I'm DMing a Homebrew DnD game with a fairly standard set up, players are part of a guild (or company in this case) they get sent on missions and paid for it plus access to the guilds funds. Now I'm new to DnD (1 year) and in the rush to get things started I didn't much look at costs of things and after the first few missions I realize I may have been too generous with the payments, now I'm getting on top of it and they are filthy rich and I'm not sure quite what to do.
I'd like to have silver as the main coin with gold as a more rarer/special coin and copper as dirt common (I've scrubbed electrum, and platinum for ease) but I don't know what to do:
I could ask them to all knock a 0 of their gold, so 200gp becomes 20gp? but that feels like penalizing them for something thats not their fault.
I could effectively add a 0 to prices, so 200gp becomes 2000gp BUT then silver and copper become worthless (which they kinda are)?
I could try and get them to lose the money? Maybe have it stolen from them or run some pick pockets if they are unwary?
I could just be more rigorous in making them account for things like rations and offering plenty of things for them to waste spend their money on?
Does anyone have an idea how I can fix this? I know this isn't just my problem but also the mechanics of the game, but as i said I'd like gold to be special, silver standard and copper as common.
If the players are richer just increase the cost of everything in world until they spend their money. Prices in the DMG are a guide and the magic item prices are really not correct. There is a real prices guide online, can’t find the link and am on my phone at work but I imagine someone can share it.
But really things cost whatever you decide, and if people see them coming up with money then the way will up the price to try and make a bit extra profit.
I will also ask are you charging them daily living costs, inn stays, bar tab, food bills. Are you making them buy things like rations etc, if you don’t want to RP it just take a daily cost from them. As a DM there are many ways you can get them to use their money without needing to revert to complicated procedures that will just upset your players.
Incorporate puddings, oozes, jellies and slimes. Equipment gets damaged and needs replacement all the time. What do the PCs eat? Mounts and pets? Living expenses?
Did they maybe cause some damage during the barfight that needs repaired? Is there a gate tax because the local baron is going to war? If rumors of war are true, panic buying and price gouging are an all too familiar thing.
Shake the world a little and give your PCs a reason to spend money. Build a stronghold!
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“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
Shake the world a little and give your PCs a reason to spend money. Build a stronghold!
I would go with some variation of this. Daily drinks, food, lodging may be negligible. But maybe have them babysit a spoiled prince (high daily cost, but if they treat him well you can call on favors to defend a city for instance)
Build and maintain a fortress to give access to more npcs with useful skills and/or knowledge.
Build a monster zoo and pay the zookeepers because it's neat. Ect.
Exactly how much money does the party have? You said they’re “filthy rich,” but how rich is is that in your case? You mentioned 200gp in a couple of examples. Was that just a convenient number to refer to, or is it specifically relevant? I ask because 200gp is a handful of basic potions of healing away from flat broke. Even 2,000gp isn’t that much considering the types of stuff an armed adventuring party might need to spend money on. So exactly how much disposable wealth are we talking about here?
Also, what level are their characters? A modest fortune to a party during the first tier of play is a pittance to the same part during the third tier of play. That information drastically alters the relative value of their purse, so it’s hard to offer more than some general suggestions.
As to those “generic suggestions,” here goes:
• Perhaps if they come across a “specialty vender” (or two) they would happily divest themselves in a single shopping trip. The available inventory wouldn’t necessarily have to be super powerful, just particularly interesting to those individuals (the players and/or their characters).
Something I have in my world that serves this purpose are a category of vendors known as “Brokers.” They’re like pawn/consignment shops for magic items. You don’t want a magic item Walmart or anything, no racks of flame tongue weapons or anything, that would ruin the game. But a pawn/consignment model of business offers lots of benefits and much less potential to negatively impact the game.
