Spending your loot, part 1: existing options

I started this post to give players something to spend their hard won wealth on, and in the process I worked out a new kind of tax for rulers to suffer. That's how it goes.

This will be a series of posts: one to lay out my thoughts on wealth for PCs (don't expect Das Kapital) and on existing ways to manage it, then follow-ups with juicy new things to buy for your character. Want to buy a house, a knighthood, retire as a brothel owner, become a bishop or even a saint? Start saving. Part 2 is about positions, part 3 tackles places to live. Part four lets you build a lab, library or shrine to further your spellcasting.

So you found a metric ton of gold. What are you going to spend it on?

TL;DR: I WANT MORE WAYS FOR PCS TO SPEND THEIR FILTHY LUCRE

My reason for writing this is that I think PCs are earning a lot of gold during their careers with little variety in what they can spend it on. Gold seems to equate mostly to better gear -magic items or spells. I want more options. At minimum, PCs should be able to increase their standard of living instead of becoming loot-laden hobo's who still live in a leaky shack.

"Stick" options for the wealth issue are to hand out less money, or take it away with taxes, dues, debts, costs of living and costs to learn new spells. That sort of works, but just taking away money the players earned fair and square feels unfair to them and cheesy to me. I want to have "carrot" options as well. Find existing options below, under By the Book Solutions and Existing DIY Solutions.

Angry GM got into this topic once. As far as I can see he didn't give options for crap to buy, but he did warn that whatever the DM puts on sale had better be meaningful - meaning, I think, that taxing just to reduce the purse is wrong, but taxing as an entry into domain play is awesome.

You could have all that loot stolen by Kobolds, I guess. But then the players would just track them down and reclaim it. From Volo's Guide to Monsters.

XP-FOR-GP IS NOT THE PROBLEM

Like a lot of OSR DMs, I'm using the xp-for-gp rule. Every gold piece of value a PC brings home safe earns them an experience point; collect enough experience points and they level up, giving new abilities to tackle harder problems with and rake in more cash. Combat doesn't earn you xp, getting rich does. Thus the drive to explore and loot or win rewards.

XP-for-gp may be a wonderful motivator to go out and apply yourself, but it has one downside. Namely, that your characters will end up filthy rich.

A level 20 character has earned 355,000 gp over the course of their career in D&D 5e, 190,000 gp in 3.5th edition, and between 2,200,000 and 5,500,000* gp in AD&D 2nd edition. Lower level PCs are less wealthy, but the higher single digit levels still rake in tens of thousands of gold pieces.

* By the Authority's fat ass, that's a serious heap of gold. Earned by the Druid of all classes. Non-materialistic?

Inside the High Druid's cave.

HAND OUT GEAR, NOT MONEY?

Firstly, you may think that I've brought this on myself, and of course I did. By using xp-for-gp I'm forced to hand out lots of gold to my PCs. But really, this isn't me or xp-for-gp - vast wealth is baked into the game itself.

• D&D 3.5e actually has a chart of expected wealth by level, which works out to even bigger piles of gold than xp-for-gp; 760,000, not 190,000 gp for a 20th level character in 3.5e.

• 5e doesn't know what it wants; on the one hand the DMG says that the game is balanced to work without magical boosters and that there's no magic item economy anyway. But then the game gives you rules for how many common, rare and legendary items a party should have at various levels (in Xanatar's Guide, worked out by Blog of Holding), and for what range of values those should sell.

Secondly, you may not think wealthy PCs are a problem. After all, the gear you'll need to take on high level challenges costs a fortune. Ergo, most of the PCs' wealth will be locked into their magic items, and isn't available to tank the local economy.

Following that line of thought, I could avoid giving my players money if I just hand out those expensive magic items. They'll still get xp because technically the items are valuable, but no magic shops means no way to liquidate, so no mountains of gold. They'll be paupers that blind everyone who dares cast Detect Magic.

In the end, I think this is a boring solution - it limits players to "useful" possessions, meaning magic weapons, armors and assorted arcane knick-knacks. I have this theory that PCs will enjoy the game more if I give them the freedom to take their wealth and use it however they want. As a DM, I can deal with the consequences - I don't have a sacred storyline for them to follow anyway, so any hint they give me as to what they want to focus on is great. So you're angling for a wizard's tower and a position in the guild? Or a post as captain of the guard? Go for it!

