Starting play at higher levels: character creation and wealth

I've ran a number of games, but never started my players at anything higher than maybe 2nd or 3rd level. I'm looking to run Wardens of the Reborn Forge in the near future which assumes the PCs are 12th level to start. The Character Wealth by Level table says they should have 108,000 GP by that level. That's a LOT of gold.

Should I put any restrictions on how that 108,000 GP is spent?

Definitely add some limits. Set a cap for the most expensive magical item at the very least.

I would consider requiring that a certain % would have to be consumables, same for utility (handy haversack etc.)

Alternately, consider consequences to their choices. If someone decides to spend all their money on 1 weapon and 1 armor, expecting to fill common slots shortly with loot (like amulets of natural armor, rings of deflection), have strings attached to the loot such as minor curses, restrictions, penalties (removable but at a cost). Also have encounters that require versatility in gear for better rewards or greater ease,...

no handy haversack and a jumble of aquired gear?
-an NPC needs X to solve a problem and is much more helpful if you can give him (100ft silk rope, potion of spider climb, etc)
-a treasure horde is in silver pieces, you are a ways from town and the woods are kobold infested. Anything you can't carry now won't be there later.

I once started a higher level character with limited gear (house rules) and it took some of the fun when I lacked versatility, as opposed to a weaker low level rogue I once played who did have cheap tricks like caltrops to help situations where he was at a disadvantage

Honestly, no, don't bother.

The reality is that if someone were to take a crafting feat and make Ultra-badass item X or something they could, in theory, double their effective wealth and have an item worth 216,000 gp, yet therein lies their problem.
It is always more effective to build up one's magical items little by little. A ring of protection +1 (2,000), Amulet of Natural Armor +1 (2,000), and a Bracers of Armor +1 (1,000) costs 5,000 gp together, while a Ring of Protection +2 costs 8,000 gp by itself.

Basically, buying an item that is ridiculously powerful for one's level at the expense of all the other gear you would be able to get is not worth it in any way, shape or form.

One option is to tell them that if they take a crafting feat they cannot craft custom items with their money, thereby preventing them from making a Mirror Image CL 9 Displacement giving item. If they want to make that ultra item then they can make it in-game.

It is always more effective to build up one's magical items little by little. A ring of protection +1 (2,000), Amulet of Natural Armor +1 (2,000), and a Bracers of Armor +1 (1,000) costs 5,000 gp together, while a Ring of Protection +2 costs 8,000 gp by itself.

When you're dealing with stackable defenses, yes. I could easily see someone doing the ring, amulet, and bracers +1 ... then dropping the other 100,000 into a megaweapon.

I typically place the cutoff at 40% for any one item.

I suggest you go by the guide Lines i The book.
"PCs that are built after 1st level should spend no more than 25% of their wealth on weapons, 25% on armor and protective devices, 25% on other magic items, 15% on disposable items like potions, scrolls, and wands, and 10% on ordinary gear and coins. "
Somthing like that.

Alternately, consider consequences to their choices. If someone decides to spend all their money on 1 weapon and 1 armor, expecting to fill common slots shortly with loot (like amulets of natural armor, rings of deflection), have strings attached to the loot such as minor curses, restrictions, penalties (removable but at a cost). Also have encounters that require versatility in gear for better rewards or greater ease,...

No my friend, don't do that.

It is the PC's money. Let him use it however he wants, since his choices define his character. If he decides he wants to craft a +10 longsword (base price 200,000, craft price 100,000) then by all means do so. His Vorpal +5 Longsword will be able to do some cool tricks, yes, but his AC will be atrocious, and while he will be able to deal some real damage quickly, and maybe even flat-out kill enemies on a Nat-20, he will be easy to hit.

In other words: he has already shot himself in the foot, thereby making it so you don't need to do it for him. Plus, if he spends all his money on one super item, and then you decide that all the small items you, for some reason, drop that are permanent upgrades are all cursed then you're singling him out.

Jerks single out PCs for making decisions with their own money. Don't be a jerk. Support the player's vision of how he wants to play his PC. In the grand scheme of things the PC is like a vehicle.

Taku Ooka Nin wrote:

It is always more effective to build up one's magical items little by little. A ring of protection +1 (2,000), Amulet of Natural Armor +1 (2,000), and a Bracers of Armor +1 (1,000) costs 5,000 gp together, while a Ring of Protection +2 costs 8,000 gp by itself.

When you're dealing with stackable defenses, yes. I could easily see someone doing the ring, amulet, and bracers +1 ... then dropping the other 100,000 into a megaweapon.

I typically place the cutoff at 40% for any one item.

If you are level 10, and your AC is 10+1+1+1+dex, then you are already in a world of hurt, especially if your DM realizes that he should be attacking everyone in the party equally instead of just the "tank".

Take a melee fighter: he runs up with his Vorpal Longsword, he needs a 20 to outright win. He has a 5% chance of victory each attack. His chance to hit is 12+str+5. His damage is 1d8+str(or str*1.5)+5. He has a decent chance to hit each round, and likely will.

For this his AC is so bad that most things will hit him on a roll of a 10, even casters, thereby making him more like a Rogue than a Fighter. He rushes in, attacks in the hopes that he will kill the target in 2 or less rounds because if he is attacked all of the enemy's attacks will hit in all probability.

Basically, he is already screwed, and not to mention that in order to get a Vorpal weapon at level 10 he already needs to drop 2 feats to do it, first the feat that lets not casters craft magic weapons, and then the craft magical weapons and armor feat. So for his power-weapon he has taken great hits to his own character's power.

In short, by doing so he becomes inferior to two level 11 CR 10 NPC rogues whose CR equals his own who are using each other to flank him.