D&D 5E What's the point of gold?

[Tellerian Hawke]

I absolutely LOVE that magic items do not have standard market prices in 5e (the same with spellcasting services), and that the DM is encouraged to keep the concept of magic item marts rare via this mechanism. [...] It makes heroes much greater by comparison and answers the question: "why can't some other group of adventurers take care of the manticore harassing the village?" Because there aren't that many around! Your character is a unique and powerful individual in the world!

The way I handle it is as follows:

Most temples will sell minor curative potions, and spell components to their parishioners. That means you have to follow that deity, and attend services regularly at that temple. If you miss a holy day or two, you may have to tithe or perform some other act of penance.

Most mage guilds will sell minor potions, components, and scrolls to their members for a moderate fee, or to non-members for a HEFTY fee.

Thus, it is essential that the mage in the party belong to the guild, and that the cleric in the party belong to a temple.

That also goes a long way toward having "local connections" for the purposes of Gather Information.

But if you want a major magic item, then you have to either do the research and make it yourself, or pay someone A SMALL FORTUNE to do it for you. And that's assuming they don't betray you / con you / cheat you, etc.

I have found that most player-created magic items tend to be utilitarian in function, such as a vestment to protect the wearer from the ill effects of a particular plane of existence that the party plans to travel to, or perhaps a pair of goggles that grants +10 to spot checks, etc. Basically, a player decides, "Hey, we need something that will help us do this task," and then they pitch in and get the party's mage to piece it together.

Every once in awhile, a player wants to create something special, like a nifty sword for the party's fighter, or perhaps the mage wants to make himself a proper staff. Those types of items involve much more than ticking off gold and xp off of your character sheet. Those are the types of items I call "quest catalysts."

Also, I have noticed that players tend to spend a lot of time, money, and xp developing new spells. In fact, I'd say 75% of all gold that the party spends on "magic" is spent here. Especially when you're talking high level spells, or even epic spells.

If someone opened up a magic shop in my campaign, they'd have the local mage guild come down on them HARD. Mage guilds make a lot of money selling minor items, and allowing their senior wizards to accept commissions for major items. If you're not with them, you're against them.

And yeah, I agree, adventurers are rare.

Well, at least successful ones are.

In my campaign, there are basically two PC groups (two different games I run) and there are 3 NPC groups that I drop hints about every so often. If my players ignore an adventure hook, and wander off on a tangent, I DO NOT railroad them back into "taking the bait." Instead, after a week or so into their wild goose chase, I say, "As you sit down to have your ale at the tavern, you overhear the people at the table next to you talking about how the Riverboat Boys accepted a commission to clear out a Goblin cave near the village of Coth, only to find that the Goblins were being controlled by a young red dragon! One of their members died in the fray, but they killed the dragon, and now they're hometown heroes!" etc... heh heh heh.

The moral of the story: if you don't play the part of the hero, someone else will. There are a lot of foolhardy adventurers out there, most of whom are doomed, but there are a few solid groups who will steal your thunder, if you're not careful.

 

[MoonSong]

I absolutely LOVE that magic items do not have standard market prices in 5e (the same with spellcasting services), and that the DM is encouraged to keep the concept of magic item marts rare via this mechanism. Does it lead to less uniformity in the D&D experience? Sure. But that's the point! Every DM ought to make the world his own. And if a magic item has a price tag on it in a book somewhere then a player is going to feel cheated if the DM charges more or possibly offended if the price is significantly less. (As an aside it is also fantastic that magic items are not an assumed part of the player character's power which leads to a more balanced game within the bounds of what the DM desires.) The entire concept is very empowering to DMs.

I'm sorry, but for me is the opposite, I really like player agency -even, no specially, as a DM-, I don't feel empowered by lack of price lists, I feel like a huge burden has been placed upon me, one I didn't want, that takes away time from the parts I'm interested in and takes away my players' fun. Like I said I don't need the rules permission to wing the parts I want to wing, and I already wing it too much, that is why I like my players to have agency, that way it is a game and things remain fair. Lacking fair rules for something I need to remain neutral takes power away from me -because it forces me to go raw in parts I don't want to go raw just to keep things fair-, and it strips my players of agency, and that is not a game I wish to play.

