I bear the PC wealth guidelines in mind as a cap on the maximum amount of usable magic gear a PC should have at any particular level if the CR system is to work right & the classes be roughly balanced, but I use the NPC wealth table as the standard starting amount for PCs and roughly the minimum amount they should have to be balanced vs each other & the monsters. The main effect of the guidelines is that I run mostly published scenarios and I've noticed that published 3e scenarios usually have much less treasure than their 1e/2e equivalents, I even find myself increasing 3e treasure hoards which I never did in earlier editions.
How do the Wealth Guidelines affect your style of play?
- Thread starter BSF
- Start date
The Thayan Menace
First Post
Too Hard-Core for d20
You know, have you ever looked up a dictionary definition for the word "random"?
I believe it will typically include many of the following descriptions:
... arbitrary, frivolous, gratuitously wrong, incoherent, inelegant, not well organized, poorly chosen, unpredictable, undirected, and unproductive ....
These are not exactly terms I would be proud to associate with my DMing style.
This sounds like a campaign with a high PC body count.Connorsrpg said:
Good point, but it's also not exactly heroic to keep running away from your opponents because you don't have the necessary resources to deal with them.Connorsrpg said:
Perhaps not, but do you ever notice the large roster of dead PCs?Connorsrpg said:
I certainly hope so ... and, in your campaign, it almost looks like a necessity.Connorsrpg said:
I am sure you won't let that happen. In fact, if you consistently short your players on treasure ... I can guarantee that it won't.Connorsrpg said:
Connorsrpg said:
Ah, so I see you're a fan of the Rick James school of DMing .... 
Connorsrpg said:
"I can see that."
You know, have you ever looked up a dictionary definition for the word "random"?
I believe it will typically include many of the following descriptions:
... arbitrary, frivolous, gratuitously wrong, incoherent, inelegant, not well organized, poorly chosen, unpredictable, undirected, and unproductive ....
These are not exactly terms I would be proud to associate with my DMing style.
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The Thayan Menace
First Post
Player Enjoyment Before All
Agreed ....S'mon said:Connorspg, don't take any notice of Thayan, if your players are enjoying your game it's all good.
Crothian said:
For the most part I agree with this. I won't, however, allow them to go far beyond or far under what the guidelines are. I generally make sure each encounter is tailored to the party at the given time, and I check their gear to make sure it'll be challenging and they have some ways of dealing with the challenges. Makes it easier on the DM as he doesn't have to check party gear the whole time, and it makes it nice for the players if they sometimes receive something they don't expect.
Pinotage
Thanee
First Post
I do keep an eye on the wealth guidelines, but I mostly ignore them. Basically, when I have given a lot of treasure, so the PCs are above the guidelines, I then try to give them not too much in the near future to even things out a bit.
But then again, I also don't use EL either, but rather decide upon opposition guided by my own intuition as to how diffcult the encounter will be. I can estimate that pretty good.
I usually give treasures, that make sense, altho sometimes I generate random treasures, too, mostly because then some obscure pieces of treasure are sometimes found, which could add some funny moments to the campaign, and I don't like treasure to be custom-made for the PCs, therefore I rarely put in treasure with the express purpose to be given to a specific PC.
Bye
Thanee
But then again, I also don't use EL either, but rather decide upon opposition guided by my own intuition as to how diffcult the encounter will be. I can estimate that pretty good.
I usually give treasures, that make sense, altho sometimes I generate random treasures, too, mostly because then some obscure pieces of treasure are sometimes found, which could add some funny moments to the campaign, and I don't like treasure to be custom-made for the PCs, therefore I rarely put in treasure with the express purpose to be given to a specific PC.
Bye
Thanee
Aus_Snow
First Post
Same here, verbatim.Crothian said:
But in my case, I'd add that many parts of the system (when that's D&D to begin with) have been reworked, mostly in fairly minor ways, to better support the kinds of roleplaying experience we're after.
The emphasis is less on each character's wealth and possessions, and more on his or her strengths, weaknesses and other innate qualities (when compared with straight D&D, in the RAW, i.e. core 3 or basic SRD).
Belen
Legend
The Thayan Menace said:[/COLOR]
These are not exactly terms I would be proud to associate with my DMing style.
Snarky much? Just because someone does not play your way, does not mean that they play the wrong way. The PCs can be well below their wealth by level and still have fun, challenging encounters without dying every five seconds.
arwink
Clockwork Golem
I paid attention to the wealth guidelines, complete with random audits to double check appropriate treasure, exactly once.
It was, without a doubt, the campaign I've had the least amount of fun running in 3e. The players didn't enjoy the feeling that their wealth was being monitored, and it caused a great deal of problems when they were dividing treasure. Then, just to top it off, we had a TPK the session after everyone's wealth levels were correct for their level, on an encounter that was an appropriate EL for the party.
These days I tend to run DnD just like I did in the old days - handing out treasure and writing up encounters that I think are appropriate for the party. Occasionally I'll use the EL and wealth guidelines as a double-check if I'm not sure about something, but things work well enough without bothering with the extra paperwork.
It was, without a doubt, the campaign I've had the least amount of fun running in 3e. The players didn't enjoy the feeling that their wealth was being monitored, and it caused a great deal of problems when they were dividing treasure. Then, just to top it off, we had a TPK the session after everyone's wealth levels were correct for their level, on an encounter that was an appropriate EL for the party.
These days I tend to run DnD just like I did in the old days - handing out treasure and writing up encounters that I think are appropriate for the party. Occasionally I'll use the EL and wealth guidelines as a double-check if I'm not sure about something, but things work well enough without bothering with the extra paperwork.
Belen
Legend
arwink said:
Bingo. The campaign where I used the wealth by level chart sucked. People were too concerned about the items they had and each PC went out of their way to optimize their loadout.
In the end, they wanted to go back to random treasure where the only magic items that could be purchased readily were potions, scrolls, and wands. The default wealth by level really sucks.
Also, I have come to believe that the wealth by level rules are unsed inappropriately in many cases. I know a lot of DMs that use them as magic item limits. Instead, they are supposed to gause the entire wealth of a character. Thus, if Redgar owns a boat, then that should be included in his wealth etc.
