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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Whisper72" data-source="post: 1722219" data-attributes="member: 17339">Heh.... I am always amazed at all the ppl screaming and yelling about 'needing' this and that as a PC, otherwise it's not fair... blah blah blah... as long as the DM is about a balanced game, and it sounds like this one is, then it should be glaringly obvious to all that as the power of the PC's is lowered, the whole CR system goes out of the window. Since the CR system is clunky (especially if multiple / mixed monsters are encountered), it is no big loss to just chuck it.So... to come back to the original question: how to do a low economy game, some points and thoughts on the matter:- using a silver standard is fine, the main issue is to dole out less monetary treasureWhen thinking of 'realistic' money, and wealth of 'commoners' versus 'nobles' and the PC's, remember some things:- in a medieval world, using current currency standards, the average bloke in the street did not earn an average of 15,000 USD as you may be used to in the States, but the commoners earned more like USD 250 like in many third world countries. Similarly, nobles earned boatloads of money compared to commoners, compared to the various corrupt leaders of most third world nations scooping up millions if not billions of USD worth of cash.So keep in mind that a commoner not being able to afford a decent meal in a first class inn is not per se a strange thing. The disparaties are a lot bigger then we are used to in western countries of today.- most trade was not handled using cash anyhoo, and trade items and services are a fair exchange for goods and other services- houses etc. were not very commonly sold / bought. Most farming villages have houses built by the people who live in them, with the various villagers helping eachother. Thus, it is difficult to hang a real 'price' on a house, and even when ppl have barely two coins to rub together, they could well live in a big / decent house if this was somehow inherited, or 'paid' for with services i.s.o. coinsSome things I myself have done to lower the whole economy while still keeping the PC's as the heroic centerpieces of the adventures they play:alter the whole magic item system:- potions are alchemical, and can be relatively widely bought. since they have 'expiration dates' after which 'unforseen effects' may occur, they usually have to be bought, as those found in older treasure vaults are 'suspect'- scrolls are rarely found, as they are not truly magical per se, and so need to brave the elements and time to survive- on the other hand, mages only need special inks (which are expensive, but not ridiculously so) to scribe spells into their spellbooks, and can trade for new spells, or find them in dusty tomes. Wizards rarely have any real trouble getting a hold of enough spells, getting precisely the one they want may cause some sort of search or adventure though- +X weapons are considered 'worked'. They are fabricated using magical / alchemical processes and using arcane ingredients, but are not truly magical items per se in the sense as in standard DnD. +1 weapons are relatively easy to make, the higher the +, the more difficult and expensive the ingredients. The relative costs are scaled down muchly compared to the DMG- wands etc. are 'holders' for magical energy. Storing this energy costs money and time, but is not ridiculously expensive. most wands are cheaper then in the standard DMG- truly wondrous items are very rare and strange. This includes all the various 'buff' items. Most PC's in my campaig will be lucky to have one or two buff items by the time they reach 14th level or so...Then there is the change to monsters- first of all, most of the encounters are with humanoid monsters. All the aberrations etc are considered strange beings either from other planes, the underdark or summoned / created by mad mages in their laboratories.- there where monsters have resistances to weapons, the plusses of the weapons count towards being magical weapons. Furthermore, since the higher + weapons are made of arcane materials in the first place, chances are that many have silver, adamantine etc used within them, thus also overcoming those resistances- I do not use the whole CR system, and simply carefully balance the monsters I chose and their abilities (and more importantly, the intelligence with which I 'play' them) with the abilities of the PC's, keeping in mind the repertoire of spells, items and skills/powers they have. This does not mean that I never put an encounter that is easy or too difficult for them, but if I do, it is because that is the way I want it. It is IMHO healthy for PC's to learn to run every now and then, and just as important to waltz over the opposition every now and then, to flaunt your PC powers, which is part of the fun of playing DnD- as for treasure. Most treasure will be carefully chosen to fit the logic of the encounter. When raiding a bandid roost that has been preying on caravan's, expect to find mostly trade goods, when sacking a treasury, expect to find lots of coins, but no magical items. Most magical items are found on the bodies of the slain, and rarely in ancient caches as hidden treasure or as part of burial relics, never 'random' in some sack of loot on a goblin's body...When using such ideas and simple common sense, it is very easy to do a low magic / low economy (in the end, low economy practically equates low magic) campaign.Just be consistent. If the scales are lowered on the end of the PC's, they should be lowered elsewhere as well in a logical fashion... In the end, the PC's should still remain the centrepiece / the heroes of the story. They need not, nay, they should not crawl through the mud, just have less gadgets to go around, and need to think more on what to use when, but the various NPC's they meet should be in the same quandary...</blockquote>

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