D&D 5E Creating a Wealth Score in 5e D&D

[tetrasodium]

I put a lot of thought into building a wealth score type thing like d20 modern fate & so on use at some point over frustrations from the lack of wbl or similar but could never form anything that worked in a way that fit 5e's shift of power from magic items to base PC & assumption of only starting gear with no feats. Ultimately in the end what I wound up doing is having whoever was employing the party* providing them with a credit line of "You have an idea what you can get approved" without hard numbers. It worked well but pretty much became a one & done stop for gear that might get a second shopping trip just because there isn't really any room in the system math for equipment churn in 5e unless you start changing things elsewhere to force room in.

The downside of doing this is that getting treasure is fun & there is a section in the ad&d dmg on it, but with 5e making that treasure somewhat unusable it avoids the cynicism & frustration that comes with players realizing that.

*ie patrons

 

[Rabulias]

At heroic levels (5 to 10) - You're well known heroes. If you want a stapler, you can be assumed to get one. It isn't worth discussing at all. if a player is on a journey and says, "I wish I had ball bearings" I'll tell them to give me a wisdom check. If I like the result (low DC), I'll tell them that they had the foresight to buy them and that they can add them to their inventory.

Similarly to this I have heard of games that offer characters a number of "CouldaWouldaShoulda" (CWS) items at various levels (like 1 at 5th level, 2 at 10th, etc.). They are replenished each time the characters are "in town." Out "in the field," one of these items can be declared to be a particular piece of standard equipment that the character actually bought earlier. The CWS is crossed out and replaced with the "new" piece of equipment. This represents the character's experience and instinct when they were purchasing their equipment. I like the idea of the Wisdom check, but this alternative is balanced between all characters.

 

[Lakesidefantasy]

So, maybe count those beans for income, but not for spending. Treat GP as another form of XP. Once you've earned enough GP, you level-up your wealth and your spending power increases.

So as your wealth level increases that is reflected in the value of things you don't have to worry about counting beans over. Perhaps if you fall back to level 1, you're back to counting beans again for everything.

 

[Lakesidefantasy]

This means that each level of wealth has a value of items that you will need to count those beans over, and extract them from your overall wealth; which may put you down a level or two in wealth.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Here's my two coppers-

I would approach the issue from the opposite point of view. In other words, getting gold, getting stuff is part of what makes D&D fun and distinct from the other TTRPGs.

There are many good things (and not-so-good things) about D&D, but the one things most people agree on is that it has a great reward loop.

It's the whole "zero to hero" thing. You start with nothing, you overcome obstacle and you get more stuff (more money, more power, more magic items, more abilities, etc.), and you use the stuff you've gotten to overcome even tougher obstacles and get even cooler stuff.

Rinse, repeat. The accumulation of gold, as a tangible thing to mark your progress in the world and that you use, is part of that reward mechanism.

Now, here's the problem with 5e (hardly a new observation)- 5e doesn't really give you enough to do with your money. Past the early levels, the game provides too much money, and too little to spend it on. Basic economics and psychology kicks in here- if you give someone a lot of money, and nothing that they can spend it on, then the money itself isn't worth much, is it? It's not much of a reward.

So it's not a solution to replace gold and treasure with a "wealth level." That's as silly as replacing the need to track food with "two weeks of iron rations" that you never erase from your character sheet over the course of 5 years. If you're not going to track money, then don't track money. Assume players always have "enough."

The fundamental problem, and one I think that the OP correctly understands, is that 5e does not provide a particular reason to keep accumulating the gold after the first few levels, and for that reason, it becomes an exercise in busywork bookkeeping for a lot of groups. I would say that the preferred solution would be to find something worthwhile to spend the loot on, which would make that part of the game become integral again; failing that, just get rid of it entirely.

 

[MarkB]

So as your wealth level increases that is reflected in the value of things you don't have to worry about counting beans over. Perhaps if you fall back to level 1, you're back to counting beans again for everything.

Nope - no counting beans on any outgoings. You don't get to spend down your GP level. Items don't even have a GP value. You use the Wealth system for all expenditures. You can buy anything with a value up to your Wealth level, can make a check to attempt to acquire something one point over your Wealth level (and may drop a level as a result), and can't buy anything higher level than that until you've levelled up your Wealth.

