Where is my Freaking Mule?!

[Bullgrit]

I think it's important to note that gold in 4e isn't really representative of spending cash - it's more of an alternative, point based system of character advancement.

Hasn't this been the case in all editions of D&D? XP for GP.

Bullgrit

 

[Dausuul]

And I would be all for this stuff being put into the next Adventurer's Vault or Dungeon Master's Guide but I do think that we can come up with all kinds of ideas to fill a whole book.

I would oppose having it in the Adventurer's Vault, and probably the DMG as well. People who prefer to handwave/homebrew that sort of thing and concentrate on magic items would be annoyed at having a chunk of their AV devoted to it... and people like me who are just about ready to scrap the entire magic item system would be annoyed at having a chunk of my 4E Arms and Equipment Guide devoted to magic items.

 

[darjr]

How about a 3 masted ship? Or a 12 bedroom estate? How much does a moathouse cost?

Sure the GM can make up this stuff. But alot of GMs don't want to deal with that sort of thing.

What I don't understand is why would anyone oppose a book like this? It does nothing but give players and GMs tender to kindle the fires of inspiration.

And I would be all for this stuff being put into the next Adventurer's Vault or Dungeon Master's Guide but I do think that we can come up with all kinds of ideas to fill a whole book.

Sailing ship - players handbook - 10,000 gp

I could figure months to build for either the other two and easily put it at 100,000 gp for either. Course I could be wrong, if you were my player I might listen to a counter offer.......

I don't understand the depth of the angst so I can't empathize with folks that are upset that it isn't in the core or not in the first three. I do understand a desire for rules to cover such things, and I wouldn't mind them, I just don't see the lack, as such a big deal. I also see it as an oppourtunity for a third party, maybe a pdf?

 

[Zaran]

Sailing ship - players handbook - 10,000 gp

I could figure months to build for either the other two and easily put it at 100,000 gp for either. Course I could be wrong, if you were my player I might listen to a counter offer.......

I don't understand the depth of the angst so I can't empathize with folks that are upset that it isn't in the core or not in the first three. I do understand a desire for rules to cover such things, and I wouldn't mind them, I just don't see the lack, as such a big deal. I also see it as an oppourtunity for a third party, maybe a pdf?

I can see Dragon doing an article on it, but I feel that enough people would purchase a book to make it profitable.

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

Hostile much?

Always, why?

On-topic: A book of interesting non-combat stuff like the 2E book mentioned above would be cool, but then again it already exists and would still be useful in 4E. An in-print version, or a-hem WotC, the original version in pdf would be welcome for those who want it. Or a new Stronghold Builders book (again the original in pdf would be nice). But I don't see anyone convincing a company to write a brand new book of useless stuff. It would just be someone assigning abitrary costs to mundane items. Others have already pointed out that you can do that without attributable prep time. Mule? Already answered that. 10' pole? Sure you got one. How much? Not enough money to care.

 

[SkidAce]

Yeah, it'd just be nice to see some guidelines as to the expected proportion. You know, like "At this level, the party should get a total of 200,000 gp, 180,000 of which will be in the form of magic items, blessings, ritual components, specialized martial training and other power-ups, and 20,000 of which is coin for mundane necessities and luxuries." It would have the added benefit of allowing players to retain some connection with the mundane world they've been adventuring in for those first 10 levels, as they'd have reasons to still be part of that economy.

My players would toss any distribution plan out the window. sometimes they just hoard the cash.

Which they have not caught on to that in 4th it doesnt help as much due to scaling...hehe..not my problem

 

[Stoat]

Hasn't this been the case in all editions of &D? XP for GP.

Bullgrit

I don't think it was the case in 2E. You couldn't trade in gold for exp, and the purchase of magical items was strongly discouraged/outright prohibited.

 

[Piratecat]

In 1e our common tactic, usually frustrated by any non-gullible DM, was to buy a whole bunch of herd animals (goats, or dogs, or even mules) and shoo them in front of us through the dungeon to set off traps. We also used to buy absurd numbers of songbirds just because we thought it was funny.

 

[Tav_Behemoth]

frustrated by any non-gullible DM

Agreed that it'd take an epic-level Handle Animal check to convince livestock to go into creepy dungeons and do the things players want them to. Susan Orleans' piece on mules in the New Yorker talks about how attempts to deliver supplies by parachuting mules failed because the mules were too sensible to step out of an airplane.

In Tim Kask's OD&D game at GaryCon I, I used a ring of mammal control to get around this. Why I chose sheep as my preferred trap-springing livestock is hard to reconstruct, but seemed to make sense at the time.

For those with more limited means, a songbird in a cage on the end of a 10' pole is quite feasible.

 

[Piratecat]

Agreed that it'd take an epic-level Handle Animal check to convince livestock to go into creepy dungeons and do the things players want them to.

Wait, Tav - "epic"? "Skill check"? Is this some sort of wacky "non-weapon proficiency" thing from Oriental Adventures? Can't screw up what you don't have!

I'll be over here with my 5th level monk Immaculate, thank you very much, and a whole lotta sheep. Baaaa.