Is wealth a river, too?

[With a box]

If I spent gold in expendables like martial component or scrolls or potions, I'd be under the WBL and I will get more money from dungeons isn't it?

[sideswipe]

ummm.... what? lol

if you read any adventure you will see that the party gets a set amount. if you blow it on beer and hookers and your friendly neighbourhood wizard spends it on a shiny new staff that's your choice.

[Sliver]

If you are a level (or more) lower than your party, you get more experience than they do, catching up.

If you are using potions, scrolls or whatever, or because your equipment got destroyed, while the rest don't, you'll have less gold than they do. The only way to catch up there is for your share to be larger than theirs, which is unlikely to happen.

[Chronos]

Wealth By Level is a guideline, not a rule. The rule is that you get whatever treasure the encounters say you do (either a set amount, or rolls on set tables). Wealth By Level is an approximation of what those treasure awards would add up to at any given level. The only actual stated use for WBL is for characters starting at a level higher than 1st. It can also be used as a guideline for the DM to decide to beef up treasures a bit, or to cut them back. But that's entirely at the DM's discretion.

[Hand_of_Vecna]

1. XP is a river depends on the DM actually following the XP rules and giving you slightly more xp than the party, this is't guaranteed.

2. You aren't guaranteed to have a DM that goes out of their way to maintain wbl, many DM's won't question anything wealth related outside of an item that seems to be soloing encounters.

3. DM's that care enough about wbl to either check character sheets and total the gp value of items or track every gp they place in treasure will most likely be aware of the issues of use/over use of consumables. The DMG warns both players and DMs that overuse of consumables can make a party too powerful in the short run and tooweak in the long run.

[Krobar]

I don't use WBL. At all. I give the party what I want them to have. And cash.

But in my game magic shops are pretty rare things. You can't always go to the nearest town and buy a +4 Sword of Whatever and Whatever just because you have money.

[thethird]

You can't always go to the nearest town and buy a +4 Sword of Whatever and Whatever just because you have money.

That's a good thing no one should buy a +4 sword.

[Psyren]

No, by the guidelines consumables are already factored into WBL as an expectation (10-25% or so.) If you buy and use those consumables, you do not get additional wealth to bring you back up, you've already spent your allotment for that level.

What you can do however is have the classes that need less static gear (e.g. casters who don't need to have multiple magic weapons) focus more on consumables that can benefit everyone, like potions, or utility/buff scrolls and wands.

[Zaq]

In short, it's an explicit rule that lower-level characters get more XP from fighting challenges, but there's no rule that lower-level characters get more loot from fighting challenges. So no, wealth is not a river.

(For what it's worth, I've never played under a GM who actually calculates XP differently for characters of different levels, but the rule is still a rule, even if I've never personally seen it followed.)

[Ephemeral_Being]

No, by the guidelines consumables are already factored into WBL as an expectation (10-25% or so.) If you buy and use those consumables, you do not get additional wealth to bring you back up, you've already spent your allotment for that level.

I've always wondered about that. A 7th level character gets 19,000 GP according to WBL. Am I wrong in telling people generating a 7th level character to pick out 19,000 GP in equips? Should it be less, to account for the fact they would be using consumables? Or does WBL only apply to equipment?

I tend to not count potions/generic ammunition/alchemical items in WBL. Is that wrong? Is that why my party always seems to steamroll CR appropriate encounters?

[Blackhawk748]

I've always wondered about that. A 7th level character gets 19,000 GP according to WBL. Am I wrong in telling people generating a 7th level character to pick out 19,000 GP in equips? Should it be less, to account for the fact they would be using consumables? Or does WBL only apply to equipment?

I tend to not count potions/generic ammunition/alchemical items in WBL. Is that wrong? Is that why my party always seems to steamroll CR appropriate encounters?

Its not wrong, its just how you play and you need to take it into account. So short answer? Ya that might be why. However they could all be very tactically minded and just steamroll encounters that way (teamwork is great like that) and the consumables just make it that much easier.

[Deophaun]

I've always wondered about that. A 7th level character gets 19,000 GP according to WBL. Am I wrong in telling people generating a 7th level character to pick out 19,000 GP in equips? Should it be less, to account for the fact they would be using consumables? Or does WBL only apply to equipment?
Consumables are already accounted for. WBL is about 10% less than the treasure a character gains on a per-encounter basis; that 10% is where the consumables go.

[Nightcanon]

I've always considered that 'XP is a river' refers to the fact that (unlike in books, film etc), there'll be another level-appropriate, XP-bearing adventure along next week for as long as a campaign lasts (rather than the specific, auto-correcting catch-up you get if your PC drops behind his/her companions for whatever reason). So in that sense (there'll be another adventure along in a week, and adventures mean loot as well as XP), wealth is (kind of) a river. You don't get topped up if you blow all your loot in the same way as you do if you fall behind on levels, but there is an effectively never-ending stream of the stuff provided nothing else (pace of plot) gets in the way. Unless you need to rush off and save the world, you can making explicitly seeking out riches a major goal of the next part of your campaign arc, for example.