Magically Mailing Money?

[Narelle]

I'm looking for a way to use magic to safely mail money from one city to another, regardless of distance. I've been trying to find some existing spell or mechanic that I can use to do this, but all I can find is magically sending messages. I'm trying to transfer gold.

My DM tends to be pretty by the book, as far as what players are allowed to do. It takes quite a bit of convincing to get anything that deviates from that considered. So this really needs to be based on some existing form of magic that can be used to transport items.

I can't just drop a package of money in the mail because my DM will 100% have it just get stolen.

My character is just trying to send money home to his family to support them. He is a level 4 Battle Smith Artificer, so he has access to some spells and some tinkering, but I've yet to find anything that quite works for this. (I'd considered the many-handed pouch, until I caught the distance limitation - he'll be too far from home for that to work.)

Any suggestions?

[RickAllison]

The first thing that comes to mind is Glyph of Warding with Explosive Runes (with an exception for the family). Someone tries to steal it, that someone dies. However a more practical option (and one you have access to) is Mending. Have a wooden box that you can fill with "valuables", dried fruit or something. A target for someone who searches the mail and that might be emptied, but will probably be left alone. However the real value is in the base of the box.

Split it in half (or remove a chunk) and fill it with the money and resin. The resin will make it so it doesn't sound hollow, doesn't have metal clanging around if it's shaken, and it will weigh closer to what someone would expect. Then you use Mending to repair the damage you did to it. As far as any inspection would give, it's a solid box. But for your family, it's a secure transaction, with some bonus dried fruit.

Now your DM could always metagame and have someone still know it's there, but at that point, it's an OOC problem.

[NNescio]

I'm looking for a way to use magic to safely mail money from one city to another, regardless of distance. I've been trying to find some existing spell or mechanic that I can use to do this, but all I can find is magically sending messages. I'm trying to transfer gold.

My DM tends to be pretty by the book, as far as what players are allowed to do. It takes quite a bit of convincing to get anything that deviates from that considered. So this really needs to be based on some existing form of magic that can be used to transport items.

I can't just drop a package of money in the mail because my DM will 100% have it just get stolen.

My character is just trying to send money home to his family to support them. He is a level 4 Battle Smith Artificer, so he has access to some spells and some tinkering, but I've yet to find anything that quite works for this. (I'd considered the many-handed pouch, until I caught the distance limitation - he'll be too far from home for that to work.)

Any suggestions?

Animal Messenger spell. Tie a pouch or something to a suitably strong-enough tiny beast. Not 100% reliable though, as your target has to quickly retrieve the pouch while the beast is delivering the message, and your animal messenger is also vulnerable to getting intercepted by predators or savvy NPCs. (But it's still better than snail mail. Unless you, well, go with literal "snail" mail.)

At higher levels the most straightforward approach is to just use the Teleport spell with an "associated object" on your person (for 100% successful Tele), but that's harder to get for an artificer.

Edit:
The first thing that comes to mind is Glyph of Warding with Explosive Runes (with an exception for the family).

GoW breaks the moment you move the object or surface 10ft away from the place you originally cast.

[DeTess]

Maybe check if there is such a thing as a banking system in this world? Even more rudimentary systems should allow you to move sums of money from one place to another in relative safety because all that moves between places is a letter that says 'bank X now owes Y money to person Z'.

[RickAllison]

Maybe check if there is such a thing as a banking system in this world? Even more rudimentary systems should allow you to move sums of money from one place to another in reactive safety because all that moves between places is a letter that says 'bank X now owes Y money to person Z'.

For historical reference, letters of credit (a note letting a given person withdraw funds from a bank, what DeTess describes) started being used in Europe just prior to the Renaissance. And D&D settings tend to be renaissance-level. It’s ultiamtely up to the DM, but there is definitely real word precedent for its availability.

[Sigreid]

Up cast conjure elemental for enough duration to have an air elemental carry it.

[Bobthewizard]

Teleportation circle could transport a large value of gems. I think you could get at least 50 people through the portal in one round if you were organized. If each of them were carrying a backpack full of diamonds, you could transfer quite a bit of money.

In the spell description, it says "Many major temples, guilds, and other important places have permanent teleportation circles" so you should be able to find someone to ship it close to your family for you.

[SirGraystone]

If there's no banking system, temples of the same gods will have messengers going from a church to the next, ask the local church for help, tell them you would be very grateful for their help and would be give them 10% of the sum of course.

