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Pen & Paper Roleplaying Central => Pen and Paper Roleplaying Games (RPGs) Discussion => Topic started by: Randombilly on June 22, 2013, 08:47:39 PM

Title: Where does my D&D 3.5 PC keep all of his STUFF??
Post by: Randombilly on June 22, 2013, 08:47:39 PM
Ok, so I played some D&D when I was in my teenage years, and a small group of friends of mine and I have started back up in our mid-thirties.. I dont think we ever covered this when we were young but... WHERE the heck does my Level 3 Ranger keep all of his stuff???  

 I've only been on a few adventures, but I've got about 1500 Gold Pieces and from what Im reading here and pretty much everywhere thats EXTREMELY heavy.  I feel like you guys wouldnt go to such lengths as to determine how much gold weighs if you werent going to figure in a place to stick it before your character has bought a house..

I looked a lot of places and simply couldnt find an answer for where Im storing my many pounds of gold pieces.. Not to mention when I find items that I clearly need to keep for future adventures (I found a shield with a map on the inside, I keep hoarding swords and axes from fallen foes to sell when I get the chance etc...)

Thanks!
Title: Where does my PC keep all of his STUFF??
Post by: Rincewind1 on June 22, 2013, 09:09:16 PM
Quote from: Randombilly;664827Ok, so I played some D&D when I was in my teenage years, and a small group of friends of mine and I have started back up in our mid-thirties.. I dont think we ever covered this when we were young but... WHERE the heck does my Level 3 Ranger keep all of his stuff???  

I looked a lot of places and simply couldnt find an answer for where Im storing my many pounds of gold pieces.. Not to mention when I find items that I clearly need to keep for future adventures (I found a shield with a map on the inside, I keep hoarding swords and axes from fallen foes to sell when I get the chance etc...)

Thanks!

Hello Billy,

many adventurers have similar problems as you do. You want to diversify your adventurer's portfolio, of course. Keep 20% of the gold coins & silver coins as they are, if they are good quality golden/silver coins, the purer the better - the pure metal is hard to lose value. Another 20% you should keep in real estate, as you can always lend it to have a constant stream of coinage, that will pay estate's upkeep as well as give you little profit - enough perhaps to wait through a potential castle market's crash.

Now, what to do with the rest?

Despite the low interest rates, you may wish to leave about 10% in the bank. Dwarven banks are advised, as dwarves have a very strict policy regarding inter - bank lending rules, security of their banks & deposits, powerful army to protect them as well as coin spoilage - so you ought to profit slightly larger above kingdom's minting inflation. The remaining 50% of gold is a true plethora of choice. My personal advice would be to invest 10% in King's royal venture/war obligations, unless you are worried about Kingdom's stability, or about the nature of the venture - see the Orlean's Venture flop of Louis the XIV for example. Still, the backing of royal power usually guarantees safety of such investment. I'd also advice keeping 10% in form of valuable arts & magical items. Don't invest in potions, they tend to spoil too quickly - invest in potion - making ventures instead. You should now keep the 20% in various stocks - I suggest the mines especially, and the remaining 10% in an investment fund. Again, I suggest going with dwarves or gnomes.


Jokes aside - that's what encumbrance rules are for ;). There are quite a few abstract versions of them too, if you don't want the whole bookkeeping. LotFP's I found really useful, both for D&D and other fantasy RPGs. That, and buying an ox wagon can pay some real dividends, if you are going to loot battlefields.
Title: Where does my PC keep all of his STUFF??
Post by: Mistwell on June 22, 2013, 09:18:31 PM
In his magical pack of Don't Sweat the Minor Boring Stuff.  Same place he keeps his torches and waterskins and arrows and rations.
Title: Where does my PC keep all of his STUFF??
Post by: Randombilly on June 22, 2013, 09:24:27 PM
Quote from: Mistwell;664832In his magical pack of Don't Sweat the Minor Boring Stuff.  Same place he keeps his torches and waterskins and arrows and rations.

Right, that's [where] I figured, until I found forums of people who've got the exact weight, down to the ounce, of how much the gold pieces should weigh.
I'm going to need to find a DM with a lot of organization skills who wants to keep track of investments rates of return because I'm pretty into that other idea of diversifying my Rangers portfolio!!
I do, though, want to buy a house. Possibly for no other reason than to design one on graph paper and cover the technicality of where does he park his donkey and carriage once I get one.
Title: Where does my PC keep all of his STUFF??
Post by: Black Vulmea on June 22, 2013, 09:26:44 PM
Of course your guy has a mule, right? To carry the locked chest with his gold in it?

Or he converted them to small gemstones, right? To make them easy to carry and liquidate as needed?

