Ways to get by without wealth by level?

[Zjordan85]

So, my DM has explicitly told me that he believes wealth breaks the game. I would like to know if there are any rules of thumb to use to live without access to giant hordes of gold.

[killem2]

So, my DM has explicitly told me that he believes wealth breaks the game. I would like to know if there are any rules of thumb to use to live without access to giant hordes of gold.

If it is extremely low income, vow of poverty is pretty decent, so is mercantile background feat.

You could focus a high intelligence character on crafting, and make magic items. and sell them.

[Feralventas]

The wealth by level system in 3.5 operates as a sort of second experience pool. As along as your DM understands this and scales the encounters back, it shouldn't be a debilitating alteration to the game.

Now then, there are some gear-dependant character options. Fighters are probably one example of a class that is limited by lack of resources, seeing as Weapons and Armor are a core part of how they function, but it should be noted that most of their combative ability would come from Feats rather than equipment, so they can still work, but it's not advisable to take. Warblades, however, can work quite well with a reduced equipment set since their maneuvers help make up a lot of the difference. Tome of Battle in general is going to be more viable than the usual base-combatants, though a mix of both can be quite effective as well (high dex/int for a Warblade/Swashbuckler, for example. Not well armored, but lots of HP and a high damage capacity).

'Casters in general will be fine, and can break the WBL template anyway if they need to via conjuration and fabrication effects (Hello post-scarcity world.)

Thief classes and skill monkeys are in sort of a grey-area, definitely benefiting from gear but not necessarily being useless without it.



Personally, I think WBL Makes the game work, but I understand that it's not the only way to go. I'd suggesting bringing up the WBL as a second XP pool concept if you haven't already. Alternatively, consider asking him to make it a Gestalt campaign so that you're still getting your second set of abilities, just from another class instead of from vast quantities of money.

[Lostbutseeking]

Play a fullcaster (wizard, cleric or Druid in particular.) which are of course the most broken classes to start with. Happily being so powerful to stArt wiu reduces their need for wealth.

[Malimar]

First things that come to mind:

Play a spellcaster, manifester, or Incarnum-user.
Do not for a second consider playing a beatstick under these circumstances. Lack of WBL gimps melee even worse than they already are.
A campaign like this is one of the approximately two circumstances under which one would be well-advised to take Vow of Poverty (Book of Exalted Deeds); it's worse than WBL, but better than nothing.


EDIT: ...swordsaged, swordsaged, and swordsaged.

[Water_Bear]

That sucks, sorry dude. It is always annoying when the DM makes a bad call (especially if you're the DM :smalltongue:).

So here are the three options I can think of.

Option 1: Be an Artificer

Having 50% off all of your items means you will be able to ride out any Gold Famine within reason. What little loot you get you can break down into XP to fuel your crafting without hurting your level too much.

Your main worry will be Crafting time; some DMs like to really hustle players from point to point (my Players rarely have more than a week of time in between sessions).

Option 2: Vow of Poverty Unarmed Swordsage

Vow of Poverty is normally much worse than not having it, just because Magic Items are that important. But otherwise this fixes some of the holes in your Saves and AC and keeps your Attack/Damage competitive.

The issue here is that you need to be Exalted; you are essentially playing a Paladin and now have all the RP issues that entails. With your DM I would worry about getting hit with no-win scenarios, and start putting together contingencies to avoid them.

Option 3: Eschew Materials Sorcerer

Obviously not the best option, but Casters don't need too many items compared to melee and Sorcerers need the least out of all the casters. Other than wasting a Spell Known on Eagle's Splendor you will be able to use almost the same build as any other Sorcerer.

[Zjordan85]

Just a little background info on the current party.
Avg lvl - 4
DMPC Swashbuckler/Wizard
PC 1. Scout
PC 2. Dragon Shaman
PC 3. Cleric
PC 4. Rogue
PC 5. Wizard
PC 6. Monk/Psychic Warrior
PC 7 (OOG for the foreseeable). VoP Druid

I estimate we've gathered about 750gp a piece before costs.

