D&D 5E Why I think gold should have less uses in 5e, not more.

[Micah Sweet]

I still say saddling the PCs with massive debt at the start is a strong motivator for treasure hunting. The only thing is the one holding the debt has to be strong enough to ensure that the PCs can't just roll over them once they hit 5th level or whatever.

It works in Cyberpunk.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

It works in Cyberpunk.

Traveller and Star Wars D6 used that a bit too.

 

[Mephista]

I Do like cyberpunk...

 

[der_kluge]

My players in my Sunday game are at a slave auction. They'll find plenty of uses for all that gold...

 

[Doctor Futurity]

Decades of experience have taught me that gold is never a true motivator, it is instead an intermediary currency for what the players may really want. If you build mechanical effects for gold expenditure that lead to XP (a problem in and of itself if you are using a milestone system to level up, but lets assume not) then some players will game that mechanic for the XP rather than the engagement experience.

I think it would be a useful optional rule for a group that needs it or sees some value in it, but I think it would only be useful in that way. I'd never adopt this for my game table, where my main goal is to get the players invested in the story rather than the loot. The story elements should not hinge on wealth expenditure whenever possible. Hell....my current campaign, as an example, is 10 levels in with the only endgame reward being land and title to the PCs for their deeds. The material wealth has been infrequent, but the boons and gains through the tale telling have been far greater rewards than any coin.

 

[Distracted DM]

Decades of experience have taught me that gold is never a true motivator, it is instead an intermediary currency for what the players may really want. If you build mechanical effects for gold expenditure that lead to XP (a problem in and of itself if you are using a milestone system to level up, but lets assume not) then some players will game that mechanic for the XP rather than the engagement experience.

I think it would be a useful optional rule for a group that needs it or sees some value in it, but I think it would only be useful in that way. I'd never adopt this for my game table, where my main goal is to get the players invested in the story rather than the loot. The story elements should not hinge on wealth expenditure whenever possible. Hell....my current campaign, as an example, is 10 levels in with the only endgame reward being land and title to the PCs for their deeds. The material wealth has been infrequent, but the boons and gains through the tale telling have been far greater rewards than any coin.

What edition are you running with 10 levels? Curious, if it's 5e, if you made any changes/house-rules to leveling/endgame etc.

 

[Staffan]

Decades of experience have taught me that gold is never a true motivator, it is instead an intermediary currency for what the players may really want. If you build mechanical effects for gold expenditure that lead to XP (a problem in and of itself if you are using a milestone system to level up, but lets assume not) then some players will game that mechanic for the XP rather than the engagement experience.

Right. That's why I think having parallel currencies is the way to go. Then you can be fairly lavish with "worthless" gold which PCs will spend on fun stuff, and let them hoard the power currency which they can then turn into actual power.

 

[Distracted DM]

Right. That's why I think having parallel currencies is the way to go. Then you can be fairly lavish with "worthless" gold which PCs will spend on fun stuff, and let them hoard the power currency which they can then turn into actual power.

Was this the magic item stuff that you could disenchant items into in 4e? I forget what it was called.

 

[Alzrius]

Was this the magic item stuff that you could disenchant items into in 4e? I forget what it was called.

I believe it was "residuum."

Residuum

Residuum was a magical substance that was left behind whenever a magic item was disenchanted.[3] Some described it as concentrated magic.[3][4] It could often be found inside the bodies of creatures that fed upon magical items,[5][6] such as rust monsters[5] and steel predators.[6] This...

forgottenrealms.fandom.com

 

[Distracted DM]

I believe it was "residuum."

Residuum

Residuum was a magical substance that was left behind whenever a magic item was disenchanted.[3] Some described it as concentrated magic.[3][4] It could often be found inside the bodies of creatures that fed upon magical items,[5][6] such as rust monsters[5] and steel predators.[6] This...

forgottenrealms.fandom.com

Yup. There ya go. So again, we are left with a case of "look, it's something D&D already tried... in 4e."