Cheiromancer
2013-06-18, 02:40 PM
I am attempting to design a feat that increases a character's wealth by one level. That is, a feat such that a character who takes it will have the WBL of a character one level higher. One way to accomplish this is to frequently audit a character sheet and compare the results to page 135 of the DMG. But what if audits are infrequent? I have tinkered with the numbers and I think I am now able to describe the benefits of a Wealth feat.
A character who takes the Wealth feat experiences a one time boost in income, plus a regular income every time the character levels up. The recommended WBL is given in the table below. In the same row is the initial benefit of taking the feat. The last column is the level up benefit of a character who has taken the feat at a previous level.
For example, a 6th level character should have a total wealth of about 13 000 gp. Upon taking the feat, a windfall of 7200 gp is obtained. This raises the character's total wealth to 20 200, a little above the minimum wealth of a 7th level character. Upon reaching 7th level the same character will receive a payment of 2600 gp. At 8th level another 3000 gp will be obtained, and so on. This is in addition to the usual amount of treasure obtained through adventuring.
{table=head]Level | WBL|Windfall|Level Up Stipend
1 |100 |200 |
2 |900 |800 |600
3 |2 700 |1 800 |1000
4 |5 400 |3 200 |1 400
5 |9 000 |5 000 |1 800
6 |13 000 |7 200 |2 200
7 |19 000 |9 800 |2 600
8 |27 000 |12 800 |3 000
9 |36 000 |16 200 |3 400
10 |49 000 |20 000 |3 800
11 |66 000 |24 200 |4 200
12 |88 000 |28 800 |4 600
13 |110 000 |33 800 |5 000
14 |150 000 |39 200 |5 400
15 |200 000 |45 000 |5 800
16 |260 000 |51 200 |6 200
17 |340 000 |57 800 |6 600
18 |440 000 |64 800 |7 000
19 |580 000 |72 200 |7 400
20 |760 000 |80 000 |7 800
21 |975 000 |88 200 |8 200
[/table]
There are any number of ways that the benefit of the feat can be explained in game. The character may be lucky at games of chance. A magic item in the character's possession might be discovered to have additional powers. Gems assigned at the last division of treasure turn out, on reappraisal, to be substantially more valuable. A distant relative might have died, leaving the character a share in a gold mine. And so on; what is important is that the character's wealth consistently be about a level higher than would otherwise be expected.
The formula is as follows. If the character's level is N when the feat is taken immediately gains wealth equal to 200 * N^2 (that is, 200 times N squared). If the character levels up from level N to level N+1, the benefit is 200 + 400 * N.
The feat works well enough from level 3 to about level 12 or 13. Thereafter it falls a little behind; a 15th level character who takes it will get only 3/4 of a level, and an 18th level character gets less than 1/2 a level.
Although the benefit at first level (200 gp) falls well short of a 2nd level character's WBL, I think that an extra 200 gp would be extremely valuable at 1st level, and could be worth taking.
Oh, and here is the feat written up PHB style
Wealth
You have become rich.
Benefit: You immediately gain wealth whose value in gold pieces is equal to 200 gp times your level squared. For example, a 9th level character would gain 200 x 9 x 9 = 16200 gp. Henceforth at every new level of experience you gain 200 gp plus 400 gp times your old level. For example, upon going from 9th to 10th level you would gain 200 + 400 * 9 = 3800 gp. This is in addition to the normal wealth acquired by adventuring. You count as one level higher for any calculations related to expected wealth.
edit: I changed the level up stipend to make it easier to calculate the wealth of a character who has had the feat for several levels. The previous version is spoilered for reference.
For example, a 6th level character should have a total wealth of about 13 000 gp. Upon taking the feat, a windfall of 7200 gp is obtained. This raises the character's total wealth to 20 200, a little above the minimum wealth of a 7th level character. Upon reaching 7th level the same character will receive a payment of 2100 gp. At 8th level another 2400 gp will be obtained, and so on. This is in addition to the usual amount of treasure obtained through adventuring.
{table=head]Level | WBL|Windfall|Level Up Benefit
1 |100 |200 |
2 |900 |800 |600
3 |2 700 |1 800 |900
4 |5 400 |3 200 |1 200
5 |9 000 |5 000 |1 500
6 |13 000 |7 200 |1 800
7 |19 000 |9 800 |2 100
8 |27 000 |12 800 |2 400
9 |36 000 |16 200 |2 700
10 |49 000 |20 000 |3 000
11 |66 000 |24 200 |3 300
12 |88 000 |28 800 |3 600
13 |110 000 |33 800 |3 900
14 |150 000 |39 200 |4 200
15 |200 000 |45 000 |4 500
16 |260 000 |51 200 |4 800
17 |340 000 |57 800 |5 100
18 |440 000 |64 800 |5 400
19 |580 000 |72 200 |5 700
20 |760 000 |80 000 |6 000
21 |975 000 |88 200 |6 300
[/table]
Wealth (italics changed in new version)
You have become rich.
Benefit: You immediately gain wealth whose value in gold pieces is equal to 200 gp times your level squared. For example, a 9th level character would gain 200 x 9 x 9 = 16200 gp. Henceforth at every new level of experience you gain 300 gp times your new level. For example, upon reaching 10th level you would gain 300 x 10 = 3000 gp. This is in addition to the normal wealth acquired by adventuring. You count as one level higher for any calculations related to expected wealth.