 

[Umbran]

This means that each level of wealth has a value of items that you will need to count those beans over, and extract them from your overall wealth; which may put you down a level or two in wealth.

Normally, no. That Wealth is your job and investments and such - it is stuff that actually generates more cash for you in unspecified ways, thus giving you the ability to make those relatively small purchases. With large purchases, that is the character spending the principle, instead of earned interest, and thus wealth goes down.

Thus, when you drop in wealth score, that's loss of assets that didn't have any other use than generating money for you, so you don't have to extract anything. You just lose the assets.

 

[Lakesidefantasy]

I still get the big score right? 253,000 ducats is what got me to this level of wealth in the first place, right? Even if I don't get to manage it, I still like to see the number. It might be that basic (and yes, worthy of contempt).

 

[le Redoutable]

d20 Modern had an interesting rule for purchasing things. Rather than keeping track of how many dollars your character had, instead you had a "Wealth Score." If I recall correctly, depending on your score you could buy certain classes of items at no cost, while others you had to roll for, using your Wealth Score. If you rolled a certain amount, you got the item, but it lowered your Wealth Score.

For example, let's say my character wanted to buy a stapler. My Wealth Score would probably be high enough that my character could just buy one without worrying about it. But if my character wanted to buy a car, they would have to roll for it. Roll high enough, and I purchase the car, but my Wealth Score takes a hit (until I get paid for this next adventure, of course!), roll low and I fail to buy a car ("Your card is denied.").

What would this look like in 5e D&D?

I could see characters having a Wealth Score based on their Background (Noble = high Wealth Score, Urchin = low Wealth Score). Maybe something like a +1 to +5? And you would add in your Proficiency Bonus.

Your Wealth Score Bonus would allow you to purchase items of a certain value without spending any Gold Pieces. For example, a Wealth Score of 5, for example, may allow you to purchase items of, let's say, 2 Gold Pieces and below without spending Gold Pieces.

A character can raise their Wealth Score by investing money. Maybe each level of bonus would cost 1,000 x Bonus GP. So for example, to raise your Wealth Bonus from a 3 to a 4 would cost 4,000 GP. From a 19 to a 20 would cost 20,000 GP.

As Wealth Bonuses increase, it could unlock certain features of the game for characters. For example, you might need a certain Wealth Bonus in order to purchase or upgrade a keep, raise an army, or buy magic items. I'll Cel:-Ortai areas of cities or kingdoms might be closed off to characters with low Wealth Bonuses (but open up for a high Deception check!). Fun powers could include the ability to always have a fresh horse ready at every city, be always dressed in Fine Clothes, earn a Reputation, and so on.

Well, these are just some thoughts. How would you do a Wealth Scor<,/, in 5e? What would it be used for?

Two things to consider:
Wealth and bargain

Wealth level could look like this

1--- 1
2--- 2x2
3 --- 3x3x3
Etc
and bargain is tied to Charisma.

 

[Tonguez]

you are absolutely speaking my language

In my games I use an Influence which combines Wealth and 3.5e Leadership score because a person with greater influence can call on more favours and acquire more stuff.
So at level 1 everyone gets Level + cha Influence. (eg someone with Cha +2 starts with Influence of +3).

1. Influence score can be used to make purchase checks
2. Influence can rise and fall
3. Certain Magic Items/Artifacts were given an Influence threshold eg the Sunblade might require a PC has Influence 10 before it activates
4 Modifying the Leadership feat chart I changed Cohort to 'NPC Ally'
eg a Lv 1 Character with Influence 4 has a reliable NPC Ally level 3 (an NPC who they might describe as a relative or mentor etc), the PC also get 2 followers (family or friends who they can get to do things) eg add+1 to social skill rolls or invest in downtime activities.

Also in my own domain rules I let followers (representing workers) be used to determine build DCs for projects eg to build house (cost 1000gp) we can apply 20 followers for 4 seasons = DC12

NB PCs with negative influence are considered servants/slaves/dependents of the other characters.