expanded & formulaic gear value table
With a bit of tinkering, I've put together what I think would be, more or less, a suitable open-ended formula-based gear value table for PCs. The gear values here inexactly mirror the progression of the tables in the 3.5 DMG for PCs above 1st and 20th level, and the table is allowed to extend into infinity if a DM so desires.
Note: I have not performed any calculations for NPCs yet. I personally don't see the need to have a separate progression table for NPCs. Perhaps this progression should apply to all adventurers as a group, PCs and NPCs alike. Non-adventurers could have a fixed percentage of an aventurer's expected wealth of the same character level, along with an added multiplier to represent social class & caste. (Nobles would have more and better gear than your average middle-class adventurer, while commoners would have much less for the same character level, and a 99.9% certainty for none of it to be magical or masterwork.)
The table uses the principle of "punctuated geometric growth". The idea is that the gear value at (6 * N)-th level will be worth some multiple of (6 * [N - 1] )-th level, and all intervening levels' gear values are incremental values between these two. For instance, a 6th-level PC's gear is worth 15k gp and a 12th-level PCs gear is worth 90k gp. The multiple is 6, and the gear values for levels 7 through 11 are incremental increases of 12.5k gp. Every 6th levels is considered a sort of paradigm shift (this is a derivative of the idea that every 12 levels is a 'money level' with a stat increase plus a character feat).
Additional rules for this progression:
* Level 1 gear values are as always dependant on a PC's initial class.
* Level 2 gear value is fixed at 1k gp.
* Levels 3-5 are increments between 1k and 15k gp.
* Level 6 is fixed at 15k gp.
* Level 12 gear value is 6X the value of level 6, with the intervening levels being incremental (by addition).
* Level 18 gear value is 5X that of level 12, etc.
* Level 24 gear value is 4X that of level 18, etc.
* Level 30 gear value is 3X that of level 24, etc.
* Level 36 gear value is 2X that of level 30, etc.
* Level 42 gear value is 1.5X that of level 36, etc.
* Beyond 42nd level, the multiple per 6 levels is fixed at 1.5X.
Running some calculations, the values given below are, on average, 24% greater than the values given in the DMG 3.5 for PCs created above 1st level. I suppose it's better to err on the side of caution; it's also expected that the average PC must have consumed scrolls, potions, wands, staves, tomes, and manuals along the way, and perhaps lost a few other items along the way, so a DM could introduce a "consumption and mishap tax" to remove (at random) up to 20% of the starting items of a PC created above 1st level, so things even out with the standard rules.
Char. Level … gold pieces
1st … by class
2nd … 1,000 gp (fixed value)
3rd … 4,500 gp
4th … 8,000 gp
5th … 11,500 gp
6th … 15,000 gp (fixed value)
7th … 27,500 gp
8th … 40,000 gp
9th … 52,500 gp
10th … 65,000 gp
11th … 77,500 gp
12th … 90,000 gp (6th-level x 6)
13th … 150,000 gp
14th … 210,000 gp
15th … 270,000 gp
16th … 330,000 gp
17th … 390,000 gp
18th … 450,000 gp (12th-level x 5)
19th … 675,000 gp
20th … 900,000 gp
21st … 1,125,000 gp
22nd … 1,350,000 gp
23rd … 1,575,000 gp
24th … 1,800,000 gp (18th-level x 4)
25th … 2,400,000 gp
26th … 3,000,000 gp
27th … 3,600,000 gp
