The following is what I have been typing BEFORE I saw kreynold's links....
Let’s examine the section of the DMG that deals with Table 5-1: Character Wealth by Level on page 145. Read the section in the right column titled “Character Wealth”. Notice the first sentence says “One of the ways,” implying that there could be other ways outside of the rules in which a DM can maintain measurable control over PCs. There is probably no reason to require a DM to follow this table to the letter, but rather to use it as a guideline to maintain fairness and to make CRs worth while and accurate. To follow this perfectly is to assume that every PC and NPC with elite stats using the Core Rules will have roughly the same wealth per level.
I argue that there could be a Class System in D&D and that we should not treat the wealth of a Fighter at 5th level exactly the same as a Wizard at 5th level. After all, a Fighter hired into the Elite Guardsman of King So and So will be paid a pretty set wage, which will increase proportional to his skill, experience, and leadership. At the same time, a Wizard hired by that King So and So will most likely perform tasks that exact a much higher wage, be it sage advice, magical protections for the king and castle, or “as a well-paid troubleshooter,” (DMG p.44). It should be evident that at similar levels, these two characters might eventually differ greatly in regards to wealth. We can equate wealth as one way to gage the power of a character. Using the above example, we can see that characters of the same level might not be at the same power level in regards to wealth (a redundant statement you might think after my last couple of sentences.) One argument that might come up would be that PCs wouldn’t be guardsman or trouble-shooters in a “normal” D&D game. After all, where is that dungeoncrawl? But barring a break from the Core Rules, players and DMs can maintain any kind of campaign they please, be it political, kick in the door, deep-immersion story telling, etc. Knowing this, some PCs might become more advantaged than others, sort of a “status-quo” way of doing things. Heck, even in a total dungeoncrawl campaign with three or 4 characters who shun wealth could lead to other characters with a substantially larger amounts of treasure. This would make most DMs add up the sum of treasures and CLs and do the math to average them out.
Now, using non-game mechanics, it would seem absurd to put ANY kind of limit on a character as far as wealth is concerned. Imagine saying that every 30-year-old American who loves Capitalism CAN’T make over 30k a year. That is what a DM does when he actively limits the capabilities, imagination, and ingenuity of players and their characters. Back to game mechanics; what if a group of low-level PCs broke from that elaborate plot hook the DM set up and decided to break into the palace compound? Foolish as it seams, what if they managed to bypass countless traps, guards, locks, what have you to make it to the treasure room using a perfect mixture of logic, imagination, and VERY HIGH dice rolls (sure, not probable, but possible). Let’s say that party gets out with WAY too much treasure. Most DMs would probably find some way to even the keel, but they must be very careful in maintaining verisimilitude. Role-playing lends to many possibilities, though, and anything should be possible to maintain a feeling of a living breathing campaign world, as long as the DM follows the guidelines in the Core Rules.
Many people probably think I am contradicting myself. Do I suggest that DMs follow guidelines or not? Do following some guidelines limit verisimilitude or not? Well, lets look at the next sentence of “Character Wealth” p.145, second column.
“Table 5-1: Character Wealth by Level is based on average treasures found in average encounters compared with the experience points earned in those encounters.” Not looking at the meaning of the words here can lead to some misinterpretations. To me, the word “found” jumps right out. So as a DM I want to limit the amount of wealth I hand out to table 5-1, or at least use it as a guideline, as the second paragraph and “all published adventures for this edition” suggest. Notice I said; “hand out." If a DM were to use table 5-1 as a strict guideline for how much wealth a character had from buying or making items on top of “treasures found in average encounters” then that DM would be throwing verisimilitude out the door. So I take it as a means for me, the DM, to keep control over my characters by limiting the amount of treasure I put in front of them as long as I am fair about it. Giving out the right amount of treasure, after all, allows even the worst of players the chance to overcome legitimate CRs with their characters.