A character who takes the Wealth feat experiences a one time boost in income, plus a regular income every time the character levels up. The recommended WBL is given in the table below. In the same row is the initial benefit of taking the feat. The last column is the level up benefit of a character who has taken the feat at a previous level.
For example, a 6th level character should have a total wealth of about 13 000 gp. Upon taking the feat, a windfall of 7200 gp is obtained. This raises the character's total wealth to 20 200, a little above the minimum wealth of a 7th level character. Upon reaching 7th level the same character will receive a payment of 2600 gp. At 8th level another 3000 gp will be obtained, and so on. This is in addition to the usual amount of treasure obtained through adventuring.
{table=head]Level | WBL|Windfall|Level Up Stipend
1 |100 |200 |
2 |900 |800 |600
3 |2 700 |1 800 |1000
4 |5 400 |3 200 |1 400
5 |9 000 |5 000 |1 800
6 |13 000 |7 200 |2 200
7 |19 000 |9 800 |2 600
8 |27 000 |12 800 |3 000
9 |36 000 |16 200 |3 400
10 |49 000 |20 000 |3 800
11 |66 000 |24 200 |4 200
12 |88 000 |28 800 |4 600
13 |110 000 |33 800 |5 000
14 |150 000 |39 200 |5 400
15 |200 000 |45 000 |5 800
16 |260 000 |51 200 |6 200
17 |340 000 |57 800 |6 600
18 |440 000 |64 800 |7 000
19 |580 000 |72 200 |7 400
20 |760 000 |80 000 |7 800
21 |975 000 |88 200 |8 200
[/table]
There are any number of ways that the benefit of the feat can be explained in game. The character may be lucky at games of chance. A magic item in the character's possession might be discovered to have additional powers. Gems assigned at the last division of treasure turn out, on reappraisal, to be substantially more valuable. A distant relative might have died, leaving the character a share in a gold mine. And so on; what is important is that the character's wealth consistently be about a level higher than would otherwise be expected.
The formula is as follows. If the character's level is N when the feat is taken immediately gains wealth equal to 200 * N^2 (that is, 200 times N squared). If the character levels up from level N to level N+1, the benefit is 200 + 400 * N.
The feat works well enough from level 3 to about level 12 or 13. Thereafter it falls a little behind; a 15th level character who takes it will get only 3/4 of a level, and an 18th level character gets less than 1/2 a level.
Although the benefit at first level (200 gp) falls well short of a 2nd level character's WBL, I think that an extra 200 gp would be extremely valuable at 1st level, and could be worth taking.
Oh, and here is the feat written up PHB style
Wealth
You have become rich.
Benefit: You immediately gain wealth whose value in gold pieces is equal to 200 gp times your level squared. For example, a 9th level character would gain 200 x 9 x 9 = 16200 gp. Henceforth at every new level of experience you gain 200 gp plus 400 gp times your old level. For example, upon going from 9th to 10th level you would gain 200 + 400 * 9 = 3800 gp. This is in addition to the normal wealth acquired by adventuring. You count as one level higher for any calculations related to expected wealth.
edit: I changed the level up stipend to make it easier to calculate the wealth of a character who has had the feat for several levels. The previous version is spoilered for reference.
For example, a 6th level character should have a total wealth of about 13 000 gp. Upon taking the feat, a windfall of 7200 gp is obtained. This raises the character's total wealth to 20 200, a little above the minimum wealth of a 7th level character. Upon reaching 7th level the same character will receive a payment of 2100 gp. At 8th level another 2400 gp will be obtained, and so on. This is in addition to the usual amount of treasure obtained through adventuring.
{table=head]Level | WBL|Windfall|Level Up Benefit
1 |100 |200 |
2 |900 |800 |600
3 |2 700 |1 800 |900
4 |5 400 |3 200 |1 200
5 |9 000 |5 000 |1 500
6 |13 000 |7 200 |1 800
7 |19 000 |9 800 |2 100
8 |27 000 |12 800 |2 400
9 |36 000 |16 200 |2 700
10 |49 000 |20 000 |3 000
11 |66 000 |24 200 |3 300
12 |88 000 |28 800 |3 600
13 |110 000 |33 800 |3 900
14 |150 000 |39 200 |4 200
15 |200 000 |45 000 |4 500
16 |260 000 |51 200 |4 800
17 |340 000 |57 800 |5 100
18 |440 000 |64 800 |5 400
19 |580 000 |72 200 |5 700
20 |760 000 |80 000 |6 000
21 |975 000 |88 200 |6 300
[/table]
Wealth (italics changed in new version)
You have become rich.
Benefit: You immediately gain wealth whose value in gold pieces is equal to 200 gp times your level squared. For example, a 9th level character would gain 200 x 9 x 9 = 16200 gp. Henceforth at every new level of experience you gain 300 gp times your new level. For example, upon reaching 10th level you would gain 300 x 10 = 3000 gp. This is in addition to the normal wealth acquired by adventuring. You count as one level higher for any calculations related to expected wealth.