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

[MGibster]

None of those are interesting to my character. They'd definitely be interesting to some characters, but even that comprehensive list is by no means one that suggests that every character should care about it.

For a moment, let's posit that your character does care about improving the roads in order to facilitate trade. How does the game support that? How much game time would you want to devote to playing Sim Road instead of going out and adventuring?

 

[Reynard]

For a moment, let's posit that your character does care about improving the roads in order to facilitate trade. How does the game support that? How much game time would you want to devote to playing Sim Road instead of going out and adventuring?

Less than the time spent planning and executing an expedition to win back the EMber Throne from the Priest King of the Black Tower, but more than the time spent talking to the innkeeper about where the honey for his mead comes from (which could still be a decent chunk of a session, btw).

 

[TwoSix]

Build an entire new city quarter.

Build a palace.

Buy out a religion. Or fund a cathedral. Same difference.

Fund a merchant guide, or a museum.

Construct a 400' tall statue to yourself to guard the gates, that says "mess with this city, mess with me".

Fund soup kitchens. Get the masses on your side.

Found a combat training school, a monastery, or a wizard's spire.

Comission great works of art.

Improve the roads to and from the city.

Rebuild the aquaduct.

Dredge the harbor.

Build a new harbor.

Fund research into airships.

Found a library.

Find some shyster who will take your gold and promise you the moon, and give that person your gold.

Gold is power -- not the only power, but a kind of power -- and power shapes the world.

And if gold is otherwise useless to you, if you fund an explorers ship and nothing comes of it, well, nothing of value was lost. Try something else!

To simplify this excellent list, money lets you buy new narratives and introduce them into your games.

 

[hopeless]

None of those are interesting to my character. They'd definitely be interesting to some characters, but even that comprehensive list is by no means one that suggests that every character should care about it.

So what is interesting to your character?
Which is something your DM/GM should be asking before approaching this.

Session zero question perhaps would this be part of the character's destiny or what they start off planning and then during the game they let their dm/gm know if that plan changes as a result of their experiences and character growth?

 

[MGibster]

D&D is an RPG. A role playing game. Characters play a role in a story. That is the core of the game, as directly stated in the name, and as described in the core books. The first line of the introduction of the PHB says it: "[D&D] is about storytelling..."

Sure, but if we continue a few more paragraphs down the page we're told what kind of stories we're telling. "In the Dungeons & Dragons game, each player creates an adventurer...explore a dark dungeon, ruined city, a haunted castle, a lost temple deep in a jungle or a lava-filled cavern...solve puzzles, talk with other characters, battle fantastic monsters, and discover fabulous magic items and other treasure."

Adventuring is a large part of many D&D stories, but these characters have lives outside the dungeon. You can ignore those lives, and focus on their tales only during their time with weapons in hand, but the game is designed to cover more than just the combat pillar. There are the exploration and social pillar experiences in the game, and there are a lot of rules that support those elements.

Since it's inception, the core D&D experience has always revolved around adventuring. And in addition to combat, I would include social interactions and exploration as pillars of the adventuring experience. In the original Ravenloft module, talking to Tatyana and her brother Ismark is just as much a part of the adventure as is exploring the creepy village of Barovia and vanquishing Strahd himself.

If you find the money doesn't make any difference in your story, my advice is to consider what stories could you add to your tales that do revolve around money. As there are so, so, so, so, so many options, there is likely to be something to capitalize upon that can make your game even more fun. In my experience, when money doesn't matter, it is because the DM and players are not collectively utilizing the full breadth of the game options available to them, and are missing out on fun elements.

In my games, the PCs spend the bulk of their time adventuring and after a certain point they can't buy better equipment or a better lifestyle. That's when wealth just turns into a tedious bookkeeping chore.

A party with no money that finds a ruin and decides to explore it does so by themselves, but if they have the money, they might have a base camp set up, or hirelings to perform tasks for them.

Sending some hirelings to explore the ruins sounds like a pretty dull adventure from where I'm sitting.

