Money Issues

[Sigdel]

I was thinking about this the other day.

In previous editions one of the driving forces behind GP collection was so you could buy magic items to stay on par with the difficulty curve of monsters.

But with the flat math (which I love) of D&DN and the core assumption that magic items cant be bought (easily) I ask this question: What do we do with all this money?

Are they going to bring back the GP=XP system of the way-back-when?

I foresee possible Fable 1 type issues with just forking over tones of money to the N/PC with the healer background so they can make healing potions like a soda bottling plant.

One could argue that GP could be spent on followers/hirelings/property, but that does not appeal to all players. I have seen some pretty intense arguments on those items.

 

[Mattachine]

The easiest way to handle this is simply to have less treasure.
That is how my homebrew game works.

 

[the Jester]

I was thinking about this the other day.

In previous editions one of the driving forces behind GP collection was so you could buy magic items to stay on par with the difficulty curve of monsters.

This is only partially true, and even then it's only true in 3e and 4e.

But with the flat math of D&DN and the core assumption that magic items cant be bought (easily) I ask this question: What do we do with all this money?

Whatever you want.

One could argue that GP could be spent on followers/hirelings/property, but that does not appeal to all players. I have seen some pretty intense arguments on those items.

So drink, gamble and whore it away. Or invest it in a business. Or loan it to another pc. Or send it home to your family or clan. Or blow it on fancy clothes and mounts.

If you're looking for a chorus of, "Make it easy to buy magic items again!!", I'm afraid I can't help you there. Easily-purchased magic items are one of the most terrible innovations of 3e, IMHO.

 

[jadrax]

d20 Conan had a great (if somewhat silly) system where you lost half of your wealth every night on living the good life.

 

[Dragoslav]

Spend it all on rituals.

 

[KidSnide]

But with the flat math of D&DN and the core assumption that magic items cant be bought (easily) I ask this question: What do we do with all this money?

What money?

Obviously, if you're getting xp for treasure, the DM needs to drop a lot of treasure. That can be draining through maintenance and training costs, or you can adopt a Conan-like rule where treasure must be spent on a "no permanent benefit" lavish lifestyle for it to count as xp.

But if xp is based on killing monsters or achieving plot goals, then why is the treasure even in the game. Some PCs will want to "keep score" with an ever-accumulating pile of gold pieces. But otherwise, it's just not important. If the DM wants to give it out anyway, then the DM can periodically have merchants come by the rich PCs to offer prestige items (jewels, artwork, rare armor, etc.) or the occasional magic item.

-KS

 

[Sigdel]

If you're looking for a chorus of, "Make it easy to buy magic items again!!", I'm afraid I can't help you there. Easily-purchased magic items are one of the most terrible innovations of 3e, IMHO.

No, you got me wrong. I am not advocating magic item shops by any means. I like the idea of flat math and magic items make you special, not on-par.

But as it stands I don't see as big of a drive for wealth collection as in previous editions. I am interested to see in what they come up with.

 

[delericho]

Well, the "Appendix N" model seems to be that whatever Conan, or the Gray Mouser, or d'Argtanian has at the end of their last adventure has gone by the start of their next one. And very likely they're now in debt to a great many shady local figures, to boot.

So, yeah, the Conan d20 model of having character just lose 50% of their cash per night is about right, IMO.

 

[Li Shenron]

One could argue that GP could be spent on followers/hirelings/property, but that does not appeal to all players. I have seen some pretty intense arguments on those items.

I don't think this will ever be the direction of the game, but I would like the game to work in a way so that after a certain level range the PCs really don't care anymore about money, in the sense that they can afford all the equipment they want, but it won't make much difference, and what instead would make a difference (uber-magic items) simply doesn't have a price (or doesn't have a price in money, because those who have it don't .

So then your treasure can be spent, but not on equipment: you can spend it to build a castle, to buy and manage lands, to setup a merchant business, or to live a stylish (dresses and arts, or beer'n'ores depending on your concept of style) expensive life.

And then I would try to handle the appeal problem so that player A who likes the idea of managing a castle invests some attention and off-game time into it, and gets some benefits (such as hirelings, base of operation, shelter...) while player B who is not interested invests nothing (i.e. spends treasure in unspecified luxuries and fun) and gets nothing.

 

[Dragoslav]

Even though I've only played 4e, I like the idea of seeking out and claiming treasure just for more or less RP purposes, and having something to do with your ill-gotten gains other than buying magic items.

So players and groups who are interested in that sort of thing can establish land holdings, maintain them, and expand; and players who aren't can do... whatever it is that they do. Buy a ship and sail across the sea to find more treasure?