D&D 5E Thoughts on spending gold ...

[DaveDash]

Honestly, how much time and willpower did that take?

I'm not interested in the DYI edition. I have money yet little time and want to pay someone to do all the work for me. I was flicking through some path finder books today and was amazed at the amount of content you get in a book. 5e is fun to play, but the novelty will unfortunately wear off quickly for DMs like me.

Even going back to the SRD for 3.5 you got SO much more. Heck the INDEX for traps is bigger than the entire 5e trap section.

For me the lack of effort, and the push of workload to DMs is the biggest let down of 5e, and ots a shame because its so fun.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

I'm not interested in the DYI edition. I have money yet little time and want to pay someone to do all the work for me. I

DIY edition? You're not doing it yourself, you're copy/pasting from the SRD, for free, because you specifically want to change a rule you don't like.

 

[pming]

Hiya!

I'm not interested in the DYI edition. I have money yet little time and want to pay someone to do all the work for me. I was flicking through some path finder books today and was amazed at the amount of content you get in a book. 5e is fun to play, but the novelty will unfortunately wear off quickly for DMs like me.

Even going back to the SRD for 3.5 you got SO much more. Heck the INDEX for traps is bigger than the entire 5e trap section.

For me the lack of effort, and the push of workload to DMs is the biggest let down of 5e, and ots a shame because its so fun.

"DIY edition"...? All RPG's are "Do It Yourself"....it's just that some have more tools and material to work with.

As for "...lack of effort, and the push of workload to DM's is the biggest let down of 5e, and [it's] a shame because it's so fun": For me (and a lot of other 5e DM's...I'd even hazard a guess and say most 5e DM's) see this as a huge boost/plus. I'd much rather be creating my own stuff than pouring over rules, books, classes, feats, spells, skills, items, etc, etc, etc to decide what I do/don't like. For me, creating all the "stuff" is a large part of my enjoyment of DM'ing.

In all honesty, if you can't spare a couple of hours over the course of a week to devote to your hobby then I'm sorry to say that maybe DM'ing isn't going to fit. The beauty of the 5e system is it's simplicity and "DIY" style rulings-not-rules approach. All it takes is about an hour to come up with a solid adventure for a 5 to 8 hour session, given the use of the internet and all the stuff available out there. Maps, random tables for everything under the sun, and various tid bits of sage advice from DM's all over the world can make your DM'ing life easier and easier the more you use them.

There was a thread a few days ago about someone who was uber-impressed with a DM he played under at a FLGS who ran a whole 4(?) hour session with just a single page of notes that he had scribbled out beforehand. That alone proves you just don't need to "pay someone else to do it for you". The way 5e flows and is heavily based on DM adjudication makes it dirt simple to run fun and exciting sessions with very little set-up.

My suggestion to you, DaveDash, is to do more "point form" adventure writing, make use of maps available out there for free or in your collection, and practice the fine art of "winging it". IME, when winging-it, the stories and interactions of the PC's and the campaign milieu turn out to be more "organic and believable" than trying to stick to a scripted adventure path or somesuch.

Just my 2¢ on that matter.

EDIT: I found the thread about the 1-page of notes DM: http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?407466-DM-Prepared-one-page-of-notes

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[Rune]

it really does open your eyes on how crunch/content lite 5e is.

You say that like it's a bad thing.

Extra crunch to sift through just makes prep harder and take longer--for me, at least, since I run a game in which details only matter when they matter.

(Yes, that creates a surreal feel. That's intentional.) But, as far as DMing goes, my preferences (and my players') are the only ones that matter to the game I run.

 

[Sailor Moon]

For one thing I don't give out loads of wealth unless we are approaching the end of a campaign and the adventurers are going to retire.

Also, adventuring comes with expenses. A long rest in my games are a week amd require you stay in an inn, castle, etc so that has to be paid for. Ammunition isn't unlimited in my games as well as food. There is also the need to hire someone to cast a spell as well as hirelings. Horses and wagons and such cost money.

I create scenarios where the PC's need to spend their gold.

 

[Sailor Moon]

I find that Pathfinder modules are very easy to convert into 5th edition so unless Wizards starts coming out with some stand alone few level modules, I will be giving even more of my money Paizo.

I also find that people over exaggerate the term "having to sift through mountains of books". Why did you buy them in the first place?

