Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 bob_goes_up Feb 08, 2015 2:13:57	What is the best approach to use the treasure hoard table to generate random loot for low magic campaigns and/or low income campaigns?   One idea is to always roll twice on the hoard table and use the lower roll Another idea is to always divide the number of magic items by 2. Another idea is to divide the amount of money by 2.
#2 AaronOfBarbaria Feb 08, 2015 4:09:03	My experience with the tables thus far is that they actually already produce pretty low-magic results, since the majority of items found are of an expendable or low-impact nature.   As for low income... I'm not sure I have a really firm grasp on the exact gp value benchmark for "low" is, as that varies by campaign. Example: one campaign of mine is using random rolls, using only the number of rolls the DMG suggests for a typical campaign, and me having rolled out all of the treasure for the entire campaign to form a list from which I can create story reasons for encountering each randomly generated piece of treasure. That campaign will have roughly 800,000 gp for each of the characters involved over the course of the entire campaign from 4th to 20th+ level, which seems like a lot... until factoring in all the costs that the characters will face throughout the campaign (lifestyle costs, replacing lost or damage equipment, hirelings, travel expenses, bribes, and funding various endeavors such as research or the rebuilding/fortification of one's home city, plus many others) which can quickly eat up thousands of gold at a time, and adding in a certain amount of "Sure, you found treasure worth 20,000 gp... but how much of that are you willing and able to carry in your current circumstances?" at which point each player's share of 800,000 gp is likely to constantly feel like just enough money so that they are running low just as another chance at adventure comes along - much like how $150,000 seems like a large amont of money until you split it up into a pay check every 2 weeks with taxes taken out and bills to pay, and then it is actually just below the USA federal minimum wage.
#3 LongTimeLurker Feb 09, 2015 0:40:08	AaronOfBarbaria wrote:
#4 BoldItalic Feb 09, 2015 1:29:45	LongTimeLurker wrote:
#5 AaronOfBarbaria Feb 09, 2015 1:47:50	I think you misunderstood me. I wasn't saying anything about being impoverished - just that a sum of money viewed all at once, whether it is 800,000 gp or $150,000, seems a lot larger than it does when you are getting it bit by bit in intervals and have constant expenses coming out of it. I.e. I could buy a very nice car for $150,000, if only I weren't paying taxes, rent, internet, netflix, hulu, gas for my crummy car, buying gaming matetials, and eating the food I like to eat.