Or he got a note of credit from a merchant in that last town, right? One that will be honored by the other members of his guild?


Welcome to the adult swim.
Title: Where does my PC keep all of his STUFF??
Post by: JeremyR on June 22, 2013, 09:41:44 PM
Converting them into gems is what the pros do.

And portable holes are very handy.
Title: Where does my PC keep all of his STUFF??
Post by: Randombilly on June 22, 2013, 09:43:57 PM
Quote from: JeremyR;664838And portable holes are very handy.

OOooo!

Fair enough, Im going to consider this case closed.
Title: Where does my PC keep all of his STUFF??
Post by: sniderman on June 22, 2013, 10:49:34 PM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammerspace
Title: Where does my PC keep all of his STUFF??
Post by: Imp on June 22, 2013, 11:08:30 PM
Quote from: Mistwell;664832In his magical pack of Don't Sweat the Minor Boring Stuff.  Same place he keeps his torches and waterskins and arrows and rations.

I have to disagree here: for at least a few times it is worth considering the "what do I do with all this gold I just got, I don't want to just get it stolen from me" problem if you are new to the game. 1500 gold pieces is not minor boring stuff to most of the characters in the setting! Even some pretty big fish would not pass up the chance to grab that if they didn't have to go too far out of the way.
Title: Where does my PC keep all of his STUFF??
Post by: Doom on June 22, 2013, 11:21:28 PM
Quote from: Randombilly;664827Ok, so I played some D&D when I was in my teenage years, and a small group of friends of mine and I have started back up in our mid-thirties.. I dont think we ever covered this when we were young but... WHERE the heck does my Level 3 Ranger keep all of his stuff???  

 I've only been on a few adventures, but I've got about 1500 Gold Pieces and from what Im reading here and pretty much everywhere thats EXTREMELY heavy.  I feel like you guys wouldnt go to such lengths as to determine how much gold weighs if you werent going to figure in a place to stick it before your character has bought a house..

I looked a lot of places and simply couldnt find an answer for where Im storing my many pounds of gold pieces.. Not to mention when I find items that I clearly need to keep for future adventures (I found a shield with a map on the inside, I keep hoarding swords and axes from fallen foes to sell when I get the chance etc...)

Thanks!

Gygax kinda screwed up on his weights for coin; his weight (10 gold coins weigh a pound) is vastly out of scale with "real" gold coins (keep in mind, he was writing in a time when real money hadn't been in circulation for many decades, instead people use paper/fiat today).

A 19th century $1 gold coin would weigh around 1/20 of an ounce (by no great coincidence the Spanish 1/2 Escudo of 500 years ago weighed this much, and even the Byzantine Solidus was comparable), so 1500 gold would be around 5 lbs, if you wanted it in coin--that's still kinda heavy, but if you have a decent strength, no big deal; for what it's worth, that's about $100,000 in today's currency.

Again, historically, much wealth past that would be put into jewellery, which would weigh even less. albeit not so liquid.

For extensive spare weapons, consider a pack mule, which can carry quite a bit.
Title: Where does my PC keep all of his STUFF??
Post by: kythri on June 23, 2013, 12:04:44 AM
In 3.5, it's 50 coins to the pound.

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/equipment/wealthAndMoney.htm

As far as storage, poof:

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#bagofHolding
Title: Where does my PC keep all of his STUFF??
Post by: talysman on June 23, 2013, 01:27:01 AM
Quote from: Randombilly;664827Ok, so I played some D&D when I was in my teenage years, and a small group of friends of mine and I have started back up in our mid-thirties.. I dont think we ever covered this when we were young but... WHERE the heck does my Level 3 Ranger keep all of his stuff???  

Let's not overlook the obvious... from the 1e AD&D PHB, p. 25:

QuoteRangers may own only those goods and treasure which they can carry on their person and/or place upon their mount; all excess must be donated to a worthy communal or institutional cause (but never to another player character). (cf. Paladin above.)

Note, though, that there's no limit on the value of the ranger's accumulated wealth, just the bulk. The gem/jewelry option is a good one. House? Not so much, because of that restriction.

Edit: I notice that the thread title doesn't match the title of your post. Not sure how that happened, but I see you're talking specifically about 3.5. Now, I have no immediate info on the rules for 3.5 rangers, but did they change them radically from the 1e ranger? In other words, did they ditch the wealth limits?
Title: Where does my PC keep all of his STUFF??
Post by: kythri on June 23, 2013, 02:34:27 AM
I don't recall the wealth limit on the ranger.

