Help deciding on starting gold for character creation, a 1 off scenario.

[Albions_Angel]

Hi all, running my first scenario soon, which will be an intro scenario to the campaign I will be running next year, a but of practice for me and a nice little bit of back story for my players. The thing is, I will be starting them on this scenario at level 5, and they will face 2 main battles, one roughly equal to the party in both level and numbers, and one equal in level but much larger.

The thing is, I dont know how much gold to allow them. Some places put a level 5 character's net worth at 9000 GP, which seems about right for adventurers, but I dont know about new characters.

So I have 2 requests. The first is to DMs. How would you set starting GP for a group of level 5 royal "inquisitors" (read professional fighting force) in a magical but not excessively magic abundant world (magic items are available, but the royal army wont be issuing more than wands to inquisitors).

The second is to players. So I can get a feel for things, and playtest some of my encounters, can you create for me a level 5 character with gear up to 9000 GP, and an identical character with gear up to 5000 GP. It can be any class other than Druid, and cant be evil aligned, from Core, Complete, Races, Sandstorm, Frostburn and Stormwrack for an inland campaign with some tracking involved. Try not to optimise but aim for better than "RP only". My group likes their exposition but they dont skimp on the min/maxing either.

[GilesTheCleric]

5. Equip the character. When creating a 1st-level character, this means buying normal equipment. At higher levels, it also means deciding which magic items a character has acquired so far. Refer to Chapter 7: Magic Items, where all magic items are listed along with their market prices. Table 5–1: Character Wealth by Level (page 135) shows the total value of a player character’s gear at a given level. This value includes mundane items described in Chapter 7 of the Player’s Handbook, but the bulk of it, especially at higher levels, is composed of magic items. See Magic Items as Gear, below, for advice on how to govern what sort of magic items a PC can buy with this wealth. Note that these values apply only to player characters.

9k at level 5 is very reasonable. If your players like to minmax, then you've probably also noticed that the mundanes need more equipment than the casters in order to keep up, particularly as levels increase.

Example builds:
Cleric 5. Lesser MM Rod of Extend (3k), Anklet of Translocation (1.5k), Purple Mournlode Special True Holy Symbol (350+400+500gp [1.5k]), +1 [weapon] (2k), +1 [armour] (1k) = 9k.

Cleric 5. +1 [weapon] (2k), +1 [armour] (1k), Purple Mournlode Holy Symbol (400gp), Anklet of Translocation (1.5k) = 5k.

Barb 1/fighter 4. +1 [weapon] (2k), +1 [armour] (1k), lesser Truedeath weapon crystal (5k), Amber Amulet of Vermin (Giant Wasp) (800gp) = 9k.

Barb 1/fighter 4. Lesser Truedeath weapon crystal (5k), Amber Amulet of Vermin (800gp) = ~5k. Masterwork Serren Wood [weapon] (4k), Amber Amulet of Vermin (800gp) = 5k.


As you can see, the caster only really needs +1 armour+weapon (for magic vestment and weapon), while the mundane can't spend any money on their weapon or armour after making themselves not helpless targets to incorporeal creatures and gaining flight. They need a lot to keep up; incorporeal and flight are in my mind the most important things at low levels, though the Anklet is always excellent.

Edit: This doesn't include funds for important things like a Heward's Handy Haversack, lesser vigour wands, or other party staples. The cleric has a little money left over in each allotment I think, so they could pool their leftover funds for those sorts of things.

Double edit: Haha, almost forgot that the 5k mundane can't actually use that weapon crystal. It requires a +1 weapon. If there's a +flat cost enchantment to add ghost touch to a weapon, that would do the trick, or else the mundane is going to have to UMD a wand or rely on other party members since they don't have 8k to spend on a proper Ghost Touch weapon.

Triple edit: Okay, it looks like a wooden weapon made of Serren Wood gets Ghost Touch. That means the 5k fighter is safe, whew. And it now has money left over to pool for a wand!

