Creative ways to handle a huge bag of coins [Archive] - Wizards Community

Creative ways to handle a huge bag of coins [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Odimax
08-29-05, 05:50 AM I am currently playing a 5th level Human rogue in a Forgotten Realms campaign. I can carry up to 58 lbs for a light load. The total weight of my gear is 57 lbs (not counting coins).

Our party has recently gathered a large sum of coins. Adding my share of the loot to what I already have, I am going to be carrying 65 lbs worth of coins alone. I am trying to come up with the best solution to avoid encumberance in battle. Here are some of my ideas so far. Please add to these if you have any ideas for me.

1. First of all, I am carrying a huge amount of silver which I can convert to platinum.

2. I can hire a henchman to carry most of my money. I acknowledge that this may not be the greatest plan, but it is one idea.

3. I do have a horse, so I could carry the money on him until we get into a town. When I put the horse in the local stables I could take the money with me and lock it in the room I plan to stay in.

4. I could carry the money on my person and just drop the bag if it looks like a fight is going to happen. I think this is a bad idea, though, especially if we decide to run from battle.

5. Try to find out if Faerun has some sort of banking system, which I am not sure that it does.

6. Buy some land, build a house and store money in there, coming back to get it if I need a large sum of cash for something. This is more of a long-term solution, assuming I continously pile up cash and have nowhere to store it.

7. Give most of my money away to the poor or to people who deserve it. This is actually a possibility, because I am a chaotic good rogue who stands up for people who need help.

8. Entrust my money to a trustworthy NPC friend. This offers the same problems as idea #6.

9. Pay a willing party member to carry my gold. Probably not a viable option, because none of us really like the encumberance.

10. Put all my money towards an expensive magic item.

Well, these are most of my ideas so far. Please feel free to add any advice you can give.

Thanks.

Edit: I forgot to mention that our sorcerer has a handy haversack in which she plans to carry her money. These types of carrying devices appear to be difficult to come by, so I am currently assuming that I may not have access to one for quite a while.
Zyklon
08-29-05, 05:57 AM 11. Buy bag of holding
12. Bury them somewhere and make map where X marks the spot
13. Throw a HUGE party and invite everybody around
14. Invest your money for Gems or art-objects, so your money pouch wont weight so much
Odimax
08-29-05, 06:00 AM 11 Buy bag of holding
12 Bury them somewhere and make map where X marks the spot
13 Throw a HUGE party and invite everybody around

I like the party idea! That sounds cool. Unfortunately, I fear the forces of evil might rain on our parade. We are playing near the Moon Sea, where the regional government seems to be very oppressive. I still like that idea, though.

I edited my post to explain the situation on bags of holding.

Thanks for these cool ideas. :)
mythSSK
08-29-05, 07:08 AM The most common solution to this problem is this: gems. Converting a good deal of your cash into gems makes your encumberance issues a thing of the past. Sure, you lose a little gold each time you need to have it converted back to gold, and vice versa, but would you prefer 65 lbs of coins, or a small pouch with several small gems each worth thousands of gp in it?

A quick glance at my DMG 3.5 shows me that the clearest bright green emeralds, jacinths, and blue-white, canary, pink, brown, or blue diamonds can be worth between 2,000 and 8,000 (!) gp each. Gems aren't supposed to sell for half price either, though your DM will most assuredly have the jeweller charge you a little more than you'll get back for them (unless you go the gem-trading route, buying gems, then taking them to where they're rarest and selling for a profit).

PCs love gems because they're small, light-weight, and easily concealed compared with the same value in coins.
digoraccoon
08-29-05, 08:21 AM Gems are a good way to go in storing large amounts of cash. My players like this idea. Plus you can make jewelry out of it if you need to show of some "Bling" at the Royal Ball or something. :) Investing the money in land and building your own stronghold is good too for a long term investment. That way if you plan to aquiring followers and henchmen, they have a place to call Headquarters. Also you could probably rent out tracts of land to people for farming to make extra profits on the side.
Draco Strang
08-29-05, 08:50 AM Portable holes, bags of holding, Hewards's Handy Haversack.....your options are endless.

