WBL Help

[dantiesilva]

While I was getting ready to make a character for a 10th level game myself and the DM came to a misunderstanding and both of us believe we are right. Now on page 135 of the DMG it states a 10th level character would have 49,000gp. Now my question is....

Do you only get the 49,000gp, or is it the money from each level before that as well? 1st, 2nd, 3rd...etc

Thank you for your help.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

49,000 is the total value of wealth a character is expected to have at that level, you only use the one number next to the level you're starting at.

[dantiesilva]

Then why do A+B not=C?

As A Level 2 character I would have spent my 900 in goods, and now as I level up to level 3 that 2,700gp is untapped gold, and a 1,800gp difference. As you see I am really confused as in truth it makes no sense whatsoever to be that you only get the 49,000 even though you have passed all the other levels, yet gain none of the bonuses of those levels.

[KillianHawkeye]

For the same reason you don't add the values on the experience chart to see how long it takes to level up. The listing is of the cumulative total amount, not an additional amount at every level.

[Matticussama]

Ditto what everyone else said.

Also, it is assumed that part of your past wealth was spent on consumables or misc. gear. Maybe your sword was sundered, you had to buy a horse which was later killed, pay for nights at inns, etc. You start out with the number that is listed at your level, and nothing more (unless your DM is nice and starts you off with wealth above the listed number).

[eggynack]

Then why do A+B not=C?

As A Level 2 character I would have spent my 900 in goods, and now as I level up to level 3 that 2,700gp is untapped gold, and a 1,800gp difference. As you see I am really confused as in truth it makes no sense whatsoever to be that you only get the 49,000 even though you have passed all the other levels, yet gain none of the bonuses of those levels.
The way they have it makes more sense. In your situation, you'd have to add up the gold of every level in order to figure out how much money you should get. As is, you just need the one number. Moreover, this way makes it easier to just assess whether a given character is at wealth by level or not.

[Douglas]

Then why do A+B not=C?

As A Level 2 character I would have spent my 900 in goods, and now as I level up to level 3 that 2,700gp is untapped gold, and a 1,800gp difference. As you see I am really confused as in truth it makes no sense whatsoever to be that you only get the 49,000 even though you have passed all the other levels, yet gain none of the bonuses of those levels.
That table is a list of cumulative totals, where they've already done all the math for you. 49,000 is not how much you gain at level 10, it's what the total for level 9 plus the gain for level 10 add up to.

If you want the table of how much you gain at any particular level, that's on page 54. Add up the values from that table in your way, and you will get the values on the page 135 table. Use the "Expected Wealth Gain" values from 1st level through 1 level before the level you want - the entry on level 10 is how much a level 10 character is supposed to gain in the process of earning level 11, and a brand new level 10 character shouldn't have any of that yet.

Also, this is not money that magically comes out of nowhere. It is estimates for what you should get from a combination of looting your defeated enemies and rewards from NPCs for completed quests. Page 54 has a level by level breakdown of that, including estimates for expenditures on consumable items and other such things. Page 135 has estimates for total net gain for an entire adventuring career that started at level 1 and has just now reached the level on the table.

[Rhynn]

Then why do A+B not=C?

As A Level 2 character I would have spent my 900 in goods, and now as I level up to level 3 that 2,700gp is untapped gold, and a 1,800gp difference. As you see I am really confused as in truth it makes no sense whatsoever to be that you only get the 49,000 even though you have passed all the other levels, yet gain none of the bonuses of those levels.

The DMG breaks down the gold earned by level. Look up those tables. You're not earning 49,000 gp gettin from 9th level to 10th level. By 10th level, you've earned a total of 49,000 gp. That sum already includes all "of the bonuses of those levels."

Why would a table that's supposed to tell you how much wealth a PC of level X has force you to tally up the numbers?

Also, why are you bringing leveling up into this? The WBL table is for new characters created at level X. You don't suddenly gain wealth when you level up from 2nd to 3rd. When creating a new 2nd-level character, they have 900 gp in gear; a new 3rd-level character has 2,700 gp in gear.