D&D 4E The 4e Economy

[AffableVagrant]

On my top 10 wish list for 4e (one I haven't heard much clamor for) would be for the next DMG to have a good economic system. When the party rolls into town, I want a good, fair, fast, and easy way of determining what is available to buy, how much of it the town has, etc.

In my experience, 3e was pretty clumsy in this regard. The tables presented therein were far too generous and too kludgey for my taste. I find that it's more fun when the PCs find random magic gear and start coming up with clever uses for them... as opposed to hocking everything that isn't nailed down to save up for their ideal min/max arsenal.

I would also like to see haggling and bartering be STANDARD in price setting. A charismatic PC should save the party some cash.

This has been an ongoing and (mostly) unresolved problem at my table.

Anyone else with me on this one?

 

[Rechan]

I've actually never had to worry about this sort've thing. Handling the D&D economy always looked like a headache to me.

But then, discussing D&D economy makes me think of the Knights of the Dinner Table episode where they rush into the dragon's lair, only to find that the dragon put all his hoard into investments, stocks and bonds.

 

[HelloChristian]

Love this idea!

I'd like a few pages devoted to simple things, like "How much does an inn cost?" "Where can characters store their loot?" I'd also love to see a quick and dirty system for selling the salvaged arms and armor of fallen foes.

I dunno, I just enjoy crunchy things like that. If I know how things work at a basic level, I can usual build up from there.

 

[WyzardWhately]

I would like to see extensive but clearly optional rules to this effect. If the PCs are going to be off screwing around and/or travelling extensively, I usually just assign a flat cost. Usually 100 GP * Level per month. However, I would like to have some outright rules in case the PCs ever decided to get into this kind of stuff. I was probably going to buy the DMG II just for the business rules...and then they announced 4E. I still might, if the local gamestore puts it on discount.

 

[mach1.9pants]

I would like to see a basic monetary system that could be upgraded, I would pay for an options book which detailed the economics and prices...I too love that sort of crunch. Especially if it is relatively hiostorically accurate

 

[Cbas_10]

On my top 10 wish list for 4e (one I haven't heard much clamor for) would be for the next DMG to have a good economic system. When the party rolls into town, I want a good, fair, fast, and easy way of determining what is available to buy, how much of it the town has, etc.

In my experience, 3e was pretty clumsy in this regard. The tables presented therein were far too generous and too kludgey for my taste. I find that it's more fun when the PCs find random magic gear and start coming up with clever uses for them... as opposed to hocking everything that isn't nailed down to save up for their ideal min/max arsenal.

I would also like to see haggling and bartering be STANDARD in price setting. A charismatic PC should save the party some cash.

This has been an ongoing and (mostly) unresolved problem at my table.

Anyone else with me on this one?

I actually found that the limited detail on the economic systems worked just fine for me, but I absolutely agree that things were far too generous in regards of PCs selling things. This is one of the big reasons that I like to hear about the decline in magical item dependancy in 4E. Given the income and wealth of 99% of the inhabitants of traditional D&D settings, the magic item trade would be akin to the size of a demographic that caters to people that can afford Ferraris, private jets, and million-dollar mansions. The demographic is there, and magic items can be sold....but not casually and commonly. DMG prices for magic items are there for the purposes of figuring creation costs in my games...but that whole conversation on my house rules is for a different topic.

And bartering is certainly a part of the game already in 3.5E...Appraise and Diplomacy skills. The only thing that I thought needed to be addrressed and house ruled was the relationship between the two skills. If a person fails the Appraise roll for an item, they get a -5 to the opposed Diplomacy checks.

 

[AffableVagrant]

And bartering is certainly a part of the game already in 3.5E...Appraise and Diplomacy skills. The only thing that I thought needed to be addrressed and house ruled was the relationship between the two skills. If a person fails the Appraise roll for an item, they get a -5 to the opposed Diplomacy checks.

Now that you mention it, I was always kind of fuzzy on how the appraise skill works. The PHB says the DC is usually 15 for gems and art, but it may be higher for more rare valuables. Like what? Can I get an example?

When it comes to cash money, I think the players and DM generally need some consistency to keep things fair and argument free.

 

[Cbas_10]

Now that you mention it, I was always kind of fuzzy on how the appraise skill works. The PHB says the DC is usually 15 for gems and art, but it may be higher for more rare valuables. Like what? Can I get an example?

When it comes to cash money, I think the players and DM generally need some consistency to keep things fair and argument free.

Well-known objects are a DC 12. Rare or exotic items would be a higher DC. First, the DM has to determine what items are rare and exotic in his/her game. Then, the DM needs to slap a DC on the item when it comes up. DMs need backbones and just need to make the call. This is not a situation of rules-abuse and idiot DMs...just a situation of making a decision.

 

[AffableVagrant]

Well-known objects are a DC 12. Rare or exotic items would be a higher DC.

How does one define "well-known" and "rare" in terms of D&D?

 

[pawsplay]

Haven't we had enough of trickle-down dragonomics?