The Money Pit: An adventure where gold doesn't matter

[Captain Kablam]

I'm thinking of dming again after a long while, the concept I was playing with is that the entire campaign is set in a dragons lair, a vast, other worldly underground complex where not just oceans of gold coins were to be found, but elaborate palaces, fortresses and the like had been uprooted and put in this place. Often times remodled, poorly, to sate the creatures own vanity. Now it should be noteworthy that the entire campaign is to be set in this place.

I was wondering, in a setting where gold does not matter, the sort of things I should be wary of, and and if there were any books or modules I should look at, or any ideas you guys had for hazards that could make this more interesting.

[ExLibrisMortis]

Whatever is rare and lasting will still serve as currency (could be gemstones, magic scrolls, adamantine nails, dragon scales), and rare treasure requires larger amounts of semi-rare treasure to pick up. So it's less about gathering coins, and more about sorting through piles of common loot to get the rare bits. Get an at-will identify going.

Crafting magic items becomes really easy if you've got time and XP to spare, because magic items just require plain gold. Spells with material components could be easy to cast, depending on how much of the treasure is in diamonds and such. Specific expensive gear, like +1 soulfire darkwood anthropomorphic bat breastplate (barding), is really hard to pick up - there's probably less variety inside a big dragon's lair than in a metropolis or two.

I'd watch out for players using something like Ancestral Relic to simply sacrifice an unmovable mountain of coins and get a +10 weapon at level 5.

[SangoProduction]

Whatever is rare and lasting will still serve as currency (could be gemstones, magic scrolls, adamantine nails, dragon scales), and rare treasure requires larger amounts of semi-rare treasure to pick up. So it's less about gathering coins, and more about sorting through piles of common loot to get the rare bits. Get an at-will identify going.

Crafting magic items becomes really easy if you've got time and XP to spare, because magic items just require plain gold. Spells with material components could be easy to cast, depending on how much of the treasure is in diamonds and such. Specific expensive gear, like +1 soulfire darkwood anthropomorphic bat breastplate (barding), is really hard to pick up - there's probably less variety inside a big dragon's lair than in a metropolis or two.

I'd watch out for players using something like Ancestral Relic to simply sacrifice an unmovable mountain of coins and get a +10 weapon at level 5.

ancestral relic requires a minimum level btw.

But yeah, unless the rules of inflation of the world also applies to those things, then they could be used inordinately effectively....at least...compared to normal. You're burning a feat to basically do what is homebrewed anyway: upgrade a single weapon instead of finding other ones....without...even...any other benefit...

[Aegis013]

You could just use "imaginary WBL" in this case. Assuming the players will still face a generally normal array of challenges, all you have to do is give them points equal to the gp they should get by WBL and allow them to buy "powers" (items) that they don't need to wear (but may take up an internal slot). Effectively refluffing magic items into internal powers, making the issue with there being piles of gold around moot. Services could still be bartered or particularly rare pieces (expensive casting components or the like) could still be traded.

[SangoProduction]

You could just use "imaginary WBL" in this case. Assuming the players will still face a generally normal array of challenges, all you have to do is give them points equal to the gp they should get by WBL and allow them to buy "powers" (items) that they don't need to wear (but may take up an internal slot). Effectively refluffing magic items into internal powers, making the issue with there being piles of gold around moot. Services could still be bartered or particularly rare pieces (expensive casting components or the like) could still be traded.

I really like that idea.
If you like item slots... well, see how it turns out. I don't imagine there would be much abuse with people having 15 magic goggle powers. If it does turn in to an issue, then, although it would kinda hurt the refluff a bit, reimplement the item slots thing.

[Toilet Cobra]

...the entire campaign is set in a dragons lair, a vast, other worldly underground complex where not just oceans of gold coins were to be found, but elaborate palaces, fortresses and the like had been uprooted and put in this place. Often times remodled, poorly, to sate the creatures own vanity. Now it should be noteworthy that the entire campaign is to be set in this place.

I have nothing useful to add, just wanted to say that this idea is rad as hell. Going in my own dream-vault.

[ThatGuyOvaThere]

I'm pretty sure that in the Draconomicon that there's a creature called a Hoard Scarab that looks like gold coins which would make for a fun encounter

[Captain Kablam]

I'm pretty sure that in the Draconomicon that there's a creature called a Hoard Scarab that looks like gold coins which would make for a fun encounter

That and one hazard already thought up was a gold avalanche. Sadly, Scrooge McDuck physics will not work here.

