Character wealth by Level

[DMDanW]

I have searched and searched and have not been able to find a chart or table which states what a characters approximate wealth should be level by level. In 3.5 I used that chart frequently in creating characters higher than 1st level, and now in 4E I have tried to create characters starting at higher levels and have no idea how much gear and magic items they should have.

Is there such a chart in the PHB / DMG that I am just missing?

If there is no chart, how can I properly equip characters starting at higher levels?

Thanks

 

[Roger]

DMG, pg 143, list item #7.


Cheers,
Roger

 

[AntiStateQuixote]

I don't recall the page number, but the rules follow:

Take one magic item of character level less one.
Take one magic item of character level.
Take one magic item of character level plus one.
Take gold equal to the value (not sell value) of a magic item equal to character level. Use the gold as desired to buy other gear.
Take "unlimited" amount of "mundane" gear: backpack, rations, etc.

 

[CapnZapp]

So, no there isn't a chart. There is a rule, but it applies to new characters only.

There isn't a table telling you your level M characters should each have N gold and O items of level P each.

If you're deep in your campaign and you'd want to make a quick check you haven't handed out too many or too few items compared to the "Awarding Treasure" guidelines on page 125, there really isn't an easy way to figure out the accumulated totals for each level.

For a five-man group that just completed third level it's relatively easy to see they should have been awarded 4x3=12 items in all; distributed over the following levels: 7th, 6th, 6th, 5th, 5th, 5th, 4th, 4th, 4th, 3rd, 3rd, 2nd. Add gold or equivalent to the amount of 1355+1040+720=3115 gp.

But the DMG never does these calculations for you. So finding out the corresponding details for a seven man level 24 group will take you a fair while.

 

[Oompa]

Wouldn't it be easier to just look up the value of the items a new player of that level had to have?

 

[eamon]

I prefer using a value rather than the straightjacket of exact item levels. Given the fact that one level represents (on average) a 5^(1/5) price increase, and that you effectively get level-1, level,level,level+1 in items, new character wealth should be about 4.1 times the value of a level-equivalent item. Existing characters should have significantly more than this to compensate for a less flexible item choice, and to prevent making character death too attractive.

So, just use the PHB table on p.223, multiply by 4.1, and that's a fine (and more flexible) version of starting gold.

It's what I'd use, if it came up.

Similar rules are also useful as a DM; if you're giving out loot, you can calculate the overall value, and then not keep precisely to the DMG item levels (making the annoying task of item choosing a little more flexible). Some shortcuts:
Two items of level N are about equivalent to a level N+2 item. An item of level N and one of N+3 is about one of N+4.

In general, subtle errors in estimates have virtually no impact; you need a full factor 5 increase in wealth for just a +1 bonus; so don't be afraid to diverge a little from the guidelines; just make sure existing chars have significantly more than 4 times an item of their level in wealth if you do.

 

[WalterKovacs]

Also, characters in play will probably be using some of the wealth over time, primarily purchasing healing potions (or getting healing potions in their loot which counts as "cash"), in addition to rituals and selling/disenchanting magic items. Depending of the options, they may be using other consumable items.

 

[CapnZapp]

@Eamon: problem as I see it is that gold is decidely the second most pressing issue.

The amount of ready cash is always the smaller pile of any character's gear gp total.

So even if you make a mistake and give out double the recommended amount, or even quadruple that amount, it doesn't change much in the way of available bonuses (the only place in the game where something can truly break).

After all, even a big pile of money disappears fast when you try to buy a magic item that you find really valuable, because it will probably be an item of above your level.

So what's needed is a neat table telling us what an existing character will have in the way of magic items.

I do agree a long list of a lot of obsolete items isn't really helpful here. So the idea to condense and simplify this list sounds pretty reasonable to me.

Now, I guess the DMG guidelines for newly generated high-level characters is an attempt at exactly this.

But, assuming they're off by a significant margin (having over-simplified) we still need a better table.

 

[eamon]

So what's needed is a neat table telling us what an existing character will have in the way of magic items.

I do agree a long list of a lot of obsolete items isn't really helpful here. So the idea to condense and simplify this list sounds pretty reasonable to me.

Now, I guess the DMG guidelines for newly generated high-level characters is an attempt at exactly this.

But, assuming they're off by a significant margin (having over-simplified) we still need a better table.

There are two distinct aims here: One is for keeping track of existing characters, and the second is for creating new characters. If you aim is to keep track of existing characters; well, you should expect existing characters to have the "big 3" items roughly equal to their level, and they should be able to fill the rest as time and money allows (do you want an exact distribution? it's possible to improve that estimate, of course). For sure, they should never fall behind a new character, so the big three should never be trailing more than a few levels.

If your aim is to create new characters, an item distribution isn't handy; it's too constricting, and you don't want a rough estimate "this is about what a char looks like", you want a set of rules within which a new character needs to be built. For that purpose I'd use 4.1 times the cost of a level-equivalent item: flexible, but also clear-cut.

Due to the exponential nature of wealth accumulation, the new characters and the existing characters never diverge more than a fixed (and reasonably limited) percentage in total wealth - in short, the 4.1 factor works good enough here too. If your players are below this on average, you should add treasure, if they're above around twice this, you've been handing out too much treasure and should tone back a little.

 

[eamon]

Really simple guidelines:
New characters should get total wealth equal to 4 times a same-level item.

Existing characters should have (on average!) between 5 and 10 times the value of a same-level item.

In terms of item levels:
New characters should start with total wealth between the value of level+4 and level+5 items.

Existing characters should have (on average) wealth between the value of level+5 and level+7 items.



How's that?