Would you give your 2nd level party 30 thousand gold?

[The Thayan Menace]

The Rick James School of DMing

It is my game and not yours. :\

I obviously concede, however you were asking for input. :\

 

[broghammerj]

Buying a ship would be cool

Oh yeah! I forgot about that one. There is a big dollar item that normally doesn't enter play and opens a....boat load......of adventuring oportunities. That certainly wouldn't leave the characters overpowered in terms of equipment. Afterall ships don't kill dragons.

 

[The Thayan Menace]

Lying Low With the Dough

As member of the said party that just received this money, I don't think anyone has spent over 1000gp. In fact, several haven't spent a single copper yet. Others have picked up rather mundane items so far. A miner's pick, materials to craft a couple of light hammers, etc.

Your party has shown remarkable economic restraint; let's see how long that lasts.

I also hope your wizard patron isn't a talker.

 

[IronWolf]

I also hope your wizard patron isn't a talker.

Now that could be an issue!

 

[Crothian]

Now that could be an issue!

you'll find out when I start that story hour after Gen Con

 

[Chaldfont]

Wow. I'm amazed at how many people say no. Is it because you don't trust your players? Do you not trust your own DMing skills to keep the game fun in these circumstances?

Man, if I did this in my campaign, the players would hoard the gold, wondering what plot twist was coming that would require them to spend it all. I've had PCs spend hard-earned gold on clothes, carriages, land, furnishings, and upgrading their winery when they could have bought more potions or CLW wands.

So what if they blow it on some high-powered expensive magic items? There are millions of ways to remove them from the game. It's probably even more fun just to leave the item in the PC's possession. That way they can take on and defeat a much more powerful villain in a high-stakes risky battle.

That's the stuff of adventures.

 

[Crothian]

Man, if I did this in my campaign, the players would hoard the gold, wondering what plot twist was coming that would require them to spend it all. I've had PCs spend hard-earned gold on clothes, carriages, land, furnishings, and upgrading their winery when they could have bought more potions or CLW wands.

I've had groups in the past do this. THe current group if they are realyl smart would actually try to increase their money..ie make it work for them. The best way for that would be to buy a wagon, some horses, and load it with trade goods and try to make money. They are jioning a caravan so no reason why they couldn't benifit from it as well.

 

[Sammael]

5, but a smart group will not divide it evenly. They would get what is best for the party, even it means they get nothing.

I do not see this as necessarily indicative of a "smart" group (whatever that may be). Rather, it seems indicative of either A) a group that consists entirely of Lawful characters ("needs of the many outweigh individual needs"); or B) a horribly metamaging group that will spend much time (out of character) figuring out the best way to spend the money. Here are some ideas I could think of to spend the cash, and each has its benefits. All but one (investing in a business) break the game in some way:

One group may consider it smart to spend the cash on equipping their main tank as if he were five levels higher and sending him into every random dungeon they've heard about to get even more loot. After all, 30k gold can buy (roughly) a periapt of health +2, a cloak of resistance +2, a weapon +3 (!!!), and an armor +2 (perhaps better spent on an armor +3, shield +2, and weapon +2 if 2nd level characters are concerned). With that kind of gear (plus a small stockpile of potions), the tank is certain to wipe out every generic goblin and orc in the 100-mile radius.

Another group may consider it smart to invest in some sort of business. While it may sound like a fairly good idea, it would take YEARS for a business of this sort to pay itself off, and, frankly, the game's name is Dungeons & Dragons, not Merchants & Moneylanders.

A third group would spend the money on crafting magic items that benefit the whole group. With that kind of money, they could load up on lots and lots of potions and scrolls, thus greatly extending their fighting capabilities.

A fourth group would hire a mercenary army and take over the entire region. Going by the current mercenary rates, they could hire as many as several hundred mercs, with higher-level captains and such.

Etc, etc. While there are certainly many roleplaying potentials in every one of the listed situations, I am not sure I'd want 2nd level characters placed in such a position that they could even consider these options. It's your game, for sure, but you asked...

 

[Hjorimir]

The more I think about it the more I feel a point should be made (forgive me if it has been made already as I didn't read ALL of this thread): for those of you who said absolutely no do you realize that a byproduct of that rule is that anybody in the world who is rich is automatically high level?

As that just doesn't hold water with me I think there needs to be room for allowances here. Rules are best when they can be evenly applied to both PCs and NPCs alike. This is one place D&D really fails (and one reason that contributed to the house rules I use concerning characters and magic items).

 

[Sammael]

The more I think about it the more I feel a point should be made (forgive me if it has been made already as I didn't read ALL of this thread): for those of you who said absolutely no do you realize that a byproduct of that rule is that anybody in the world who is rich is automatically high level?

No, because adventurer economics have nothing to do whatsoever with real-world economics. The only way to "fix" this would be to greatly decrease the importance and value of magic items in the game. To an adventurer, 30,000 gp is equal to a couple of decent magic items, or one pretty good magic item. To a non-adventurer (even a rich one), 30,000 gp is equal to a small keep, or the annual military budget of an average-sized city, or the total cargo value carried by a fleet of merchant ships. The two simply do not mix in standard-issue D&D.