 

[Riley37]

"As you sit down to have your ale at the tavern, you overhear the people at the table next to you talking about how the Riverboat Boys accepted a commission to clear out a Goblin cave near the village of Coth, only to find that the Goblins were being controlled by a young red dragon! One of their members died in the fray, but they killed the dragon, and now they're hometown heroes!" etc... heh heh heh.

The moral of the story: if you don't play the part of the hero, someone else will. There are a lot of foolhardy adventurers out there, most of whom are doomed, but there are a few solid groups who will steal your thunder, if you're not careful.

Hm. I am now considering writing up thumbnail sketches of a few other adventuring parties, as background for my current game. And then if the PCs investigate, ask questions, or try to meet these other parties, I'll add detail as needed. Hm, maybe a wiz-warlock-sorc-bard party, a druids-and-rangers party (Emerald Alliance), an all-monk party (all from one certain monastery, including each of the three specialization paths), and a "generic" five-man-band Zhentarim party...

...heck yeah, I'm already committed, I've had too many ideas in the last ten seconds.

Perhaps someday the PCs will sell off magic items which then end up in the hands of another party?

 

[Tellerian Hawke]

...heck yeah, I'm already committed, I've had too many ideas in the last ten seconds.

LOL Yes, I do that exact same thing! I'll start thinking, "Should I do this...?" and then I'll have 5 or 6 ideas, and a storyline will start to practically write itself, and I think, "Yeah, this is good. Let's go with it!"

Perhaps someday the PCs will sell off magic items which then end up in the hands of another party?

NOW THAT is a REALLY good idea! Thanks, dude!

 

[Tellerian Hawke]

I'm sorry, but for me is the opposite, I really like player agency -even, no specially, as a DM-, I don't feel empowered by lack of price lists, I feel like a huge burden has been placed upon me, one I didn't want, that takes away time from the parts I'm interested in and takes away my players' fun.

You could always fall back on price lists from previous editions, couldn't you? Or have the items changed that drastically?

(I've never even SEEN 5th ed, so please forgive me if this comment sounds noob-ish! Ha!)

If the differences are too extreme, then I would:

a) Look for other people (especially here, on ENWorld) who have developed pricing systems for it, find one you like, and use it.

Or, if such a system doesn't yet exist...

b) Look for people who are also interested in developing a pricing system, especially here, and collaborate with them.

That way, it would relieve you of some (albeit not all) of your burden.

I know how you feel, believe me. Even if a rule is only useful in 1 out of every 1,000 encounters / situations, I'd rather have it written down, and easily accessible, than to have to wait for the conditions to arise, and then be forced to "wing it."

Thus, my MSWord house rule file for 3rd Ed, which is 14 pages long!

 

[Dausuul]

I have only DM'ed one session, but at the end of that session, people asked me what the point of gold is, I point them to the purchasable items, but they said that the items seem pretty cheap and they're likely to fill out their gear sooner or later.

Since I haven't ran a game for long, I want to ask about gold use in the later levels, what do you use it for?

Spell components. Those things can get real pricey.

 

[5ekyu]

Spell components. Those things can get real pricey.

Also, if it hasn't been said, XGtE includes a number of uses for tools proficiencies - mostly geared for on the road impact but some of those could be used as a basis for "quality gear" if the gm was so inclined.

Examples included meals that helped with HD rolls for recovery and footwear that gave you extended marches.

 

[CapnZapp]

Ah, I love the smell of spammer thread ressurrection in the morning...!









PS. This thread is as old as it is eerily relevant to recent discussions. Good job, Spammer James, even if I will respectfully decline your link to (probably not) value solar panels.

PPS. Reported

 

[shadowoflameth]

What exists in your world is up to you as the DM. Including shops. That said any caster can make items. The time it tsakes as written can be prohibitive but I allow that to be the longest it can take so that players who like that are encouraged. Gold can also be for bribes or needed items specific to a quest. I don't spend a lot of table time on how characters make a mundane living and don't worry about spending game gold on things that don't have an impact on play. I assume that the character has his own means to obtain clothing, food and a home appropriate to the setting and his background.

 

[Gadget]

The point of gold is, obviously, to take the 'Hobo' out of 'Murder Hobo.' No one accuses my finely attired and meticulously manicured party of being mere 'murder hobos.' We always travel with porters, horse handlers, camp followers, shield bearers and the like, with style.