But it also gives the imaginative players (some call munchkin-I dislike that term) the chance to convert their character’s treasure into even more wealth, kind of like an “investment”. This could be in the form of real estate, owning a business, or investing in some form of commerce. Another way would be to create and keep or sell magic items, two choices ANY item creator has. A spellcaster “invests” time, resources, XP, and treasure (or gp) to make a magic item. Once completed, that spellcaster is able to charge for his/her time, XP, and gold roughly twice what he/she put into it, give or take lets say 30%. So following “Character Wealth”, DMG p.145, what of those three things (time, XP, and gold) has monetary value? I would say the gold. What then is the item created worth to the ORIGINAL creator? The gold, or wealth, that was put into it, or the creation cost. The spellcaster could give that item to a fellow party member, in which case it would still be only worth what the spellcaster put into it to the spellcaster. On the other hand, that item would be worth much more to the fellow party member who could never have made such an item, or at least would have had to buy the item at full market value. Likewise, the spellcaster could set up shop and sell the item. Without experience in selling, management skills to run a business, and a reputation, the items could only be sold by an adventuring item creator at half market value (or what the item is worth to the buyer and the spellcaster.)
Later on, if I were to “hand out” less treasure to a spellcaster who had previously created items because I counted those items at market value (even though those items really are only worth what was put into them) I would be doing that character a grave injustice. This also would be destroying any verisimilitude that my campaign world had. On top of this, I am assuming that the other PCs aren’t simply going to amass all of the treasure I so carefully placed in the dungeon or palace, even magic items they could use, and turn every bit of it into gold to split evenly to each character. Would I say to the other players “NO! You cannot give that spellcaster the exact amount of gold as everyone, because, because, um, because he has made magic items that put him over my ever-strict guidelines using Table 5-1 in the DMG?” This seems like a ridiculous amount of metagaming on the part of any DM who would do such a thing and a slap in the face to a spellcaster who has used up valuable Feat slots to create such items, not to mention (again) the gold, XP, and time/resources to do so. But if I use table 5-1 as a basis for managing what wealth I give out in the form of “treasure found”, then I need not worry about this. This leads me again to think that, as DM, I should count items created at what wealth was used to create them.
Lets now look on p.43, top of column two, “Character-Created Magic Items.” It matters not to me whether the character has attained a certain level or I hand out XP to a player to create a character. A PC is a PC. Following this, “a PC spellcaster can spend as many of the XP and gp you have awarded toward making magic items…” I, as DM, allow the character to make magic items to his/her liking, as long as they follow all of the rules for item creation, i.e. not dropping a level. Now, if we use the market value of magic items when determining Character Wealth by Level, then it would seem that some spellcasters could go past their limit. On the other hand, if we limit how many magic items the spellcaster can make (because we use market value to determine the item’s wealth and we can’t have PCs passing their levels according to table 5-1) then we have gone directly against what is printed in the DMG p.43, top of column two. Furthermore, if we limit future treasures found we destroy verisimilitude.
Yet, if we use the creation costs of magic items made when determining Character Wealth by level, there is little chance to pass the limit, barring a spellcaster actually setting up shop with a good reputation in the area and selling those items (which is fine with me as a DM.) One step further, if we use Table 5-1 as a guide for “treasure found”, then we don’t need to worry about what the item is worth (what wealth the spellcaster put into it), as it was not found.
Next, I would like everyone to examine p.146 DMG, “Handling NPCS.” The general gist of this seems to me that PCs and NPCs of similar stats, feats, abilities, what have you should be treated equally in the game world. They should suffer the same setbacks, get the same good breaks, and pay the same price for things, barring prejudices or anything of the sort. Knowing that PCs and NPCs of Elite status are really no different please read p.47 DMG, last full paragraph, second column. “When selecting gear for a spellcaster, count magic items that she can make for herself as 70% as expensive as normal.” NPCs being statistics and designed for quick entry into the campaign world, I assume that they use 70% as a rough estimate for what the item creation costs would be for average magic items. This might fluctuate depending on what magic items, if the DM wanted to hand craft an NPC even more. So why would PCs use market values for magic items created, yet NPCs use a lesser amount? If you have the FRCS, go to page 193 and take a look at Bronnia Stonesplitter, a female gold dwarf Wiz7. Bronnia is an NPC. Bronnia counts her many wands at “70% as expensive as normal.” So lets say I have a similar female gold dwarf Wizard named Midget that I rolled up having the exact same abilities, skills, feats, etc. and ran her in a campaign up until 7th level. What amount do I count those wands Midget crafted? I certainly would not say market value.
In the end, any DM will interpret the rules how he or she sees fit, and will implement them in a way that pleases ALL involved. I interpret the rules the way I have stated, and use them accordingly. If there is another way to interpret the rules, specifically as it relates to magic item creation and it’s relevance to Character Wealth by Level, let me know. But please cite rules and use logic, and for the love of God, show me why you feel the way you do. Don’t just say you feel a certain way about the rules but NOT show me.
