I am the opposite of Monte Haul - give me your advice inside please!

[Haffrung Helleyes]

This is actually one of my pet peeves of D&D.

In fantasy literature, protagonists are always stumbling on huge treasure troves. Then events (or ale and whores) intervene, and they are once penniless again.

But there's no good way in D&D to make your players spend their money on ale and whores. So D&D ends up with fairly rigid 'expected wealth by level' charts , and treasure guidelines.

Your current situation creates an opportunity -- you can have your PCs stumble upon an opportunity they can exploit to 'get rich quick'.

Maybe they stumble upon an unlooted tomb while exploring a ruin recently uncovered by an avalanche, and find a chest literally overflowing with gold and gems.

Or maybe they figure out a way to rob the local thieve's guild, or the local bank!

You can't really do these things well in a typical D&D session because they break D&D's assumptions about character wealth that are built into the system. So, I would try to do something memorable with this opportunity.

Ken

 

[Remathilis]

Suggestion:

The PCs stumble onto something odd: an ancient book in an unreadable language, a gem, a sword hilt, something that appears valueless but has an odd magical aura about it. Once the PCs return to civilization, a wealthy sage/priest/noble/collector takes interest in it. The interested party offers X gold, where X is equal to where the PCs should be - what they have already (alternately, some tempting pre-made items, uniquely suited to the PCs, like a bastard sword for someone specialized in it). They can even create a plausible answer to what the item is (the book of Pelor, perhaps the first one made; the rare blue diamond of Ishtar, the sword of the First King) to justify the cost.

Of course, who the "collector" is and what the items "real" purpose is will come back to bite them in the ass somewhere down the line...

 

[Nymrohd]

Your players do not waste money on ale and whores?

 

[Rel]

One thing I'll be doing so I don't have to hand out so much magic treasure is to just spontaneously upgrade the gear they've already got. I've created a little chart where I can keep track of who has what gear and keep in mind who is due for an upgrade. Sometimes that means they will find something generally appropriate to the character.

Other times I'll wait for an "opportune moment" like them scoring a crit on a BBEG or pulling off an amazing skill check. When that happens I'll add an extra +1 to a bit of gear they've got or give it a special enchantment appropriate to the level and situation.

For example if the Paladin lands a crit that kills a dragon then I might turn his Greatsword into a Dragonslaying weapon. Things like that.

I've built an excuse for doing this (nearly all of my campaign world is covered in a "Magical Mist of Chaos" that causes magical effects all the time) into the setting and it is why those who do great and terrible deeds gain power and sometimes even eventually attain a sort of godhood (a possibility if the PC's ever get high enough level, which is unlikely due to how long our campaigns usually run).

 

[Nymrohd]

One thing I'll be doing so I don't have to hand out so much magic treasure is to just spontaneously upgrade the gear they've already got. I've created a little chart where I can keep track of who has what gear and keep in mind who is due for an upgrade. Sometimes that means they will find something generally appropriate to the character.

Other times I'll wait for an "opportune moment" like them scoring a crit on a BBEG or pulling off an amazing skill check. When that happens I'll add an extra +1 to a bit of gear they've got or give it a special enchantment appropriate to the level and situation.

For example if the Paladin lands a crit that kills a dragon then I might turn his Greatsword into a Dragonslaying weapon. Things like that.

I've built an excuse for doing this (nearly all of my campaign world is covered in a "Magical Mist of Chaos" that causes magical effects all the time) into the setting and it is why those who do great and terrible deeds gain power and sometimes even eventually attain a sort of godhood (a possibility if the PC's ever get high enough level, which is unlikely due to how long our campaigns usually run).

I've done that a few times already as well (though I did make sure to count it out of expect treasure). Also if you have some wizard or cleric who likes crafting items (my party's wizard loves that ritual) you can do the following. Provide treasure items that can be sold for some gold but can also be used for a specific item creation ritual, possibly allowing the caster to surpass his level because of their potency. E.g. the lost Moon Opal of Celverune can upgrade the cleric's holy symbol.

 

[Cyronax]

Sometimes earning a magic item as a reward with political strings attached is an incentive to involve themselves in a local economy. For instance, if they're given a sword +1 in order to defend a specific town, they could be induced to making that a temp or occaisional base of operations. The sword could be on loan for a certain amount of time or it could be doled out for a discrete purpose.

I also like the idea of running a 'Holcroft Covenant' adventure or campaign arc. (The Holcroft Covenant - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). Its based on the idea of giving your PCs way too much wealth, but with a lot of moral and political strings attached. (A Robert Ludlum book ... and eventually a Michael Caine movie from the 1985).

The plot really speaks for itself. It could occupy several adventures and/or levels of play. Basically the PCs receive the whereabouts of a hoard of treasure that an ancestor or a dead ally had been diverting from a defeated or existing Evil Empire/BBEG. The PCs then have to decide how to use this hoard for their own ends. In the book, Holcroft ends up using former Nazi-treasure ($4 billion in 1980s dollars) to make amends for the Holocaust and past evil deeds.

C.I.D.

 

[Rel]

I've done that a few times already as well (though I did make sure to count it out of expect treasure). Also if you have some wizard or cleric who likes crafting items (my party's wizard loves that ritual) you can do the following. Provide treasure items that can be sold for some gold but can also be used for a specific item creation ritual, possibly allowing the caster to surpass his level because of their potency. E.g. the lost Moon Opal of Celverune can upgrade the cleric's holy symbol.

Yep! That's another great idea I plan to implement!

Actually I go a step further and the Enchant Item ritual lets you create an item for 150% of normal cost. But you can also find specific rituals that allow you to create a particular item for 75% of normal cost. So the rituals themselves are part of the treasure.

 

[Nymrohd]

Yep! That's another great idea I plan to implement!

Actually I go a step further and the Enchant Item ritual lets you create an item for 150% of normal cost. But you can also find specific rituals that allow you to create a particular item for 75% of normal cost. So the rituals themselves are part of the treasure.

That is a nice idea as well Another thing I am planning is not so much a special ritual as Rel's suggests but rather giving them as a quest reward access to a location that will allow them to enchant a weapon better. Specifically a grove of poplars in the shadowfell that will grant them magic for the blood of a certain humanoid they are likely to capture soon.

 

[Wolfwood2]

Some of the replies have been going this way, but why not have the PCs literally earn it? As in, an NPC will pay them a lot of money/items to do something for them, and they accept an in-game contract. Some variations on this:

1) A relatively poor individual holds the deed to some potentially valuable property. However, he can't hope to sell it for full market value unless it's cleared of monsters. The PCs are offered a cut of the eventual sale.

2) A powerful official has a dirty secret in his past, and the evidence can be found in his former childhood home. Bring it back, and it could be worth big money to his political opponents.

3) It's known that a teleport sigil exists in a legendary city on the other side of the world, but the key has been lost. Retrieve it and open up an entire new nation to trade.

It doesn't all have to be straightforward "this guy hires you to do stuff" missions. Opportunities to profit can be easily woven into ongoing plots and adventures. You just have to train your players to keep an eye out for them.

 

[Nymrohd]

Also there are profits that do not affect game balance at all. The deed to a castle might be an amazing reward, but it will not give your players any benefit in-combat.

Ofc you can always go with what I plan for my next campaign. There is no standardized way to make magic items; there are many different ways to do so and all require rare ingredients you cannot simply buy. Separating gold from magic items completely allows you to actually have gargantuan dragon hordes where a dragon can actually sleep in a bed of gold without completely overpowering your player's gear.