 

[The Green Hermit]

One related issue is the relative absence of downtime. I've never run (or read) an official 5e adventure book, but from what I understand most of them will be over by the time the aqueduct/harbor/statue is built. Even if you have downtime, it might be a week or a month--not a year of the characters sitting in their strongholds before going on the next adventure. Finally, aqueduct-building and harbor-dredging is not really a part of heroic fantasy.

My players earn downtime per objective reached, and they can use it whenever the group decides. They can also use downtime if they are out of earned time, but it comes with a greater chance of being run out of town or arrested. There are also some downtime activities (learning a language/weapon) that can be done during regular rest breaks.

I do not count overnight resupplying stops as downtime.

 

[Micah Sweet]

D&D is an RPG. A role playing game. Characters play a role in a story. That is the core of the game, as directly stated in the name, and as described in the core books. The first line of the introduction of the PHB says it: "[D&D] is about storytelling..."

Adventuring is a large part of many D&D stories, but these characters have lives outside the dungeon. You can ignore those lives, and focus on their tales only during their time with weapons in hand, but the game is designed to cover more than just the combat pillar. There are the exploration and social pillar experiences in the game, and there are a lot of rules that support those elements. Money can play a huge part of the social pillar (especially in a political context), and also a large role in the exploration pillar. A party with no money that finds a ruin and decides to explore it does so by themselves, but if they have the money, they might have a base camp set up, or hirelings to perform tasks for them.

If you find the money doesn't make any difference in your story, my advice is to consider what stories could you add to your tales that do revolve around money. As there are so, so, so, so, so many options, there is likely to be something to capitalize upon that can make your game even more fun. In my experience, when money doesn't matter, it is because the DM and players are not collectively utilizing the full breadth of the game options available to them, and are missing out on fun elements.

It's not enough.

The rules in 5e overwhelmingly support direct, active adventuring. Virtually every player-facing ability does this, and most of the DMG stuff as well. They include downtime rules, but no published adventure (with the possible exception of Dragondeep Water Heist) allows the PCs an opportunity to use them. The game talks the talk, but doesn't walk the walk. Assuming people will make this stuff up if they care about it might be true, but it's also a design error.

Players would care about this stuff more if the text did.

 

[Charlaquin]

There is more to it than that.

As a DM who has had many uses for gold over the years...its like there is a missing pillar or something. Essentially the argument is made is that the PC wants money to be better at their job. Versus being good at their job to get money, the normal relationship, and the normal one in almost all times and places, given the vast range of things money can be used for.

That’s only true of the working class. The upper class invests money in the production of more wealth - in a very literal sense, they use their money to be better at their job, which in turn earns them more more money.

Money isn’t intrinsically valuable. It’s only as good as what you can do with it - generally either basic necessities, luxury, or the production of more wealth. Basic necessities generally aren’t a concern for D&D PCs past the earliest levels. They can very quickly acquire enough wealth to survive pretty much indefinitely. Luxury is always an option, but depending on the focus of the campaign, luxury may or may not have any relevance to gameplay. Yes, if the campaign finds you shmoozing with nobles, luxury is relevant. But if you’re spending most of your time in dungeons killing monsters or on perilous journeys across the continent, it doesn’t really matter to gameplay what kind of mansion you own.

So, in campaigns that focus on adventuring in dangerous locations, you’re pretty much left with investment in the production of more wealth, which either means property - which as others have observed, changes the game from dungeons and dragons to strongholds and spreadsheets. Or equipment that makes them better at adventuring.

 

[MGibster]

So, in campaigns that focus on adventuring in dangerous locations, you’re pretty much left with investment in the production of more wealth, which either means property - which as others have observed, changes the game from dungeons and dragons to strongholds and spreadsheets. Or equipment that makes them better at adventuring.

You just know that Certified Public Accountant is a class in Strongholds & Spreadsheets!

 

[Malmuria]

One way to make money relevant is to run an "evil" campaign where the goal of the party is to take over or destroy the world. This would involve things like building a base of operations, recruiting followers and minions, remaining secret etc that would require wealth, and wealth could therefore be a legitimate target for an adventure.