Campagin Economy: some first ideas

I'm putting together some ideas about how the game economy might work.  The first two work together on the same scale.

1--FLAT TREASURE IDEA:   I think that to create a workable economy, it might be a good idea to do away with the scaling treasure hoard with level process.    A lot of money at first level should be a lot of money at high level.   Perhaps work on the idea that the maximum treasure allowed to be given out in one session is about 1000gp per PC.  Much of the time, it might be far, far less. What higher level monsters will have in their treasure hoards will be supercool magic items, rather than bigger piles of coin. 

            This makes some common big expenses:   Healing Potions 50gp,  Identify Magic Item (at least) 100gp,  Raise Dead (at least) 500gp, Suit of Plate Armor: 1500gp,  all significant expenses, and requires balancing of spending and savings with living expenses (see below).

           We should make it very difficult to sell magic items for cash (beyond a few hundred coins).   Maybe, arrange a swap for land or ships or other high value objects, but let's just imagine that there just aren't 10's of thousands of coins lying around anywhere.

           A Flat Treasure System would mean we could make a deck of treasure at first level, and then just add coin and jewelry items to it on a fixed schedule, and then better magic item cards to it as levels progress, rather than re-configuring everything fixed to level.

 

2--LIVING EXPENSES:  The living expenses in the PHB are as follows:

 

Level                                                   Price per DAY

Wretched                                            ----

Squalid                                                1 sp

Poor                                                    2sp

Modest                                                1gp

Comfortable                                        2gp

Wealthy                                               4gp

Aristocratic                                          10gp

 

But, there’s no game effect attached to these expenses at all, other than people liking or shunning you.   If we wanted to use our old Hit Point to living expenses tie in, it might look something like this:

 

 

Level                  Price per MONTH                Hit Die Roll

Wretched            access to trash                     worst of 3 rolls                       

Squalid                     3gp                                  worse of 2 rolls

Poor                         6gp                                  1 roll                                                  

Modest                     30gp                                take average

Comfortable              60gp                               Better of 1 roll or average

Wealthy                   120gp                              Better of 2 rolls, or average

Aristocratic               300gp                             Best of 3 rolls, or average

 

Aristocratic or Wealthy: may add specific residency requirements (must live in the main town, or own a country house/castle with farmlands and tenants).

 

This list should also be the general guide for paying underlings.    Laborers and the like would get a “poor” level, Guards and craftsmen a “modest” level.