Starting Wealth vs Organic Wealth

[Caliber]

A few months back I saw a post (almost certainly on this board) re: the disparity between the starting wealth given to a new character and the amount of wealth a character grown "organically" from 1st would naturally have.

If I recall, a starting character had a good bit more wealth (expressed as a percentage) than the "organic" character at the lower levels, maybe up to 5th? Then, the "organic" slowly outpaced him, and the situation became quite reversed at high levels.

Does anyone else remember this? Does anyone have the chart still? I've tried searching for it, but no luck.

 

[Dalzig]

http://www.enworld.org/forum/4826534-post3.html

This?

Edit: That's not quite it... Hmm...

Edit 2:Yay boredom! Organic column is taken from previous links last column.

Level	Normal		Organic (Party of 5)
1	100		100
2	1920		752
3	2560		1824
4	3200		3344
5	4480		5440
6	6400		8240
7	9600		12000
8	12800		17360
9	16000		24960
10	22400		35440
11	32000		49440
12	48000		68240
13	64000		95040
14	80000		133040
15	112000		185440
16	160000		255440
17	240000		349440
18	320000		483440
19	400000		673440
20	560000		935440
21	800000		1285440
22	1200000		1755440
23	1600000		2425440
24	2000000		3375440
25	2800000		4685440
26	4000000		6435440
27	6000000		8785440
28	8000000		11635440
29	10M		14885440
30	14M		18435440

 

[Dr_Ruminahui]

Hmmm... that chart doesn't seem to take into account that a person's "organic" wealth will depend on his party size, as the likelyhood of getting a magic item depends on the group size (a group of 4 will get 3 magic items for a 75% chance of getting one, while a group of 5 will get 4 items, for an 80% chance, and a group of 6 5 items for a 83% chance), while the amount of group cash is fixed to being equal to 2 equal level items, regardless of group size.

 

[SoulStorm]

Starting wealth for level 30 would be 14,000,000. There is a consistent pattern for item values going from levels 5 to 6, 10 to 11, 15 to 16, 20 to 21, and 25 to 26. Just multiply by 1.8.

 

[Dalzig]

Went ahead and updated it with the information above. I still think it wasn't bad for a whole 60 seconds of Excel work.

 

[eriktheguy]

looks like a good match to me. By the time you level up about 3-4 times it should be the same for organic vs normal since your replace a few items as you go.

 

[Caliber]

Obviously I'm no good at formatting these things, but I think my S/O values are correct. Thanks guys, this is precisely what I was looking for! you guys rock!

Level	Starting      Organic     S/O
1	100	        100	       100.00%
2	1920	        752	       255.32%
3	2560	        1824	       140.35%
4	3200	        3344	       95.69%
5	4480	        5440	       82.35%
6	6400	        8240	       77.67%
7	9600	        12000        80.00%
8	12800        17360        73.73%
9	16000        24960        64.10%
10	22400        35440        63.21%
11	32000        49440        64.72%
12	48000        68240        70.34%
13	64000        95040        67.34%
14	80000        133040      60.13%
15	112000       185440      60.40%
16	160000       255440      62.64%
17	240000       349440      68.68%
18	320000       483440      66.19%
19	400000       673440      59.40%
20	560000       935440      59.86%
21	800000       1285440    62.24%
22	1200000     1755440    68.36%
23	1600000     2425440    65.97%
24	2000000     3375440    59.25%
25	2800000     4685440    59.76%
26	4000000     6435440    62.16%
27	6000000     8785440    68.29%
28	8000000     11635440  68.76%
29	10000000   14885440   67.18%
30	14000000   18435440   75.94%

Edit: For the record, S/O is the percentage obtained by calculating Starting/Organic values. From the chart, it seems level 2 and 3 are the only ones where a starting guy will be coming in sporting more GP than expected of an "organic", although at level 4 the ability to perfectly customize your stuff is worth the 5% loss. The "worst" time to roll in a new character is level 24, when you end up with 59.25% of your expected wealth. I find the S/O value has a tendency to gradually tend downwards before suddenly jumping up, roughly every 5 levels starting at 7th. How do the very high level expected GP totals take into account the lack of 30+ level items? Is it ignored, or is it taken into account, and level 30 values substituted?

 

[Caliber]

You know, you guys are evil. Having answered my question, you've planted another in my head. How does the expected wealth by level alter with the addition/reduction of characters from the expected 5-party model? Is it a flat rate (ie, +/- X/character) or a sliding scale? In relation to the already existent list of starting GP values, how does this move the "peak level" where starting PCs have more GP than the organic guys? Why do my questions always lead to more questions?

 

[evilbob]

In response to your OP, were you perhaps talking about my post here:

http://www.enworld.org/forum/d-d-4th-edition-rules/253564-math-analysis-dungeon-masters-guide-loot-guidelines-starting-pcs-above-level-1-a.html

 

[keterys]

Given the ability to focus your wealth on the most useful items (for example, optimal weapon and armor over random generic wondrous item), not worry about selling at 20% value, or more rarely buying at 110-140%, that's actually a lot closer than I thought it would be.