Here more details on each character if you wanted to run them against your scenarios:

Spoiler: Cleric, 25 PB

Show

Mister Cleric Man
Medium Humanoid (human)
HD: 5d8+15 (41 hp)
Initiative: -8
Speed: 30ft base
AC: 13 (-2 dex), touch 8, FF 15
Base Attack/Grapple: +4/+3
Attack: Truncheon +2 (1d8-1 nonlethal), or +1 cross/bow +9 (1d8+1 lethal) [+1 Truncheon +9 (1d8-1 nonlethal if Intuitive Attack)]
Special Attacks: Spells, Turn Undead, Domain: Trickery, Domain: Travel (free FoM when required)
Special Qualities: Alignment Aura G 60'
Saves: Fort +7, Reflex -1, Will +8
Abilities: Str 8, Dex 6, Con 16, Int 11, Wis 19, Cha 8
Skills: Concentration +11, know:religion +5, know:most others +1 [cc], Spellcraft +1 [cc] (I guessed here)
Feats: HD1: Sacred Vitality (LM 30), HD3: Zen Archery/Intuitive Attack (CW 106/BoED 44), Human: Divine Ward (PHB2 88) Flaw: Polar Chill (UA 94) Flaw: Persistent Refusal FC2 85) Bonus (trade Trickery domain power): Trickery Devotion (CC 63)
Flaws: Unreactive (-6 init), Pathetic (-2 dex)
CR: 3?

Spells: level 0: 5 base (5); level 1: 3 base + 1 domain + 1 ability (5), level 2: 2 base + 1 domain + 1 ability (4); level 3: 1 base + 1 domain + 1 ability (3)

Level 0 [5]: Detect Magic, Light, No Light, Guidance, Summon Holy Symbol

Level 1 [5]: Ice Slick/x4 (if you want to be really mean), Protection from Evil, Resurgence, Shield of Faith, D: Longstrider

Level 2 [4]: Close Wounds, Divine Insight, Insight of Good Fortune, D: Invisibility

Level 3 [3]: Wind Wall, Speak with Dead/Locate Object/Circle Dance (don't go with the latter two if you want there to be any challenge to the scenario), D: Fly (can pick Footsteps of the Divine if you want a cleric's Fly)

Note on build: This uses spells that don't force saves, so you could actually go 15 wis, then pump cha and pick up DMM feats instead.

Spoiler: Fighter, 25 PB

Show

Mister Charger Man
Medium Humanoid (human)
HD: 1d12+4d10+15 (49 hp)
Initiative: +1
Speed: 30ft base
AC: 16 (+1 chain shirt), touch: 11, FF: 14
Base Attack/Grapple: +5/+9
Attack: +1 Greatsword +10 (2d6+7 lethal), Compound Bow (+4) +6 (1d8+4 lethal), Spiked Chain +9 (2d4+6 lethal)
Special Attacks: POWA ATTACK!, Pounce
Special Qualities: Illiteracy, Rage 1/day
Saves: Fort +4, Ref +1, Will +0
Abilities: Str 18, Dex 12, Con 16, Int 13, Wis 8, Cha 6 (guessed, I don't have a fighter built offhand)
Skills: Climb + 13, Jump + 13 (I guessed here)
Feats: HD1: Power Attack, HD3: Improved Bull Rush, Human: Cleave, Flaw: Improved Trip, EWP: Spiked Chain, Flaw: Combat Reflexes, Ftr 1: Combat Expertise, Ftr 2: Power Lunge (Drag303 61), Ftr 4: Leap Attack
Flaws: Meagre Fortitude (-3 fort), Pathetic (-2 cha)
CR: 3?

Plan of attack is to pounce on things until they're dead. Unfortunately Shock Trooper and Combat Brute aren't available until BAB +6, so you're going to be taking to-hit penalties instead of AC penalties.

[Uncle Pine]

As a DM, 9.000 gp sounds good. This is also DMG's suggested WBL at 5th level. Remember that even though these are new characters, they supposedly existed IC before their "creation". As such, those 9.000 gp represent the amount of goods and equipment they earned both during their previous missions as inquisitors and as a reward for them, not what they bought with a lifetime savings just before the beginning of the campaign. If you feel like it, you could also give each character a noble or even royal outfit or embed each of their armors with the inquisitors' emblem and hand them a couple of masterwork Diplomacy/Intimidate items, but it depends heavily on the kind of inquisitors you have in mind (I see inquisitors more like overly pompous elite troops than pragmatic SWATs).

