Good Morning Fellow Gamers,
One of my PCs was complaining about the amount of treasure that they have acquired, so I looked into it.
According to the wealth by level table in the CRB, they should have around 33,000gp.
One character has a bit more than that, (Because they are given every wand that is found, and they create their own) While the rest of the party hovers at around 60% of that value.
I know that they have been nickel and diming themselves with spending gold pieces on retraining (Ultimate Campaign)
Now, they do have some non-liquid assets; titles, mounts, lands, etc. (one Character just commissioned a ship!) and only the one character has commented on it so far, but I want to get some more loot towards them, without breaking the bank and turning it into a Monty Haul situation
Right now, they are in the middle of BFE, so the local economy can't support them selling off all of the loot they've gathered from monsters right now, and there aren't really any spellcasters of a high enough level to 'barter' (The highest level caster in the region is a 5th level cleric, who has already agreed to spellcasting gratis, and discounted potions.)
I don't want to Deus Ex Machina a merchant caravan, or something like that, to allow them to unload the +1 weapons they have looted from their foes (unless I can make it believable).
Just handing out coins would be the easiest way to keep it divisible, and gems and art objects could possibly be a viable runner up. But what about magical items that I know the PCs would sell. (+1 Flaming Burst Spiked Gauntlet, for example).
I also don't want it to be obvious that I'm trying to 'fix' it. Or, since it's only the one player who's even noticed, should I just keep an eye on it and see if the difference increases.
TL;DR: How do you do treasure? Do you ever have to pad the treasure awarded in an adventure path?
Thank you for your responses.
Very Respectfully,
--Bacon
WBL indicates the expected value of the characters' useful equipment. So unless there's a magic item shop around, giving them extra treasure won't do any good.
You could pick items that you think the characters might like, and give them to their enemies?
Eventually, they'll be heading back to Magnimar. So they will eventually be able to buy/sell/trade. But they need to have the materials to do so.
Very Respectfully,
--Bacon
I generally do not advocate the use of Wealth By Level, and there's a reason for that. WBL assumes your playes will do as you've predicted. That they will pick up the gear you leave for them, that they will sell what they don't immediately need, and that they will do nothing of their own initiative to bolster their finances.
Presently I have a Rise of the Runelords campaign going. My players sell alot of the loot they find, but they have quite a few, quite valuable pieces of loot that they've kept as trophies, despite them being worth alot of money. They have made investments that are not immediately useful to their adventuring career, and have spent both money and effort on helping others, with no foreseeable payoff. I'm not gonna drop more coin in their lap, nor am I going to put more loot on their path. If they find themselves underequipped to deal with the challenges ahead, that is them dealing with the consequences of their generosity. If they find they might die because they are underequpped, yet continue to push on, then that is their decision as well, and they get to live(or die) by it. If they want to improve their gear or get a big chunk of cash from somewhere, I give them a chance to be creative. I'm not gonna stop them from playing their characters.
So, in essence. Beyond what you get for making a character above level 1, I don't use WBL. I find it to be a waste of my time. If my players do stuff that earns them alot of cash, all power to them. If somehow my campaign hinges on a certain encounter being challenging, and they are overequipped, I am still the GM, and can boost the encounter any way I want to.
-Nearyn
EDIT: AH! I see you're running Rise. Very good, it's a great path. Then permit me to tell you about what my players wasted their money on, for the sake of roleplay(which, to me at least, means it's not really wasted :] ).
They bought toys for a child in Sandpoint after he tragically lost his father.
They screwed up their deal with Longtooth royally, pissed him off, then allowed him to escape, and failed to take the proper precautions appropriate to when you have an angry Red dragon wanting revenge on you. This resulted in Longtooth laying waste to Turtleback Ferry, and my players made a HUUUGE investment in seeing the town rebuilt. They sank well over 30k into it, and maybe the campaign will end before they even get a chance to see the town restored.
The only reason most the people of Turtleback Ferry even survived, was that the halfling rogue had taken cash out (around 6k), to host a huge, lavish party in celebration of her own awesomeness and invited the entirety of turtleback ferry. Only a few did not attend, and they died in dragonfire. Mind you, I had rolled for how many days would go until longtooth attacked and she decided to host the party on that exact date. Halfling Luck I tell ya :)
OH! Right! And they -gave- away the deed to the Foxglove townhouse in Magnimar
AND (I'm remembering more and more of these) when Ameiko didn't want the Kaijutsu manor in Sandpoint because of all the bad memories she had of the place, they took it out from under her, and have been making regular payments to keep it well-maintained, despite them only using it on rare occassions.
Those are some of the times I can think of where the party has blown their money(directly or indirectly) on things that do not benefit their adventuring career. Trying to adjust WBL to account for player initiative and agency is tedious busywork and a waste of your time IMO.