Or, you could take a page from Eberron's book and do the letter of credit thing. Give all your money to a certain noble or institution, and they issue you with a letter that says they'll pay back whatever you spend up to a certain amount. Granted, this method is truly only effective in civilized places such as huge cities and nations with an uncontested ruler. Anywhere else, and merchants might start gouging you or just refusing to deal with you altogether.
Loren Pechtel
08-29-05, 10:42 PM Convert it to platinum and you'll be within your weight limit.

Once you get enough, get a handy haversack.

Until you can trade it in put it in a sack you carry. You can drop it when combat starts.
TheRedRobedWizard
08-29-05, 11:02 PM As a DM, I usually just say that all the players have a "Bag of Money Holding". Things like coinage and non-magical gems can be held there without adding to the character's encumberance. If a player gets "smart" and tries to put something else into this seemingly endless bag, the contents of the bag are strewn about a 100' radius. This deals no damage to anything, and doesn't hinder movement; so the PCs can't use this as a positive thing. The basic idea is that they shouldn't have to spend a lot of money to carry around their money.

-TRRW
woozygremlin
08-29-05, 11:53 PM Many DMs don't include weight from coins in encumbrance.

Converting your cash into gems, art-objects, etc is good if not particularly creative.

Most campaign worlds have some type of lending institution... and if not use the money to become the owner of the first one! (Try to set it up in a Lawful Evil area so you can "hire" local watchmen to collect for you).

And finally there's my personal favorite, sell your weapon and just whale on your enemies with the sack of coin
Mock26
08-30-05, 12:29 AM Get two-wheeled push cart and bolt a very sturdy, metal bound trunk to it. Put in your gold and push it in front of you. You now have moving cover to hide behind if need be!

Or, hire someone to carry the gold for you.

Or, better still, don't carry all your gold with you on an adventure. Set up a base of operations and leave your money in the care of a money changer or a bank or the local "insert character class" guild. If you are a mage or have a mage in the group, store it at the mage's guild. Anyone fool enough to try and rob a mage's guild will most likely die. If not then they deserved the gold more than you. Only carry enough money to survive on and pay out bribes, etc. You can also trim back your gear.

Take care and have a great day....

