Mid Level Starting Money - Item Cost Percentage [Archive] - Wizards Community

Mid Level Starting Money - Item Cost Percentage [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
BranWheat
05-12-07, 11:44 PM When starting an adventure higher than lvl 1 the DM's guide lists the amount of money a player's equipment and passed costs would have been. It does not list what their most expensive item should cost though, any personal opinions?

For example, my players are starting at lvl 5. I don't want them spending 4,000+ on any one item. Would a 1,000gp price tag be good for a maximum item cost at creation?

Should I limit the number of magical items they have?

Also, assuming they have a substantial amount of money left, say in the thousands, how much should I reduce them by? It doesn't seem realistic that they would be toting 2,000gp around. I thought of cutting them to a couple hundred left over when they were done, but then this just encourages them to spend everything on possibly useless items.
Feneem
05-12-07, 11:53 PM Above 2000 I'd say, so that +1 weapons are an option (say 2500). Certainly above 1500 so full plate is possible.
If you stop them from keeping any extra coin they will just buy potions or even art objects so don't bother.
jennibert
05-13-07, 12:02 AM For the Hero Craftsmen competitions, we always use a 1/3 of allowable gold limit. So if they could have 9000 at 5th level, we would say no more than 3000.

Additionally, I've never seen a 5th level PC try to tote around 2000 gp. In my experience, they usually end up spending the vast majority on potions, scrolls, etc. If they do have leftovers, encourage them to have it in gems, which are easily totable. They could have 1600 gp worth of gems and only 400 in loose gold, so they'd still have change for dealing with every day situations, but not be carrying ludicrous amounts of gold.
Heahengel
05-13-07, 12:17 AM Somewhere between 2 and 3 thousand is reasonable. Unless you have a particular reason, I wouldn't stop people from picking up +1 weapons. They get pretty necessary around 5 or soon after. As a player I might well want a stat booster then, for 4000, especially for a caster, but its reasonable to restrict them.
KillerGM
05-13-07, 12:21 AM I generally say no one item should be more that 50% of the characters' starting gold when I've started at higher level.

Of course, allowing the 2315gp longsword +1 is perfectly reasonable in my eyes. A little of 50% isn't that big of a deal. It's basically a guideline so that the characters don't start out with one 4000gp item and thus are lacking in other places normal 5th level characters wouldn't be.

Hope it helps! :D
Morwen
05-13-07, 02:44 AM In my campaigns, any DMG item is available, and no item can cost more than 50% of the character's starting wealth.
Marcus Majarra
05-13-07, 04:37 PM A suitable guideline would be to use the GP limit from RPGA campaigns. 5th-level characters own around 9,000 gp of equipment. The GP limit for any single item is 4,500 gp at 5th-level.
Merestil Haye
05-14-07, 12:42 PM There's a guideline in the DMG that suggests no single item should cost more than 25% of the character's wealth. But it's not with the table on page 135.

ETA : It's on page 199.

That's what I'd use personally.
Witch
05-14-07, 12:45 PM There's a guideline in the DMG that suggests no single item should cost more than 25% of the character's wealth. But it's not with the table on page 135.

That's what I'd use personally.
That's my guideline as well.
darkeness
05-14-07, 03:12 PM A suitable guideline would be to use the GP limit from RPGA campaigns. 5th-level characters own around 9,000 gp of equipment. The GP limit for any single item is 4,500 gp at 5th-level.

When I run my games above first level I usually allow about 40% of the total wealth by level charts for single items. I thought that somewhere amidst all that text in the DMG was a suggestion for using 1/3 the total wealth for single items. So if you don't want the players to have items that enhance their stats, simply limit the max single items value to 1/3 of the total (in your case 3,000 gp).
mvincent
05-14-07, 03:36 PM my players are starting at lvl 5. I don't want them spending 4,000+ on any one item. Would a 1,000gp price tag be good for a maximum item cost at creation?No. That would cripple them. 50% or (for stricter DM's) 25% of starting wealth are the typical guidelines.

I personally have never given a restriction, as anyone that spends more than 50% on a single item is typically crippling himself.
Edymnion
05-16-07, 01:08 PM I use 50% of total character wealth in my games, 25% for when I want them to be lower powered.
Matthew77
05-16-07, 01:46 PM The logic of restricting single item cost depends on your campaign world.

