So how much gold should characters have per level?

[LordBlade]

One of my players was showing me a list for gold to be given to higher starting characters (for example, a level 4 character getting something like 5400 gold).
Our party so far has played through official content, and might have about 1000 gold each (if that) after selling and splitting all the loot we've found. So 5400 seems like a ton of money for a character to come into the game with.

[Blu]

The tables for wealth by level can be found on the DMG.

One thing about 3.X is that It supposes that characters have magical gear to face encounters and part of the balance in the system is based around that.
1.000 gp is not much when considering the price of magical items. Actually is not that much even in mundane terms since you cant even buy a full plate(1.500) with that amount of money.

[LordBlade]

I might end up tossing the current players more money or something. But yeah, 3.5 definitely seems to be "buy all the shiny stuff" focused.

[Venger]

One of my players was showing me a list for gold to be given to higher starting characters (for example, a level 4 character getting something like 5400 gold).
Our party so far has played through official content, and might have about 1000 gold each (if that) after selling and splitting all the loot we've found. So 5400 seems like a ton of money for a character to come into the game with.

Since wbl seems like news to you, are you awarding your party treasure according to the table in the dmg? Or are you just doing it ad hoc?

5400 isn't a ton of money. It's how much an average character has after doing all the encounters they need to grind from level 1-5, plus they need to use that money to buy necessary magic items, such as a +1 weapon for the brutes or a +mental stat item for the casters. They will be unable to function without things like this, such as if you throw a shadow at them.


I might end up tossing the current players more money or something. But yeah, 3.5 definitely seems to be "buy all the shiny stuff" focused.

as mentioned, that's because a lot of basic things you need to be able to do in the system (such as fly or deal with incorporeal monsters) are not functions most classes can perform natively, so you need to get them through magic items, to say nothing of the defensive measures most classes lack that you must also gain through magic items.

[Nifft]

One of my players was showing me a list for gold to be given to higher starting characters (for example, a level 4 character getting something like 5400 gold).
Our party so far has played through official content, and might have about 1000 gold each (if that) after selling and splitting all the loot we've found. So 5400 seems like a ton of money for a character to come into the game with.

Are you finding magical items?

Are you counting the price of those magical items in your wealth?

Generally a party will have relatively little currency as compared to their wealth in the form of magical items.

[gorfnab]

One of my players was showing me a list for gold to be given to higher starting characters (for example, a level 4 character getting something like 5400 gold).
Our party so far has played through official content, and might have about 1000 gold each (if that) after selling and splitting all the loot we've found. So 5400 seems like a ton of money for a character to come into the game with.
According the Dungeon Masters Guide page 135 Table 5-1: Character Wealth By Level, 5400gp is the average total wealth for a 4th level character. For that 1000gp each that your players possess, does that include the value of magic items that they have kept for their own use instead of sold or have purchased to upgrade their character? That 5400gp total is not just the cash that the characters carry around, it includes the value of magic items and other possessions they have. For an instance a 4th level character could have a +1 chain shirt (1250gp), a +1 Longsword (2315gp), a +1 heavy steel shield (1170gp), 65gp worth of miscellaneous adventuring gear (bedroll, backpack, rope, etc.), and 600gp in actual gold coins. Basically if he is coming in at level 4 he needs to be able to have his character outfitted properly for the level of challenges he would be facing. The book even states that the totals are the chart are created by the "average treasures found in average encounters compared with the experience points earned in those encounters."

[LordBlade]

We've been going through some of the official modules so far, so all the loot we've gotten has simply been what's listed in those. I haven't been DM yet, my turn's coming up.

But we basically have the gold, plus an assortment of random magical things. A couple of +1 weapons that nobody in the group uses, some misc magical stuff like a whistle that raises dead. If we sell all that stuff, we would end up with a bit more gold. But it seems like the modules themselves don't give us much overall.

[Kobold Esq]

a whistle that raises dead

Well I know what module you started with now. I just ran that for my players, and I agree it left them a bit behind on WBL unless you found basically every valuable item in the module, and even then if you have a larger party, it obviously spreads the wealth more. When I DMed it, I added a couple more +1 items (a +1 armor for one named bad guy, a +1 ring of protection on another).

[Fizban]

One of my players was showing me a list for gold to be given to higher starting characters (for example, a level 4 character getting something like 5400 gold).
Characters starting at higher levels aren't given gold- the DM is told the amount of wealth they should have, and that's it. While it is common for DMs to let the players basically just "shop" as if they had a pile of money and maybe a limit on individual item price, the wealth of characters created at higher levels is still completely up to the DM, same as treasure found would be.


So you're running old modules with rotating DMs? You're probably gonna find yourselves in a pickle. While longer campaign modules might even things out better over time, the loot drops in shorter adventures are almost certainly going to include lots of things you don't need (it's also possible that they were randomly rolled and landed on the low side, but that seems unlikely- you also could have missed some treasure). Selling those things to buy useful magic items is expected, but without a central DM to adjust treasure income, you could very well fall behind.

That said, that undead creating whistle is extremely expensive for the level where it shows up. Like, half the entire party's wealth expensive. Animate Dead is a 3rd level spell that costs extra gp to use. Selling it and splitting the cash won't let you buy much, but used correctly it should be worth plenty- it's a pretty good example of an item that looks snazzy and makes people excited about magic items, while actually being a terrible thing to drop if you care about individual WBL. The other thing you need to remember is that since most magic items cost 2,000gp+, the average results used for WBL don't seriously represent a collection of items for a while- it's the average after you take rolls of big items and rolls of no/tiny items. Ring of Protection +1 is 2,000gp: it's not expected for a while but gaining it early means you don't need to buy or find one later, with a dry spell in between.

As for straight cash/gems/art objects obtained, it'd be real nice if there was a table of that. If you can tell me what level you are, I can run the numbers on what the "average" gain should have been for the previous level (but remember that a dungeon which lasts for 2-3 levels won't actually have an "even" treasure spread).

[killem2]

I've always ruled with new characters that are not level 1, you can spend up to 25% on one item.

[Crake]

We've been going through some of the official modules so far, so all the loot we've gotten has simply been what's listed in those. I haven't been DM yet, my turn's coming up.

But we basically have the gold, plus an assortment of random magical things. A couple of +1 weapons that nobody in the group uses, some misc magical stuff like a whistle that raises dead. If we sell all that stuff, we would end up with a bit more gold. But it seems like the modules themselves don't give us much overall.

a +1 weapon on it's own is worth about 2300gp. People should probably start using those if they can. Honestly, you'd be surprised how quickly the money adds up from magical gear, if you're just stashing that stuff away, you're basically wasting all that wealth. Remember, you can always use it now, then sell it later down the line when you want something else. Modules rarely give out heaps of raw cash and valuables, so if you're just looking at the value of the liquid assets (gems and coins), then yeah, things are gonna seem quite far behind, but i guarantee you, if you add the value of all your gear you won't have just 1000gp worth of stuff.