skills came in handy. That's probably the best it's ever been handled from my experience. Anything else distracts to much from adventuring.

 

[hawkeyefan]

The characters in my campaign have reopened the mines of Phandalin along with the aid of Gundren Rockseeker, and they are currently working on setting up a trade route to the Heartlands, but have run into some elemental trouble in the Dessarin Valley.

Their adventures had also brought them to Sigil, and from there to the city of Crux on the world tree. They've worked out an agreement to trade precious metals to the folk of Crux in exchange for wood harvested from Yggdrasil. Once they have that set up, they'll then sell the wood and other goods in the Heartlands and up and down the Sword Coast.

So they're basically setting up an inter planar trade company, if they can get all the pieces to fit. I use this as a hook to involve them in adventures if needed. For example, the missing delegation in Princes of the Apocalypse was instead a caravan from their company, and had NPCs they know.

I've established their monthly income, and given them a budget for options to improve their operation, and so on. So they can improve defenses by building a fort near the mine, or they can hire more miners, and so on. It probably sounds more complicated than it actually is...I handwave a lot of the details in favor of round numbers and broad categories.

 

[Saeviomagy]

I don't think it is that silly. Today, if you go exploring in a cave and find a chest of gold then that gold is taxable. If players owe fealty to a king or baron then I could see them claiming part of the recovered treasure (Kind of like the vikings tv show where the Jarl took most of what was brought back from the raid on England).

The main difference is that in D&D, the guys who find the gold are the equivalent of a highly trained and heavily armed independently operating special forces unit (only they typically have top of the line medical staff, the ability to survive without supplies endlessly and extreme mobility), and the cave is typically a blight on the surrounding countryside.

Which makes the typical "pay your taxes because you need the support of society" thing not really apply. It also makes collecting those taxes via force somewhat of a problem. You're probably better off proclaiming a list of deadly locations across your country that treasure recovery is tax-free for, encouraging such groups to go to them.

 

[Illithidbix]

Other than being a thug with good publicists (i.e. killing things and taking their stuff) which is rather gauche, how can PCs make a living as adventurers? Gaining a patron comes to mind and building a community (if they can get enough gold to build it in the first place) come to mind, but how else?

A few ideas.

Kinda Thugery
Bounty Hunting, be it criminals or monsters
Guarding (probably nobles/pilgrims/pioneers)
Standing as champions for Trial By Combat
Assassinations
Theft
Criminal investigation

Economic
Prospecting (be it metal, gems, water etc)
Harvesting rare plants/materials/organs
Escorting valuables (like the Templars did establishing some of the early banks)

Research
Cartography - mapping what they explore
Archaeology - Perhaps even something being looting tombs.
Selling/Delivering academic papers to far away places over dangerous terrain.
Arcane experimentation/sample collecting
Acquiring botanical/zoological samples

Religious
Missionary work
Retrieving/Carrying Holy Relics
Heretic/Infidel hunting
Aiding those under a gaes or similar holy quest.

 

[empireofchaos]

If money is plentiful enough to make its accumulation an issue for the PCs, there's a decent chance there are at least rudimentary insurance policies and investment markets. Putting down money on cargo ships, and hoping that the ships come in have been with us for a while. So why not have people putting down money on adventuring parties returning from the dungeon, if they are based in a big enough city? And the PCs can engage in a little insider trading, if they know the right agents. That way, even if they don't find the mother of all treasure hordes, they can still earn some coin.

Of course, this creates the possibility of running a scam where the party bets against itself... leaves a forwarding address to its bookie... enters the dungeon... and disappears. Then, it's time to take the show to the next town.

 

[WarpedAcorn]

Other than being a thug with good publicists (i.e. killing things and taking their stuff) which is rather gauche, how can PCs make a living as adventurers? Gaining a patron comes to mind and building a community (if they can get enough gold to build it in the first place) come to mind, but how else?

Outside of a few Bards performing in Taverns or on the street for coppers, I've never been in a group where the adventure warranted any sort of outside job. Most players, if they want/need coin, basically just look for job postings and end up taking on the role of Bodyguards or Mercenaries.

I will say though, if anyone in my group now wanted to have a mundane job that doesn't involve slaying monsters, the Backgrounds in 5E provide a great point to start weaving in an appropriate "day job". Plus a fair amount of classes provide proficiency in Artisan's Tools, which makes it even easier to set yourself up as a professional.

 

[Ath-kethin]

. . . Not everything belongs to someone. There's a lot of wealth to be found just lying around, abandoned in ancient cities where the inhabitants fled from a dragon or were overcome by creatures who came through a magical rift.

This is off topic, but I wonder how much you would still agree with your first statement above if it was your great-great-great-grandmother's house/tomb/fortress being looted by a bunch of random jerks with weapons and spells.

 

[Bayonet]

Investments in all and sundry. Taprooms, whorehouses, trading ships, bands of highwaymen.

Smash a bunch of bandits, kill their leader, appoint a new leader, give them all better equipment in return of ___% of their profits. Collect quarterly bandit dividends.

 

[BoldItalic]

Who needs money?

Make sure your party includes a 13th level Bard and a 13th level Wizard. In the morning after a long rest, the wizard casts Mordenkainen's Magnificent Mansion. It costs him nothing to cast but it provides accommodation and food for the entire party for 24 hours. You can pass the time carousing if you like.

Later in the day, the bard also casts MMM with the entrance to the second one inside the first one. Everybody moves across when you've eaten the entire banquet in the first one.

Next morning, the wizard casts MMM with the entrance inside the bard's mansion.

Rinse and repeat.

Since the mansions are extra-dimensional, they are outside the jurisdiction of any government and taxes don't apply.

If you get bored and want to sally forth adventuring, saving the world, conquering kingdoms and so on, only take on quests that pay expenses up-front. That will cover any equipment and expendables you feel you need.

Problem solved.