If your campaign has a easy mechanism for trading or converting magical items to gold, and then purchasing or commissioning new items, then there should be no limit on the value of a single item.

A character that began at level 1 could have traded in all the loot he found and kept upgrading his weapon, so that he could have a +2 longsword at level 5. If this is the case, there is no reason to prohibit a newly created level 5 character from having a +2 weapon.

If your campaign does not have easy mechanisms for turning magic items into gold and gold into magic items, and a character that started at level 1 and adventured for 4 levels would typically have a hodge-podge of looted items with little choice in the matter, then it does make sense to apply limits to the mid level characters at creation.
Sander_Kaa
05-17-07, 07:04 AM My group uses the item setup per class by the PHB2.
Krusk
05-17-07, 07:30 AM We say X gold no one item worth more than 1/2X. then we also usually point out that a single good item is not worth it when you can get multiple average ones.

a +2 weapon, or +1weapons and +1armor or +1 weapon, mstrwork armor, and some nifty stat boosters, and interesting wonderous items?
allenchan
05-17-07, 10:46 PM There's a guideline in the DMG that suggests no single item should cost more than 25% of the character's wealth. But it's not with the table on page 135.

ETA : It's on page 199.

That's what I'd use personally.

i dislike this because I think a level 5/6 character should have a +1 weapon, especially since thats when monsters with magic dr start becoming more prevelant. I use the 50% guideline myself.
Merestil Haye
05-18-07, 01:32 AM i dislike this because I think a level 5/6 character should have a +1 weapon, especially since thats when monsters with magic dr start becoming more prevelant. I use the 50% guideline myself.One quarter of the wealth of a 5th level character is above the cost of enchanting a +1 weapon. I'm not going to sweat them breaking it by 50-100gp (depending on the cost of their weapon of choice).