I often put stuff I know they won’t want, need or use in treasure hoards so it doesn’t look too tailored. So having an outlet for adventurers to offload unwanted stuff is useful. It also gives them in in-game way to make requests without it seeming like a player making requests of the DM. The brokers rarely have what the PC is looking for, especially if it’s something special. But most brokers “know someone who knows somebody who might know something,” and that might set them off on their next adventure.
My brokers typical inventories include a random assortment of common and “minor” uncommon non-consumable magic items, and maybe a few “major” uncommon items. Brokers in larger cities might have a single “minor” rare item as the prize piece in their inventory, but usually not one of the popular ones. (Remember, their inventory is the stuff other adventurers didn’t want, so anything really good is rarely taken to a broker.) They also usually have a random selection of consumable items that might be anywhere from common to “minor” rare items. The notion of minor and major magic items were introduced in Xanathar’s Guide.
(However, a Broker’s is a fantastic way to invite a lower-level party to blow hundreds of gold for lower-impact items, but they don’t often deal in the kinds of magic items that would appeal to a higher-level party with tens of thousands of gp in their party funds.)
• Have they had much opportunity to engage in downtime activities? If not then there is a likely solution for you. Crafting custom magic items, maintaining a keep (or other base of operations), and keeping NPCs on the party’s payroll will eat up hundreds of thousands of gp reeeaal effing quick.
• My next suggestion is gonna sound a little odd, but it was not uncommon in older editions: Have they paid their taxes yet? Adventurers acquire things “off the books” all the time. But occasionally they come to the attention of local nobles or governors or whatever, and then it’s all “your newfound treasures were located in the ruins beneath our city and as such rightfully belong to us. Therefore a tithe (10%) is quite in order….”
• My final suggestion is to present them with an opportunity to just give the money away. Maybe they come across a handful of villages that have been ravaged by monsters, villains, war, or even weather. Appealing to their “heroic nature’s” to inspire a charitable donation to the needy could be just the ticket.
In my campaign world, I do use silver as the standard. In my world most commoners rarely ever see gold coins. They may have 10gp worth of savings, but it’s all in copper and silver. Most ”folks” (NPCs) talk of money in terms of silver or copper. I like to use a 1960s era US economy as my reference point,*1 so 1cp=10¢, 1sp=$1, 1gp=$10, and 1pp=$100. In America in the early ‘60s, a beer cost around 35¢ (ish), so it lines up fairly well with the 4cp listed in the PHB for a mug of ale.*2
I have found that it’s easier to maintain consistency with my economy if I can present a common reference everyone can relate to. It just so happens everyone in my group can relate to the price of a beer. (Don’t judge.)
*(You could reach a comparable economy using turn of the century USD values: 1cp=$1, 1sp=$10, 1gp=$100, 1pp=$1,000)
*(Gorram it WotC! Earlier in the same darned chapter youse all have a flask or tankard listed, but under you gotta refer to “Ale (mug).” would it have killed ya to be a little consistent?!? At least list it as “Ale (mug/tankard) or something? Next they'll be package things in “flagons” and “steins” and we’ll see megathreads debating the RAW on exactly how many ounces each can hold. 🙄
I'm generally of the opinion that it doesn't matter how rich the characters are, anything worth spending large amounts of money on is going to require some sort of adventure anyway.
If you are going to make some sort of change to the game though, the most important thing is talk to your players about it. The simplest solution from your description would be to turn their gold into silver. But you should only do something like that after talking to them to see if they have a better solution.
Gold means unwanted attention, especially if the players are obvious about it. Maybe there are a lot of attempts to rob the characters- and maybe one of them succeeds... And we have a new plot hook- recover our stolen fortune!
That is the sane magic item price guide, if you look through you will see most magic item prices significantly higher than the DMG. I tend to put prices roughly halfway between the DMG and this price guide.
There's nothing wrong with admitting you've made a mistake. Rather than looking at an in-game solution to and out-of-game problem just come clean and reduce their funds by however much it takes to correct the problem.
