D&D 5E Treasure?

[Nebulous]

Hmm. I haven't wondered about treasure at all yet. I've just been winging it. Easier. I doubt i would even use Wealth by level guidelines even if they did release them. I love, love, love how in 5th edition magic is not tied to character level, it's so liberating. I'm already building up some foreshadowing to finding their first magic dagger at 3rd level. A DAGGER!!!!

 

[ExploderWizard]

so I don't think the intent is for people to be running home brew campaigns at this point.

Say what now? Crom laughs at the rules and guidelines. Laughs from his mountain. When my campaign ends he will ask me- how do you run a campaign without rulebooks? If I do not know the answer he will cast me out of GEN-CONHA and laugh at me. That's Crom, strong on his mountain!

When the rules do not provide adequate answers OR I like something else better then I just make it up. There were never any trap making rules in B/X but extrapolating that you are not supposed to generate your own content from that would be a mistake. I am already running one home brew campaign and week after next I'm going to start running a SECOND homebrew campaign on a different night. There aren't very many magic items in print right now so I am making up stuff and having a lot of fun doing so.

Right now, I am feeling bitter, jaded and cynical enough to say, don't give out any treasure whatsoever. It just seems kind of pointless to me. Apart from upgrading armor, there really isn't much to spend gold on, and the game assumes that the PCs don't have any magical items, anyway.

Huh? Assuming I ever get to play 5E instead of running it, my characters would find plenty to spend money on leaving aside adventuring gear completely! There are henchmen & hirelings to pay, politicians to bribe, businesses and property to purchase, and there is always the red lantern district. There are the things of LIFE to spend money on, things a lot more fun than scraping and saving every last gold piece on yet another "plus" to add to an utterly mundane piece of gear.

The game assumes the PCs may have magic items or possibly not. It is up to YOU not the game to decide if they do or don't and how many. The published adventures so far include magic items, so saying the game assumes you won't have them is incorrect.

 

[SkidAce]

Even if they don't provide wealth by level guidelines they can be extrapolated from the number of expected encounters per level and the average rolls on treasure tables for those encounters. So we will have some general gold by level metric even if there isn't one in the DMG.

What if the next adventure path doesn't follow the guidelines we extrapolate?

They might just be inherent to the style of the adventure, and not intended as a gold standard (hehe).

 

[Paraxis]

What if the next adventure path doesn't follow the guidelines we extrapolate?

Wasn't talking about extrapolating from an adventure path, but from whatever treasure generation system is in the DMG.
The DMG will most likely have a random treasure chart based on the level of the monster or the level of the characters, we can also look at the average number of encounters it takes to gain a level, with this information we can get a rough wealth by level standard.

 

[Mercurius]

Right now, I am feeling bitter, jaded and cynical enough to say, don't give out any treasure whatsoever. It just seems kind of pointless to me. Apart from upgrading armor, there really isn't much to spend gold on, and the game assumes that the PCs don't have any magical items, anyway.

Hmm. I think the game assumption is more that the PCs don't need magic items, not that they don't have any.

In lieu of any guidelines, you could do what I do in my 5e campaign: work out what is the minimum treasure I can get away with giving out, then halve it*. I can always give the PCs more treasure later, but I can't easily take it away if I give them too much.

*I'm not entirely serious here, but it never hurts to keep the treasure low. At low levels, just give them enough to make a living (base it on the living expenses section in the PHB - and I don't suggest making anything above "comfortable" viable for many levels).

Yes, good point. In other words, don't "spoil" your players.

I'll say the reverse: treasure is fun. Give out more than you think you should, especially at low levels when there's plenty of time to adjust later, and then watch to see how they use it creatively.

Yes, treasure is fun, but there's such a thing as "too much of a good thing." I've learned the hard way that too much treasure--especially too many magic items--ends up working against the Tresure Is Fun Principle (TIFP), and can even lead to jadedness and ennui ("Oh, no another vorpal weapon, how gauche...throw it in the Satchel of Infinite Holding with my Sword of Kas and Staff of the Archmagi").

To the OP, while I imagine there will be guidelines in the DMG, for the time being I think it really depends upon what sort of game you want to run. High or low magic? Quick or slow advancement? Magic items scattered about in every nook and cranny or a rare find? You have to find your own balance. But again, I think the "less is more" principle is good to keep in mind. Fewer magic items makes them more special. But if you make them few and far between, you can spruce them up - give them lore, maybe even secondary powers. A +2 mace is rather boring, but the permanently blood-blackened weapon of the infamous Grand Inquisitor Karthul, which creates a moaning sound that causes all opponents to make a saving throw or be smitten by fear, adds some flavor to the mix.

 

[Piratecat]

Yes, treasure is fun, but there's such a thing as "too much of a good thing." I've learned the hard way that too much treasure--especially too many magic items--ends up working against the Tresure Is Fun Principle (TIFP), and can even lead to jadedness and ennui ("Oh, no another vorpal weapon, how gauche...throw it in the Satchel of Infinite Holding with my Sword of Kas and Staff of the Archmagi").

I meant non-magical treasure, mostly. But the rare "good lord we can't control this powerful item" is occasionally fun, too.

 

[RangerWickett]

My party found several thousand GP of cursed gold at level one, and they've been adventuring to find a remove curse ritual. They just killed a fire elemental (read: tornado of fire!) and found a flaming longsword spinning around inside it. If you hit the sword against rock, it summons a magma mephit once per day; plunge it in water, steam mephit; swoosh it through the air and you can get a smoke mephit.

I need to make up some more magic items.

 

[Joe Liker]

Right now, I am feeling bitter, jaded and cynical enough to say, don't give out any treasure whatsoever. It just seems kind of pointless to me. Apart from upgrading armor, there really isn't much to spend gold on, and the game assumes that the PCs don't have any magical items, anyway.

I'm actually running a coinless campaign right now, and the players and I are enjoying it.

I'm not doing it out of spite or anything -- it actually makes sense in the setting. It's a barter economy, so if someone has something the players want, they have to trade for it or earn it with favors. It works great!

It turns out that monetary treasure is only fun for accountants.

 

[Piratecat]

I'm actually running a coinless campaign right now, and the players and I are enjoying it.

I'm not doing it out of spite or anything -- it actually makes sense in the setting. It's a barter economy, so if someone has something the players want, they have to trade for it or earn it with favors. It works great!

I love this idea. "Grab their swords and armor, everyone -- and we'll need those cows!"

 

[GX.Sigma]

My interpretation is that treasure in 5e is more of an RP reward than anything else. I like it better this way. I mean, if you just go on adventures to get treasure, and spend all your treasure just to get better at adventuring, then what's the point?