3.5 loot question

[Ordan Coal]

Hi all (first time posting a question on this sight, for some reason a little nervous x D).

I'm starting my own campaign for the very first time. Characters are being made, adventures are being written, and overall things are coming together. However, a problem I'm having is with treasure and distribution. I've read the CR system and all the stuff in the book, and while I get the gyst of it, I would like to simplify it. Basically, I would like to know if there is any kind of guide (or if somebody could just be really cool and help me out) in determining how much treasure is usually handed out per level. Obviously, a fifth level party would earn more than a first level party. If somebody could give me a ROUGH idea of how much gold each character should receive for the first five levels, it would be greatly appreciated. By the time we get that far, I feel confident that I would have a much better idea of what each character should be getting. Thank you for your time, and know that you are helping a rookie GM very much by doing so :smallsmile:

[SiuiS]

Expected wealth by level is actually listed in the dungeon masters guide. A second level character should have about 900 gold, a third level should have 2,700, a third level should have 5,400, and such. This is per character and the random treasure tables are designed to give out more than this, so players can afford non-game stuff like food and lodging as well as posh weapons and armor and magic items. So go ahead and ball a touch high, if you know the characters have to stay for a long time at an expensive inn or something.

Here is a chart, found by searching wealth by level (http://www.msen.com/~muffin/ADD/Chars/wealthbylevel.html) on google. Despite the weird name, it is accurate.

[Roaan]

You can check out page 51 of the DMG for an awesome summary of treasure my level, i pasted the table into a wall of text in the spoiler


Level| Gained | Whole Party | Per Character
.1st | ` `900 gp | `3,999 gp | 1,000 gp
.2nd | `1,800 gp | `7,998 gp | 2,000 gp
.3rd | `2,700 gp | 11,997 gp | 2,999 gp
.4th | `3,600 gp | 15,996 gp | 3,999 gp
.5th | `4,000 gp | 21,328 gp | 5,332 gp
.6th | `6,000 gp | 26,660 gp | 6,665 gp
.7th | `8,000 gp | 34,658 gp | 8,665 gp
.8th | `9,000 gp | 45,322 gp | 11,331 gp
.9th | 13,000 gp | 59,985 gp | 14,996 gp
10th | 17,000 gp | 77,314 gp | 19,329 gp
The important thing to take away is that by about level 5 your total group's wealth should be exceeding 20k and each character should have roughly 5,000g (+/- 1,000g i'd say) in items and cash. Try to give a lot of small items out that everyone can share, if you give them a a Major Circlet of Blasting (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#circletofBlastingMajor) thats all well and good but a couple of potions, scrolls, some cash, a wand of Cure Light Wounds and a +1 Keen weapon will go a lot further than a single item.

[Diarmuid]

In addition to WBL tables, monster entries also have a Treasure field denoting what kind of treasure that creature normally has.

If you dont feel like going through the trouble of finding those and then rolling on the various tables to determine loot, the d20srd site has an encounter calculator that will give you a treasure estimate for a given encounter and you can simply pick items/gold/gems/etc that add up to that total.

[navar100]

It's not necessary for everything in treasure to be exactly what the players want, but do make sure some things are. If the fighter is specializing in greatsword, it is rather annoying if all the magic weapons are long swords, rapiers, and short swords. The wizard does not need a 4th wand of Magic Missile. Magic rings come in more variety than Ring of Protection +1 and Ring of Sustenance. Potions of Cure Wounds are staple, but a potion of Eagle's Splendor has interest for the Sorcerer, Bard, Cleric, and/or Paladin.

[Gwendol]

Vanquished monsters have loot, and you can randomize the size of the loot and the magic items that go in it using tables available in the SRD or (my recommendation) the Magic Item Compendium. Then you can mix and match according to taste.
Most players will want to sell off loot for gold and buy what they want/need anyway.

[Duke of URL]

One note on using the WBL tables -- they assume that a portion of wealth is used on consumable items, so simply providing a party with treasure equal to the deltas between levels will actually under-power them compared to the normal treasure distribution provided from normal encounters of appropriate levels.

That said, character wealth is entirely relative anyway. The system is theoretically (though generally not realistically) balanced around the characters having specified wealth at any given time. If they're significantly under or over that, you can compensate by adjusting the CR of opponents accordingly. That is, for a party that's under-equipped, adjust the CR of opponents up by +1 or more, based on their relative lack of wealth, and vice-versa for an over-equipped party.

[Kuulvheysoon]

I find the new Treasure Tables in the back of the MiC to be enourmously helpful here, if you have access.

Roaan, you MAY want to take the levelling information out of your spoiler - the amount of XP needed for level up is NOT included in the OGL.

[crazyhedgewizrd]

just remember not all wealth come out of a dungeon or monster bodies. a good source of money through jobs, let the characters know where the money come from.

If the players only get money from dungeon dives or monsters, then players start to think it ok to slap the local lord. ("had a player character die that way, and wane about i killed his character")

[jackattack]

Also remember that it is fairly easy to adjust character wealth.

If they have too much money, they may become targets for bandits, con artists, tax collectors, or inflation-happy merchants.

If they have too little money, they might be approached by someone who wants to hire their services, or they might stumble across a high-paying adventure out of the blue.

[Ordan Coal]

Thank you all VERY much for your advice (sorry for such a late check in on my question, had some technical difficulties). With all this in mind, I"m sure I can come to a conclusion for loot and value of said loot ^^ I'll also be sure to give a couple of small bonuses here and there for living expenses and such (small bonuses being the key word, as our GM never had mercy of that kind on us, nor shall it be given x D ). Thank you all VERY much, and wish me good luck. I have a feeling I'm going to need it