Several things got me thinking about this. First off, I'm an old AD&D guy, and back in 1st edition treasure did earn XP. It wasn't a swap, but the two were related. Next, recently I was listening to recent 3.5 Private sanctuary podcast discussion about the problems associated with gear being such an integral part of a PCs stat build. Next, was another of their podcasts that got me thinking about the problem of paying upkeep - how it's realistic, but potentially unfair since it sucks gear money.
All this got me thinking it could be good to have a mechanic to convert GP in XP. This would allow a PC to swap the stat benefits of Gear for the stat benefits of Levels. For players that don't like the role magic gear plays in the game, this could allow them an option to maintain power balance without having to fill every slot with magic gear.
It also occurred to me that this could be used to balance the effect of upkeep, and reconcile it mechanically with it's usefulness in storytelling, by using the upkeep concept as the means by which this trade off of GP to XP is done.
The Idea is this: Heroes may advance themselves by 'living the life' of whatever character concept the player imagines. For example, a PC who's character is the iconic hard partying adventurer spends X coin eating the best food, drinking the best wine, in true spendthrift style - but mechanically, the money isn't just wasted: What he looses in gear value he gains in an XP Story Award. Likewise a PC who's the iconic Paladin vowed to poverty spends X coin to benefit the poor NPCs of the world - what he looses in gear, he gains in XP.
The details can be up however the players want to role play it out, mechanically it's always just a swap of GP for an XP story award, representing the PC giving something up in order to express their character's nature.
Now - The mechanical problems are to implementing such a system are 1) figuring out how to estimate the effective level of an under-geared, but higher level, PC - This is necessary to make sure encounters are still appropriately balanced given their unorthodox build - And 2) figuring out just how much an XP is worth in GP.
Luckily, the core rules gives some guidance on this in the context of NPCs, in the section "NPC Gear Adjustments" in Designing Encounters on P.398:
"a classed NPC that ... has gear equivalent to that of a PC (as listed on Table: Character Wealth by Level) has a CR of 1 higher than his actual CR"
That basically means an NPC with a PC's gear can be assumed to be one level higher. Or, in other words, the difference in value between an NPC's usual gear and a PCs usual gear is worth a Level in relative power.
So, I did some math to see if there was any equivalence in the charts between those GP values and the XP values of that extra Level, to see if I could derive a rough exchange rate between GP and XP. What I found was indeed there was. Comparing the difference with an NPCs standard gear per level, and the XP needed to become a level higher, for levels 5, 10 and 15. There was a rough but very close equivalence. I found that:
--- One GP is about equivalent to one XP
The numbers even seem to err in the right direction. A 1:1 is a slight overpayment of GP to buy XP but this served to account for how gear is hypothetically something you can loose more easily then you can lose levels & level based stats.
That's good for question 2, but likewise for question 1: If an NPC with a PC's value of gear is equivalent to the NPC being one level higher, then the inverse may also be true:
--- A PC with an NPC's gear value can be considered effectively one level lower than the listed level, when considering CR
Now, if that holds up in play I think that's awesome.
What it means is, when you use the cost of living rules from p.405 you can award the PCs XP for those lost GPs on a 1:1 basis without worrying about unbalancing your game. Players would probably really appreciate that. You can also give your players story award XP for donating to churches or drinking thousand GP bottles of wine, or buying wardrobes of clothes, on a 1GP for 1XP basis freeing them to RP without it always conflicting with the need for gear or feeling like they're stupidly throwing money away. You can also please the character who wants to be like a Conan-type hero, relying on personal ability and wanting to minimize the games need for gear. While on the DM side, you only have to worry about adjusting APL and CR if the PCs decide to get so under-geared that they're at NPC levels (making them practically gear free).
So, thoughts?
This isn't a bad idea. I think there is a lot of merit to it. I recall something where 1gp = 25xp somewhere in 3.5 (it may have been 1XP = 25gp, I can't recall exactly). At least that's how it worked out if you needed to convert for some of the item creation rules. I wish I knew where I saw it so I could help more.
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I have always rewarded XP for role playing. And I also do fame scores for my players. I like your idea because it would help tie both together. I would limit the amount of XP that a player could gain per level though, prolly 10-15%. But 10 XP = 1 gp seems fair to me.
