D&D 5E Money in D&D Next?

[jrowland]

I liked the BECMI Companion rules (the C in BECMI) notion of a separate amount of Dominion Money( I forget what it was called), but basically it was denominated in G.P. but was an abstraction of "economic service". You used it to pay for the Castle Contruction and upkeep, the staff, and other such things. It represented both literal gold pieces, but also the service of the peasants who sought your protection in a feudal-like arrangement. It wasn't gold so much as a golds worth of "stuff".

The "Tier" approach to wealth is probably the easiest baseline though: Coppers for the Poor, Silver for the Middle-class (burghers, merchants, etc), Gold for the Nobility, and perhaps Platinum for the Nation if you want to go that far. Thus "most" mundane stuff is in the 1-50cp range like a shovel, most specialty stuff is in the 1-50sp range like a wagon, and most luxury stuff is in the 1-50gp range like seats at the opera, and most National stuff is in the 1-50pp like a small keep.

(85cp is 0.85 sp or 1 sp if you round up, thus the ranges stop at 50 for ease)

 

[Li Shenron]

I think the exchange of rare magical items for currency is an independent problem.

That's the main thing I've been trying to say.

Adventuring equipment and non-adventuring properties should be separate things.

Because the "value" of one doesn't directly equate to the other, especially when you consider that probably the most common case is for a gaming group to focus the game on adventures hence valuing adventuring equipment much more, and maybe just maybe include non-adventuring management at high levels. But there are also groups who are longing for a game without the amount of magic gear typical of 3ed, to which the economy of magic item is an unwelcome baggage.

Generally speaking I would definitely want the game to provide good guidelines on the possible values of non-adventuring properties. But it's just damn hard to "connect" them with the values of adventuring gear.

In a sense, I'm probably wishing for a system where magic items (and very special items, such as mithril armors or legendary weapons) are priceless: you never buy them or sell them (maybe except very minor ones like healing potions), but you might exchange them for others, or for services and deeds, on a circumstance basis defined by the DM.
Everything else will have a sensible price, but this would most likely mean that the price of mundane adventuring equipment will be very important for low level characters, and after a few levels it would become irrelevant, when a couple of generous gold chests of treasure would practically mean you can just buy any weapon or armor you want, probably just around the level when your character's martial damage dice makes the base weapon damage dice matter almost nothing

 

[Li Shenron]

Dungeon crawling should not be the default game style like you say here but a speciality like ruling a kingdom. Something some groups can do but not the core of the game.

Let's not take "dungeon crawling" as strictly as implying it takes place in an actual dungeon or other enclosed space, but anyway "kill monsters and take their stuff" is pretty much part of 90% of gaming groups games, although there is usually also a story around it, working as a container.

Ruling a kingdom or anything similar on that scale, I bet my pants that not even 10% of the gaming groups do (and just saying that Bob the Fighter is now Bob the King doesn't automatically qualify for saying "we include also kingdoms management in our campaign").

I don't like it myself, but combat is at the center of the game. Exploration unfortunately is out of fashion (so maybe I should have not said dungeon crawling, where indeed is exploration and combat), but if there is a default in the game is that there will be combat (hopefully not only that), and therefore adventuring gear (or more precisely, combat-related gear) is going to be important, unless perhaps at higher levels if class design deemphasize such importance.

And without realistic prices gold becomes rather useless as the PCs carry so much of them that they can buy practically everything not a magic weapon which cost more than the net worth of whole baronies.

I agree, as you can also read in my previous post. I honestly wouldn't mind that, and it would make a lot of sense... really if you find a chest of gold all for yourself, mundane equipment is not going to be a problem for you for a long time, unless you blow it up on a pokemon keep, or an overpriced magic item. Which just reinstate my idea that magic items should just be priceless.

(PS If a gaming group wants to have a level-based control on magic equipment, rather than base it on GP values of items, they might be better off basing it directly on character levels, or if some more fine-tuning is wanted, base it on XP).

 

[Derren]

Which just reinstate my idea that magic items should just be priceless.

Which doesn't make sense. Unique pieces of art or historical artifacts? Yes they can be priceless. But weapons? Tools? You can bet that those things will be traded. And it makes more sense to have a magical sword costing as much as a house in a city than the sword being worth more than the entire city. After all, it is still just a sword.

 

[mlund]

Adventuring equipment and non-adventuring properties should be separate things.

I agree, but for drawing the line at "adventuring equipment." I think the line is probably more between things that can be replaced by "mundane" means (even things like minor potions, as you mentioned) and those that are so much more difficult to obtain.

The trick with the rare items so sought-after by adventurers is that they exist in an entirely different economy that's ridiculously context-driven and volatile. Commoners don't have anything worth enough to trade. Merchants are only interested in things they can re-sell at profit. Nobles often have little practical use for things dragon-hunters and goblin-slayers would give their eye teeth for.

Unique pieces of art or historical artifacts? Yes they can be priceless. But weapons? Tools? You can bet that those things will be traded. And it makes more sense to have a magical sword costing as much as a house in a city than the sword being worth more than the entire city. After all, it is still just a sword.

It completely depends on what the sword can do. If it's special properties are just "15% increased accuracy" and "2d6 extra fire damage" then, yes, it is just a sword.

Heck, a noble might be more inclined to spend a larger amount of coin on a magic sword with a flashier appearance (seriously, how awesome is an unsheathed flaming sword hanging over the fireplace of your audience chamber?) than one with great combat ability. Frankly, with all those people to manage and lands to defend I can see situations where someone might be way more interested in acquiring 50-100 quality light crossbows (mundane item) on a short notice than a single Vorpal Sword (legendary magic item).

- Marty Lund