A quick perusal of my 3E and 3.5 PHB doesn't seem to show anything there.
Title: Where does my PC keep all of his STUFF??
Post by: Randombilly on June 23, 2013, 03:51:28 AM
Quote from: talysman;664865Let's not overlook the obvious... from the 1e AD&D PHB, p. 25:



Note, though, that there's no limit on the value of the ranger's accumulated wealth, just the bulk. The gem/jewelry option is a good one. House? Not so much, because of that restriction.

Edit: I notice that the thread title doesn't match the title of your post. Not sure how that happened, but I see you're talking specifically about 3.5. Now, I have no immediate info on the rules for 3.5 rangers, but did they change them radically from the 1e ranger? In other words, did they ditch the wealth limits?

I've read all the way through the Players Manual and the Dungeon Masters Guide and [Im going to say, thankfully] it makes no mention of a ranger not accumulating 'stuff.'
Title: Where does my PC keep all of his STUFF??
Post by: Randombilly on June 23, 2013, 03:53:27 AM
Quote from: kythri;664857In 3.5, it's 50 coins to the pound.

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/equipment/wealthAndMoney.htm

As far as storage, poof:

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#bagofHolding

OH!! See, I've heard of "bag of holding.."  
Lets just say I was to have a willing Dungeon Master, but one who intended to follow the rules of the land (whatever land it is were playing in).. Is a bag of holding a common enough item that it wouldnt be wildly unfair to just say I happened across a traveling merchant who would sell one?
Title: Where does my PC keep all of his STUFF??
Post by: Kyle Aaron on June 23, 2013, 04:57:51 AM
PCs don't keep stuff, they spend it.

Levelling up, potions of healing, paying henchmen, carousing, etc.
Title: Where does my PC keep all of his STUFF??
Post by: Opaopajr on June 23, 2013, 07:09:34 AM
Quote from: Randombilly;664893OH!! See, I've heard of "bag of holding.."  
Lets just say I was to have a willing Dungeon Master, but one who intended to follow the rules of the land (whatever land it is were playing in).. Is a bag of holding a common enough item that it wouldnt be wildly unfair to just say I happened across a traveling merchant who would sell one?

Depends on the GM's game. Could make it a quest to get to the nearest large-sized city to have a chance at such a wonderous item.

Or you could just rent a cheaper mule train... They also make good bribery fodder to really frightening creatures, like dragons.
Title: Where does my PC keep all of his STUFF??
Post by: flyingmice on June 23, 2013, 07:15:09 AM
Mostly on the hard drive....


-clash
Title: Where does my PC keep all of his STUFF??
Post by: Dirk Remmecke on June 23, 2013, 07:48:21 AM
I thought The Cloud was the future?
Title: Where does my PC keep all of his STUFF??
Post by: flyingmice on June 23, 2013, 08:05:47 AM
Quote from: Dirk Remmecke;664928I thought The Cloud was the future?

This is the present! :D

-clash
Title: Where does my PC keep all of his STUFF??
Post by: 3rik on June 23, 2013, 09:32:12 AM
Quote from: Kyle Aaron;664904PCs don't keep stuff, they spend it.

Levelling up, potions of healing, paying henchmen, carousing, etc.

In Barbarians of Lemuria you don't get XP if you don't blow all your loot.


I remember an ancient PC adventuring game called Odyssey where money was so heavy you kept being forced to dump large amounts of it if you wanted your party to be able to move on:

Odyssey: The Compleat Apventure - Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odyssey:_The_Compleat_Apventure)


If I didn't know what to spend it on I'd just dump it. It's too much of a hassle.
Title: Where does my PC keep all of his STUFF??
Post by: talysman on June 23, 2013, 03:53:07 PM
Quote from: Randombilly;664892I've read all the way through the Players Manual and the Dungeon Masters Guide and [Im going to say, thankfully] it makes no mention of a ranger not accumulating 'stuff.'

Oh, good, another reason to avoid 3.x...
Title: Where does my PC keep all of his STUFF??
Post by: Black Vulmea on June 23, 2013, 05:24:22 PM
Quote from: JeremyR;664838And portable holes are very handy.
Portable holes were never common in the campaigns I ran.

Partly because they make it much too easy to avoid this very question.
Title: Where does my PC keep all of his STUFF??
Post by: Mistwell on June 24, 2013, 02:07:18 AM
Quote from: talysman;665019Oh, good, another reason to avoid 3.x...

Depends if the model for Rangers in your campaign is Aragorn, or Prince Humperdinck.
Title: Where does my PC keep all of his STUFF??
Post by: soltakss on June 24, 2013, 01:08:00 PM
Quote from: Randombilly;664827Ok, so I played some D&D when I was in my teenage years, and a small group of friends of mine and I have started back up in our mid-thirties.. I dont think we ever covered this when we were young but... WHERE the heck does my Level 3 Ranger keep all of his stuff???

