what is the purppose of gold in 5e?
In 3.x we had to gather gold to go buy our custom tailored magical item that we want, instead of waiting for the DM to gracefully give our perfect sword to the ennemy and asking us to beat him to get the item. and then to mock us the DM made the weapon a longsword when all our feat are for bastard sowrd, damn you DM teasing me with a crappy perfect sword lol^^
but in 5e we cannot buy magical item (only healing potion and maybe some scroll. we need 1200 gp to buy ressurection spell and that is about it.
buying repairs, rations, INN fees, lifestyle, doesn't cost that much money you will find a lot more moeny in your adventure. heavy armor wearer will need to save to buy a non magical full plate, wizard need to pay to copy there book and copy scroll in it but other then that I do not forsee any major expense, unless we start building our own HD
Armor is also quite expensive.
But otherwise, you can give away all your gold to charity without hurting yourself.
As a GM I usually have the players spend their wealth on things like titles, castles and land. Even if you could buy magical items (ala 3e/4e) my players always had a tun of wealth at higher levels, and sticking it in a treasure room is nice to look at but pointless otherwise. I remember my group in 2nd ed when they were like 17th lvl they had something like 15 million gold in mixed coin, art, gems and ornamental gear. Got pretty rediculous lol.
If gold have no value, then why is there so much rules restricting player (aka sleight ofhand player) from stealing the gold from the group? Back in 3.x I could understand, since if being a rogue, I could buy myself 2 weapon +5 with vorpal, brilliant and flaming burst on them, an glamour armor+5 of slick shadow and magic reflection, then a bracer of dex+8 and boot of springing and strinding etc... whiel the rest of the group only had a single weapon+1.
but here gold only got RP values, so let us RP with our gold.
sarxares queried:if gold have no value, then why is there so much rules restricting player (aka sleight ofhand player) from stealing the gold from the group?
Sorxores wrote:
My players tend to invest in crazy things like mines, ruin excavation, whole towns, etc. I find it quite cool because it gives me a ton of things to set them off to do for their own ideas.
In the past, after about 5th level, rather than worry about their actual wealth, I usually start just assuming they can afford this or that and if they can't, they can go to someone who can tell them where they can beg/borrow/steal/murder someone for it.
It's adaptable to the game structure - if you can buy all sorts of magic items, then gold can be used for that.
If you can't buy all sorts of magic items, then it's just a side stat.
Buying healing potions and saving for armour are going to take a long time as is.
1500gp for a full plate? how many player in a team need a full plate? fighter and cleric so 3000gp for the team? by level 5 I am sure my groupd could have gather it and we could buy them the armor (since we cannot really use it for ourself)
By the AL rule, no you cannot buy/craft magical item, but yes in homebrew game gold have value again
Plate mail for everyone, expensive spell componants; hard partying and other opulance; extensive charity; player housing.
Also, just because there is no 'magic mart' mentality doesn't mean you can't buy magic items; it just means that making a pilgramage to the Temple of the Forge God and making an outrageous donation is a mini-quest instead of a down-time activity.
SpedGuy wrote:
Learning Proficiences and living expenses(with an outline in the PHB) could get costly. Live like nobility while learning a new tool could cost 3,000 gold or more (because of the 250 day cost of the training along with the gold cost).
Otherwise? 
I love that magic items are now unique and rare again, and not required acquisitions to remain relevant and that a certain amount of magic items are no longer expected as you advance in level. Definitely brings back the wonder and awe of attaining them and allows the DM much more control over how much is infused into the game and distributed amongst the players. One of the best changes for 5e.
Whir wrote:
I wouldn't mind having a system where you had to pay for training before you could actually levl (like in 1st ed AD&D).
Chaosmancer wrote:
Travel expenses. Later purchase your own transportation (your own ship / airship?).
Magical services if you don't have a certain class in your party.
Dragon bait.
Bribes.
Raez_Daevan wrote:
It is too bad that the old GP = XP rule is no longer in force. THe lower XP requirement of 5e makes this perhaps a bit peculiar, but ultimately, it was one of the best reasons for going adventuring in older editions.
"XP for GP – This is the biggest factor making the dangerous random encounter reasonable. When XP is given only for gold recovered, combat is always the less favored option. This also has the nice side effect of discouraging psychotic bloodthirsty player behavior (if one cares about such things), at least when it’s not based on an in-game rationale, because there’s nothing to be gained from fighting if treasure can be obtained in another way. Without the expectation that combat is the method to achieve success in the game, players are more likely to recognize that there are encounters they should avoid." excerpted from http://dungeonofsigns.blogspot.com/2014/08/trust-random-encounter-table.html on older editions of D&D.
I think, though, that another aspect of the older editions is missing from 5e, namely the establishment of Fighter's Stongholds, WIzard's Towers, Thieves Guilds, Druidic Groves, Assassin's Lairs, Clerical and Paladine Temples, etc. The larger scale campaign of establishing civilisation in the lawless wilderness is explicit in the 5e Lawful Neutral Noble Fighter's background in Lost Mine of Phandelver, for instance, and so the idea is still there, but not he impetus to do so with a formative dtrategy in mind from character conception and onward through the levels. The acquisition of key (class) allies and followers (and where are the Hirelings and Henchpersons?) to make this High Level game play si something the Old Timers among the hobby miss in these newer editions. Can we make an effort to try this again with 5e?
timeshadows quoth:it is too bad that the old GP = XP rule is no longer in force.
blake_marlowe wrote:
fair counterpoint--you obviously intended what you wrote differently than i read it. :>
i think i may implement style points for successfully avoiding combat encounters. i agree a MI-style session would be a lot more fun--and represent a whole lot more agency on the part of the players.
i wish my players would be more interested in that kind of game! :D
Spellcasters need gold for some of their material components (the ones explicitly calling for a cost).
blake_marlowe wrote:
Sorxores wrote:
I use my gold to melt in a pot and pour over the heads and down the mouths of people who annoy me.
Timeshadows wrote:
[...]
Sorxores wrote:
The purpose of gold is to purchase large number's of war galleys in order to take over other continents.
Why would a DM reward a lot of gold in 5E?
Monsters no longer have treasure tables. If the DM sees you getting too rich he can either have high level rogues rob you or start rewarding you copper pieces instead of gold pieces.
DrDragonlance wrote:
Bribery. You're telling me a group of sociopaths and religious fanatics stay on the good side of medieval law and aren't jailed or worse on a regular basis? Bribery must be involved somewhere.That's where all the money goes.
Really, nothing comes cheap. Even in a traditional fantasy setting, characters are paying people to do stuff just like people are paying characters to do stuff. There shouldn't be massive headway in riches (especially since they're heavy 10g /lb) It just doesn't make sense to carry around a lot of gold all the time. You have to find ways of consolidating that into portable, useful, or unfilchable currency.
Setzer_G wrote:
I think partly this is an issue with returning to a more "world simulation" style of game and less of a "balanced gaming experience" style of game.
What is gold for? You exchange it for goods and services.
I actually like that gold is no longer (at least in theory) an assumed part of your character's progression, because it means that character power is no longer tied to how mercenary you are.
Setzer_G wrote:
Thank you for the clarification. Going off older editions, I suppose. Nice to know it got upped a bit.
Thoughts_My_Aim wrote: