D&D 5E I gave my players too much gold

[transtemporal]

Just let them spend it. 12k doesn't actually let them buy too much in terms of items anyway.

If you want to take it off them, do so in a way that'll fuel the story. For example, the local king/earl/whatever hears of their recent windfall and asks for a hefty donation. There is some historical precedent for this. In times of war, the king would levy a tax of men and equipment on the lords under his reign, but you could avoid this by paying money instead, called Scutage. The PCs probably aren't lords, but the King could hint if they ever intend on becoming such personages, they'd do well to pay early and often. This works especially well if you want to set up the greedy, a-hole King as a future enemy.

And putting their metagame hats on, the players will wonder whether thats the real reason you gave them a bunch of money in the first place...

 

[Fralex]

I'll probably come up with a simple pricing differential between consumable and unconsumable items. Dust of Sneezing should nowhere near as expensive as Gauntlets of Ogre Power. I wish it were something where a bit more guidance had been given in the DMG. I appreciate that there is a concern about players taking the DMG as RAW and insisting that magic items be available at the prices listed, but ballpark prices for the campaigns where DM's do want to sell magic items to their players to players would have been nice.

And I'll try to come up with some cool adventure hooks with price tags that can be pitched to players, as well as some adventures where I've envisioned a possible financial solution. The acquisition of wealth is such a big part of so many adventures, but not all players are interested in the more flavorful ways to spend wealth. When we stop tracking wealth and stop trying to find ways to get that huge chest of silver back to the town, we're losing out on an aspect of the game.

I myself did not notice the DMG said this for some time, but a consumable magic item actually costs half the value of a permanent one. That's why potions of healing are only 50gp.

Don't forget about the Magic Item Details tables! They're my favorite tables, they make it really easy to make magic items more interesting. Oh, in addition to magic items, what if there were magic creatures you could buy? Like a hippogriff egg or something else exotic. Living things are much easier to tie story to. How was this creature acquired in the first place? What if there's an amoral animal-smuggling ring or something? Is the organization connected to something bigger?

 

[The Grand User]

Obviously there's a local young dragoness who takes a liking to one of the party members, but her parents want him to provide a decent dowry first (not too small, not too big). Benefits of this are a friendly dragon and perhaps a small bit of influence on the dragon council.

 

[MARCVS AVRELIVS]

Mystara has something like 336 days in a year. That's around 4000 gp a year to live as an aristocrat, so 12,000 gp is hardly enough to retire on especially split 4 ways.

Living expenses is a fairly good way to suck up PC cash, particularly if they have to roleplay the consequences of living in squalor.

 

[redrick]

I realise this was only an example, but just FYI, clerics (in the classic D&D sense) be dead-dead if caught in Glantri...the Light of Rad is the only one true way, legally speaking.

But he's only dead-dead if caught!

We have a cleric and a dwarf in our Glantri party. And a paladin/assassin. (Defenders of the faith need sharp teeth in a world where religion is punishable by death.) All sorts of great hooks on the table.

 

[jgsugden]

All well and good, but in August 2014, there were no guidelines. The DMG also suggests that magic items are for sale in large communities in a world where magic is ready and available. While it is a system where magic items are not a necessary part of character advancement, it also gives a lot of latitude as to just how available magic items should be in any given game world. The treasure horde tables are also littered with permanent magic items. Just one roll on that table (for levels 5-10) spat back 4 permanent items for me last night. (A +1 weapon, gauntlets of ogre power, winged boots (fly for up to 4 hours a day without spending a spell slot?), and a sentinel shield. So saying "stick to the guidelines" doesn't really mean much, because, well, the guidelines give a lot of options. A store that has a few magic items for sale in a back room is nothing like the magic item levels in your standard 4e campaign.

My numbers above show the average expected number of items you'd find using those very tables. Stick to the guidelines effectively means 'stay in that ballpark'. Would doubling that level of items mess up the world? Probably not. Would tripling it? That is not so sure.

And if you party ends up ahead of the curve because a DM is given too much treasure in a module, because they roll well on random treasures, etc... A smart DM might decide the best path to keep balance levels in check is to reduce subsequent treasure.

Of course, the difference in power from these items might pale in comparison to the difference between a rolled up PC's power level (with a potential 20 at 1st level in their prime stat) and a point buy PC stuck at no more than 17.

 

[was]

If you have a city that's going to be the base of their adventures, they could invest in a house or an inn.

 

[Riley37]

From the posts so far, it looks as if you gave the PCs a lot of gold.

This is NOT the same thing as giving the PLAYERS too much gold. If that were your problem, I would want to join your gaming table, to dilute the gold overflow.

 

[SirAntoine]

Just think about giving less treasure in the future. Once the players get money, taking it away is going to be disappointing.

 

[Psikerlord#]

The DMG prices are just a guide. Adjust them to suit. I think it is a mistake to make any magic items too easily obtained (expendable potions included).