It seems like I've been beating the same drum in almost every thread I post in the last week or so. I'll try and stop before I become too much of a one-trick-pony. But I think it is applicable so here goes:
Read Robin Laws'
Robins Laws of Good Gamemastering and try to categorize your players as to what type of roleplayer they are and what part of the game makes them happy and coming back for more. If it looks like most of them get their fun out of kicking butt, powergaming and getting cool treasure (and understand that I don't regard any of those as bad things) then I would suggest not running a campaign with this level of granularity for them.
That said, as a player, I'd probably really enjoy it.
I am a Tactician at heart. I love delving into the minutae of logistics and have been known to read U.S. Army Survival Manuals for fun with great frequency. In the campaign I'm currently playing in, we were recently shipwrecked on an uncharted island (what are the odds of
that?
). I took great delight in cataloging our resources, prioritizing their removal from the wrecked ship, coming up with creative uses for them and trying to use what we had to create a makeshift vessel to get off the island (Quall's Feather Token: Tree, use number 1,002!
). In that environment, securing a supply of food and water, shelter, tools and a means of making an ocean-going craft were critical to the success of the adventure. I love this sort of stuff.
A few other things that I've done and seen done to enhance immersion:
Props as treasure - You don't want the character to have to track every piece of equipment he has with a little doo-dad of some sort. But in the past, we've used actual foreign coins to serve as in- game money and little plastic gemstones to represent gems we've discovered. I found that this enhanced roleplaying when you slid a few coppers across the table to the GM when buying a drink. Even better were the times when I was trying to bribe information out of an NPC and I could watch the GM's expression change as I began stacking silver coins in front of him.
Non-Standard Magic Items - +3 Shocking Greatswords are cool and all, but the magic items that I always remember and that enhance the game are the ones that have unusual powers that might not be considered "powerful" in the typical game. A hooded cloak that can never get wet, no matter how much it rains is a neat item. A small pair of chain links enchanted such that when pulled on can expand to 100' long is a distinctive item. A hat than can transform itself into any kind of headwear, a sword that glows when somebody tells a lie in its presence, or a shield that can act as a Tenser's Floating Disc for 2 hours each day are all the kind of "signature items" that help breathe life into a campaign.
Non-Standard Non-Magic Items - This is kind of like the last bit but even non-magic items can really stand out if they are described in a detailed manner. I had an NPC weaponsmith in my last big campaign who was a master of craftsmanship but crappy as an artist. His weapons were almost always well made but very simple and unattractive to look at. Not the sorts of things that a noble would want hanging off his belt, but the average soldier would love to have one of his swords, even though they had plain, unadorned quillons. Switching up Masterwork qualities can also help make things interesting. I don't think there would be anything unbalancing about saying that a certain Masterwork longsword didn't grant a +1 to hit, but did give a +1 to damage because of the serrations along the edge.
I guess part of what I'm getting at is that many players won't mind if they get less treasure (in terms of strict GP value) so long as the treasure they get is "cool". The Halfling Rogue that I'm currently playing wouldn't mind finding a +2 Frost Dagger. But I'd be even happier to find a Rope of Climbing with a personality, named Squiggly. Mega cool.
Once again, I caution you to honestly assess your players and think about whether they will have as much fun with that sort of game as you will. Ask them outright and see what they say. If they aren't wild about the idea of a more austere campaign, you can still add a few of those touches to keep you happy without making the game too "grim and gritty".
Good luck.
They often whined that they were "weak" on equipment...and I think they were right. This is something to handle with care.
