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Message: <blockquote data-quote="FormerlyHemlock" data-source="post: 6556334" data-attributes="member: 6787650">I agree with the bolded part, and that's why I have no problem with mixing powergaming and roleplaying. (I also think AARs and combat tactics should be a constant subject of in-character conversation among PCs during their short rests, even if the players choose not to play it out.)However, I cannot comprehend the "there is no real reason to save money" part. Arguendo, money without magic items doesn't help you survive. Poisons and hirelings don't exist. Since there is therefore no opportunity cost to spending money in other ways, why shouldn't they spend the money on something nice like buying slaves their freedom, or funding an orphanage, or helping widows in debt, etc., etc.? In order for gold to be truly worthless, there has to be nothing interesting to spend it on, and it's a long way from "you can't just hand over 200,000 gp and buy a Girdle of Storm Giant Strength" to "you can't buy magic items at all, ever, anywhere" to "you can't increase your chances of survival in combat, ever, by throwing money at the problem" to "you can't do anything interesting with money, ever, in D&D". If your game focuses exclusively on dungeon crawling combat, and gaining XP is your primary satisfaction criterion, and your GM won't let you spend gold on up-armoring your animated skeletons or buying poisons or bribing monsters to join your party, then yeah, I agree, in that case you might as well leave the gold where you find it and kick down the door to the next 10' x 10' room full of green slimes and dragons. That's a valid way to play, and I personally could have a lot of fun with that style on occasion, if I'm in the mood to play IWD2-in-5E. But that's a pretty niche scenario and not what the base 5E rules assume, so instead they give you things to do with gold. I mean, just look at the equipment tables! Chickens are 1 cp apiece! My necromancer in one game buys whole strings of chickens for a fraction of a gold piece so that he can life drain them as needed via Vampiric Touch to heal 90+ HP with a single 3rd level spell. Or look at the spell tables! Glyph of Warding and Symbol are fantastic spells with the down side of costing a whole lot of money. What would you do with Glyphs of Warding if it had no materials cost? Well, that's what you can do too if you collect lots of gold! Planar Binding! Simulacrum! Even Revivification/Raise Dead/Resurrection! All of these are game-changing ways to use gold, even in combat! Buy poisons that add 12d6 damage and/or paralyzation to each of your attacks each round! Hire hobgoblins instead of killing them! Bribe guards! Bribe kings!If your DM won't let you do anything fun with gold, that's a DM issue. If you can't think of anything to do with gold except buy magic items, and your DM won't let you do that, that's a player issue.</blockquote>

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