28th … 4,200,000 gp
29th … 4,800,000 gp
30th … 5,400,000 gp (24th-level x 3)
31st … 6,300,000 gp
32nd … 7,200,000 gp
33rd … 8,100,000 gp
34th … 9,000,000 gp
35th … 9,900,000 gp
36th … 10,800,000 gp (30th-level x 2)
37th … 11,700,000 gp
38th … 12,600,000 gp
39th … 13,500,000 gp
40th … 14,400,000 gp
41st … 15,300,000 gp
42nd … 16,200,000 gp (36th-level x 1.5)
43rd … 17,550,000 gp
44th … 18,900,000 gp
45th … 20,250,000 gp
46th … 21,600,000 gp
47th … 22,950,000 gp
48th … 24,300,000 gp (42th-level x 1.5)
49th … 26,325,000 gp
50th … 28,350,000 gp
51st … 30,375,000 gp
52nd … 32,400,000 gp
53rd … 34,425,000 gp
54th … 36,450,000 gp (48th-level x 1.5)
55th … 39,487,500 gp
56th … 42,525,000 gp
57th … 45,562,500 gp
58th … 48,600,000 gp
59th … 51,637,500 gp
60th … 54,675,000 gp (54th-level x 1.5)
Also, if you really think you'll need the data:
66th … 82,012,500 gp (L60 x 1.5)
72nd … 123,018,750 gp (L66 x 1.5)
78th … 184,528,125 gp (L72 x 1.5)
84th … 276,792,188 gp (L78 x 1.5)
90th … 415,188,281 gp (L84 x 1.5)
96th … 622,782,422 gp (L90 x 1.5)
102nd … 934,173,633 gp (L96 x 1.5)
108th … 1,401,260,449 gp (L102 x 1.5)
114th … 2,101,890,674 gp (L108 x 1.5)
120th … 3,152,836,011 gp (L114 x 1.5)
(fractional values rounded to the nearest integer)
Lastly, if you figure that demigods and deities are just really really high-level characters, you might experiment with setting them up with favored weapons and gear (or their equipment in avatar form) by coming up with some method to equate divine rank with character level: ECL = 6 x the being's divine rank + total class levels perhaps? (I choose the multiple of 6 since it's the 'magic number' for this system, and divine ranks are definitely worth more than character levels.)
Let's see how that works for the Deities & Demigods stats for the avatars of the standard D&D deities:
Avatar of Bahamut (dragon 53, rank 5): Effective Character Level 83rd
Avatar of Boccob (wiz 20, clr 20, rank 8): ECL 88th
Avatar of Corellon Larethian (ftr 19, wiz 20, clr 10, rank 9): ECL 103rd
Avatar of Ehlonna (rgr 20, drd 10, clr 10, rank 7): ECL 82nd
Avatar of Erythnul (bbn 10, ftr 10, rog 10, sor 10, rank 7): ECL 82nd
Avatar of Fharlanghn (brd 20, clr 20, rank 7): ECL 82nd
Avatar of Garl Glittergold (illusionist 12, clr 14, rog 16, rank 9): ECL 96th
Avatar of Gruumsh (ftr 20, clr 9, bbn 9, rank 8): ECL 86th
Avatar of Heironeous (clr 20, pal 20, rank 7): ECL 82nd
Avatar of Hextor (clr 20, ftr 20, rank 7): ECL 82nd
Avatar of Kord (ftr 20, bbn 20, rank 7): ECL 82nd
Avatar of Kurtulmak (ftr 16, clr 8, rog 8, sor 8, rank 7): ECL 82nd
Avatar of Lolth (clr 20, ftr 10, wiz 10, rank 7): ECL 82nd
Avatar of Moradin (ftr 20, expert 14, clr 15, rank 9): ECL 103rd
Avatar of Nerull (necromancer 20, clr 20, rog 10, rank 8): ECL 98th
Avatar of Obad-Hai (drd 20, clr 20, rank 7): ECL 82nd
Avatar of Olidammara (rog 20, brd 20, clr 10, rank 7): ECL 92nd
Avatar of Pelor (clr 20, drd 10, ftr 10, rank 8): ECL 88th
Avatar of St. Cuthbert (ftr 20, clr 20, rank 7): ECL 82nd
Avatar of Tiamat (dragon 49, rank 5): ECL 79th
Avatar of Vecna (wiz 20, clr 20, rank 5[?]): ECL 70th
Avatar of Wee Jas (wiz 20, clr 20, rank 7): ECL 82nd
Avatar of Yondalla (sor 20, pal 13, clr 15, rank 9): ECL 102nd
The ECLs above may or may not match the relative strengths of each deity, but if someone can deduce a fairly accurate divine-rank-to-class-level ratio, that would be even better than the arbitrary 6:1 ratio.