Let's see what money can buy in D&D land.

FUCK! More useless gold.

BY THE BOOK SOLUTIONS

So if I'm dead set on handing out both money and magic items, what standard options are there in D&D to siphon off money from my PCs? Note that 2-4 are "stick" options, which are useful but not that interesting - they don't generate story hooks on their own.
 
1) commissioning magic items
Face it, this is the one that players will ask for anyway.

• Even without magic shops in 5e, you can give suitable donations to an alchemist, cleric or wizard in exchange for potions, blessed shields or empowered wands. In 5e, I'd use the lower end of the scale for expendable items like single-use potions or scrolls.
  Players, let me know what kind of items you're looking for and I'll either work them into dungeons or find NPCs who can barter or construct. Better yet, don't ask me - ask a bard where you can find that Cloak of Invisibility!

• Like Jeff Rients outlines, payment for magic items doesn't have to be in the form of actual gold pieces handed over. If you use that same amount of money to fund a good cause for the church or throw a huge celebration for the wizard who completes Drakstang the Storm Blade, that's just as well. Perhaps even better.

2) cost of living and common equipment

• 5e has a table of lifestyle expenses - the daily cost to maintain a certain standard of living, including food and housing at low levels and assorted creature comforts at higher costs. For squalid conditions, that's 1 silver piece per day, or 36.5 gp per year. The poor get by on 73 gp/year, modest living runs to 365 gp annually, and to maintain a well-off or aristocratic lifestyle, count on 1460-3650 gp per year.
  
  
• If you're just eking out money practising a regular profession full-time during downtime, that covers living expenses and earns a small amount of income. Not a money sink, but worth mentioning in this context. You're assumed to rent a room somewhere and eat basic fare. You have no buffer for big expenses.
  
  
• Regular equipment doesn't cost a lot - the spyglass and plate armor top the list at 1000 and 1500 gp, respectively. Why not buy a galley for 30,000 gp? 

3) spell scribing
In base 5e, Wizards get two new spells for their spellbook every time they level up; if they want to add more spells, they get hit with a cost of (50 gp and 2 hours) per spell level on top of an Arcana roll (difficulty 10+spell level) to see if they actually understand the spell. The cost is not just expensive ink, this also covers the minor experiments and trial runs to get to know a new spell.

In my houserules, this cost holds for all spellcasters except druids and rangers; and no-one adds free spells to their spell/prayerbook when they level. As a consequence, clerics no longer have access to all cleric spells of their level.

4) training
As an optional rule (that I'm not using), your PC has to pay 20-80 gp every time they level up. I assume this covers the hours their mentor is making, training equipment or supplies etc. A nice gesture, but it doesn't affect total income much.
I've incorporated training in my own game by having PCs perform a favor for their mentor or guild before they can get class-related specialties.

I wonder - if dragons preferred matresses over gold, would we be paying with goose feathers?

EXISTING DIY SOLUTIONS

I'm hardly the first to bump into the question of wealth. Here's what the blogosphere has thought up.

0) exchange rate
Currently I'm using xp-for-gp; it's the easiest thing to move to xp-for-sp, so that every silver piece (1/10th of a gp) nets one point of experience. PCs level at ten times the rate; or to put it another way, you only have to dole out 1/10th of the treasure for the same level. Functional but boring solution. Next.

1) carousing
Pics or it didn't happen! Or at least a juicy tale and a big party to show off your new wealth and skills. This has a solid basis in fantasy fiction; the two rogues (by outlook if not by class) Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser by Fritz Leiber are extremely skilled and often win great treasure in their adventures...only to lose it all when they throw huge parties and spend their wealth on their belle-du-jour.

• Original carousing system by the inestimable Jeff Rients, everyone has their own take on "spend gold to get extra xp, but risk rolling on a Hangover-style table of minor disasters". Awesome.
• Hack & Slash did a series in 2015, including Carousing (and buying fancy clothes)
• Here's my own carousing chart.

Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser explain carousing: "being broke is a sign you just leveled"

2) hirelings and henchmen
Doesn't seem to be a standard option in 5e, which barely gives you a daily cost for hirelings. Luckily, many bloggers have worked out how to bring back the noble retainer.

