D&D 5E Would handing your party 1,000 gp at character creation break your game?

[Blue]

One of the groups I'm running are agents of the crown. I gave them any mundane gear they wanted for starting, including 1500gp Plate, and up to two healing potions. Plus they can requisition stuff like horses and things.

Least murder-hobo campaign I've ever run - they aren't in it for the loot, they are in it to do the right thing.

Bit more transparency - there are artifact masks that the Imperium made at it's peak centuries before that spend most time slumbering. But occasionally wake when a compatible personality is found. If the person is willing to serve the Imperium, they become Maskbearers who are investigators, commanders, justicars, troubleshooters for the Imperium. So the PCs were the first large cluster of awakenings in several generations and it was decided by the Child-Empress to keep them together. So they started with whatever mundane equipment they wanted, ability to requisition what they need, and a magic item that starts without powers but will grow over levels with them.

It was great that 1st level wasn't the so-fragile "fantasy Vietnam". Out of the missions offered the PCs zeroed in immediately on what was the most trouble to the Imperium, which also meant the most dangerous. Because they were mroe resilient than the normal low level PCs, and were also Important before they were Powerful so a bunch more types of adventures opened up.

 

[Seramus]

I could give them $10,000 to spend and it still wouldn't come close to breaking my game.
It just becomes an interesting thing to build a plot hook around.

 

[Asisreo]

I could give them $10,000 to spend and it still wouldn't come close to breaking my game.

It certainly would break my bank account.

 

[iserith]

The PHB says such an item could be sold by the PCs for 500 gp. There's really nothing they could buy for that amount that would mess with anything unless they could buy an uncommon magic item or 10 potions of healing. Maybe a wizard PC could scribe a few scrolls? And even then it's no big deal in my view.

 

[Cadence]

Even if I gave them 1000gp in hand and made all shops available, it wouldn't be broken in my games. Worse case scenario? The characters have better armor. Its rare for the starting location to have magic items in my campaign and any items I end up displaying won't break the game when bought so 1,000gp or 1,000,000gp to start won't mean anything more than maybe roleplay stuff (which is easily balanced).

The PHB says such an item could be sold by the PCs for 500 gp. There's really nothing they could buy for that amount that would mess with anything unless they could buy an uncommon magic item or 10 potions of healing. Maybe a wizard PC could scribe a few scrolls? And even then it's no big deal in my view.

I could give them $10,000 to spend and it still wouldn't come close to breaking my game.
It just becomes an interesting thing to build a plot hook around.

So, do y'all usually let your players start there characters start with whatever equipment they want (say up to 1000 gp or whatever) so they can make their conception work optimally?

If you do, does it ever lead folks who pictured starting at meager means feel pressured to get better stuff to hold up there end?

If you don't, why not?

(I often start players with a special item passed on from family or a few potions or whatnot that seemed to fit the theme, and have never had one ask about selling it).

 

[iserith]

So, do y'all usually let your players start there characters start with whatever equipment they want (say up to 1000 gp or whatever) so they can make their conception work optimally?

For the sake of simplicity, the character creation rules in our games are usually whatever you get from your class and background. If we start higher than 4th level, then it follows the guidelines on DMG page 38.

 

[bedir than]

The PHB says such an item could be sold by the PCs for 500 gp. There's really nothing they could buy for that amount that would mess with anything unless they could buy an uncommon magic item or 10 potions of healing. Maybe a wizard PC could scribe a few scrolls? And even then it's no big deal in my view.

Two sets of splint (maybe three), or a breastplate (maybe two). So some AC bumps

 

[Stormonu]

I don't know what the designers were smoking, but that's not worth more than say, 10 gp. A spyglass that gives x10 or more (which was about half the power of Galileo's telescope in the 1600's) might be worth 1,000 gp, but not something that gives x2 vision. Especially given 5E magic.

(Note: modern binoculars are around x10, but can go up to x160)

 

[aco175]

I never had a PC ask about a spyglass. 1,000gold seems like a lot and I can only think of is that the knowledge is rare to make the glass, like in the old (relatively) Robin Hood movie with Morgan Freeman pulling one out and Robin amazed by it. I would think it could be 25-50gold and be fine.

 

[Charlaquin]

I don’t think the spyglass is even priced so high for any balance-related reason. It’s just flavor, suggesting that such technology should be extremely rare and valuable. I don’t see having a character start with a spyglass causing any meaningful gameplay problems. Even if they sell it, you can either give them 500 gp for it (enough to buy some nice armor and/or a handful of healing potions) or have anyone they try to sell it to say they can’t afford it.