As a player, I'd probably roll a LN Factotum 1/Generalist Wizard 4, either human or elf depending on the campaign background. With a 9.000 gp allowance, I'd buy a novice Desert Wind cloak of resistance +1 (4.000 gp), a headband of intellect +2 (4.000 gp), everlasting ration and everfull mug (550 gp), a partially charged wand of Benign Transposition (450 gp for 30 charges) and make my clothes fireproof (50 gp). I'd then proceed to activate Flame's Blessing (from the cloak) and regularly set myself on fire when needed: because the only thing scarier than an angry inquisitor is an angry inquisitor on fire. Besides, being on fire offers great RP options. With a 5.000 gp allowance, simply replace the headband of intellect with a lesser metamagic rod of extend (3.000 gp).

[Albions_Angel]

Hah, I like it. Yeah, 9k is starting to sound good. I worried before because the last few campaigns we have played have been low paying, survival based games.

As for the inquisition, my world is designed to make my players rethink good and evil. The full campaign will have them as freed criminals and will allow evil characters, with the party bound by magic and a war that threatens their homeland. For this one off scenario, the Inquisition is a force for good, something proud mothers send their sons off to join. There was no Spanish Inquisition in my world. Instead there is the royal army, and then the Royal Inquisitors, who are both better trained and serve a different roll. They are effectively a wandering police force. Small villages and towns will have their own leaders, but they are not equipped to deal with capital crimes. The Inquisitors investigate these for the most part, but also serve as a guard against espionage and infiltration by the neighbouring country, which is a little more heavy handed in its politics. So for each garrison of 2000 men, there may be 10 inquisitors who are assigned that fort as a base camp, serving the local communities or running missions for the High Prince (who is the elder of the two royals, but gave up his throne because he believes his younger brother is kinder and will serve the people better. He considered himself a general, not a ruler.)

People love the Inquisition. And they are held to high standards and subject to harsh punishments for infractions. Which hopefully will make my players think when they hear it. Because it will go against their real world preconceptions of an inquisition being bad, and an elite police force (think german SS) being worse.

[Surpriser]

I second 9k as starting budget.

A different idea, if you want to keep some control over which items your players have available:
Split the budget into three pools:
The first is inquisitor standard equipment. This includes the standard adventuring gear, nonmagical weapons and armour, basically things you would find in a typical armory of your world. The players can choose whatever they like from these things.
The second is a set of more powerful (magical) items that are usually assigned to inquisitors on duty. Things like masterwork gear, potions, scrolls, some healing wands, utility stuff, even +1 weapons/armor/ring of protection/vest of resistance. You can include additional items as you see fit. These are the things the PCs can request from their officers when needed and of which are stockpiled for exactly this purpose. Let them choose up to 5k in gear from this list.
The third pool are items that make up their individual equipment. Whether they are heirlooms, loot from earlier missions, "special assignment" gear or simply gifts from someone else, these are things that your PCs can choose freely. Let them choose 2 items of up to 4k in total cost.

You could also merge the second pool into the first and third pools, and simply distinguish between "basic equipment, take what you need" and "special gear, up to price X".

For example, in the last campaign I ran, the PCs (lvl3) could choose any nonmagical, nonmasterwork equipment typically found in the armory of a garrison plus items worth 1500gp. In addition, they were given a few consumables (potions) as well.

[Albions_Angel]

Yeah I was thinking of doing that. But its a one off 8 hour game. I may do it for the main campaign next year but we will see. Depends how much time I have.

[Surpriser]

Well, if the characters will not be used anymore after this session, then keep it as simple as possible. Too much starting budget is not really a problem, in the worst case, the adventure will be a bit too easy. Not enough could be more problematic, if the party is too underequipped to succeed in the adventure.

I would use the 9k in this case - maybe even tell the players not to bother with "normal" equipment costs (e.g. rations, rope, nonmasterwork weapons, ...)