• The simplest system I could find is from Diaghilev's Dice, who has followers either aid your attack or stand there and carry stuff. Very fast, very nice, doesn't clutter up the game. Give your horde of turnip farmers some colour with Coins & Scrolls' Horrible Peasant Generator. Cost to employ one hireling is 2 sp/day, or 73 gp/year. They'll think they're going to be rich. You can employ a number equal to your charisma bonus (minimum 1).

•  If your players want a fully detailed NPC that can step up as a replacement PC in times of accidental Death & Dismemberment, they can roll up a henchman as if they were making a new PC. This character starts at level 1 with basic equipment, takes half a PC's share in wealth and XP, and will always be at least 2 levels below their employer.
• For trained mercenaries that don't level and cost a fixed amount per day, look for a follow-up post. Also includes an estimate of how many soldiers a lord is expected to lend their liege every year.
• Note that you'll have to pay a weregild of 50 gp if a henchman or hireling dies in your employ - you've just robbed their lord guild and family of future labour.

Someone to carry that torch for you so a) you can use both your hands b) you don't get shot first by the kobolds.

3) upkeep and debts
These both come from Coins & Scrolls excellent treatise on medieval society:

• If your character holds a noble rank as a member of the Second Estate, they have to pay monthly upkeep (12 gp/rank) to maintain their title. In addition they owe 2-20 gp/month for past debts, ransoms of their superiors, upkeep of facilities in their domain, cost for hirelings to pad the king's army etc.
  Keep track of any extra gifts you send your liege lord's way! Then when you want something of theirs, pester the DM with the advance payments you've been making.

• Collegiate Wizards (with a royal charter and a fancy diploma) pay a monthly debt to their college of 10-100 gp; they owe 500 times that in total. In return they get access to a free spell each level and can train as specialty wizards. Your wizard can be someone who trained outside a formal college, but you'll be disreputable, earn less and wield less status. Also, no support network or source of free spells.
  Keep track of the weird items, looted lab equipment and found spells you've been sending to your College debtor. These payments will come in useful when you want to buy a guild position.

4) bardic services
Goblin Punch worked out how to make players seek out bards. Astounding and very clever.

• At the end of their adventure, players can ask the local bard for info, receive or spread rumors, or design a dungeon. The players jointly take the role of the bard as they describe an adventure locale and what can be found there. Then they decide how much to pay the bard for the tale, which sets how reliable the story will turn out to be.

Yeah, you're going to be spending money on bards.

5) build your own watchtower, fort or castle
I'll detail rules for buying a house in part 2 of this post, but I'd be remiss if I didn't point you to Coins & Scrolls' super easy castle-building procedure. He reasons that the big costs are:

1. permission from your liege to build this place (that's why you were tracking all the gifts you've sent them).
   Update: the 5e DMG suggests that deeds to the land are usually granted in return for favors, but may be bought for 100-1000 for a small estate, up to 5000 for a large estate. Handy!)
2. manpower (or your lord can assign workers to the project)
3. supplies (which you can reduce by sourcing the pricey stone from a dungeon you cleared!)
4. Update: upkeep once you've finished the place - 1 gp per 100 blocks of 5x5x10 feet per month. This includes supplies and 5 servants.

In brief, you can harvest 5ft blocks from a dungeon and rearrange those on the surface, at the cost of 1980 gp per year per 100 blocks, or 1380 if you get free labour. Double that cost for a 6-month construction or for larger amounts of blocks. Maps, so very many maps to steal inspiration from over at Dyson's.

For instance, an eyeball estimate is that this keep runs to ~150 blocks of stone (5x5 ft wide, 10ft high). To build it in 12 months, you'd pay 1980 * 1.5 = 2970 gp, or 2070 gp if you could source the labour from your serfs. Upkeep would be 18 gp/year and includes 7 servants and a guard dog.

If you'd care to pacify excavate the entire Tomb of the Serpent Kings, it'd net you 238 stone blocks of 5x5x10 feet to play with.

As an example of dungeon quarrying, here is the Tomb of the Serpent Kings with ceiling heights of 5, 10 and 15 feet. I'm counting enough stone to furnish 238 blocks of 5x5x10 feet for new constructions. Map by Janon.

SUMMARY

PCs quickly become rich and I want them to feel rich - not just in terms of the +X longbow they have, but in terms of homes, creature comforts, positions, favors. Above is an overview of things people either have to or may choose to spend money on; more on positions, land grants and status in a follow-up post!