If that doesn't work either tell the group that they have to go back to your home town because it's threaten by bandits to mess with the DM adventure :-D

[Damon_Tor]

Animal Messenger spell. Tie a pouch or something to a suitably strong-enough tiny beast. Not 100% reliable though, as your target has to quickly retrieve the pouch while the beast is delivering the message, and your animal messenger is also vulnerable to getting intercepted by predators or savvy NPCs. (But it's still better than snail mail. Unless you, well, go with literal "snail" mail.)

Something like a Great Horned Owl would probably be your best bet. They're at the top of their food chain, so nothing really hunts them. They fly nearly silently and can move at night to avoid detection by humanoids looking for people doing exactly what you're planning. And they're large enough that they should be able to carry a fair amount of currency. The owl stats in 5e give them a strength of 3, a carry weight of 15 pounds, which is (IIRC) 150 gp, or 1500 gp if you have it exchanged to platinum first, and MUCH more if you set up your owl with a bag of holding.

[Shabbazar]

Banking, or some alternative to it, is not limited to Western cultures. Look up Hawala on Wikipedia and that ought to give you some ideas. Ultimately it is the DMs world and he dictates culture. However, many different cultures faced the transport-money-over-distance-without-getting-stolen problem, so it seems reasonable that the culture your character is in has some mechanism of doing this.

Hawala is a middle-eastern system that originated in the 8th century and is not banking per-se, but rather a system of money transmittal based on honor and trust. It could work with the regular mail or any of the magical communication spells.

[Sigreid]

The artificer's many handed pouch maybe?

[nickl_2000]

As others have mentioned teleport spells would work well, either the Arcane or the Druid one with a courier.

Hiring a leveled fighter as a courier should be enough to get it brought home as well.
Almost any Druid level 2 or higher can safely move through anywhere with Wildshape and pass without a trace (if level 3).
Anyone under the spell suggestion will be stuck doing it for 24 hours or until they are done.


What kinds of distance are we talking about here?

[MaxWilson]

Up cast conjure elemental for enough duration to have an air elemental carry it.

Upcasting doesn't increase Conjure Elemental duration.

[Wildarm]

Talk to you DM about finding/creating/buying a pair of magical purses that share an extra dimensional space. Would be an uncommon item in terms of power level similar to Artificer pouch infusion.

If magic items are out of the question, talk to a conjuration wizard and see if you can have them teach/create a minor teleportation spell. Have it be a 2nd-4th level spell and can only teleport objects of a certain size and weight. Should be pretty easy to balance and give you the option to teleport a decent amount of coin or good each day during downtime. It's a step below a teleportation circle network and could definitely exist in a high magic world.

You could go with more mundane options. Find some trusted hirelings and have them courier the money. Forms of insurance and underwriting existed during the middle ages and reconnaissance as well. You could send the money by standard transport and take out insurance in case it is stolen.

[Sigreid]

Upcasting doesn't increase Conjure Elemental duration.

I couldn't remember if it did or you needed planar binding or some such.

[Damon_Tor]

(I'd considered the many-handed pouch, until I caught the distance limitation - he'll be too far from home for that to work.)

The pouches function as long as they are within 100 miles of another pouch. Not within 100 miles of all the other pouches. This means you could leave a pouch at home, another 100 miles from home, another 100 miles from that one, then another 100 miles from that, then 100 miles away your final "mail box". A total of 400 miles away. I'm not sure you're going to do much better than that.

[jjordan]

If there's no banking system, temples of the same gods will have messengers going from a church to the next, ask the local church for help, tell them you would be very grateful for their help and would be give them 10% of the sum of course.

If that doesn't work either tell the group that they have to go back to your home town because it's threaten by bandits to mess with the DM adventure :-DI like everything about this suggestion. I particularly like the way it adds to the world by suggesting a banking system under the control of religious groups. If I didn't already have banking established in my setting I'd give the player who roleplayed this into existence an inspiration point.

[Vogie]

Guilds could be a good option. Similar to how the Goldsmiths in 17th century London became de facto bankers after English Civil War, you could have various guilds allow monetary transfer between their branches. You deposit funds at the local Blacksmith's (or whatever) guild office, get a receipt, and send that receipt to your family, who can then redeem it at their local guild office.

This way you can create a series of unconnected faux-banking networks in your world. In addition to guilds, other times it may be a religious organizations. For example, in the FR, there is Waukeen, the goddess of wealth - So, if there's anyone who would know how to move money around, it'd be the various temples of the Waukeenar.

[Rukelnikov]

I had a merchant who had to do this kind of stuff regularly, he was also a Chainlock, so I would just send my familiar flying invisible however long it would take, and then just resummon him next to me.