ciao,
john.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Odimax 08-29-05, 05:50 AM	I am currently playing a 5th level Human rogue in a Forgotten Realms campaign. I can carry up to 58 lbs for a light load. The total weight of my gear is 57 lbs (not counting coins). Our party has recently gathered a large sum of coins. Adding my share of the loot to what I already have, I am going to be carrying 65 lbs worth of coins alone. I am trying to come up with the best solution to avoid encumberance in battle. Here are some of my ideas so far. Please add to these if you have any ideas for me. 1. First of all, I am carrying a huge amount of silver which I can convert to platinum. 2. I can hire a henchman to carry most of my money. I acknowledge that this may not be the greatest plan, but it is one idea. 3. I do have a horse, so I could carry the money on him until we get into a town. When I put the horse in the local stables I could take the money with me and lock it in the room I plan to stay in. 4. I could carry the money on my person and just drop the bag if it looks like a fight is going to happen. I think this is a bad idea, though, especially if we decide to run from battle. 5. Try to find out if Faerun has some sort of banking system, which I am not sure that it does. 6. Buy some land, build a house and store money in there, coming back to get it if I need a large sum of cash for something. This is more of a long-term solution, assuming I continously pile up cash and have nowhere to store it. 7. Give most of my money away to the poor or to people who deserve it. This is actually a possibility, because I am a chaotic good rogue who stands up for people who need help. 8. Entrust my money to a trustworthy NPC friend. This offers the same problems as idea #6. 9. Pay a willing party member to carry my gold. Probably not a viable option, because none of us really like the encumberance. 10. Put all my money towards an expensive magic item. Well, these are most of my ideas so far. Please feel free to add any advice you can give. Thanks. Edit: I forgot to mention that our sorcerer has a handy haversack in which she plans to carry her money. These types of carrying devices appear to be difficult to come by, so I am currently assuming that I may not have access to one for quite a while.
Zyklon 08-29-05, 05:57 AM	11. Buy bag of holding 12. Bury them somewhere and make map where X marks the spot 13. Throw a HUGE party and invite everybody around 14. Invest your money for Gems or art-objects, so your money pouch wont weight so much
Odimax 08-29-05, 06:00 AM	11 Buy bag of holding 12 Bury them somewhere and make map where X marks the spot 13 Throw a HUGE party and invite everybody around I like the party idea! That sounds cool. Unfortunately, I fear the forces of evil might rain on our parade. We are playing near the Moon Sea, where the regional government seems to be very oppressive. I still like that idea, though. I edited my post to explain the situation on bags of holding. Thanks for these cool ideas. :)
mythSSK 08-29-05, 07:08 AM	The most common solution to this problem is this: gems. Converting a good deal of your cash into gems makes your encumberance issues a thing of the past. Sure, you lose a little gold each time you need to have it converted back to gold, and vice versa, but would you prefer 65 lbs of coins, or a small pouch with several small gems each worth thousands of gp in it? A quick glance at my DMG 3.5 shows me that the clearest bright green emeralds, jacinths, and blue-white, canary, pink, brown, or blue diamonds can be worth between 2,000 and 8,000 (!) gp each. Gems aren't supposed to sell for half price either, though your DM will most assuredly have the jeweller charge you a little more than you'll get back for them (unless you go the gem-trading route, buying gems, then taking them to where they're rarest and selling for a profit). PCs love gems because they're small, light-weight, and easily concealed compared with the same value in coins.
digoraccoon 08-29-05, 08:21 AM	Gems are a good way to go in storing large amounts of cash. My players like this idea. Plus you can make jewelry out of it if you need to show of some "Bling" at the Royal Ball or something. :) Investing the money in land and building your own stronghold is good too for a long term investment. That way if you plan to aquiring followers and henchmen, they have a place to call Headquarters. Also you could probably rent out tracts of land to people for farming to make extra profits on the side.
Draco Strang 08-29-05, 08:50 AM	Portable holes, bags of holding, Hewards's Handy Haversack.....your options are endless. Or, you could take a page from Eberron's book and do the letter of credit thing. Give all your money to a certain noble or institution, and they issue you with a letter that says they'll pay back whatever you spend up to a certain amount. Granted, this method is truly only effective in civilized places such as huge cities and nations with an uncontested ruler. Anywhere else, and merchants might start gouging you or just refusing to deal with you altogether.
Loren Pechtel 08-29-05, 10:42 PM	Convert it to platinum and you'll be within your weight limit. Once you get enough, get a handy haversack. Until you can trade it in put it in a sack you carry. You can drop it when combat starts.
TheRedRobedWizard 08-29-05, 11:02 PM	As a DM, I usually just say that all the players have a "Bag of Money Holding". Things like coinage and non-magical gems can be held there without adding to the character's encumberance. If a player gets "smart" and tries to put something else into this seemingly endless bag, the contents of the bag are strewn about a 100' radius. This deals no damage to anything, and doesn't hinder movement; so the PCs can't use this as a positive thing. The basic idea is that they shouldn't have to spend a lot of money to carry around their money. -TRRW
woozygremlin 08-29-05, 11:53 PM	Many DMs don't include weight from coins in encumbrance. Converting your cash into gems, art-objects, etc is good if not particularly creative. Most campaign worlds have some type of lending institution... and if not use the money to become the owner of the first one! (Try to set it up in a Lawful Evil area so you can "hire" local watchmen to collect for you). And finally there's my personal favorite, sell your weapon and just whale on your enemies with the sack of coin
Mock26 08-30-05, 12:29 AM	Get two-wheeled push cart and bolt a very sturdy, metal bound trunk to it. Put in your gold and push it in front of you. You now have moving cover to hide behind if need be! Or, hire someone to carry the gold for you. Or, better still, don't carry all your gold with you on an adventure. Set up a base of operations and leave your money in the care of a money changer or a bank or the local "insert character class" guild. If you are a mage or have a mage in the group, store it at the mage's guild. Anyone fool enough to try and rob a mage's guild will most likely die. If not then they deserved the gold more than you. Only carry enough money to survive on and pay out bribes, etc. You can also trim back your gear. Take care and have a great day.... ciao, john.