Rogue - He would spend his coin for gather info checks, becoming known as a info merchant. Bonus XP for gather info and fame points for becoming well known in the underworld.
Wizard - Spends lavishly to look like the high mage he wants to be. Intricate robes and expensive rings (but just plain jewelry) to impress others. Bonus XP for Cha based checks relying on his appearance and fame points with nobility.
Note: I track fame by a +/- scale for each of the following
Disrepute - underworld
Celebrity - general population
Favor - nobility
Renown - for each faction
Notoriety - great deeds
A negative score is infamous and a positive score is famous. The scores for disrepute, celebrity, and favor are local only. Renown is kept by the faction and is not location dependent. Notoriety is for actions which affect the scope of a larger area, the entire nation, maybe neighboring nations, and rarely the world.
That's an interesting idea.
I wouldn't implement that concept on a systematic basis, but it could surely be useful for some characters who want to invest in their social status or their fame, as courtiers, diplomats or merchants more than actual adventurers.
For them investing their money would give them levels, therefore recognition.
I sometimes use some houserules for the acquisition of feats or abilities, through training and money.
This could be in the same line.
I will follow this thread to see how it evolves...
This is standard in my LARP. At the end of the event we can trade out silver for experience on a one for one basis. Keep in mind though that it is both a point buy system with leveling. And you get XP per event (or fraction there of).
I like it, sign me up.
A paladin spending 5000 of his gold to help the poor is not just dropping coins on the street. He's going out, chasing off gangs, helping old ladies cross the street, passing out the bread to the people he bought it for, often in rough neighborhoods.
A soldier who gives his spoils to his kingdom is not just saying, "Here king!" He's going on tour with the generals, hobnobbing with the nobility, helping to ensure that the soldiers are better armed. 1000 gold is 500 spears. His king, unless he's a douchebag, is going to reward him somehow.
A rogue is going to spend his gold on safehouses, hidden chambers in the sewers, bribes for the guards, bribes for more powerful underworld lords, paying urchins to make distractions.
A barbarian is going to drink and drink and drink and drink and drink and drink and fight.
Rogue - He would spend his coin for gather info checks, becoming known as a info merchant. Bonus XP for gather info and fame points for becoming well known in the underworld.
Wizard - Spends lavishly to look like the high mage he wants to be. Intricate robes and expensive rings (but just plain jewelry) to impress others. Bonus XP for Cha based checks relying on his appearance and fame points with nobility.
That's totally the idea. So much RP flavor and common sense realism gets undermined by such things being 'a waste' since it takes from the PC's effectivness as an adventurer without giving anything in return. I've often had players try to say they're always living off the land rather than pay upkeep, pragmatically because they don't want to lose their effectivness just to add flavor. What the PCs do in their downtime if often muted or hand-waved because all that costs money, so conflicts with their abiltiy to do their job. This way, a PCs downtime and may be as much an element of character advancement as adventuring, freeing players to let their characters take time off and have a life outside the dungeon without feeling it works cross purposes.
It's also good for Players and campaigns that want to stay low magic, but still use published adventures without having to do a lot of re-writing, as the DM can easily convert gear rewards into valuables, which the PCs then spend to convert into a XP story awards.
If the math is correct, at 1:1, to make sure the CR balance is right the DM may only have to modify the APL down a level if the PCs operate at NPC gear values, and down two if they eschew valuable gear alltogether.
I would limit the amount of XP that a player could gain per level though, prolly 10-15%
At 1gp=1xp it's self-limiting, since the total wealth a PC should have available to convert to exp wouldn't buff them more than a level even if they spent the majority of it, regardless of what level they may be.
It would let player's top off, which is also something I really like about this. Often PCs are in a situation where they just want to go kill a kobold so they can level, and often level with a abrupt "Ding". This mechanic would give them a way to top off a level through RP and in an way that encourages passage of game time that smooths the transition, enhansing the story rather than interfereing with it.
This system could be very interesting if the GM allowed the use of some 3PP books. I know of a book, that a rogue in one of my campaigns uses, that allows you to trade XP for Feats (non core) and specialized (again non core rulebook) Skill Points. Meaning the character is actually inhibiting their ability to level faster, but are sometimes trading that ability to level for specific Feats that they couldn't have gotten while leveling anyway. This sparks a lot of interesting scenarios for any GM, and has a lot of merit.