I'm DMing a Homebrew DnD game with a fairly standard set up, players are part of a guild (or company in this case) they get sent on missions and paid for it plus access to the guilds funds. Now I'm new to DnD (1 year) and in the rush to get things started I didn't much look at costs of things and after the first few missions I realize I may have been too generous with the payments, now I'm getting on top of it and they are filthy rich and I'm not sure quite what to do.
I'd like to have silver as the main coin with gold as a more rarer/special coin and copper as dirt common (I've scrubbed electrum, and platinum for ease) but I don't know what to do:
I could ask them to all knock a 0 of their gold, so 200gp becomes 20gp? but that feels like penalizing them for something thats not their fault.
I could effectively add a 0 to prices, so 200gp becomes 2000gp BUT then silver and copper become worthless (which they kinda are)?
I could try and get them to lose the money? Maybe have it stolen from them or run some pick pockets if they are unwary?
I could just be more rigorous in making them account for things like rations and offering plenty of things for them to
wastespend their money on?Does anyone have an idea how I can fix this? I know this isn't just my problem but also the mechanics of the game, but as i said I'd like gold to be special, silver standard and copper as common.
If the players are richer just increase the cost of everything in world until they spend their money. Prices in the DMG are a guide and the magic item prices are really not correct. There is a real prices guide online, can’t find the link and am on my phone at work but I imagine someone can share it.
But really things cost whatever you decide, and if people see them coming up with money then the way will up the price to try and make a bit extra profit.
I will also ask are you charging them daily living costs, inn stays, bar tab, food bills. Are you making them buy things like rations etc, if you don’t want to RP it just take a daily cost from them. As a DM there are many ways you can get them to use their money without needing to revert to complicated procedures that will just upset your players.
Incorporate puddings, oozes, jellies and slimes. Equipment gets damaged and needs replacement all the time. What do the PCs eat? Mounts and pets? Living expenses?
Did they maybe cause some damage during the barfight that needs repaired? Is there a gate tax because the local baron is going to war? If rumors of war are true, panic buying and price gouging are an all too familiar thing.
Shake the world a little and give your PCs a reason to spend money. Build a stronghold!
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
I would go with some variation of this. Daily drinks, food, lodging may be negligible. But maybe have them babysit a spoiled prince (high daily cost, but if they treat him well you can call on favors to defend a city for instance)
Build and maintain a fortress to give access to more npcs with useful skills and/or knowledge.
Build a monster zoo and pay the zookeepers because it's neat. Ect.
Another thought, have them promoted in the guild structure to a point where they can invest back into it (similar to my suggested fortress above)
Exactly how much money does the party have? You said they’re “filthy rich,” but how rich is is that in your case? You mentioned 200gp in a couple of examples. Was that just a convenient number to refer to, or is it specifically relevant? I ask because 200gp is a handful of basic potions of healing away from flat broke. Even 2,000gp isn’t that much considering the types of stuff an armed adventuring party might need to spend money on. So exactly how much disposable wealth are we talking about here?
Also, what level are their characters? A modest fortune to a party during the first tier of play is a pittance to the same part during the third tier of play. That information drastically alters the relative value of their purse, so it’s hard to offer more than some general suggestions.
As to those “generic suggestions,” here goes:
• Perhaps if they come across a “specialty vender” (or two) they would happily divest themselves in a single shopping trip. The available inventory wouldn’t necessarily have to be super powerful, just particularly interesting to those individuals (the players and/or their characters).
Something I have in my world that serves this purpose are a category of vendors known as “Brokers.” They’re like pawn/consignment shops for magic items. You don’t want a magic item Walmart or anything, no racks of flame tongue weapons or anything, that would ruin the game. But a pawn/consignment model of business offers lots of benefits and much less potential to negatively impact the game.
I often put stuff I know they won’t want, need or use in treasure hoards so it doesn’t look too tailored. So having an outlet for adventurers to offload unwanted stuff is useful. It also gives them in in-game way to make requests without it seeming like a player making requests of the DM. The brokers rarely have what the PC is looking for, especially if it’s something special. But most brokers “know someone who knows somebody who might know something,” and that might set them off on their next adventure.
