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Looking at this table suggests that a 2nd level PC should have 1,000gp worth of gear. Well my group is almost 3rd level and to take one of the characters with the least magic items (+1 Longsword, +1 Dagger and 7x +1 Arrows) she's already way above this wealth suggestion, yet the PCs are not breezing through encounters and I'm starting to think if they only had 1,000gp worth of stuff by 2nd they'd be dead by now.
What am I missing?
Reebo
Well, if they are almost reaching 3rd lvl, then they should have at that point = 3,000 gp.
Adventure and fighting should increase their wealth & 2nd lvl 1000gp and 3rd lvl 3000gp are just the starting wealths. If they reach that 3000gp when they turn 3rd lvl, its should be okey
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Well, if they are almost reaching 3rd lvl, then they should have at that point = 3,000 gp.
Adventure and fighting should increase their wealth & 2nd lvl 1000gp and 3rd lvl 3000gp are just the starting wealths. If they reach that 3000gp when they turn 3rd lvl, its should be okey
Yeah that's the thing, the PC mentioned has almost 5,000gp according to those 3 items she has. I was worried they were underpowered because they have had trouble with some encounters but I can see now its just bad tactics and bad dice rolls. Really think that table should be reassessed but maybe that's just from my experience.
I'd be curious to hear other people's experience.
I normally give them way more wealth than the table. However they seldomly can sell them for half the price, they normally would get far less. And buying magic items isn't that easy too.
So they get more gear, but not optimal gear. And from time to time, if they get lazy, they will get robbed of nearly everything :)
I think that "loot" is one of the major fun parts of the game, and thus they get a lot and loose a lot.
Ok first off these charts are guidelines. So if a character is a bit over or under it can be ok. Also if you check the treasure per encounter table, and add it up you'll find that if you follow that table you'll give more wealth than the wealth by level table says they should get.
Why?
Because the treasure per encounter table takes into account the fact that some of that stuff will be used up in the form of potions, scrolls, wands, and stuff being sold back instead of kept.
So if you have a party of four and you give out 7,500 gp of stuff before they hit level 2, so long as about 3,500 gp of that stuff gets used up (say potions of cure light wounds, scrolls of magic missile, and wands of cure light wounds) then everything is ok.
From a GM's stand point disposable treasure is a godsend. If you think your party is having a hard time throw them some potions, wands, and scrolls. They'll get used up so they don't stay in party wealth for long, and helps them get pass the point you think will possibly kill them.
At lower levels it's understandable that some people might be a bit overwealth for their level. Part of this is knowing your group and part of it is because some stuff is so expensive compared to what it gives in return. A party where the wealth is a couple of magical weapons some magical armor and either rings of protection or cloaks of resistance with some disposables thrown in is just fine for level 2~3 honestly.
Here's the thing. That table is a guideline. Some character builds will be more optimal than others, some players will be more tactically minded than others, and some dice are luckier than others. Also, situation matters when building an encounter. The same set of monsters in a cave may do a lot better against PCs out in the open where they can move. All things are not equal.
The table is fine as designed. In fact, my players tend to be very, very good and wealth per the table leaves them a little over-powered most of the time.
So just think of it as an average. Your group isn't average. Don't give in to the temptation to vary drastically from the table. A little here or there isn't a big deal, but you don't want PCs with double expected treasure or you may find very suddenly that they're very hard to challenge.
I have never seen a character anywhere near the wbl table. Every game I have ever seen, the players have ended up with at least double by mid levels. With 1 GM, I have consistently had epic gear by mid levels and it has never adversly affected the game. If you are running through premade dungeons it can be an issue, but otherwise not so much. You should design for what your players can do, not what they should be able to do.
As others have stated the "wealth by level" table is merely a guideline. As long as whatever amount of gear the characters have does not negatively affect gameplay and everyone's fun there is no need to worry. I tend to be rather stingy as a GM, as I prefer for characters to have a few meaningful items, rather than being Christmas trees of magical trinkets.
It also depends on the items themselves compared to what the characters do. If a fullplate strength based paladin has a +4 belt of dexterity, it doesnt really do much for that characters ability to overcome challenges. There is also a problem of redundant or non-overlapping gear. For instance is a character has a +1 longsword and 3 MW handaxes, the 3 Masterwork hand axesdont do much for the characters capability so long as the character doesnt lose the longsword somehow. In the character you describe she has 3 magic weapons. Sure thats alot of gold, but she probably isnt using them all at once (not to mention the arrows are expendable). So likely the dagger and arrows arent helping if the character is using the longsword (unless she is two weapon fighting). The character would be better off trying to sell or trade the secondary magic weapons for magic armor, or some defensive items.
Gear is important for determining how well PCs get through challenges, but you can run any campaign you like with any wealth level you like. In 2 of the last 3 campaigns I played in, we were significantly below wealth by level. We managed. The other one put me well over wealth by level and I prospered. The table's a guideline, you should just be careful as the PCs advance in level to see how they fare in battle and adjust things accordingly. I otherwise agree with the stuff said above.
In the Rise of the Runelords round I play in, everyone has at most 1/3 of the suggested WBL. Most chars are around level 12. I didn't have the impression that the fights were especially hard or anything. I guess it matters a lot how well the game mechanics are understood by the players...
I only know the opposite :)
Our Group is now level 5/6 and we have two magic items (one armor+1 and one weapon+1).
In the Rise of the Runelords round I play in, everyone has at most 1/3 of the suggested WBL. Most chars are around level 12. I didn't have the impression that the fights were especially hard or anything. I guess it matters a lot how well the game mechanics are understood by the players...
Well 3.5 had completely different wealth by level guidelines too so that probably plays into it some... a lot of the treasure in RotRL was hidden stuff that players could easily miss from what I saw/played of it.
Like other's have said, I've never been in a game that approaches the WPL, but on the other side. We normally are very much below it. We're playing through the kingmaker first module, and barely have magic at all. We just killed the main villain from the first module, and that treasure has yet to be distributed, but baring something amazing, it won't bring us up to the average.
The first book of kingmaker should have some magic items, a couple of +1 weapons, there is even a fae bane weapon in the first book. The boss also gives you a significant amount of magic items. I do have to say, that game does encourage high perception in order to find your magic items and what not.
I've only ever used the Wealth by Level chart for when new characters join a game at higher levels, letting them buy equipment based on the chart. Otherwise...I completely ignore the chart. I see no point to it as a GM.
Wealth can be measure in many ways. The richest man in the world isn't the one with all the magic and the gold, but the one with the love of a healthy family and the treasure of friendship...