While getting an imp familiar may be more tricky, there are plenty of ways to gain access to a standard familiar, Ritual caster or MI(it can be useful to get BB or GFB too), a Ring of Spell Storing, or a lvl in Wiz (but I would try not to take a lvl in Wiz just for That)

[LibraryOgre]

If there's no banking system, temples of the same gods will have messengers going from a church to the next, ask the local church for help, tell them you would be very grateful for their help and would be give them 10% of the sum of course.

If that doesn't work either tell the group that they have to go back to your home town because it's threaten by bandits to mess with the DM adventure :-D

I have the temple of various deities of trade explicitly work that way... you can deposit cash with them, get a letter of credit (two different levels; wax seal is pretty cheap (a few silver to have it written and sealed), but a spell seal is more reliable and expensive (essentially a Wizard Mark spell; about 50gp, but the church guarantees the deposit).

[Slipperychicken]

I'm looking for a way to use magic to safely mail money from one city to another, regardless of distance. I've been trying to find some existing spell or mechanic that I can use to do this, but all I can find is magically sending messages. I'm trying to transfer gold.

This is exactly what Teleportation Circle (https://5e.tools/spells.html#teleportation%20circle_phb) is for. PHB 282. "Many major temples, guilds, and other important places have permanent teleportation circles inscribed somewhere within their confines" That's pretty close to the book, get one of these institutions to let you use their teleportation circle.

EDIT: Since you're low level, you can also just convert it to another trade good, platinum, gems, or art objects and carry it over. Maybe buy a handy haversack or portable hole if you have enough to really weigh you down.

[Laserlight]

Ask your DM whether a banking system (with letters of credit exist). Point out that if the answer is "no", that means your character has the opening to invent it, and profit.

[Petrocorus]

I like everything about this suggestion. I particularly like the way it adds to the world by suggesting a banking system under the control of religious groups. If I didn't already have banking established in my setting I'd give the player who roleplayed this into existence an inspiration point.

Well... one of the first institution to serve as a banking system in Europe was the Knight Templars.

[RickAllison]

Banking systems would be especially lucrative in D&D because there are numerous resources which are handy for bulk transports that most people won't have access to, while a dedicated crew of adventurers would. Sending Stones would be fine for the vast majority of your reports (especially if you use short hand to minimize your number of characters needed), Teleportation Circle means you can do bulk transports without dealing with bandits or such, and the Secret Chest spell could even be offered as high-class safety deposit boxes to the wealthy.

[Sigreid]

You could always summon a devil. I bet they'd make a contract to deliver the money.

[Lunali]

This is exactly what Teleportation Circle (https://5e.tools/spells.html#teleportation%20circle_phb) is for. PHB 282. "Many major temples, guilds, and other important places have permanent teleportation circles inscribed somewhere within their confines" That's pretty close to the book, get one of these institutions to let you use their teleportation circle.

EDIT: Since you're low level, you can also just convert it to another trade good, platinum, gems, or art objects and carry it over. Maybe buy a handy haversack or portable hole if you have enough to really weigh you down.

You may be able to use their circle as a destination and/or to save time creating a temporary circle, but you still need to cast or pay for casting a 5th level spell to teleport.

[Throne12]

Leomund's secret chest, and Drawnmij's instant summon. Then tie the Material component to a massager bird or familiar that's going to the person you want to send the money to.

[RickAllison]

Leomund's secret chest, and Drawnmij's instant summon. Then tie the Material component to a massager bird or familiar that's going to the person you want to send the money to.

Can someone other than the caster activate the secret chest? Because from the text of the spell, only the caster can return the spell from the Ethereal Plane.

[Seafarer]

There is a spell in Lost Laboratory of Kwalish (an official pdf-only adventure) that allows you to teleport a 3' × 3' × 3' box (and its contents) to a creature that you've met once before or have a body part from. It's called Galder's speedy courier, and it's a 4th-level wizard/warlock spell.

(It's not SRD, so I'm not comfortable copy-pasting the wording here, but it's easy to obtain, legally or otherwise, since it's a pdf.)

EDIT: ah, you're only 4th level. This is a bit out of your reach, then.

[Slipperychicken]

You may be able to use their circle as a destination and/or to save time creating a temporary circle, but you still need to cast or pay for casting a 5th level spell to teleport.

If he has enough money that his GM won't let him just carry it over, I think he could afford paying someone for a teleportation

Although it sounds like he has an antagonistic enough relationship with his GM that none of this is going to end well