How much Gold are monsters supposed to ave ?

[Istar]

Uisng Scales of War as an example, how much Gold are monsters supposed to have.

We are at level 3 and only have 191 gold each.

Is it only the gold stated in the module, or are all the monsters supposed to have their own gold amount like ye old 2nd Edition treasure types.

Or is the gold supposed to be "ONLY" what is stated in the module text ?

 

[Iron Sky]

All the gold to be given out over the course of the adventure are listed in the Treasure Parcels section.

However, since where those are given out are up to the DM, he could easily split one of the parcels up into a bunch of smaller chunks and distribute those to the monsters as "pocket change".

 

[Victim]

Plus your gold goes a lot farther at lower levels. Plate armor is 50 gp instead of over a thousand; and even basic magic items can be had for several hundred gp.

 

[Ryujin]

We played through the opening Scales of War adventures and found them to be quite light on treasure in general, not just the monetary sort. The DM is now trying to more balanced now that we've hit Paragon, and has dropped the Scales adventures.

 

[Istar]

All the gold to be given out over the course of the adventure are listed in the Treasure Parcels section.

However, since where those are given out are up to the DM, he could easily split one of the parcels up into a bunch of smaller chunks and distribute those to the monsters as "pocket change".

Okay so the treasure parcels is it then

 

[eamon]

Okay so the treasure parcels is it then

IIRC, if you make an estimate using the rules for starting above first level, your wealth is expected to be on the order of 4 times the value of an item of your level (very roughly; don't be shocked by a factor 2 error here). Below around 5th level, you'll have less gold due since it takes a while to catch up to the norm from the 1st level's abnormally low amount.

Edit: Reasonable estimate past level 5: around 900gp * 5^(level/5) at the start of the level.

 

[keterys]

In the course of getting from 1st to 2nd, a party of five should find (or have the ability to find) about 720g, with consumables and the like coming off of that, and 2nd to 3rd another 1080g. So, 1800g as a group - you've got about 1000g. Depending on whether you've also gotten potions, normal items, lost money due to expenses or failing to find/fight stuff, it might not be that far off.

 

[DracoSuave]

lost money due ... failing to find/fight stuff, it might not be that far off.

Not supposed to not find stuff. If a parcel is overlooked, they're supposed to find it later.

 

[keterys]

Not supposed to not find stuff. If a parcel is overlooked, they're supposed to find it later.

A common misconception:

DMG p125
'Sometimes it’s a good idea to include treasures with no associated encounter, such as a hidden cache of gold or stashed item that the characters can find with careful searching after they’ve overcome a few encounters.'

Similarly, if you fireball the 300gp painting that was part of one parcel, or let the minor quest-toting NPC that was going to give you a parcel of money die...

Or just receive and/or drink a lot of potions.

Further, still DMG p125:
'At the start of an adventure, look at the adventure in chunks of eight to ten encounters. (Include major quest rewards as if they were encounters, and if the party completes five minor quests, include those five rewards as a single encounter as well.) For each of those chunks, look at the treasure parcels on the following pages. Find the level of the characters as they work through those encounters, and note the parcels of treasure you will give out over the course of the encounters.'

It is often entirely possible to level while skipping an encounter. If that encounter happened to be the one with the dragon, and you negotiated with it, rather than killing it and taking its hoard, that can easily be a parcel lost. After all, the adventure was designed and that parcel placed there.

Or, to use an example from a game I ran, my party traded the dragon an item of their own in exchange for something from its hoard they wanted, then continued their quest. Should they get reimbursed for the item they traded away because they lost its value in play? I'd hope not...

There are no rules on those pages for replacing parcels that the party misses. Unless you're seeing one I've missed.

 

[ExploderWizard]

Not supposed to not find stuff. If a parcel is overlooked, they're supposed to find it later.

Really? Why bother with perception checks then? Just say the PC's find all the cleverly hidden loot. Better yet, why would anyone conceal a hoard in the first place if invaders find it automatically?