Starting Money - Determined by Rules, GM, or Player?

As I contemplate beginning another game of Dragon Warrior (NES), the first thing that comes to mind is the gold-grind: having to fight countless slimes, drakees, and even magicians in order to purchase a battle axe (barbaric weapon that it was). This was effectively an advancement system, parallel to the experience system, that rewarded PCs for fighting monsters and surviving. (There was also a monetary penalty for dying...) It was also an example of rules-determined wealth.

Flash forward to my next game of Modos 2, in which the PCs are starting with all the money "that their characters would have." This has nothing to do with advancement, and can, in fact, be a sort of punishment system if a PC has too little or too much money (think homeless people or arms dealers who walk around without security details ::cough::Mission: Impossible Fallout ::cough: ). This is player-determined starting money, with a touch of GM oversight.

Starting money can also be determined by the GM, by taking either of these systems and adding a house rule/GM fiat to it. Or maybe you're one of the lucky players who begins the campaign in a cell, with or without memories, but clearly without a penny to your name. Thanks, GM.

Which is the best system? Which is your favorite? Is it worthwhile to use money as an advancement system, or does that stifle player creativity when designing characters?

I voted GM, but to me that translates as "GM can override for their start and setting that they want which might differ from the rules, but barring a real reason to change the rules are a good start".

BTW, it really varies by system. Some systems like Shadowrun, having a lot of money for starting cyberware or a deck is absolutely part of character build, and is a choice the player makes with repercussions (often opportunity costs). Other systems can (barring GM input) leave it fully to player (like Hero, where you can spend character points on wealth), or partially (like 5e, where you can pick Noble as a background for more coin). A GM overruling something a player has spent creation resources on really needs to have a good reason. (Though limiting so some choices aren't available is just fine.)

I voted 'GM' because I believe the GM ultimately pretty much determines everything, but really I don't think any of your answers are sufficient.

So, I'm running more or less two games write now, a 3.0e D&D game with extensive house rules, and a 5.0e Call of Cthulhu game with about a dozen pages of house rules governing character generation.

Both systems have rules for determining starting wealth. Rules actually written by me.

Both systems allow characters to spend resources in CharGen to start as a wealthy character. The Call of Cthulhu game has very complex rules for determining your income based on a combination of random fortune and your credit rating. The D&D game has some simple random starting wealth allocation, but gives the players the option of spending their background trait on a variety of options that increase their starting wealth.

So, in either case, what is the answer? The rules determine your wealth. It is not assigned by fiat and I as GM have no control over how much wealth a PC ends up with. However, I the GM actually control the rules and set the rules so that they will produce results I can live with. The player doesn't fully control how much wealth he ends up with, since the rules specify a random factor, but the player does have extensive control over how much wealth he begins with.

Anyway, more or less that's always the system I prefer. The reason I end up house ruling it is precisely to avoid situations where characters have wealth that can't really be explained from their preferred background, or where players may want to create a wealthy (or poor) character but the rules have no well balanced provision for playing that way.

Other, because it depends on the game.

Other, because it depends on the status of the game.

To clarify: most games have rules for wealth for characters starting out at raw 1st level or equivalent, but not very many have rules for characters coming in at higher level; and of those that do some are less than no help at all (3e D&D, I'm looking right at ya). So, for a character coming in to a higher-level party it's usually down to the GM to determine its wealth and magic possessions, unless the system/table rules in use have it that players can pick what they want as they go along and thus the new character's player can also pick and choose.

So, "rules" at or very close to campaign start; "GM" after that.

Celebrim said:

Both systems allow characters to spend resources in CharGen to start as a wealthy character. The Call of Cthulhu game has very complex rules for determining your income based on a combination of random fortune and your credit rating. The D&D game has some simple random starting wealth allocation, but gives the players the option of spending their background trait on a variety of options that increase their starting wealth.

So, in either case, what is the answer?

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Lanefan said:

To clarify: most games have rules for wealth for characters starting out at raw 1st level or equivalent, but not very many have rules for characters coming in at higher level; and of those that do some are less than no help at all (3e D&D, I'm looking right at ya).

Click to expand...

::Sigh:: you smart people are sooo neeedy...

Rules - what's given in the designer's rulebook. Not the GM's.

Player - what the player's character concept implies/specifies.

GM - wealth by house rule or rule zero.

Other - includes combinations of the above.

Oh yeah: Starting - entry-level or level 1 characters.


"Depends on the game" makes sense, since different games will use money for different reasons, and those reasons might or might not be handled well by the rules. However, [MENTION=20564]Blue[/MENTION], don't confuse the player using the rules/having choices as being Player determined wealth. If the player is using the rules to do so, it's wealth by Rules. If the player is arbitrarily determining starting money, rules be damned, then it's Player money.

I voted "other" because it depends on the system. But even looking only at D&D 5e, I would vote "other" because:

1. In organized play (Adventurers League), the answer is "the rules."

2. In a home game, the answer is "all three." DM and players agree to what style of game they want to play and that may include starting wealth.

In my campaigns, we have generally started with the rules. Then if players wanted to start with equipment that is not provided per class/background rules and they don't have the coin to buy it, I may handwave this and let them have the item.

I dont mind the rules giving out starting money. usually it is just enough to get your basic equipment and then after that it is up to the Players to work their way up.

I'm an "other" as well.

Each of my campaigns tend to be pretty different, but it usually falls somewhere between:

• Whatever the rules say you start off with.
• An idea I stole from some game from the last 20 years where a character's wealth level is essentially a part of the point buy of character generation.
• "Once everyone figures out what they want they want the story to be about, we'll figure out a starting wealth level for the group" Are you a well funded branch of the Church of Ioun, sent to map a mysterious uncharted isle, or are you playing a bunch of street rat pickpockets who accidentally stole a bag of holding from the Xanathar?

It depends on the system.

D&D 4e has rules for starting money (100 gp, if I remember right).

Burning Wheel has rules for determining the stating Resources stat, which is used for resolving the declared action "I buy an . . .".

Marvel Heroic RP doesn't have a notion of "starting money" - but there are mechanics for establishing resources and assets, which might include money in some circumstances.

Prince Valiant has rules for starting equipment and money (which depends on starting occupation - eg knights start with 5 gold coins) but has no equipment list, so it's all just colour. (In my game the players wanted to spend some money, so I used the Pendragon price lists.)

On Sunday I GMed a session of Cthulhu Dark. One of the PCs was married and lived in a house with her husband. Another had a house with a darkroom. The third was a longshoreman staying in the Longshoremen's Rest. Money didn't come up during play very much, but both houses did get burned down by arsonist cultists . . .