How much is a lot in terms of gold?

[mabon5127]

In my campaign I don't handle leveling with experience points and so I can restrict the amount of gold I give as treasure. I keep it pretty rare. The characters are mostly 7th level and have 2-3k of gold in coin and various possessions not including magic items. They pay for training to level which takes a fairly significant amount of ready cash but leaves them well off compared to most the rest of the game world.

The Leveling up thread

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=11935

made me wonder what rarity other CK's place on gold in their campaigns? Maybe I'm just a cheap skinflint of a GM!!!

Morgan

[Arduin]

In my campaign I don't handle leveling with experience points and so I can restrict the amount of gold I give as treasure. I keep it pretty rare. The characters are mostly 7th level and have 2-3k of gold in coin and various possessions not including magic items. They pay for training to level which takes a fairly significant amount of ready cash but leaves them well off compared to most the rest of the game world.

The Leveling up thread

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=11935

made me wonder what rarity other CK's place on gold in their campaigns? Maybe I'm just a cheap skinflint of a GM!!!

Morgan

I go pretty much by the treasure tables...

[gideon_thorne]

2000 gold pieces is actually enough money to live pretty decently in my campaign setting, for about a decade.

[ThrorII]

I don't have a hard and fast rule on what is 'a lot of gold'.

That being said, I use the 3.5 DMG rules on daily pay to help figure it out. An alchemist makes 1gp a day, or 365gp a year (assuming paid every day), the average mercenary makes 2sp a day, or 73gp a year). It tops out with a sage making 2gp per day (730gp a year). The average skilled laborer or craftsman makes an average of 100gp a year.

The C&C PHB secton on knights say that a 1st level knight follower gets 100gp per month (per level).

If your players cash out a hoard and split it, and get about 1,000gp each, that is about 3 years salary for a sage, or 10 years salary for a skilled craftsman, or about 10 months pay for a 1st level knight retainer.

At low levels, several hundred gold each per haul sounds fair. It allows for purcheses of better armor and weapons, and allows your spell casters to make scrolls.

At mid-levels, I'd say a grand in gold is fair. That allows for purchase of masterwork weapons or armor, good warhorses with armor, etc.

I've never got to high levels, so I'd guess a good, big, high-level haul should be thousands of gp's. Enough to help build strongholds, build magic items, etc.

[Lord Dynel]

Well, a 10th level knight is going to be shelling out, on average, 1,000 gp/month, that will grow by 1,000gp per month for roughtly 8 months. At that time he will, again on average, have 80-ish 0-level knights and two 1st-level knights. That alone is 8,200 gp for that month. Not counting all of the months. By that point (8 months), the knight PC has spent approximately 36,500 gp, or there abouts. Now, add in another 5th-level knight that comes at 80 followers. All this is, of course, after the knight has expended the money for a stronghold (but could have seized/captured one, of course).

That's a lot of gold. If the stronghold is self-sufficient in some manner, it would be helpful. Otherwise, that's a lot of capital that has to be raised each month.

[mabon5127]

Well, a 10th level knight is going to be shelling out, on average, 1,000 gp/month, that will grow by 1,000gp per month for roughtly 8 months. At that time he will, again on average, have 80-ish 0-level knights and two 1st-level knights. That alone is 8,200 gp for that month. Not counting all of the months. By that point (8 months), the knight PC has spent approximately 36,500 gp, or there abouts. Now, add in another 5th-level knight that comes at 80 followers. All this is, of course, after the knight has expended the money for a stronghold (but could have seized/captured one, of course).

That's a lot of gold. If the stronghold is self-sufficient in some manner, it would be helpful. Otherwise, that's a lot of capital that has to be raised each month.

I would think that the day to day expenses would be covered by taxes or whatever economic system is in place. However having a nice treasure trove from adventuring would sure help when hiring those mercenaries!

Morgan

[Arduin]

I would think that the day to day expenses would be covered by taxes or whatever economic system is in place. However having a nice treasure trove from adventuring would sure help when hiring those mercenaries!

Morgan

A good way to gain insight into this is to go through the English gov's crown "papers" from the time of Henry VIII & before. (now online I've heard) Draining blood from the peasants & merchants was never enough as you had obligations to help allies in their struggles and scraping together funding to defend against foes who wanted to add your territory to theirs was a constant rather than the exception.

[serleran]

Look at the prices in the PHB, especially for lodging, and reduce them by 1 coin type (gold becomes silver, silver to copper, copper to half or less price), assuming the average peasant can afford a like thing without the "boomtown economy" that adventurers bring, for 1 meal a day. This should put them at making around 20 SP a week, roughly. The implication of course is that the influx of gold brought in by hunting monsters and looting graves causes a mad rush... the C&C world is not the static one of the Medieval period; it is dynamic insanity of the Klondike.

But, anyway, I tend to put anything at 100 GP as "a lot." But, then, in my world, gold is not always worth anything... some places don't trade for it, use it, or need it. Others value it at double.

[Cardinal Thor]

My players are level 11 and have around 115k gold socked away in their stronghold. They've put over 100k into building the stronghold. Additionally, they have around 60k in minor magic items they don't take with them everywhere.

All told they have close to 300k in cash and investments.

This is from rolling treasure by the book, not vetoing any magic items rolled, and allowing them to sell and bargain with magic items from time to time (there is a race in the setting that survives by absorbing magical energy that pays well, if not btb value, for magic items when they come to town).

-CT

[moriarty777]

Sounds like constant problems with inflation to me.

Too much or too little is not something one can easily pin down. No matter how much you give, you need to consider the norm in the setting. Once that's done, be realistic about the merchants and artisans the party will deal with. In what was an interesting limitation in some games I've played, the people you trade with have a 'finite' amount of money on hand. Such things could promote more bartering (roleplaying opportunities), and help cap wealth to begin with. If certain characters are amassing large amounts of money and they don't know what to do with it all -- you may want to tone down the amounts being given in spoils. I mean... previous metals are finite to a degree as well as gems. Taxation can be an instantaneous way to cleave a chunk of a character's wealth. If they are simply 'good' with their money, then reward them with titles and lands that they need to do upkeep for. Raising and maintaining armies is a great way to quickly drain funds

While I consider myself generous when it comes to loot, things can be costly in my game and the longest recent campaign, the party is wealthy but the total is below 5000 amongst the lot of them.

M

[Arduin]

Remember, all wealth isn't coin. Much might be art, gold candle sticks, etc. The PC's have to get it to a place that has a large enough economy in order to covert it to coin...

[Troll Root]

Well, if you are playing with the trolls, it can be interesting. When Davis is running a game, you may have to see how long you can survive just by smelling a copper piece ( not actually possessing it)!! Steve is much more generous these days than in the past. You no longer have to be bleeding from the eyes and ears to gain some money. But, he loves to destroy equipment, both magical and mundane, so you cannot get too used to your current equipment list for any length of time. He also makes sure you re-equip if you've been out adventuring for any good length of time.