[Ravens_cry]

That and one hazard already thought up was a gold avalanche. Sadly, Scrooge McDuck physics will not work here.
Sounds more like a rock slide then.

[Bronk]

Awww, gold avalanche was already taken? I guess that's the first thing everyone thinks of in situations like this!

I'd basically suggest that regular currency be replaced by something that would be rare in a dragon horde, like regular metal, or pebbles from outside, or something like that. Sort of like how they use steel as money in Dragonlance.

I don't think you mentioned... is the dragon still around? That would make a huge difference when it comes to something that actually removes gold, like upgrading an 'Ancestral Relic', which has already been mentioned.

Dragon Present: Anyone with an Ancestral Relic will be quickly hunted down and killed.

Dragon Not Present: They might actually be highly desirable sanitation experts, hired out to clear out livable areas from all of that lousy gold!

[martixy]

I really like that idea.
If you like item slots... well, see how it turns out. I don't imagine there would be much abuse with people having 15 magic goggle powers. If it does turn in to an issue, then, although it would kinda hurt the refluff a bit, reimplement the item slots thing.

This has always been one of the classic solutions to the Christmas tree "problem".
Problem being in quotes, because it's less of a problem and more of a preference in play style.

OP, I'm totally stealing this concept for one of my own set-pieces. I hope you don't mind. :)

But let me contribute to the idea before that: Have you ever heard of Metro 2033? In case you haven't here's the relevant mechanic: They use the bullets that you shoot the "bad guys" with as money. You are literally shooting your money away in that game.
Why not implement a similar mechanic?
In D&D that might be potions, spell scrolls and other such non-renewable resources.
You could contrive a system in which even magic is one such resource. The ability to buy and sell spell levels - if your wizard runs low on spell levels, he might not be able to prepare all of his spell slots for the day.

[Jack_Simth]

I'm thinking of dming again after a long while, the concept I was playing with is that the entire campaign is set in a dragons lair, a vast, other worldly underground complex where not just oceans of gold coins were to be found, but elaborate palaces, fortresses and the like had been uprooted and put in this place. Often times remodled, poorly, to sate the creatures own vanity. Now it should be noteworthy that the entire campaign is to be set in this place.

I was wondering, in a setting where gold does not matter, the sort of things I should be wary of, and and if there were any books or modules I should look at, or any ideas you guys had for hazards that could make this more interesting.
In a sense, this is the basic assumption of the World's Largest Dungeon - you're there to clean the place out, but you don't leave until you're done. You're stuck with 'found' equipment and your starting equipment... and it's a 1-20 module.

[Captain Kablam]

I don't think you mentioned... is the dragon still around? That would make a huge difference when it comes to something that actually removes gold, like upgrading an 'Ancestral Relic', which has already been mentioned.

Dragon Present: Anyone with an Ancestral Relic will be quickly hunted down and killed.

Dragon Not Present: They might actually be highly desirable sanitation experts, hired out to clear out livable areas from all of that lousy gold!

The dragon is alive and quite mad, and kind of a lazy jerk. The campaign is a very humorous one, one of the dungeons being a candy coated nightmare. The deuteragonist being Princess Glitterhope her home being The Cake Castle of Carnage.

[Seward]

animated gold coin swarm. It's a swarm with hardness.

Also - I actually encountered this monster in a Pathfinder adventure, so it's totally legit :)

[Âmesang]

Would it be weird to watch Duck Tales and borrow ideas Uncle Scrooge used to guard his money bin/#1 dime? :smalltongue:

Heck, now I want to make "blathering blatherskite" the verbal component for iron body.

[DrMotives]

How much of the gold might be cursed? Trying to find out which coin you walked over last week triggered that nasty case of gold rash sounds difficult. Nests of hoardworms terrorize the party, which are really just refluffed effigy purple worms.

In previous editions there was a place between the plane of earth & the positive energy plane called the quasi-elemental plane of minerals that was full of precious gems, crystals, and metals. Genasi who grew up there had no concept of material wealth, it was a foreign concept to them. They still have the normal range of personality traits, but greed is expressed differently.

[TheCrowing1432]

Anything that consumes gold as part of its powers to work easily comes to mind as being abuse able, spells/crafting and so on.

Things that require specific materials such as diamonds, usually cant be substituted for gold, so it depends on how much gold is mixed with gems.