PC's home base

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

It's not a binary choice of "leave it alone" or "you're a rat bastard DM."

Nothing in your world should be as boring as a safe box in the middle of town in the game of Diablo, whether it's the inn they stay the night in or where they stash their loot. Don't go out of the way to screw the characters, but their home base should be populated with people with goals and ambitions and whose lives continue even when they're not on stage.

Presumably the players won't hand over the keys to their loot to the boozy evil-curious borderline personality guy who can't help flipping through forbidden tomes he comes in contact with. But if you wanted to make the players have to recover the guy who has access to the vault from kidnappers who wanted to get at the PCs' treasure, or simply blackmail them, that's part of playing characters in a living world.

That said, the best way to resolve wealth issues is to spend it. Unless your characters are going to leave this island and retire to become investment bankers, they should be more interested in what their money can do for them in the near term and given opportunities to turn it into stuff they can kill other stuff with.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Would you ever have the PC's stumble upon the BBEG's fortress while he's away, waltz in, take the loot, and walk right out without so much as a by-your-leave?

No. That's never fun.

It was a hell of a good hook in both Beowulf and the Hobbit.

 

[prosfilaes]

Would you ever have the PC's stumble upon the BBEG's fortress while he's away, waltz in, take the loot, and walk right out without so much as a by-your-leave?

Why do you say "stumble upon"? You don't think rich adventurers have professional thieves watching them? Are you saying that if the PCs carefully staked out a BBEG's lair, the BBEG would never leave? Whether or not the BBEG is present or not (and there's been adventures where he's not, like S3), it's never waltz in, take the loot and walk right out. And if PCs don't make at least a token attempt at security (which I will give them fair warning about), so it's not waltz in, take the loot and walk out, I will have thieves take their stuff and not feel the least bit guilty about it.

 

[haakon1]

I let player characters -- particularly if they have a cleric, monk, or paladin to vouch for them -- bank their money with churches.

The church doesn't act as an ATM system -- you can't deposit in one place and withdraw in another and there are neither fees nor interest -- but it does protect their money and keeps records, so if it were somehow stolen (which would be a boneheaded move by the thieves), they'd get their money back from the larger church organization. Unless the records were destroyed too.

I've never seen a reason to mess with that arrangement, though.

 

[Hand of Evil]

I let player characters -- particularly if they have a cleric, monk, or paladin to vouch for them -- bank their money with churches.

The church doesn't act as an ATM system -- you can't deposit in one place and withdraw in another and there are neither fees nor interest -- but it does protect their money and keeps records, so if it were somehow stolen (which would be a boneheaded move by the thieves), they'd get their money back from the larger church organization. Unless the records were destroyed too.

I've never seen a reason to mess with that arrangement, though.

Never! Churches, sorry, we saw your money being used for the greater good! Money given to the church is always considered a donation and we thank you for your providing help to soooo many.

Or

Cleric Joe...he left a number of weeks ago, something about taking over his father's estate. It was a shame to see him go but sometimes I just don't think he had given up the material.



This is just a plot hook for any adventure!

Mason jars in the back yard or the walls, it is the only way.

 

[Pentius]

If it were me, I'd run the campaign, and there would be danger to the PCs' treasure hoard. However, they would have hints about it, maybe even very direct hints, if they seemed not to get it. If they choose not to place any safeguards on treasure after being told it isn't necessarily safe as is, they get to lose it. I'm a fan of the "Are you SURE? Bad stuff may happen." and then doing it if they persist school of Dming.

 

[haakon1]

Churches, sorry, we saw your money being used for the greater good! Money given to the church is always considered a donation and we thank you for your providing help to soooo many.

In My Campaign, a Lawful Good church isn't going to screw its own membership, especially members whose ability to get things done (and income, and donations) dwarfs that of most of their membership.

Your campaign may vary, of course . . .