D&D 4E Wealth by level in 4E?

[jasin]

Does 4E provide any information about the equipment appropriate for PCs starting at levels higher than 1st?

 

[WhatGravitas]

Page 143 in the DMG:

• One magic item of character level +1
• One magic item of character level
• One magic item of character level -1
• Gold pieces equal to an item of character level -1 (pg. 223 in the PHB)

Cheers, LT.

 

[IanArgent]

p 143 DMG (summarized)
Any normal/mundande gear
1 magic item at lvl+1, one at lvl, one at lvl -1, and magical items/rituals whose total value is equivalent to a lvl -1 item

 

[SDOgre]

I'm making some second level characters right now. And the problem with this rule is that a second level character generally only has one magic item.

The DMG on pg 126 says you should give out 4 magic items during first level.

Okay, so five characters... that means everyone gets one except one character gets squat by the end of level 1.

So if you roll up a second level character from scratch you get three magic items.

Huh?

 

[Maximillian]

So if you roll up a second level character from scratch you get three magic items.

I hadn't even considered that... I was creating level 7 characters for a new campaign and everything seemed pretty alright.

Now that I think about it, characters in the paragon and epic tiers are going to have fewer magical items than those that were brought up "from the streets" so to speak. They'll probably be filling all their slots by level 15 or so, even if they're doing it with older and lower level equipment.

My guess is this is just an approximation that lets you have just the items you really need to survive. 4e is *supposed* to rely less on magic items for its math to work.

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

That's a really darn ironic claim given that their math assumes PCs will have enhancement bonuses to weapons, armor, and defenses at a minimum in order to keep up with the monsters. A 40th level character without a magic weapon or implement for instance, will have at least 30% less chance to hit than a 1st level character with no magic. (The math assumes that they will have a +6 weapon, that they will increase their attack stat at every opportunity, and that they will have picked up a miscellaneous bonus to hit somewhere or other).

Now, of course, you could do this in 3rd edition as well, except that depending upon your party makeup you had ways to make up for being weak on some magic items (magic vestment, greater magic weapon, etc--of course those also help make you better if you have the expected magic items) and the game works such that you don't need particular magic weapons or armor (you do need the cloak/vest of resistance)--a +1 holy weapon is often better than a +3 weapon. Of course, 3rd edition assumes that you will have stat boosting items and those aren't present in 4th edition, but they were also items which had a certain degree of flexibility. (If your fighter wanted con or dex more than strength, for instance, you could make that work; I know at least one highly effective Living Greyhawk Fighter/Barbarian 15 without a strength boost item (partially to prove a point but there you go)).

My guess is this is just an approximation that lets you have just the items you really need to survive. 4e is *supposed* to rely less on magic items for its math to work.

 

[IanArgent]

This pretty explicitly covers the "big 3" and some left over (weapon/implement, armor, and neck slot); and also seems rather rule of thumb. In particular - I was generating a 9th level character and found there was NO 10th level gear I wanted, and not a whole lot of 9th level gear...

 

[WhatGravitas]

That's a really darn ironic claim given that their math assumes PCs will have enhancement bonuses to weapons, armor, and defenses at a minimum in order to keep up with the monsters.

Yeah, that's why he said:

...have just the items you really need to survive.

The game assumes that you have three important items - your armour, your weapon/implement, and your protective item.

And these three items cover exactly that, with some extra money for other trinkets.

Cheers, LT.

 

[ValhallaGH]

A 40th level character

Which edition are you playing?!

My Player's Handbook says my character can become an immortal NPC at level 30. But can't ever reach level 31.

 

[Maximillian]

your armour, your weapon/implement, and your protective item.

Which is much better than 3e, if you ask me. And more transparent, so easier to overcome with blanket per-level bonuses.