On the Character Sheet. :)

If you want to cart everything around all the time, then a horse and cart or mule is good. However, a medium level party will soon find itself dragging around a wagon train to just hold gold.

I'd suggest banks, guilds, cults and so on as ways and means to store excess wealth. A Credit Note or Note of Exchange will be a lot easier to carry than all that gold.

The PCs in my current (RuneQuest) campaign solved the issue by finding a place in Hell where they could deposit and retrieve items. They figured that being in Hell, it was safe from wandering monsters (it was in a giant lead fish in the middle of the Styx). Then they sent some NPCs down to Hell with the intention of them being kept as prisoners. When they went down to check on them the next day, they found one empty giant lead fish.
Title: Where does my PC keep all of his STUFF??
Post by: talysman on June 24, 2013, 02:50:50 PM
Quote from: Mistwell;665113Depends if the model for Rangers in your campaign is Aragorn, or Prince Humperdinck.

Actually, no. I wasn't talking about my preference for what a ranger is, but my preference for how classes are defined. I hate classes that are basically just bundles of bonuses, powers, and other mechanical stuff. I prefer classes that start with a concept, like "rangers live in the wilds", and make most of the details of the class be about that concept, often without any mechanical effect at all.
Title: Where does my PC keep all of his STUFF??
Post by: jhkim on June 24, 2013, 03:10:25 PM
Quote from: Randombilly;664833I'm going to need to find a DM with a lot of organization skills who wants to keep track of investments rates of return because I'm pretty into that other idea of diversifying my Rangers portfolio!!
I do, though, want to buy a house. Possibly for no other reason than to design one on graph paper and cover the technicality of where does he park his donkey and carriage once I get one.
To follow up on this - yeah, keeping stuff at their home has been the usual for PCs in my games, more common than bags of holding or portable holes.
Title: Where does my PC keep all of his STUFF??
Post by: Elfdart on June 25, 2013, 06:41:49 AM
Quote from: Doom;664854Gygax kinda screwed up on his weights for coin; his weight (10 gold coins weigh a pound) is vastly out of scale with "real" gold coins (keep in mind, he was writing in a time when real money hadn't been in circulation for many decades, instead people use paper/fiat today).

A 19th century $1 gold coin would weigh around 1/20 of an ounce (by no great coincidence the Spanish 1/2 Escudo of 500 years ago weighed this much, and even the Byzantine Solidus was comparable), so 1500 gold would be around 5 lbs, if you wanted it in coin--that's still kinda heavy, but if you have a decent strength, no big deal; for what it's worth, that's about $100,000 in today's currency.

Just keep in mind that a coin that size is about half the mass of a US 1-cent piece.

If you want to go 100 coins/# you'd have coins about the size of a nickel, and 50/# a half-dollar coin. For 20/# you'd have a coin the size and weight of the Eisenhower Dollar, which is a huge coin.

QuoteFor extensive spare weapons, consider a pack mule, which can carry quite a bit.

Or use NPCs, which can go anywhere your character can go.
Title: Where does my PC keep all of his STUFF??
Post by: Kyle Aaron on June 25, 2013, 07:39:25 AM
One of my players got his character a horse and cart. This has proved enough for the treasure found so far, which they spend on reaching town on training to go up a level, potions of healing, remove curse for the ring of contrariness, dispel magic to deal with the characters who were charmed by the evil wizard, and so on.

Even to level up they had to... "Wait, we need 1,500GP each, we have 6,918GP, what's the problem?"
"Well there are 4 of us, last week there were 7 but 1 player quit he's not getting anything, 1 didn't show and didn't say why so fuck him, and the other 1, well he didn't have enough xp to level up anyway, plus we'll pay him back when he returns. Perfect! We have 918GP left."

Excess wealth they can't carry has thus far not been a problem.
Title: Where does my PC keep all of his STUFF??
Post by: MoonHunter on June 25, 2013, 05:01:15 PM
Players learn to travel light and not to be too attached to stuff.  

I have always played with an encumbrence rules. Always.  I may be cinematic in orrientation, but really there does not need to be this much stuff.

So you can bring it along, if you must.  I can always arrange for the stuff to be taken away (broken, lost, to heavy to bring with you), just before it might be dramatic not to have it.  

This goes for general wealth.  If you have so much stuff that you can't keep it with you either you need to get settled or do something with it.  

Then again, nobody got enough general wealth or stuff in any of my campaigns to really warrent too much worry about this.
Title: Where does my PC keep all of his STUFF??
Post by: RPGPundit on June 26, 2013, 11:26:25 PM
Welcome to theRPGsite, Randombilly!