 

[Hand of Evil]

Fees are everywhere, that is why everyone hates the tax man but at some point the players have to invest their gold. I use Adventuring guilds, where they fund new adventures to go out and bring back riches, the new players are paid and the new income goes to the Guild and the investors. A dungeon to the Underdark can be a trade route for goods if used by the right group.

 

[Evhelm]

Unfortunately, this feels like one more instance where there are two legitimate sides and without a dual or ambiguous system, one side always feels shunted out of the picture.

The DMG tried to make this as ambiguous as possible with the estimated values of magic items, but I agree that for those who like exact numbers it's woefully light.

My group has always had the mentality that gold was only a means to an end; they aren't expert role-players (though I do have some phenomenal actors in the bunch, that's not what they come to the table to do), they are looking to become heroes of legend. They see that gold is merely a whimsical construct in the sense that it doesn't affect their game experience if their character stays in a modest inn or a lavish one--they just don't care about that. Deluxe rooms on the ship, or steerage? Whichever is fine. So, for my unique group, they feel somewhat lost without the ability to buy magic items because they're used to it. They save and scrimp gold because to them, heroes can seek out weaponmasters and armorsmiths, mages of renown, or clerics of powerful gods, and pay them or their organizations vast sums of wealth for amazing magical items.

All of that being said, they've been with me enough to trust me. When I told them that 5e is, by default, a lower-magic-item ruleset than they're used to, they have been willing to play along.

I completely sympathize with the posters here who want concrete values; I would always rather refer to an index for a crunch mechanic than have to be endlessly creative in ways that have to be tracked. Creativity is the best part of the game, but I would sometimes just rather refer to a constant.

I also sympathize with those posters who are enjoying the lack of concrete values--the "mystical" and "magical" value of treasure as treasured. I am trying very hard to steer my players into enjoying it in the same light. So far, that's working to enhance all of our enjoyment.

I was worried about this months ago, and it still troubles me, but so far I have to say I'm pleased with how the game is running. I am hopeful we will all enjoy this as the new normal given time and openness.

 

[Wednesday Boy]

Without tangible results on the characters stat block that improve his/her effectivness, the money is just an illusion a whim of the DM.

The characters' stat blocks may not increase but the gold does increase the characters' effectiveness through more control of the narrative. To use secondhander's and Lancelot's players as examples the ships and pegasi they now own give them more freedom and options for traveling. The ship captain and owner of the shipbuilding business will have more influence on the community and have hirelings at their disposal. The monk will wield considerable influence as the Grand Master for an entire order of monks. The money certainly increases the effectiveness of these characters, even if their stats remain the same.

 

[Sailor Moon]

Unfortunately, this feels like one more instance where there are two legitimate sides and without a dual or ambiguous system, one side always feels shunted out of the picture.

The DMG tried to make this as ambiguous as possible with the estimated values of magic items, but I agree that for those who like exact numbers it's woefully light.

My group has always had the mentality that gold was only a means to an end; they aren't expert role-players (though I do have some phenomenal actors in the bunch, that's not what they come to the table to do), they are looking to become heroes of legend. They see that gold is merely a whimsical construct in the sense that it doesn't affect their game experience if their character stays in a modest inn or a lavish one--they just don't care about that. Deluxe rooms on the ship, or steerage? Whichever is fine. So, for my unique group, they feel somewhat lost without the ability to buy magic items because they're used to it. They save and scrimp gold because to them, heroes can seek out weaponmasters and armorsmiths, mages of renown, or clerics of powerful gods, and pay them or their organizations vast sums of wealth for amazing magical items.

All of that being said, they've been with me enough to trust me. When I told them that 5e is, by default, a lower-magic-item ruleset than they're used to, they have been willing to play along.

I completely sympathize with the posters here who want concrete values; I would always rather refer to an index for a crunch mechanic than have to be endlessly creative in ways that have to be tracked. Creativity is the best part of the game, but I would sometimes just rather refer to a constant.

I also sympathize with those posters who are enjoying the lack of concrete values--the "mystical" and "magical" value of treasure as treasured. I am trying very hard to steer my players into enjoying it in the same light. So far, that's working to enhance all of our enjoyment.

I was worried about this months ago, and it still troubles me, but so far I have to say I'm pleased with how the game is running. I am hopeful we will all enjoy this as the new normal given time and openness.

I disagree.

One of the great things about 5th edition is that while magic items weren't built into the system, there is still nothing stopping you from having "Ye olde magic shop".

It's a win for everyone.