D&D 5E (2024) When the characters strike it rich in the first adventure...

[BookTenTiger]

What level of play do you intend to start with?

The question comes to mind that the PCs might reasonably have to spend most of their efforts protecting their wealth...

This is just a loose idea, but here's my thought:

Initial Adventure (and securing of treasure): Levels 1 - 3

First Character Arc: Levels 4 - 6
Second Character Arc: Levels 6 - 8
Third Character Arc: Levels 8 - 10
Fourth Character Arc: Levels 10 - 12

In this campaign structure I think it would be more interesting to see how characters spend their wealth, and the complications and consequences of that, rather than protecting their wealth. So maybe the campaign world would need a solid banking system, or knights templar who protect treasure, or something so it's not an issue.

 

[BookTenTiger]

I know many players that are more passive and not have anything more than to gain gold and or fame. I might be more work than reward for the DM to work with them. I found that having them tag along with the other invested players better for me and then hope they get some cool ideas for their PCs.

Keep in mind this is just an idea for a possible future campaign, so obviously it would be meant for players who want to play in this kind of campaign. In my design process I'm going to assume a table of active, imaginative players.

 

[Umbran]

In this campaign structure I think it would be more interesting to see how characters spend their wealth, and the complications and consequences of that, rather than protecting their wealth.

But, in this space, one of the consequences of spending it is people knowing about it. If the party comes back (from a place literally called "Treasure Fields"?) and flashing cash... people wanting to get that cash is a pretty obvious consequence.

In the real world, when you win a major lottery windfall, privacy and security become a real issue.

Pickpockets, con artists, thugs in the alley... even Thernardier-style innkeeps who pad your bill, barmen who water down your top-shelf booze (or just double the price because the PCs are rich and will dole it out without thinking)...

Or, say the player's goal is to win back their ancestral lands, and they make a deal with another feudal lord for assistance. They pay a lot of cash and the support... just doesn't appear. Simple double-crosses are a thing, too.

So maybe the campaign world would need a solid banking system, or knights templar who protect treasure, or something so it's not an issue.

And, you know, as a GM you can just say, "And you don't run into anyone trying to outright steal from you or cheat you out of your money." Nothing wrong with that.