What are some nonmagical things to spend massive amounts of money on?

[47948201]

Say you've got, like, 3 million gold (due to, for example, being created as an epic character). If your character has something against magic items, or if you're limited to only having 4 magic items totaling no more than a certain percentage of your wealth (as suggested by the DMG)... What on earth are you supposed to do with all the rest of that money? You could buy several large castles (or probably even a small country), but that's not particularly useful for most adventurers. You could hire tons and tons of people and wreck the action economy, but even a thousand cuts won't bring death to many mid-CR monsters, and that just sounds like a DMing nightmare.

I know magic items are by far the most obvious (and most useful) choice, but apart from those, how would you maximize the effectiveness of this large fortune?

[TheCount]

Alchemical items, hirelings as you mentoned, though, not for combat purposes, and special materials mostly.
Making connections is another, everyone likes gifts after all!
do vechices and animals count as hirelings/magic items?
making a base of operation is handy, even more so if its mobile (ships, airships, caravans ect).

ideal would be, a moving base (airship or something that can fly), has secure portal(s) to pocket dimension(s) or demiplane(s) where your hirelings farm (spell components, magical plants, animals you like) and craft stuff for you.

[Ravens_cry]

While this isn't exactly 'non magical', how about hiring some spellcasters to cast high level spells? If you can find one, a 9th level spell cast by a 17th level Wizard costs 10x9x17, so 1530. For a Wish spell, that's 1530+25000 (5gp for each XP cost).
If you can't find a use for 113 Wishes . . .

[Biggus]

Say you've got, like, 3 million gold (due to, for example, being created as an epic character). If your character has something against magic items, or if you're limited to only having 4 magic items totaling no more than a certain percentage of your wealth (as suggested by the DMG)... What on earth are you supposed to do with all the rest of that money?

Are you referring to the "limiting magic items" section on p.209 of the DMG? If so, I think you've misunderstood its intent. It's an abbreviated version of the sidebar at the bottom of p.23 of the ELH, which goes on to say that the purpose of those limitations is to avoid a new epic character spending all of their wealth on a few ultra-powerful items. As far as I can see, it's expected that you'll spend the rest of your wealth on other magic items, it's just that none of those other items can be worth more than 10% of your total wealth.

I know magic items are by far the most obvious (and most useful) choice, but apart from those, how would you maximize the effectiveness of this large fortune?

As well as just getting spells cast for you, there are a number of spells you can get made permanent on you.

Invest in a lot of diamonds; leave some of them at a major temple of your choice so you can always get a True Resurrection if needed (or your friends can get one for you). Also they're a way of carrying large amounts of money about which doesn't require you to have Strength 30 to avoid being encumbered.

Finally, in the ELH (p.114) it suggests that some temples will sell favors, which are notes which can be redeemed for spellcasting and cost between 1,000 and 100,000GP each.

[Ruethgar]

A quick Shadow Walk to and from Ravenloft for Create Device items of all the magic you missed.

[Vizzerdrix]

Shapesand. Piles and piles of shapesand.

[Psyren]

Just because you only have 4 magic items doesn't mean those items can't be more powerful. Add properties to them.

Failing that, I would purchase spellcasting services, and make a bunch of buffs on myself and my party permanent, as well as arranging things like transportation, restoration, contingencies and surveillance/prognostication.

[Vizzerdrix]

Failing that, I would purchase spellcasting services, and make a bunch of buffs on myself and my party permanent, as well as arranging things like transportation, restoration, contingencies and surveillance/prognostication.

Oooh good call. You know what would be a good investment? A guard dog. With mineralize warrior cast on it. We would have to make the pup count as a humanoid though. Hmm... Maybe a few Deathless guard dog instead? Good undead puppers that you can buff with all sorts of tasty spells.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

There's a ton of grafts which permanently modify your character without taking up an item slot.

Manuals and tomes that give a +5 inherent bonus to an ability score are 137,500 gp each, and that can never be taken away.

You can hire an NPC spellcaster to cast Wish or Miracle five times for 132,650 gp which is slightly cheaper. Also see if your DM will allow Wish to add an inherent bonus to something like your natural armor bonus.

You can also use a Ring of Spell Storing and Permanency to put spells on yourself if you're not a spellcaster. With a Ring of Enduring Arcana and Earth Spell shenanigans you can get an absurd caster level for a tough dispel DC, but Disjunction still removes it all.


If you're starting an epic level character, and your DM has limited you to only four total magic items, you need to take Leadership for a Midgard Dwarf (FB) cohort and just shovel gold at him until you have all the gear an epic level character should have. A Midgard Dwarf can make epic items after all. You can even say you hired an NPC to Psychic Reformation or Dark Chaos Shuffle your Leadership feat into something else prior to the start of play.

[Endarire]

Ale and whores!

(Joke answer.)

[Kelb_Panthera]

People of import. If you've got more money than you can reasonably use yourself, spread it around to people you can use. Curry the favor of nobility with fancy gifts, invest heavily in the business of merchant princes, get in touch with the thieves and assassins and make sure they know there's a lot more profit in working with you than against you, etc and so on.

The exact items you'll buy to, in turn, buy the intangible benefits of having these allies will necessarily vary based on those NPCs' needs and personalities but having done so can prove far more powerful than any stack of magical gear you might otherwise want to use.

[unseenmage]

My favorite is always roads and walls.

Public works for the public good and all that.

Really paves the way for later political ascension and all the wealth that can be sunk into that endeavor.

[Tvtyrant]

Lords of Madness has slave prices, and you can make domination collars or any of the numerous other mind control/changing items. Buy a solar from some Neogi, then use one of your magic items to enslave it (or a spell to make it think it is in love with you permanently.)

Buy Spelljammers, head to the stars.

Pay to build a megadungeon to trap unsuspecting other adventurers and collect their loot.

[liquidformat]

I am putting my vote behind real estate! You can put some serious money into it and they have a book on all the convoluted rules too!

[Nifft]

Customized self-repairing Golems with the skills to build and maintain your roads and walls, and do other maintenance (including fix each other).

[crankykobold]

Customized self-repairing Golems with the skills to build and maintain your roads and walls, and do other maintenance (including fix each other).

This is what I was thinking. But I got to the bottom of the thread and you had already said it.

[Cirrylius]

Islands? Whole armies? Small countries?

[RNightstalker]

I would have to have a chariot with spinner wheels...you know, to get from A to B.

[Asmotherion]

A) Upgrade your 4 items with all crazy enchantments.

B) Hirelings. If you can hire enough LV1 warlocks they can be worth more than a magic item. EB targets touch AC and is untyped damage. Plus they have Invocation ( Aka SLAs they can use at-will)

C) Strongholds. Why not shift perspective on that BBEG and make him adventure in YOUR dungeon looking for you for once? Even better if you get the teleporting/plane shifting enhancments and manage to lock them away from the material plane.

D) Spell Components. Black Onyx for Undead, Diamonds for Resurection and all sorts of expensive stuff you usually have to do a side quest to get or afford.

E) Alchemy and Poisons: When enough of them are hurled in the same turn (for example via a telekinesis spell) they can sting a lot. Get some positoxins too if you run into undead a lot. By the book, alchemy is not magical so you should at least have a solid arguement. Don't abuse it too much though. Just make sure one of your 4 items is either a bag of holding or a bottomless pit (or that you can in fact cast secret chest).

F) Golems. With. Fly. Speed.