Remember this is for characters rolled up at these levels, not characters played up to these levels. Characters played up to these levels can have whatever equipment they've found and / or roleplayed getting.
Ertai Planeswalker
05-18-07, 09:11 AM We too, use 50% as a rule, though we usually allow some exceptions, like a +1 weapon or a handy haversack. We consider those basic equipment. Everybody buys those as soon as they can afford it.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
BranWheat 05-12-07, 11:44 PM	When starting an adventure higher than lvl 1 the DM's guide lists the amount of money a player's equipment and passed costs would have been. It does not list what their most expensive item should cost though, any personal opinions? For example, my players are starting at lvl 5. I don't want them spending 4,000+ on any one item. Would a 1,000gp price tag be good for a maximum item cost at creation? Should I limit the number of magical items they have? Also, assuming they have a substantial amount of money left, say in the thousands, how much should I reduce them by? It doesn't seem realistic that they would be toting 2,000gp around. I thought of cutting them to a couple hundred left over when they were done, but then this just encourages them to spend everything on possibly useless items.
Feneem 05-12-07, 11:53 PM	Above 2000 I'd say, so that +1 weapons are an option (say 2500). Certainly above 1500 so full plate is possible. If you stop them from keeping any extra coin they will just buy potions or even art objects so don't bother.
jennibert 05-13-07, 12:02 AM	For the Hero Craftsmen competitions, we always use a 1/3 of allowable gold limit. So if they could have 9000 at 5th level, we would say no more than 3000. Additionally, I've never seen a 5th level PC try to tote around 2000 gp. In my experience, they usually end up spending the vast majority on potions, scrolls, etc. If they do have leftovers, encourage them to have it in gems, which are easily totable. They could have 1600 gp worth of gems and only 400 in loose gold, so they'd still have change for dealing with every day situations, but not be carrying ludicrous amounts of gold.
Heahengel 05-13-07, 12:17 AM	Somewhere between 2 and 3 thousand is reasonable. Unless you have a particular reason, I wouldn't stop people from picking up +1 weapons. They get pretty necessary around 5 or soon after. As a player I might well want a stat booster then, for 4000, especially for a caster, but its reasonable to restrict them.
KillerGM 05-13-07, 12:21 AM	I generally say no one item should be more that 50% of the characters' starting gold when I've started at higher level. Of course, allowing the 2315gp longsword +1 is perfectly reasonable in my eyes. A little of 50% isn't that big of a deal. It's basically a guideline so that the characters don't start out with one 4000gp item and thus are lacking in other places normal 5th level characters wouldn't be. Hope it helps! :D
Morwen 05-13-07, 02:44 AM	In my campaigns, any DMG item is available, and no item can cost more than 50% of the character's starting wealth.
Marcus Majarra 05-13-07, 04:37 PM	A suitable guideline would be to use the GP limit from RPGA campaigns. 5th-level characters own around 9,000 gp of equipment. The GP limit for any single item is 4,500 gp at 5th-level.
Merestil Haye 05-14-07, 12:42 PM	There's a guideline in the DMG that suggests no single item should cost more than 25% of the character's wealth. But it's not with the table on page 135. ETA : It's on page 199. That's what I'd use personally.
Witch 05-14-07, 12:45 PM	There's a guideline in the DMG that suggests no single item should cost more than 25% of the character's wealth. But it's not with the table on page 135. That's what I'd use personally. That's my guideline as well.
darkeness 05-14-07, 03:12 PM	A suitable guideline would be to use the GP limit from RPGA campaigns. 5th-level characters own around 9,000 gp of equipment. The GP limit for any single item is 4,500 gp at 5th-level. When I run my games above first level I usually allow about 40% of the total wealth by level charts for single items. I thought that somewhere amidst all that text in the DMG was a suggestion for using 1/3 the total wealth for single items. So if you don't want the players to have items that enhance their stats, simply limit the max single items value to 1/3 of the total (in your case 3,000 gp).
mvincent 05-14-07, 03:36 PM	my players are starting at lvl 5. I don't want them spending 4,000+ on any one item. Would a 1,000gp price tag be good for a maximum item cost at creation?No. That would cripple them. 50% or (for stricter DM's) 25% of starting wealth are the typical guidelines. I personally have never given a restriction, as anyone that spends more than 50% on a single item is typically crippling himself.
Edymnion 05-16-07, 01:08 PM	I use 50% of total character wealth in my games, 25% for when I want them to be lower powered.
Matthew77 05-16-07, 01:46 PM	The logic of restricting single item cost depends on your campaign world. If your campaign has a easy mechanism for trading or converting magical items to gold, and then purchasing or commissioning new items, then there should be no limit on the value of a single item. A character that began at level 1 could have traded in all the loot he found and kept upgrading his weapon, so that he could have a +2 longsword at level 5. If this is the case, there is no reason to prohibit a newly created level 5 character from having a +2 weapon. If your campaign does not have easy mechanisms for turning magic items into gold and gold into magic items, and a character that started at level 1 and adventured for 4 levels would typically have a hodge-podge of looted items with little choice in the matter, then it does make sense to apply limits to the mid level characters at creation.
Sander_Kaa 05-17-07, 07:04 AM	My group uses the item setup per class by the PHB2.
Krusk 05-17-07, 07:30 AM	We say X gold no one item worth more than 1/2X. then we also usually point out that a single good item is not worth it when you can get multiple average ones. a +2 weapon, or +1weapons and +1armor or +1 weapon, mstrwork armor, and some nifty stat boosters, and interesting wonderous items?
allenchan 05-17-07, 10:46 PM	There's a guideline in the DMG that suggests no single item should cost more than 25% of the character's wealth. But it's not with the table on page 135. ETA : It's on page 199. That's what I'd use personally. i dislike this because I think a level 5/6 character should have a +1 weapon, especially since thats when monsters with magic dr start becoming more prevelant. I use the 50% guideline myself.
Merestil Haye 05-18-07, 01:32 AM	i dislike this because I think a level 5/6 character should have a +1 weapon, especially since thats when monsters with magic dr start becoming more prevelant. I use the 50% guideline myself.One quarter of the wealth of a 5th level character is above the cost of enchanting a +1 weapon. I'm not going to sweat them breaking it by 50-100gp (depending on the cost of their weapon of choice). Remember this is for characters rolled up at these levels, not characters played up to these levels. Characters played up to these levels can have whatever equipment they've found and / or roleplayed getting.
Ertai Planeswalker 05-18-07, 09:11 AM	We too, use 50% as a rule, though we usually allow some exceptions, like a +1 weapon or a handy haversack. We consider those basic equipment. Everybody buys those as soon as they can afford it.