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<blockquote data-quote="Obryn" data-source="post: 6021688" data-attributes="member: 11821">This started mostly in CRPGs, became standard for D&amp;D in 3e, and continues into 4e.&nbsp; And the problem is this: Money is not money and generally isn't used for the things you might ordinarly use money for.&nbsp; Money is a secondary XP track.Money's primary (some would argue only) purpose in default 3e and default 4e is to buy non-class-related power-ups in the form of magic items.&nbsp; And yes, I agree that this is a huge problem.&nbsp; It's an even bigger problem when the tools to create magic items are put into the PCs' hands to the extent they are in both editions.&nbsp; (See: CLW Wands in 3.x)&nbsp; In 3.x, this money-as-XP was somewhat camouflaged but obvious once you looked into how the system really worked.&nbsp; In 4e, WotC gave up the illusion, which leaves us with the completely jacked-up default 4e economy.&nbsp; 4e backpedalled from this a bit with its &quot;Item Rarity&quot; rules.&nbsp; Those help.&nbsp; A lot.&nbsp; But IMO it's still not enough.I don't think this is mainly an RPing issue, but I do agree it's an issue.&nbsp; In my own 4e Dark Sun game, switching over to Inherent Bonuses and completely gutting the magic item economy has allowed me rather unprecedented freedom in doling out treasure.&nbsp; It's also made magic items more fun again, since they're not basic commodities.&nbsp; I'm as free to assign treasure and the like as I have been since 2e, and I'm never going back.&nbsp; (Which is one of many reasons I can't stand Next's &quot;buy your way to a better AC&quot; garbage.)-O</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Obryn, post: 6021688, member: 11821"] This started mostly in CRPGs, became standard for D&D in 3e, and continues into 4e. And the problem is this: Money is not money and generally isn't used for the things you might ordinarly use money for. [B]Money is a secondary XP track.[/B] Money's primary (some would argue [I]only[/I]) purpose in default 3e and default 4e is to buy non-class-related power-ups in the form of magic items. And yes, I agree that this is a huge problem. It's an even [I]bigger[/I] problem when the tools to create magic items are put into the PCs' hands to the extent they are in both editions. (See: CLW Wands in 3.x) In 3.x, this money-as-XP was somewhat camouflaged but obvious once you looked into how the system really worked. In 4e, WotC gave up the illusion, which leaves us with the completely jacked-up default 4e economy. 4e backpedalled from this a bit with its "Item Rarity" rules. Those help. A lot. But IMO it's still not enough. I don't think this is mainly an RPing issue, but I do agree it's [I]an [/I]issue. In my own 4e Dark Sun game, switching over to Inherent Bonuses and completely gutting the magic item economy has allowed me rather unprecedented freedom in doling out treasure. It's also made magic items more fun again, since they're not basic commodities. I'm as free to assign treasure and the like as I have been since 2e, and I'm never going back. (Which is one of many reasons I can't stand Next's "buy your way to a better AC" garbage.) -O [/QUOTE]

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