NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Raven Crowking" data-source="post: 5062123" data-attributes="member: 18280">Then we agree.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />I like tools.  I think that any tool the DM is given is worthwhile, so long as it remains a viable tool.  The way that tools are apporached within the framework of a game, though, can alter how they are perceived and used.The Wealth-per-Level guidelines, for instance, in 3e were intended to be exactly this, but (unfortunately) the power curve made the game act wonky (or so I have heard it said) for some folks when they differed from this guideline.  Coupled with the "taking the DM out of the equation" philosophy of 3e (which Monte Cook is on record as saying was taken too far, and even farther in 3.5), one began to hear (on the InterWeb, at least), that the players were "owed" a certain amount of wealth by level.I know that, in my case, allotting treasure is a lot more fun in a game without expected wealth by level.  I understand why some people lose interest in figuring out what is there to find in recent editions of the game.  There is little thrill of discovery when discovery is certain.  There is little joy in choosing treasure that will just be converted into the best bonus ASAP (because of a philosophy that says PCs should be able to customize their equipment).  There is little fun in designing treasures when doing so is nothing more than accounting.On the surface, Wealth by Level guidelines are a useful tool.  The way they are approached, though, can be more damaging than beneficial.  This is similar to by-the-book 3e monster templates vs. the far easier, equally rewarding quick-n-dirty methods of modifying monsters that have existed since 1e at least.Somewhere between the approach of 1e and 3e, there is probably a golden mean, but I don't think anyone has found it yet!  <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/laugh.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":lol:" title="Laughing    :lol:" data-shortname=":lol:" />RC</blockquote>

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