Trying to speed some creation time!

[FiendishCentaur]

I need to find a formula that gives starting wealth per level, sans tables. I have all the core books, but I have an excel sheet that I would like to have included starting gold. It's just simpler to do it in a formula. Any help would be appreciated.
I understand there is no exact formula, but I just want it roughly close. I've tried everything I could think of, to no avail.
I can share any requested formulas (I have an accurate formula for nearly everything else), but I can't share the workbook. To do so would be copyright infringement.

[WeaselGuy]

I'm at work and AFB, but based on what I remember from a few different levels, (760k @ lvl 20, 2.7k @ lvl 3), I think if you do level3 x 100gp, you get a relatively close approximation (2700 for lvl 3, 800k for lvl 20). It's not perfect, but it's close(ish).

[shaikujin]

If you are using Excel, why not just do up the table and use the vlookup function?

[WeaselGuy]

If you are using Excel, why not just do up the table and use the vlookup function?

...what is this vlookup sorcery you speak of? it takes your data and generates a formula for it? WHERE WAS THIS WHEN I WAS IN SCHOOL?!?!?!

[shaikujin]

Sorry, I wasn't implying using excel to derive a formula by plugging values and letting it figure out the formula (though I think it can be done somehow).

What the vlookup function does:

Say you create a static table with 2 columns and 20 rows.

Lvl WBL
A 123
B 456
C 789

You tell vlookup to look for "A" in the table, and return the corresponding value in the second column (in this case "123").

Much faster than doing 20 mathematical calculations. Esp if you already have a ton of other cells that need calculations.

[WeaselGuy]

Sorry, I wasn't implying using excel to derive a formula by plugging values and letting it figure out the formula (though I think it can be done somehow).

What the vlookup function does:

Say you create a static table with 2 columns and 20 rows.

Lvl WBL
A 123
B 456
C 789

You tell vlookup to look for "A" in the table, and return the corresponding value in the second column (in this case "123").

Much faster than doing 20 mathematical calculations. Esp if you already have a ton of other cells that need calculations.

oooh, I see... well, that's still pretty cool. So, basically, on Workbook A, you have your WBL table. On Workbook B, you have your character sheet on Sheet 1 and your gear with WBL on Sheet 2, with the WBL cell on S2 referencing the total level cell on S1, comparing it to WB-A and returning the corresponding value. Nifty.

[shaikujin]

Yup, exactly.

Say in Sheet1, you have the following table in the cells A1 to B21:

Level WBL
1 x
2 x
3 x,700
4 x,400
5 x,000
6 x,000
7 x,000
8 x,000
9 x,000
10 x,000
11 x,000
12 x,000
13 x,000
14 x,000
15 200,000
16 x,000
17 x,000
18 x,000
19 x,000
20 760,000

(edit, I masked the non-relevant WBL values in the second column to eliminate any potential copyright issues. Not sure how far fair use policy goes heh)

In Sheet2, cell A1, you put in your desired level (say 15)
In B1, use this formula
=VLOOKUP(A1,Sheet1!A1:B21,2)


Vlookup will go look at the cells in Sheet1's column A1 to A21,
find that "15" exists,
and return the corresponding value in column 2 (ie, column B).

Which will be 200,000 in this case.

[WeaselGuy]

fancy... also, pretty sure that table is gonna get scrubbed here soon, thanks to copyright infringement :smallfrown: I will however be saving the email alert to keep that table saved on my work computer :smallcool:

[Sith_Happens]

Alternatively, doing a polynomial fit in Excel I got

[WBL] = 19.538[ECL]4 - 553.17[ECL]3 + 6356.8[ECL]2 - 26235[ECL] + 35605

[FiendishCentaur]

I decided to forget about any formula. I ran an epic campaign a time or two. Starting gold does not have a balance as it is.
Instead, I determined the average value of a the most valuable single item a character in any given level should be able to purchase. I then went with a suggestion from the DMG that states that a player should be able to purchase an item with a value of no more than 1/4 their total wealth. The average value of the item multiplied by 4 is the starting gold piece value I figured would give me a good balance.
While I still don't have a formula, I managed to make an automatically calculated table somewhat close to what is in the book, with a more carefully considered balance.
As for VLOOKUP, I have used that extensively. Works great for making creation of items and characters alike.