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<blockquote data-quote="Saeviomagy" data-source="post: 5504211" data-attributes="member: 5890">Actually the 4e inherent bonuses allow you to almost totally dump any semblance of wealth by level. They fill the big 3, and that's basically the only area that's ever an issue in terms of expected norms. Everything else is optional extras.And the big difference between what you propose and the inherent bonus system is that with inherent bonuses you can still hand out items way beyond the curve. You need some extra rules in your version if you want to give an extra-special +4 magic sword to the party.Monsters had set stats except for the most important stat of all, hitpoints. If the players identified a red dragon, it could have anywhere from 10 - 100hp (that might not be correct, but a swing in hitpoints by a factor of 10 isn't uncommon).Personally I think what is much, much more useful that &quot;wealth by level&quot; guidelines are &quot;here's the basic assumptions we made when we designed monsters&quot;.The fact that you expect each character to have magic items that give them +1/5 levels to defenses, attacks and damage is a good guideline. Saying that means they should have a magic item of level +1, one of level and one of level -1 is stupid: you didn't balance around having a flying carpet, a bottle of smoke and a bag of tricks.Devolving that further into a bundle of cash is even worse.Giving X gp of treasure per 10 encounters AND saying &quot;we expect +1/5 levels&quot; is pretty much the worst of all - because it leads to the issues we have now where people will dump cool and interesting magic items to get their +x/tier sword, +x/tier armor and +x/tier amulet, because that's what they believe is needed to be competitive, and the developers have agreed.The solution - pay close attention to the bonuses your characters have, and ignore wealth. Give as much or as little as you want and restrict the acquisition of +X items, making sure they line up with the expectations.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Saeviomagy, post: 5504211, member: 5890"] Actually the 4e inherent bonuses allow you to almost totally dump any semblance of wealth by level. They fill the big 3, and that's basically the only area that's ever an issue in terms of expected norms. Everything else is optional extras. And the big difference between what you propose and the inherent bonus system is that with inherent bonuses you can still hand out items way beyond the curve. You need some extra rules in your version if you want to give an extra-special +4 magic sword to the party. Monsters had set stats except for the most important stat of all, hitpoints. If the players identified a red dragon, it could have anywhere from 10 - 100hp (that might not be correct, but a swing in hitpoints by a factor of 10 isn't uncommon). Personally I think what is much, much more useful that "wealth by level" guidelines are "here's the basic assumptions we made when we designed monsters". The fact that you expect each character to have magic items that give them +1/5 levels to defenses, attacks and damage is a good guideline. Saying that means they should have a magic item of level +1, one of level and one of level -1 is stupid: you didn't balance around having a flying carpet, a bottle of smoke and a bag of tricks. Devolving that further into a bundle of cash is even worse. Giving X gp of treasure per 10 encounters AND saying "we expect +1/5 levels" is pretty much the worst of all - because it leads to the issues we have now where people will dump cool and interesting magic items to get their +x/tier sword, +x/tier armor and +x/tier amulet, because that's what they believe is needed to be competitive, and the developers have agreed. The solution - pay close attention to the bonuses your characters have, and ignore wealth. Give as much or as little as you want and restrict the acquisition of +X items, making sure they line up with the expectations. [/QUOTE]

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