[3.5] XP/Gold exchange rate

[WalkingTheShade]

Hey all,

My game has gone into downtime. The players are going to divide loot, go shopping, etc.
A few months, maybe a year, are going to pass. PCs are near or at level 7.

They're probably going to have to choose between adventuring some more (fluff way, not playing through the actual thing), training, working their asses off for $$$$, or a mix of the three.

Mechanically, depending on their choices (and the ratio of their time they allocate to each task), I'm probably going to give them:
- Adventuring: allies, info, etc. generic fluff stuff, and maybe an odd magic item to play with,
- Training: XP
- Working: $$$gp$.

The question now is how much an XP point is worth in gold in order to make the exchange work?

If we look at magic item creation (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/creatingMagicItems.htm), we can come up with 1XP = 12.5gp. Does that look good?

Is their an actual rule covering this? I have some vague memory of finding something looking like this in the DMG or DMG II, but I can't recall where or find it now.

[SinsI]

Usual ratio is 1 XP = 5 GP

And it is better to just give everyone 1 lvl (or a bit less, so that they'll be able to level up after 1 encounter) and appropriate Wealth increase.

Anything greater is probably going to be broken (since Wealth by Level and XP required to level up have different rates).

[Yahzi]

It's been 1 = 5 since 3.0, maybe 2.0?

But that's a little off. According to that a huge fortress and a 20th lvl character both cost 1,000,000 gp. Which would you buy with a million gold?

I fix it by changing the XP table so it doubles every step. But then, I use gold and xp interchangeably (xp in my world is tangible, you can buy and sell it), so I have to fix the exchange rate to make sense.

[WalkingTheShade]

But that's a little off. According to that a huge fortress and a 20th lvl character both cost 1,000,000 gp. Which would you buy with a million gold?
Depends? Are we speaking of a 20th level CW samurai or of a 20th level wizard?


1xp = 5gp
What's the source for this?

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

What's the source for this?

NPC spellcasting costs (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/equipment/goodsAndServices.htm#spell): if the spell costs the caster xp, you pay 5 gp per 1 xp spent.
Crating magic staffs (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/creatingMagicItems.htm): "If purchasing a staff, the buyer pays 5 × the XP value in gold pieces." If a staff has charges of a spell with an xp cost, it's still 5 gp per 1 xp.

[Requiem_Jeer]

Also, True Creation and Wish's wealth limit.

Crafters need to make a profit, and they do, which is why, when the xp is taken into account, they only pay 70% of a item's price to make it.

[WalkingTheShade]

NPC spellcasting costs (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/equipment/goodsAndServices.htm#spell): if the spell costs the caster xp, you pay 5 gp per 1 xp spent.
Crating magic staffs (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/creatingMagicItems.htm): "If purchasing a staff, the buyer pays 5 × the XP value in gold pieces." If a staff has charges of a spell with an xp cost, it's still 5 gp per 1 xp.

Thanks for the links!


Crafters need to make a profit, and they do, which is why, when the xp is taken into account, they only pay 70% of a item's price to make it.

Yup, that makes sense. I'll go with a 1/5 exchange rate, then.