Has Anyone Tried a No Cash Game

[ptolemy18]

I've used the Wealth system mechanics from d20 Modern in fantasy games before, and after the initial culture shock, everybody loved it....With Wealth, you're handwaiving alot, but you're also assuming that people have a "standard of living" ... I found my players were suddenly interested in things like buying land and political clout ... I didn't REDUCE combat loads, but it was a conceptual change. Was a +1 Flaming Longsword really THAT much more effective than a +1 Longsword, when you could keep a high Wealth bonus and hobnob with the rich instead?

Hmmm... that *does* sound cool. Good idea!

Personally, after seeing the "gp land values" listed in TESTAMENT (I'm sure other supplements have done it too), I'm hoping to have some NPC reward one of the player characters with a nice plot of land...

Jason

 

[LostSoul]

The idea on a limit for potions, etc. is you basically get them back next level. So the standard downside (use it once and it is gone) is removed, and thus you need to reign it in a bit.

I was thinking that when you hit the new level, everything you had would be "wiped out" and you'd start from fresh again. Potions, same deal.

I think that's how it's supposed to work under the standard rules. Just because you spend 300 gp on a potion of cure moderate wounds at level 3 doesn't mean your "standard wealth" for level 4 should be reduced.

 

[Impeesa]

Sometime last spring, I ran the first session of what was going to be a decently long campaign (I never got around to running any more of it, but that's a different story). It was a D&D game based closely on Macross/Robotech.. it started in a sleepy fishing village where, several years ago, a giant vessel twice the size of the town had washed ashore. Young dragons took the place of mecha. The idea was that after teleporting the thing out to sea while under attack, and accidentally taking the town with it, the navy would recruit able-bodied townsfolk to help protect the vessel during the return trip.

Anyways, this is relevant because I realized early on in my planning that there would be little (if any) opportunity for the traditional looting of enemies. My plan was that the PCs would be sworn in as knights in service of the king. In this setting, that would normally entitle them to a valuable plot of land, and possibly a stronghold and serfs once they proved themselves worthy (i.e. gained levels and grew in power). In lieu of this, since they were eight months out to sea, they would be given magical gear of equivalent value crafted by the ship's artificer. I figured it would be a nice easy way for them to get what they wanted and stay with the curve.

--Impeesa--

 

[maggot]

(2) Even more importantly... unless I'm totally misinterpreting your idea, you're removing one of the primary motivations of adventuring. What's the point of looking for treasure if your treasure is directly tied to your level?

The primary motivation of adventuring in my campaigns is never to kill people and take there stuff. I usually run heroic save-the-world type stuff, and looting dead bodies actually detracts from the overall heroic feel. The only reason PCs have a motivation to gather wealth is because in D&D wealth equals personal combat power.

And rogues do just fine in my campaigns. Rogue does not equate to thief. And even someone with a thief motivation could still try to pull off the ultimate heist or still the perfect diamond. But doing so would not turn the thief into a better combatant through extra cash. This actually opens up other motivations, such as a cleric that wants to build as many temples to his god as possible. In regular D&D this would be a combat loss, and I don't know many players would would design a character around such a motivation.

 

[maggot]

Shopping and looting gold is one of the highparts of the game in almost every party I've been in.

Shopping is one of my least favorite parts of the game as it is incredibly boring and non-interactive, hence the system. Players can update their characters between games as they see fit, and we can use game time for meaningful interaction.

Looting is a grim reality of D&D that I would also to see go away. In many settings, looting dead bodies is not thematically appopriate.

Plus youre taking away your power as dm to regulate what is brought into your game.

Not at all. As DM, I would have to approve any item like with a starting character. I don't know any DM that just lets you start with whatever you want. They always have veto power.

 

[maggot]

If you are just looking to get rid of gold pieces, have you tried the Wealth system from d20 Modern?

No, I'm actually looking to get rid of the cycle of looting, selling, and shopping that I find boring and genre inappropriate. Changing to another system of Wealth will not remove the cycle.

 

[scourger]

I used a barter system for Omega World, a post-apocalyptic d20 game based on 3.0 D&D. The idea is that there is no "money" since things like clothing, food, shelter, water & weapons have utility that goes beyond fiat or specie. Trade goods could be anything valuable to a particular person or group, or not. I loved it because it removes the kill, loot, sell, rinse & repeat cycle. The players hated it--at first. They didn't feel like they "knew" what anything was "worth" (which was kind of the point). But, when they traded something "shiny" (a rolex wristwatch) to the king of the raccoon-men for his scepter (a vibro mace), they were happier about it. The key, I think, is to keep the player characters' items' power levels increasing as they increase in experience levels. I thought they would drop the flintlocks as they got shotguns, grenades & ray guns; but they didn't.

I think the way to do it for a fantasy D&D game would be to make magic items more rare. I would make them impossible to buy or trade. So, gold or money has no place in acquiring magic items. The spellcasters would be given access to item creation feats for free at the requisite levels. The key would be gathering fantastic components to make items. So, even 1-use items become special since you can't run down to the store and stock up. Permanent items are especially prized. Perhaps a powerful character could combine two lesser items into a single, more powerful item. Of course, the foes have to be largely stripped of magic, items especially, and something has to be done to make spellcasters more equal to non-magic-enhanced-non-spellcasters; perhaps a spellcaster only up half the total levels of a character. Again, these are just things I've pondered; I have no idea how they would play out. But I do think it would make magic feel more magical.

 

[Crothian]

Shopping is one of my least favorite parts of the game as it is incredibly boring and non-interactive, hence the system.

non interactive? It is one of the easiest parts of the game to role play. Or if you just want to remove it from the game session, have it take place on a private message board or during e-mail in the week.

I can understand how it can get bad as people get lazy with it and just open books and assume everything they want they can get.

 

[Herobizkit]

I've often said about D&D that in a real world you'd never want to associate with Player Characters ... as they're basically homeless people sleeping in the forest spending tens of thousands of dollars on weapons.

ROFLMAO!

Heap, consider this yoinked for my new .sig.

 

[Tonguez]

I've modified the Wealth Mechanic combined with Leadership to create 'Influence' which measures the amount of favour a character can call on from those around her. So a character wanting to acquire a boat or a healing balm or dagger +1 will need to have the influence and then interact with the appropirate NPC to get it. (Influence can also be used to allocate particular tasks to 'followers')

Another thing I've used in the past is Handy Haversack Bundles - these a packs with a wealth limit (eg DC 5 - DC 15). A character wanting to 'have' an item can reach in roll the DC and if successful the item will be present