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Message: <blockquote data-quote="FireLance" data-source="post: 1821660" data-attributes="member: 3424">Back in the old days of D&D, we took whatever magic items we could get and we were happy with it. We didn't have magic shops, not even in the greatest and most advanced of cities, so we were pretty much stuck with whatever the DM decided to give us. There was none of this trading in items that you had no use for to get something that actually helped you. Trying to sell a potion of healing to a dying man was an adventure in itself.Of course, we had good DMs in those days who actually made an attempt to even out the treasure everyone got. That meant magic weapons and armor for the fighter, wands, scrolls and staffs for the magic-user, holy relics for the cleric and sneaky stuff for the thief. DMs these days ought to get a clue. 20,000 gp of treasure does not mean you give out a single ring of wizardry (I) at the end of the adventure. If you have 4 players, it means you give each one roughly 5,000 gp worth of useful items. Fair's fair, after all. You don't need to be exact down to the last gp, and your players may decide to load up one character anyway, but that's fine. You've done your part.All these headaches about treasure distribution have made me decide to do away with giving out treasure. Instead, each PC in my campaign is tied to an organization that gives them equipment appropriate for their level. Every time they level up, they trade in all their old equipment and get new equipment (whatever they want) equal to the standard gear for a PC of their level. Nobody complains that he's short-changed, everyone whatever equipment he thinks best suits his concept, and I don't have to worry about second-guessing the players or putting treasure in the adventure. This leaves me more time to think about NPCs and motivations and plots and challenging encounters and stuff. Everyone wins.</blockquote>

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