Thinking of Getting rid of monetary treasure

[Ratskinner]

I'm running a 5e game. The players are all soldiers in a quasi-religious army, and really don't have any way or reason to spend it. (No real magic shops and they aren't castle-building, at least until I get the Strongholds book.) so I'm just thinking about dropping most of the monetary treasure like piles of gold coins and the like.

Am I missing anything bone stupid about this? It seems like they get a lot of wealth in 5e, with little to do with it.

 

[pukunui]

The Adventurer’s League is doing this. You might want to take a look at the season 8 guides. The AL changes are apparently largely based on the new rules for shared campaigns in Xanathar's Guide to Everything.

 

[ad_hoc]

It's campaign dependent.

If gold has little value in your campaign then by all means cut back or eliminate the treasure hoards of it.

 

[pming]

Hiya!

Well, for my Zombacalypse! RPG I'm working on (totally different rules; using Masterbook RPG), I'm using the "currency" of the State of Decay (1 and 2) which is in the form of a non-physical "Influence". You can 'sell' items you scavenge for Influence. These points accrue and you can use them to 'buy' stuff from traders. You can also use them to get favours, tasks, and other such things from others.

Anyway, the "semi-religious order" that your PC's belong to may be able to do the same sort of thing. The PC's recover the GP's, SP's, Gems, and other treasures and turn them in to their commander/high-priest/church. The PC's keep a running total of this...maybe as a 'group' in stead of individually? At any rate, they can then ask for "stuff and favours" from anyone who abides by the 'churches' laws and whatnot.

That would keep the idea of "getting gold" (a D&D trope), as well as a churches unsatiable desire for material wealth (despite them claiming that the "material world is a distraction")...while at the same time removing the coin-counting from the players side of thing AND reinforcing their devotion, trust and allegiance to their "order". When/if the PC's ever get the opportunity to retire, they can then draw from the churches coffers, so to speak, and go buy a farm or whatever.

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[jmartkdr]

You might want to look at the "Resources" system form various White Wolf games.

Short version: each character has a resources rating from 0-5. Every thing that can be bought for cash also has a rating. if the item is higher than your rating, you can't buy it. If it's below your rating, you can buy it out-of-pocket no problem. If it's at your rating, it's a major expense: you can buy it, but you have to lower your rating by one.

For 5e, I'd probably just do it by tiers. Anything below 50 gp might be a non-issue for tier one characters, but something that costs 100 gp will put them down a notch for a while at least.

 

[Harzel]

Hiya!

Well, for my Zombacalypse! RPG I'm working on (totally different rules; using Masterbook RPG), I'm using the "currency" of the State of Decay (1 and 2) which is in the form of a non-physical "Influence". You can 'sell' items you scavenge for Influence. These points accrue and you can use them to 'buy' stuff from traders. You can also use them to get favours, tasks, and other such things from others.

Anyway, the "semi-religious order" that your PC's belong to may be able to do the same sort of thing. The PC's recover the GP's, SP's, Gems, and other treasures and turn them in to their commander/high-priest/church. The PC's keep a running total of this...maybe as a 'group' in stead of individually? At any rate, they can then ask for "stuff and favours" from anyone who abides by the 'churches' laws and whatnot.

That would keep the idea of "getting gold" (a D&D trope), as well as a churches unsatiable desire for material wealth (despite them claiming that the "material world is a distraction")...while at the same time removing the coin-counting from the players side of thing AND reinforcing their devotion, trust and allegiance to their "order". When/if the PC's ever get the opportunity to retire, they can then draw from the churches coffers, so to speak, and go buy a farm or whatever.

^_^

Paul L. Ming

Pretty much this, but in addition the 'order' (or whatever) that the PCs represent/work for might itself, as a result of the infusion of treasure from the PCs' efforts, gain more influence and resources that would then make life better in various ways for the PCs. E.g., starting out the temple (assuming there's a temple involved) can only produce common healing potions, can only remove curse on a good day, and none of the local nobility will give them the time of day. Buff them with 10K (adjust as desired) in treasure and now you can get greater healing potions, a raise dead sometimes, and an audience with an adviser to the local duke if you ask nicely. (More or less leveling the guild for those who might have done that sort of thing. )

 

[Maxperson]

I know for me, finding treasure is part of the fun of the game. If I were in that sort of group, I'd enjoy finding the treasure, even if we just end up giving it to the church. Heck, you could have the church reward them with other things periodically in thanks for all the donated loot.

 

[Storyteller Hero]

If it's a home-brew game, you can go wild with monetary alternatives such as precious jewels, works of art, monster parts, ancient relics, and rare ore fragments.

 

[Staccat0]

Even as a military character I like the idea of maybe being able to grease wheels outside their own zone of comfort but honestly if that came up you could just be like “at this point it’s fair to assume you have a reasonable amount of spending money” Sometimes players find ways to use money as a tool that is easy for me to overlook but if that road isn’t being blocked..:.

The only downside really is that some players just like it irrationally. I’m sorta like that. I wouldn’t mind if a DM didn’t use it though.

 

[MNblockhead]

But if you do that, how will they earn XP?

(Sorry. Time for grandpa to take his nap.)