The value of money

[Derren]

I wonder how important money is in your game and what "value" it has. Is it a second XP bar and the players are expected to spend it on equipment to keep up? Or do they swim in cash with nothing much to do with it? Maybe you ignore it as much as you can and use wealth levels instead?

The system you use mostly defines how important money is and what it can/should be used on, but the DM and the players do have some free room to decide what to do with it.
So, what can you do with money in your game? And what do the players use it for? How much do they spend on "frivolous" things instead on equipment. Are there regular costs the players have to pay or is all money they find free to spend?

 

[Ahnehnois]

In general, my players are swimming in money. They'll periodically be able to spend it on almost anything they want. I look at the whole magic item economy as being a sort of entertaining sideshow. It's fun to accumulate cool powers without the sense of responsibility associated with playing a character.

That's D&D. Conversely, in other rpgs, I almost always ignore money and just let the players have whatever equipment they want (within reason). Occasionally I'll tap the d20 Modern wealth system if I feel I need to track resources, but usually I find that monetary concerns are easily handwaveable for the types of games I run.

I never use money as a second XP bar, because I don't use a first XP bar, and I don't like the idea of keeping score.

 

[Umbran]

I'm running Classic Deadlands, not any D&D form at the moment.

I've been running the game basically ignoring the cost of day-to-day living. The PCs have skills such that making basic upkeep would be trivial, so I just skip it. We are only concerned with money when they want to do something particularly expensive (like, say, build a major mad science device). Normally, the windfalls of being adventurous cover those costs as well.

 

[Derren]

That's D&D. Conversely, in other rpgs, I almost always ignore money and just let the players have whatever equipment they want (within reason). Occasionally I'll tap the d20 Modern wealth system if I feel I need to track resources, but usually I find that monetary concerns are easily handwaveable for the types of games I run.

I never use money as a second XP bar, because I don't use a first XP bar, and I don't like the idea of keeping score.

One question on that, do your players purse side activities not related to their combat powers and how are the finances involved handled (everything from spending bit on/for a party to buying a house and stuff like that)?

 

[Ahnehnois]

One question on that, do your players purse side activities not related to their combat powers and how are the finances involved handled (everything from spending bit on/for a party to buying a house and stuff like that)?

In a modern context, I'm usually handwaving even things of that magnitude. If you want a gun, a car, or a house, I'll give it to you if it feels reasonable. If there's a business or the PC has a job, I'll largely leave it to the player to narrate how that's going (including financially)

 

[Erekose]

Interesting comments so far - for my players accumulating wealth just for the sake of it is a very strong motivator!

 

[steenan]

I actively avoid games where wealth gives mechanically represented personal power (through better equipment, buyable magic items etc.).

Wealth may be a useful tool and a motivation for characters, but it has different uses. It gives you influence, it gives you allies, it lets you act on a bigger scale.


In a recent campaign, at some point, we needed to mine a secret magical ore - and the place where it could be found belonged to a local noble. We spent some time trying to figure out how to do all the required work in secret. Then one player looked at his character sheet, smiled - and, after short negotiation, just bought the land we were interested in.
His money didn't make him more powerful in combat nor more likely to see through lies, but it let him do things that weren't available without it.

 

[howandwhy99]

As I understand it, D&D treats everything in the multiverse as a resource. Currency or money on the other hand is a valuation of those resources by intelligent creatures. I mean, you could have fake money too just like in games where the currency isn't tied to anything in the world. No natural resources, no goods or services. But "real" money in the D&D game is tied the game resources of the game world. In my game, the value of money fluctuates based on a variety of factors place to place, person to person over time. Treasure could be piled onto one character of the group making them more powerful to attempt to fulfill whatever strategy is in mind. It adds flexibility, but asks players to work together too in order to be more flexible. Splitting up treasure is kind of a big deal.

 

[Sunseeker]

I try to keep cash awards low, unless I am specifically intending for them to save up for say, a fort or a ship or something. But it'll be pretty clear that the need for something awesome(and expensive) is coming up. There aren't magic item vendors in my game, instead they'll get special stuff as quest rewards or loot.

I don't really bother to charge my players for room and food, it's not really worth the tracking and it's not going to make a dent in their finances.

 

[Tom Strickland]

[In one established tradition (style) from the early D&D days including aspects which have been epitomized and immortalized by the likes of Gary Gygax et all...]

I am often generous in awarding treasure to the players in my group, but only when it "makes sense". That is to say: "intelligent" creatures that wear garments and use tools may have things on their person, but beasts and such might only have discarded items in a lair or its like. That is aside from whatever might be at a specific adventuring location.

In the fantasy settings prevalent in my campaigns, because wealth is rare among the masses, the players have to find special people--merchants, nobles, temple keepers, wizards, etc.--with whom to trade. I do pay attention to the guidelines for max wealth for dwelling size, and max transaction price. Also, the players have an incentive to craft magic items because they rarely can buy or trade for them. They must discover/win them or make them.

We all grew up in the heyday of the "Monty Haul" campaigns and learned that overindulged fun could sour quickly. [god mode in a game?]

Some amount of managing wealth (I don't micromanage or sweat the small stuff) gives the DM:

• Another knob or dial to control overall balance and fairness
• Additional plot opportunities involving individuals, guilds, etc. [taxes, fees, penalties, etc.]
• A way to challenge/thwart the players by requiring them to have reasonable means to transport and secure items of much weight to value ratio
• A way to "drain" unbalancing wealth by having exchange rates for bulky, low value items with the much prized and coveted (small, lightweight) gems
• A reasonable hook/enticement among several others for quests
• A "treat" effect when items of great value are won, recovered, awarded, etc.

For the players:

• There is a verisimilitude with real life and how wealth provides some of the finer material comforts
• A sense of "value" when choosing some things over others, especially when having sacrificed and saved up to gain a treasure item that provides uniqueness, prestige, power, etc. [they can't have everything they want]
• The "satisfaction" which studies show that people tend to have when their wealth is greater than that of others [an example being that the least wealthy person in a rich community tends to be dissatisfied; the pleasure is in the perception of relative wealth]
• Wealth is another resource to be skillfully/effectively managed as a means to an end which is character advancement in an organized manner on a (hopefully) level playing field with other players [also involving donations, loss when crafting, etc.]
• Destruction or loss of wealth whether intended or not is a negative consequence met with dislike which triggers strategic and tactical reactions
• Opportunities to trade, barter, borrow and so on from fellow PC's because wealth is a limited/managed resource

I admit to having, upon occasion, hinted to delaying PC's that other powerful creatures have learned of this change in world affairs as the days go by and they try to process a vast, recently "liberated" hoard in the middle of nowhere [the greed of dragons is legendary, and their means of learning about new acquisition opportunities is positively mystical!].

Lastly, as an aside, I always found it amusing (as likely intended by Jack Vance) when Cugel the Clever in the Dying Earth was always trying to find fine repast and lodgings at inns without having sufficient means due his nature, activities, and fortune. Such frequent penury also led him into whimsical and dangerous encounters. [The "Spatterlight". The million year regression by spell (time travel) to recover an alien being he ate at a wizard's construction/summoning site because he was famished and nobody would feed him, etc.]

I do realize those are literary devices and situations, and that they do not always lend themselves to group-based role-play as opposed to established fictional narratives (with actors, consequences and so on set to parchment and not game-play interactive [unless you are playing a game system in that setting!]), but I do like there to be some challenge available to see what the players will do.

What is that saying about valuing that which is scarce?