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

[Peter BOSCO'S]

"Living like a Rock-star" is 10Gp per day, so even one million GP's will last less than 274 years. Therefore elves are going to need to be the greediest.

 

[MGibster]

How can you say you're roleplaying a character when you admit your character desires being wealthy (as most people do) but then say you don't roleplay that desire?

I said no such thing. This is what I said: "As a player, even when playing a Rogue, I don't really care about gold. My character might, but it doesn't make much of a difference to me." I thought I made it fairly clear that while I - the player - don't care about wealth that my character might. How you made the leap from that to bad role playing is a mystery that will likely never be solved.

I have a lot of fun gaming memories I've collected over the last 30+ years involving character deaths, character homicides, fun PCs and NPCs, unique situations, and that one time Chris made me laugh while I was chugging water at the table and I ended up spitting it up drenching everyone and everything in the vicinity. I have exactly one fond memory associated with treasure and it was in a Hell on Earth game. The PCs were searching some post apocalyptic ruins and one of them found a motorcycle, another found a Humvee, and the third PC found half a tube of toothpaste (random treasure generation). And I still bring it up with that player in other games by adding half tubes of toothpaste to treasure she loots.

If you got into your characters head, I'm sure you could think of tons of stuff to do with that gold. Everything from donating it to the needy and poor (a noble LG Paladin) to a boat party with cocaine and hookers (a CN Rogue) to building a dark keep, and employing a mercenary company on retainer, plus an assassin or two (LE Fighter).

I already do that but I don't find that to be particularly fun or interesting because it doesn't have anything to do with the core game play which is adventuring. But if I'm spending gold as part of an effort to gather information that's part of the adventure that's fun. But I typically don't need an excessive amount of gold we get from adventuring to accomplish that.

 

[MGibster]

"Living like a Rock-star" is 10Gp per day, so even one million GP's will last less than 274 years. Therefore elves are going to need to be the greediest.

Ha! When I say living like a rock star I mean blowing into town like a wrecking ball. Like 500 gold spent over a three or four day period where my character buys meals, drinks, and entertainment for all of his friends. With friends being defined as whoever happens to be in the tavern when he's spending.

 

[Magister Ludorum]

Only in 3e (and its clone) did I give out treasure at the levels listed in the DMG. That may be because we don't do much dungeon delving in my games.

When characters come upon a treasure horde (rare, but it occasionally happens) the PCs usually spend it on role-playing, non-combat causes such as feeding the poor, investing in a scheme to drain the local swamp, buying into a can't fail business model based on cat ranching, etc....

We also level much more slowly and (one reason I can't use published adventures) focus on the characters' downtime activities as much as their "adventuring".

There is no solution that would appeal to all players.

I do tend to use the Eberron concept of common and uncommon magic items being for sale while less common items can only be found or crafted (using the rule that each magic item is separate formula and you have to adventure to find some of the components).

I rarely give out monetary treasure amounts greater than the tier 1 (or tier 2) amounts in the DMG even though we play to very high levels.

 

[RobJN]

Yes, strongholds are a very nice, but what about characters that are not interested in that, but just want a really, really good sword?

You've got to spend gold to find a worthy smith, and then pay that smith for his work. He'll probably insist on using Really Good Sword materials, so either you have to pay for those (if the smith has them), or quest for them if he doesn't. Fighting or bribing entire clans/tribes of dwarves/orcs for their Really Good Sword materials will cost a pretty penny.

Once word of the acquisition of Really Good Sword materials gets out, said materials will have to be defended. So that means spells/mercenaries/bribing the local thieves' guilds have to be bought (or bought off). The local lord will probably want a cut of the Really Good Sword materials, either directly, or through taxation.....

 

[Peter BOSCO'S]

As money increases time between adventures should increase. There's nothing wrong with saying "the winter passes uneventfully and it is now spring, everyone needs to pay 100 days of lifestyle expenses" once everyone has more than that much money.

 

[HaroldTheHobbit]

I find it liberating that gold isn't tied to mechanics or advancement in 5e. It opens up for players to spend gold for roleplaying purposes and for me as DM to create plot goldsinks, as it should be.

In my current campaign I have a dwarf noble wizard who spend every copper on buying scrolls, decorating his armor and buying fancy representative clothes, a paladin who is building an orphanage and funding a bard academy project to spread words of hope across the lands, a pregnant Goliath barbarian who is building a safe home away from the frozen tundra and setting up funds for her child, etc etc.

And one of the goals in the current plot arch is to actually build a spelljammer ship (when the lazy players finally find a working helm).

So for me gold in 5e is just fine.

 

[Lyxen]

I find it liberating that gold isn't tied to mechanics or advancement in 5e. It opens up for players to spend gold for roleplaying purposes and for me as DM to create plot goldsinks, as it should be.

Exactly, like not having fixed magic items value liberates the DM and frees him to introduce fun items with various powers rather than giving +X items so that the power curve is respected.

At worst, the gold is not used, so it's not a problem in any case.

 

[Jmarso]

I've found ways to bleed my players of money to keep them in the hunt. Part of the process is not going Monty Haul in the first place. I'm almost always downgrading loot found in published adventures.

 

[MGibster]

I'm currently a player in an Eberron campaign and the DM pretty much did away with money. "Whatever expenses you have you've got the gold for as long as you're not trying to buy a castle or something." So none of us keeps track of the amount of gold we have. So it's nice to have a campaign were none of us really cares about how much gold we're going to make.

 

[Nefermandias]

I'm currently a player in an Eberron campaign and the DM pretty much did away with money. "Whatever expenses you have you've got the gold for as long as you're not trying to buy a castle or something." So none of us keeps track of the amount of gold we have. So it's nice to have a campaign were none of us really cares about how much gold we're going to make.

So, infinite rations, healing potions, hirelings, antitoxins, Purple worm venom and such?

 

[MGibster]

So, infinite rations, healing potions, hirelings, antitoxins, Purple worm venom and such?

We started the campaign at 5th level. But I've been playing D&D for more than 30 years now and the last time I can recall keeping track of rations was when the first Bush was president. The way I see it, I'm playing a game called Dungeons & Dragons which is all about larger than life heroic figures battling evil forces within a high fantasy milieu. If I wanted the tedium of keeping track of every gold piece or odd bit of gear and provisions, I'd go look for a game called Ledgers & Larders.

 

[Nefermandias]

We started the campaign at 5th level. But I've been playing D&D for more than 30 years now and the last time I can recall keeping track of rations was when the first Bush was president. The way I see it, I'm playing a game called Dungeons & Dragons which is all about larger than life heroic figures battling evil forces within a high fantasy milieu. If I wanted the tedium of keeping track of every gold piece or odd bit of gear and provisions, I'd go look for a game called Ledgers & Larders.

Sure, what about the rest?

Of course the DM could go out of his way to make consumables scarce, but wouldn't make a lot of sense to do that in a place like Waterdeep, for example.

 

[MGibster]

Sure, what about the rest?

I've never played in a campaign with a significant number of hirelings and I think I'd just tell the players to be reasonable about how many healing potions and purple worm venom they might have.

 

[Maxperson]

Exactly, like not having fixed magic items value liberates the DM and frees him to introduce fun items with various powers rather than giving +X items so that the power curve is respected.

At worst, the gold is not used, so it's not a problem in any case.

My players and I haven't relied on the game for gold use in decades. I've had some pay for new temples to their god in towns and cities. I've had others buy patents of nobility in order to become more upwardly mobile. Still more have decided to donate it to growing the town that they fell in love with and making it larger and more prosperous.