D&D 5E (2014) Wealth by Level

[Farland]

I want it. Why is it missing in the DMG? Doesn't need to be hard and fast. I would just like a guideline.

 

[KarinsDad]

I'm confused as well.

 

[Baumi]

What's the Problem with the Table on DMG Page 38?

 

[SilverfireSage]

I want it. Why is it missing in the DMG? Doesn't need to be hard and fast. I would just like a guideline.

Why is it necessary? There's only so many things that people can spend their money on, and since they got rid of buying magic items you don't have to worry about people getting gold just to power themselves up through magic. Doesn't seem needed to me.

 

[Astrosicebear]

Why is it necessary? There's only so many things that people can spend their money on, and since they got rid of buying magic items you don't have to worry about people getting gold just to power themselves up through magic. Doesn't seem needed to me.

All true. But it would be nice to have a rough guideline for when the PCs take down a villain or NPC and aquire his lands/wealth/holdings. Not sure how that would balance with the treasure tables.

 

[seebs]

What's the Problem with the Table on DMG Page 38?

That's actually not bad, although I'd sorta prefer to have something with a little finer granularity. Still, good starting point.

 

[Joe Liker]

There is no "Expected Wealth by Level" table because 5e has no expectation of a character's wealth.

In certain previous editions, the whole game would teeter on the brink of collapse if characters were not supplied with a minimum level of material wealth. Fifth edition works fine if the characters get little more than their starting equipment all the way to level 20.

That said, you can look at the last paragraph on page 133 to find what an average party would receive if the DM followed the guidelines for random treasure.

 

[MonkeezOnFire]

There is this small paragraph in the DMG on page 133.

"You can hand out as much or as little treasure as you want. Over the course of a typical campaign, a party finds treasure hoards amounting to seven rolls on the Challenge 0- 4 table, eighteen rolls on the Challenge 5- 10 table, twelve rolls on the Challenge 11- 16 table, and eight rolls on the Challenge 17+ table."

The tables referenced are the Treasure Hoard Tables. Earlier in the section it also mentions that each roll doesn't have to be a separate haul. If a monster is known as a treasure collector like dragons, it's hoard can contain multiple rolls on the appropriate table.

 

[TerraDave]

There is this small paragraph in the DMG on page 133.

"You can hand out as much or as little treasure as you want. Over the course of a typical campaign, a party finds treasure hoards amounting to seven rolls on the Challenge 0- 4 table, eighteen rolls on the Challenge 5- 10 table, twelve rolls on the Challenge 11- 16 table, and eight rolls on the Challenge 17+ table."

The tables referenced are the Treasure Hoard Tables. Earlier in the section it also mentions that each roll doesn't have to be a separate haul. If a monster is known as a treasure collector like dragons, it's hoard can contain multiple rolls on the appropriate table.

I assumed that this was correlated with the number of encounters you would expect to have over those levels, but have not actually backed out the math.

 

[MonkeezOnFire]

I assumed that this was correlated with the number of encounters you would expect to have over those levels, but have not actually backed out the math.

The paragraph I quoted refers to the number of big hauls of treasure there would be in a typical campaign. The kind of reward you'd get at the end of a dungeon/quest. 7 big rewards before hitting 5th level seems reasonable.

It's not a measure of total PC wealth but it's a good starting point as these rewards should make up a substantial amount of their wealth.

There are also tables to roll on for how much money a monster is carrying based of CR, but it's not a good indication of wealth since it would vary greatly on what kinds of encounters PCs face (swarms or solos) and the tables themselves are really swingy.