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

[Crothian]

I wonder if the characters would go "Treasure of the Sierra Madre" on you if given the chance and start thinking about bumping off their fellows for a bigger share of the loot!

Not these guys. They are all very party oriented and are interested in getting things that benifit the party. I know, very boring......

 

[IronWolf]

My initial reaction is no and that is what I voted. But... as a player in said game , I am thinking Crothian will pull this off.

First he is aware of the party's dynamic and so far we haven't rushed off to buy a huge powerful object or anything (quite doubtful there is anyone in town that would stock anything overly powerful). For that matter it is unlikely that there is even anyone that could buy all then gems we have, especially one of the larger ones. So for now, while it has been appraised rather high, it really may not do much but make us a target. Sure we may upgrade some armor and craft a few items, but nothing that I would see as game unbalancing.

There does appear to be something deeper behind the scenes which very well may bite us later anyways. While only a few sessions in Crothian's city's and worlds really do seem to have a life of their own and I am certain that will keep us on our toes (and in our place if need be).

I voted no as I said because I don't have the experience he does in DM'ing. So I am not sure how well I would do with getting the atmosphere and world setup to maintain control even with the party receiving and influx of money. But, with Crothian I still get the sense he has things well under control.

 

[IronWolf]

To see what the players do. These guys are freaking funny. They have over 30k in gems they won, and they goto the loacl underground fighting arena to earn a few silver pieces. They bety there as well, but no one bets more then ten gold, mopst of them bet a single gold piece.

Hey! I made some money there betting on the guys fighting against the members of the party that participated in the underground fighting!

 

[Bastoche]

In the end it depends on your player's playing style. I hate it when DM paternize in saying "No I will never give you more that warranted by the DMG just in case you might abuse the system with too much money". I prefer the test and see and correct afterwards. Our DM counts toward our assets the useful items we got. I bought a non magical dagger worth 2800gp and I only had one +1 dagger (I could've either upgrade it instead or buy a second one; I'm dual wielding). So far I have 12 masterwork daggers (2400gp worth + 10 000gp in enchantement + 2500gp for the overpriced one) I could have almost a +3 weapon instead. The 10 unused (and useless) daggers I keep in a display case at home are not counted toward my "DMG value". All the party has numerous items that are treated that way.

 

[Kirin'Tor]

I say why not...if every campaign stuck directly to the weath guidelines, we'd all have alot less interesting magic item stroeis, good or bad as they may be!

besides, a good DM can handle it even if the players are likely to abuse it. If nothign else, you could always say the town has a poor exchange rate for gems (due to their non-utility in the area, for whatever reason) and cut it in half or less easily.

 

[Crothian]

I'll go on record and say I don't use or even look at the wealth guidelines. I don't keep track how much stuff the players have or what their net worth is. They find the treasure that should be there, not the treasure I place there to make sure they accieve some amount in the DMG.

 

[Sammael]

I'll go on record and say I don't use or even look at the wealth guidelines. I don't keep track how much stuff the players have or what their net worth is. They find the treasure that should be there, not the treasure I place there to make sure they accieve some amount in the DMG.

This isn't problematic in and by itself, since you obviously know your players' play style very well and they don't abuse the wealth in the least bit. They also sound way too good to be true, so I imagine they have ulterior motives you are unaware of.

On the other hand, the wealth guidelines are there for a reason, because an underequipped party cannot handle appropriate encounters, while an overequipped party can handle encounters that should be way above their heads. Of course, a DM can just adjust the ELs accordingly in each case, but that requires much more additional work than simply making sure the wealth is within the guidelines.

As for prep-work, I improvise a lot, yet it takes me anywhere from 4 to 16 hours to prepare sufficiently for a session. I really don't mind the work, but I can't say it doesn't take a lot of time.

 

[der_kluge]

In the last campaign I ran, the PCs were stuck on an isolated continent, with no advanced civilizations.

In a ghostly abandoned dwarven citadel, the PCs encountered a secret room that was full of gems knee-high. The room was constructed as a deterrent for would-be attackers, such that if they found it, they might plunder the room, and leave the dwarves alone, since the dwarves themselves merely considered them curious bauble. My players (around 13th level at the time), filled their bags of holding with the gems, but they never got a chance at doing anything with them, since the campaign ended (I got bored with it, primarily, and then I moved away).

 

[Umbran]

They are being smart about it. They have not been spending much at alland have been overly frugal with it so far. They are having armor specially made for one of the guys, but its just master work so nothing to exotic there.

Well, then while they have it, they also don't. Money is only worth what it'll buy - if they aren't buying, then it isn't worth much, and there is no problem.

As for what the players are concerned about - they obviously are not sufficiently paranoid, and that'll get 'em in the end

 

[EdL]

I voted no, but in the right circumstances I probably would. The game is supposed to be fun, after all.