D&D 5E Help - I Over-did It!

[Soul Stigma]

I'm a DM and I and the players usually partake of alcohol (etc.) when running a session. One particular evening I took a decongestant earlier in the day and forgot about it. (Stay with me, I'm oversharing so folks understand how exactly I'm in this situation). The ultimate effect that night was I lost time (blacked out) and was improvising to boot.

Coming to the point, I gave out entirely too much treasure and went all Monty Haul. It's been a couple sessions since then and I am constantly bugged by the fact that the party is carrying entirely too much treasure at the moment but I don't want to be an a-hole and say, "Actually you have much less treasure than I said because I was on another planet."

I have DMed for nearly 30 years (yes I'm old) but never put myself in this particular situation. Any advice is appreciated on how to deal with this or do I just let it go and accept that they are stupidly rich at 3rd (leveling to 4th before Saturday's session) level?

Thanks in advance and please don't judge me, lololol.


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[Ganymede81]

"Actually you have much less treasure than I said because I was on another planet."

I think that's a perfectly fine way to go.

Explain to your players that you were hopped up on booze and Benadryl and that you screwed up in giving out too much treasure. Maybe let them pick the item that they want to keep and the items they want to lose.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

I'm a DM and I and the players usually partake of alcohol (etc.) when running a session. One particular evening I took a decongestant earlier in the day and forgot about it. (Stay with me, I'm oversharing so folks understand how exactly I'm in this situation). The ultimate effect that night was I lost time (blacked out) and was improvising to boot.

Coming to the point, I gave out entirely too much treasure and went all Monty Haul. It's been a couple sessions since then and I am constantly bugged by the fact that the party is carrying entirely too much treasure at the moment but I don't want to be an a-hole and say, "Actually you have much less treasure than I said because I was on another planet."

I have DMed for nearly 30 years (yes I'm old) but never put myself in this particular situation. Any advice is appreciated on how to deal with this or do I just let it go and accept that they are stupidly rich at 3rd (leveling to 4th before Saturday's session) level?

It would help if we knew just how "stupidly rich" they are. If they are anything like "10,000 gp per PC" rich, I'd say it's fine, just leave it--it won't seem like so much money anyway in a few levels. But if they are truly stupidly rich, like five billion gp per PC, then you might want to retcon it just because it can alter the tone of the campaign if PCs have to spend all their time protecting their Scrooge McDuck bank vaults.

FWIW, I've given out Legendary items to 1st level PCs at the start of the campaign, and it didn't hurt the campaign any. Actually I think giving out a Horn of Valhalla can potentially be a really good thing for the campaign--if the party is facing TPK they can blow it, but it takes a week or so to recharge so they tend not to use it lightly IMO.

 

[Soul Stigma]

It would help if we knew just how "stupidly rich" they are. If they are anything like "10,000 gp per PC" rich, I'd say it's fine, just leave it--it won't seem like so much money anyway in a few levels. But if they are truly stupidly rich, like five billion gp per PC, then you might want to retcon it just because it can alter the tone of the campaign if PCs have to spend all their time protecting their Scrooge McDuck bank vaults.

FWIW, I've given out Legendary items to 1st level PCs at the start of the campaign, and it didn't hurt the campaign any. Actually I think giving out a Horn of Valhalla can potentially be a really good thing for the campaign--if the party is facing TPK they can blow it, but it takes a week or so to recharge so they tend not to use it lightly IMO.

No, not that rich, thankfully. Item wise they each have decent items for their level but not so much I'm worried about it. Coin wise they are probably (nothing in front of me right now) around 6000.


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[bedir than]

Use the lose of money as a story hook

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[BoldItalic]

You could offer to sell them a house. They can feel good about having a safe place to go home to between adventures, and it probably won't hurt the campaign unless it relies on hanging around inns a lot. Also, they might have to defend it sometimes ...

 

[Soul Stigma]

You could offer to sell them a house. They can feel good about having a safe place to go home to between adventures, and it probably won't hurt the campaign unless it relies on hanging around inns a lot. Also, they might have to defend it sometimes ...

That's not a bad idea. They've just landed in a foreign land where the next adventure will make them trustworthy in the sight of the king. He could offer them a small piece of land at a more than fair price, considering, which they will likely take.


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[FormerlyHemlock]

No, not that rich, thankfully. Item wise they each have decent items for their level but not so much I'm worried about it. Coin wise they are probably (nothing in front of me right now) around 6000.

Cool. Don't try to take it away, then, but do give them opportunities to spend it on cool stuff like dragon's eggs, suits of armor, henchmen, etc. Also dangle stuff in front of them that they can't afford, yet, to motivate more adventuring.

Also, since 6000 gp is 120 lb. (but very dense--if it were a cube of gold it would be about 5.5 inches on a side), make sure you make them tell you where they keep it. Encumbrance rules will come into play if they carry the gold on their persons at all times; but if they bury it in a hole or leave it at home, they have to worry about losing it. Practice your evil DM face so you can ask, "Where is your gold right now?" in the same tone of voice you'd use to ask e.g. "So, do you ever take your armor off to sleep?"

 

[BoldItalic]

That's not a bad idea. They've just landed in a foreign land where the next adventure will make them trustworthy in the sight of the king. He could offer them a small piece of land at a more than fair price, considering, which they will likely take.

Build on that. As a reward for completing a suitable milestone, the king instructs his steward to offer to sell them a plot of land. If they buy it, they become landowners and have privileges not available to the common folk, like the right to bear arms, and travel about freely, and use magic in public, and .... whatever.

Then there is suddenly a law that landowners have to build on their land and actually live there within a year and a day otherwise the land is forfeit back to the king. They can build any kind of residence they like, but it will cost them more money.

And of course landowners have a duty to defend their lands against whatever monsters you care to throw at them.

And there might just happen to be a lost entrance to whatever, in a neglected corner of their property ...

All the hooks you could possibly want

 

[S'mon]

It's usually a lot more fun to go with the in-game consequences of weak characters who are fabulously wealthy - thieves, nobles' tax collectors & criminals' extortionists, beggars, religious &
educational institutions seeking 'donations', etc etc.*

I think 3e/PF is the only system that treats gp as a character-building resource where too much can skew the game through magic item purchase. In 5e it's ok to allow the purchase of a few Uncommon items, but don't allow free purchase if the PCs each have tens of thousands of gp. Instead let them spend the money on land, retainers, an Inn, a villa etc etc - if they can keep it long enough.

* I remember a 4e game where the PCs found at 1st level an old military pay chest with 6,000gp. They were so scared of thieves etc, they hid the chest and never came back!

Edit: I don't think 5e level 4 PCs with 6000gp each is a problem. Just don't let them spend it all on
500gp magic items.