D&D: Five Things to Do With All That Loot
What’s the point of going on quests and hoarding gold if you’re not going to spend it on something awesome—here are some great ways to spend a fortune.
Alright folks, let’s talk about rewards. You put in all that hard work in not setting the campaign on fire, actually following through on the clues/objectives/pleas for help that your GM has thrown at you, and finishing the quests set out before you. And this time you managed to stop the Paladin before they could say “Hard work is its own reward,” so now you’ve got a pile of gold. For once. What are you going to do with it?
And before you say buy magic weapons and items–that’s just shooting yourself in the foot friends. Those are already on the random treasure tables. And if your GM isn’t using those, they’ll probably get frustrated with fights against monsters “resistant to nonmagical damage” taking forever and start throwing them your way.
Also, you’re just buying stuff to do more work–you earned those GP, SP, CP, and in certain states, EP. Spend them on something worth having. Don’t just invest in making the next dungeon crawl easier, you don’t really need that plus one when your Cleric can cast Bless and your Wizard can cast fireball.
If you’re gonna invest, at the very least buy something worth investing in. So stop being boring, and spend your fictional money on something amazing–because in real life you can’t just buy a castle.
Home Base
You can’t just buy a castle in real life, but you can in D&D. It’s not even that expensive, comparatively. Even if it’s not a castle, every adventuring party should have a headquarters at some kind, even if it’s just a room at the seedy tavern they set aside for you. Maybe you can finally keep those valuable art objects you keep finding–put them on display and make those nobles green with envy. Whatever you do, really try and make it your own.
Get Something Custom-Made
If you’re anything like most players, you’ve probably spent a while thinking about how your character looks. Unless you view your character as an array of ever-increasing stats, you should vary up their iconic look. Buy some noble clothes. The 200gp kind. As Adam Ant would say, spend your cash on looking flash and grabbing your attention.
A Personal Band, Herald, Retinue
Okay. Let’s talk hirelings. Now, you can have torchbearers and trapfinders and so on (though we maintain every hireling is a trapfinder with the right attitude). But why not hire a Bard to sing your heroic deeds? Or a herald to announce your at court. Or a dedicated alchemist or herbalist. Forget going to shops, put one on retainer and set it up in your base, and have a quirky NPC you can know and love.
Transportation
If Ghosts of Saltmarsh had proved anything, it’s that D&D is better when you have a boat. So get a boat. Or a wagon to haul things around–or convince your DM to let you put wheels on your boat and have two modes of transportation in one. No more Fantasy Lyft for your party.
Buy Your Way Into Nobility
Also, if you really wanna stir some things up, ask your DM (or whatever NPC is in power) what it takes to buy your way onto the court. After all, people did that all the time. With enough gold you can do anything, and the longer you sit on it, the more stagnant your fantasy economy becomes. So get out there and spend wildly irresponsible amounts of gold on equally irresponsible things.
And then let us know what your favorite thing to spend gold on is in the comments!
