D&D 5E Do We Really Need a Lot of Gold? (D&D 5th Edition)

[Umbran]

If magic items can’t be purchased (or don’t need to be purchased), then no, there’s really not much point to gold and valuables in 5e.

Unless they can be created, because that costs $$$.

 

[Reynard]

One way to look at it might be to consider not what your character or even PCs in general want money for, but what do people in the world want money for? What does a lot of cash allow for? Separately (because they are different things) what does wealth allow for? By asking these questions we can then think about how PCs fit into that world and how their sudden infusions of cash impact the rich and powerful.

 

[MGibster]

It really depends on the DM. For one, I don't give out a lot of gold in general (except for the occasional hoard). Secondly, I charge for a lot of things: taxes, sages, travel expenses, etc.

I tend to use the random tables in the DMG and even with the randomness the players tend to rack up the treasure. Part of it is laziness on my part in that I don't want to spend a lot of time figuring out ahead of time what treasures they'll find. But these are also veteran D&D players

The purpose of money in D&D is the same purpose of money in real life: luxuries.

I've always thought the primary purpose of money was as a convenient medium of exchange so I didn't have to constantly carry barrels of beer, chickens, or other goods to barter with.

I tend to have my pc's buy lots of luxury items, as part of RP. Fancy clothes, good booze, minor magic items that increase quality of life without adding power, art objects, and strongholds at some point.

Me too. My PCs tend to live like rock stars while they're in town. Every time he goes to the pub he's buying drinks for everyone, he's wearing the best clothes, and enjoying the best entertainment.

To be honest. I could care less about gold. I’m not playing a game where my character pays bills. I am here to slay the dragon, banish the demon, kill the evil undead wizard, and stop the cultists.

That's pretty much where I am. I might have a character that cares about gold but as a player it doesn't concern me much. I'm less interested in strongholds, crafting, and other aspects of that nature and more interested in adventuring.

 

[Seramus]

I handle Magic Shops as a commission business. Some sorceress or a pair of gnomes advertise bewitching enchantments for everyday items. They mostly deal in petty baubles, but they will work on the big stuff if you bring them rare ingredients and dump a pile of coins in front of them.

Essentially, there's a crafting time involved. Not to punish anyone, or dissuade players from magic items, but just because the enchanter don't have those rare ingredients and can't afford to put so much wealth into items without guaranteed buyers.

 

[Steampunkette]

One way to look at it might be to consider not what your character or even PCs in general want money for, but what do people in the world want money for? What does a lot of cash allow for? Separately (because they are different things) what does wealth allow for? By asking these questions we can then think about how PCs fit into that world and how their sudden infusions of cash impact the rich and powerful.

100% Absolutely!

Ask questions about the setting, the narrative, about the current story, and find uses for Wealth. If money can't buy combat-power it can -be- social power, as useful for that as XP is for making you hit harder.

 

[Maxperson]

If magic items can’t be purchased (or don’t need to be purchased), then no, there’s really not much point to gold and valuables in 5e.

I hate this view. Magic items are not the end all, be all of gold spending. I have one player who in one campaign had his Cleric funding the building of new temples to his god in cities that didn't have one. Another one liked to help down on their luck NPCs go into business and basically funded small businesses. A third liked high roller gambling. And so on. If you don't limit yourself, there's a lot to do with the gold.

 

[jgsugden]

Money is power. Cliche, but accurate. If you're not finding a use for money in your games, you (and/or your DM) are probably not doing everything you can in the role playing side of the game.

Putting aside the debate over buying magic items as that whole piece isn't exactly hard to parse, there are a thousand and one ways to address the wealth of the PCs within the story of the game and put it to fun use.

If you have all the money in the world and no idea how to spend it, others will be happy to approach you and ask for some of it. That can give you story hooks. There are plenty of wonderful things to spend coin on other than magic items and strongholds - some charitable, some vices, some intriguing. Have you considered hiring a henchman that can cast spells for you?

There are some storylines that PCs may experience where wealth is less beneficial. My most recent campaign started with an invasion that forced the survivors of the conquered nation to resettle in a new land - and it will be quite a bit of time before the economy functions normally.

 

[iserith]

I think when designing one's campaign, how gold can be used is something to really think about. I find it can be a useful tool to reinforce the theme the group is going for. Two quick examples:

• In my D&D-supers mashup, gold can be used to buy magic items (as per XGtE downtime activity) or donated to the city's orphanage to earn experience points (1 GP = 1 XP). I want magic items to be purchasable so that players can realize their "street level heroes" builds more easily and donating to the orphanage is on theme for heroes.
• In my old school hex crawl, you pay trainers in town (1 GP = 1 XP) to level up. This means the players are choosy about what they fight and often will just try to get gold by avoiding combat, if they can. It also reinforces the intended back-and-forth between town and adventure locations.

So, bottom line, don't just take it as it is and let the piles of "useless" gold pile up. Design its possible uses up front when planning the campaign.

 

[Micah Sweet]

My problem with magic shops is simply that, for the world to make any sense, there have to be a lot more adventurers in it than you might expect or want. Otherwise, who is buying all this magic stuff? They're ridiculously expensive compared to nearly everything else in the world, so are out of reach of almost anyone. And a business can't survive if only 4-5 people ever have enough money to shop there.

 

[Steampunkette]

My problem with magic shops is simply that, for the world to make any sense, there have to be a lot more adventurers in it than you might expect or want. Otherwise, who is buying all this magic stuff? They're ridiculously expensive compared to nearly everything else in the world, so are out of reach of almost anyone. And a business can't survive if only 4-5 people ever have enough money to shop there.

And -only- shop there when they -need- a specific item. They don't pop down to Ye Olde Magique Shoppe every day of the week to drop a few gold on Wand Charges or polish for their Adamantine Armor.