My brokers typical inventories include a random assortment of common and “minor” uncommon non-consumable magic items, and maybe a few “major” uncommon items. Brokers in larger cities might have a single “minor” rare item as the prize piece in their inventory, but usually not one of the popular ones. (Remember, their inventory is the stuff other adventurers didn’t want, so anything really good is rarely taken to a broker.) They also usually have a random selection of consumable items that might be anywhere from common to “minor” rare items. The notion of minor and major magic items were introduced in Xanathar’s Guide.
(However, a Broker’s is a fantastic way to invite a lower-level party to blow hundreds of gold for lower-impact items, but they don’t often deal in the kinds of magic items that would appeal to a higher-level party with tens of thousands of gp in their party funds.)
• Have they had much opportunity to engage in downtime activities? If not then there is a likely solution for you. Crafting custom magic items, maintaining a keep (or other base of operations), and keeping NPCs on the party’s payroll will eat up hundreds of thousands of gp reeeaal effing quick.
• My next suggestion is gonna sound a little odd, but it was not uncommon in older editions: Have they paid their taxes yet? Adventurers acquire things “off the books” all the time. But occasionally they come to the attention of local nobles or governors or whatever, and then it’s all “your newfound treasures were located in the ruins beneath our city and as such rightfully belong to us. Therefore a tithe (10%) is quite in order….”
• My final suggestion is to present them with an opportunity to just give the money away. Maybe they come across a handful of villages that have been ravaged by monsters, villains, war, or even weather. Appealing to their “heroic nature’s” to inspire a charitable donation to the needy could be just the ticket.
In my campaign world, I do use silver as the standard. In my world most commoners rarely ever see gold coins. They may have 10gp worth of savings, but it’s all in copper and silver. Most ”folks” (NPCs) talk of money in terms of silver or copper. I like to use a 1960s era US economy as my reference point,*1 so 1cp=10¢, 1sp=$1, 1gp=$10, and 1pp=$100. In America in the early ‘60s, a beer cost around 35¢ (ish), so it lines up fairly well with the 4cp listed in the PHB for a mug of ale.*2
I have found that it’s easier to maintain consistency with my economy if I can present a common reference everyone can relate to. It just so happens everyone in my group can relate to the price of a beer. (Don’t judge.)
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
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Baby sitting a prince; I hadn't thought of that, sounds like a fun (and costly) game to play for them XD
I'm generally of the opinion that it doesn't matter how rich the characters are, anything worth spending large amounts of money on is going to require some sort of adventure anyway.
If you are going to make some sort of change to the game though, the most important thing is talk to your players about it. The simplest solution from your description would be to turn their gold into silver. But you should only do something like that after talking to them to see if they have a better solution.
Gold means unwanted attention, especially if the players are obvious about it. Maybe there are a lot of attempts to rob the characters- and maybe one of them succeeds... And we have a new plot hook- recover our stolen fortune!
Only spilt the party if you see something shiny.
Ariendela Sneakerson, Half-elf Rogue (8); Harmony Wolfsbane, Tiefling Bard (10); Agnomally, Gnomish Sorcerer (3); Breeze, Tabaxi Monk (8); Grace, Dragonborn Barbarian (7); DM, Homebrew- The Sequestered Lands/Underwater Explorers; Candlekeep
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8XAiXpOfz9cMWt1RTBicmpmUDg/view?resourcekey=0-ceHUken0_UhQ3Apa6g4SJA
That is the sane magic item price guide, if you look through you will see most magic item prices significantly higher than the DMG. I tend to put prices roughly halfway between the DMG and this price guide.
Thankyou for that :) its realy helpfull
There's nothing wrong with admitting you've made a mistake. Rather than looking at an in-game solution to and out-of-game problem just come clean and reduce their funds by however much it takes to correct the problem.