D&D 5E Disparity between equipment and money

[Yunru]

So I've always felt that rolling for money is a bit of a trap, but I've never gotten around to proving it.

Now for the following I took the most expensive options possible for each class equipment and calculated their total cost. Is this realistic? No. But it's what they could get versus rolling for money. Note this is only what the class gives, and so would be higher when backgrounds are taken into consideration.

As you will see, in most cases it's a trap at average rolled gold, and in many cases it's a trap at maximum gold (4 definite, the Barbarian a probable if you include backgrounds). Meanwhile there are two classes that are better off for rolling starting gold (I'm looking at you, Bard; Sorcerer).

[TABLE="class: grid, width: 100%, align: center"]
[TR]
[TD]Class[/TD]
[TD]Maximum Equipment Cost[/TD]
[TD]Maximum Rolled Gold[/TD]
[TD]Average Rolled Gold[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Barbarian[/TD]
[TD]72[/TD]
[TD]80[/TD]
[TD]50[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Bard[/TD]
[TD]112[/TD]
[TD]200[/TD]
[TD]125[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Cleric[/TD]
[TD]150[/TD]
[TD]200[/TD]
[TD]125[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Druid[/TD]
[TD]90[/TD]
[TD]80[/TD]
[TD]50[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Fighter[/TD]
[TD]263[/TD]
[TD]200[/TD]
[TD]125[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Monk[/TD]
[TD]37.5[/TD]
[TD]20[/TD]
[TD]12.5[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Paladin[/TD]
[TD]254[/TD]
[TD]200[/TD]
[TD]125[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Ranger[/TD]
[TD]133[/TD]
[TD]200[/TD]
[TD]125[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Rogue[/TD]
[TD]106[/TD]
[TD]160[/TD]
[TD]100[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Sorcerer[/TD]
[TD]67[/TD]
[TD]120[/TD]
[TD]75[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Warlock[/TD]
[TD]130[/TD]
[TD]160[/TD]
[TD]100[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Wizard[/TD]
[TD]117[/TD]
[TD]160[/TD]
[TD]100[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

Why are you comparing maximum equipment cost to average rolled gold? Is the assumption that players will pick the most expensive options out of their starting choices with the intent to sell them later?

 

[Yunru]

Why are you comparing maximum equipment cost to average rolled gold? Is the assumption that players will pick the most expensive options out of their starting choices with the intent to sell them later?

Well I started out comparing maximum to maximum for AL and the likes, and then I realised that someone might actually suffer having to roll the dice so I threw in average rolls.

I'm not saying a player would pick all the most expensive items (although they might), but by taking the maximum it establishes an upper boundary. The prices can vary based on what people pick though, mainly due to massive differences between armour tiers and between ranged and melee weapons.

 

[FrogReaver]

Interesting!

 

[CapnZapp]

[MENTION=88085]kalani[/MENTION] did pretty much this in the AL forum.

There the rule is you get only half money if you trade in gotten items. Still, it must have been worth it, that post is pretty exhaustive.

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