The campaign is Night Below, for those familiar.

[Vladislav]

Starting from a certain level, melee classes just wither and die without access to magical items. Forcecage is a no-save-just-die against a Fighter who has no Anklets of Translocation, Potion of Gaseous Form, or similar. In addition to short-range teleportation, staple things like the ability to see invisible, and the ability to fly, are paramount in high-level and even mid-level combat, and are readily available to casters - but not melee.

Don't play a melee class. Play a caster with a solid spell selection, and you'll be fine.

[Feralventas]

Just a little background info on the current party.
Avg lvl - 4
DMPC Swashbuckler/Wizard
PC 1. Scout
PC 2. Dragon Shaman
PC 3. Cleric
PC 4. Rogue
PC 5. Wizard
PC 6. Monk/Psychic Warrior
PC 7 (OOG for the foreseeable). VoP Druid

I estimate we've gathered about 750gp a piece before costs.
Scout: Skill-monkey with damage coming from a single attack per round. Not going to do well long-term, but should be alright for a while. Swift-hunter might make life better for 'im.
Dragon Shaman: Should be fine, lots of mobility and non-cash options.
Cleric: Tier1, enjoy your everything.
Rogue: Skill-monkey, might be able to stack damage via TWF, can probably get along on skill points same as the Scout, but long term will have a more difficult time of things.
Wizard: See cleric.
MOnk/PsyWar: That looks like a Tashalatora to me. Lotsa damage, could do with some magic items, but should be able to get by without 'em.
VoP Druid: See Cleric.

[Telonius]

Wizard might actually be hurt by lack of funds. He'll have to choose his level-up spells as carefully as a Sorcerer would, since he can't count on being able to scribe in necessary spells afterwards.

Warlock can actually function fairly well in a low- or no-cash environment. Your goodies come mostly from class features, and aren't very stat-dependent. You'll still lose out if you can't get a chasuble or scepter, but you lose less than a lot of other classes.

[Curmudgeon]

For the Rogue I'd definitely recommend skipping TWF, on two counts:

Without money for protective gear you definitely don't want to go toe-to-toe with enemies: your defense sucks.
Your offense is going to be penalized and you won't have money to get enhancements for a double set of weapons to offset that disadvantage: your offense sucks.
Instead I'd recommend Education (in Eberron Campaign Setting, but it's a general, non-Eberron feat) at 1st level; this makes all Knowledge skills class skills for all your classes. Then add Knowledge Devotion (Complete Champion) for bonuses to attack and damage based on Knowledge checks for the appropriate creature type. There are six Knowledge skills related to creatures, and if you maximize all of them you'll be at a plus to hit and damage everything in D&D.

Stay back, keep firing your composite bow (starting with flat-footed targets within 30' to add sneak attack), and just crank out the damage on every shot.

[Slipperychicken]

If your character's a caster and feels especially poor, he can try his hand at an honest living (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/equipment/goodsAndServices.htm#spell). In terms of risk vs. reward, it's actually more profitable than adventuring at a given level (i.e. you get up to WBL in pretty short order).


Those months of downtime going by, and you feel like you have nothing to do?By around level 9, you're getting ~7,000gp/day. Every day of downtime is one step closer to WBL.

[danzibr]

Whoa, 750gp at level 4? That is terrible.

You can also try VoP Warforged Totemist. Very cool.

[Zjordan85]

Whoa, 750gp at level 4? That is terrible.

You can also try VoP Warforged Totemist. Very cool.

Warforged and Incarnum are both disallowed, unfortunately.

We've been warned that this next session will be a potentially lethal combat, so I'll have to keep some of these suggestions in mind for my compatriots. I'm the Monk/Psywar, my backup character is a Magic Blooded, Fire Souled, Unseelie Fey Silverbrow Human Bard using standard Inspire Courage tricks.

The line between the players has become, "Die and Get Rich Tryin" since apparently he's allowing WBL for new characters after level 1. I know, makes no sense to me either.