AbdulAlhazred
Legend
You can't do a ton with it in 4e. I mean, yes, you can buy ritual components and enchant SOME items, but most of them are weak, and you can't make anything above your level, which is like 100% of the stuff you actually want. Still, it helps with rituals and consumables. Certainly won't even come close to really changing the balance of the game.It depends on what they can do with that money; save for 2e and 5e, you could turn money directly into power for characters!
As for 2e, money is absolutely as useful there as it is in any other TSR D&D. You cannot buy magic items, but you couldn't do that in 1e either, and that never stopped anyone! 2e's item creation rules are much more open-ended than 1e's, so SOME GMs might bone you entirely on making stuff, but making items was not a really great option in either edition. Making potions and scrolls can be accomplished in either 1e or 2e however, and those are both decent options. Otherwise money is always power and buys you castles, armies, etc. I'd argue it is equally useful for 5e PCs, my Dwarf Wizard was constantly looking for cash to finance building his kingdom!