Equipment Every adventurer wants to outfit himself with the best equipment—and plenty of it. The delicate balance of equipment versus encumbrance is a routine problem for any character. So, too, is the matter of finding those items the character desires, and coming up with the money (or other barter) needed to acquire them.

This chapter presents new ways that characters can earn money, and some simple, accurate options for recording the amount of equipment carried—both as bulk and weight. Equipment is discussed in terms of campaign environments, with different tables ranging from the primitive to periods of the late Renaissance.

Money, Equipment, and Character Points Character points can have a number of effects on the ways that characters earn, maintain, and spend their treasure.

A player can exchange his character’s money for character points when that character is first created (after initial funds are determined, of course), and then a maximum of once per level, including first level, throughout that character’s career. This opportunity is not cumulative—if a player makes no money/point exchange before his character reaches second level, he can still only make one such exchange before the character becomes third level. Within the bounds of this restriction, however, a player can make such an exchange whenever he wants—he doesn’t need to wait until the moment of level advancement.

The procedure for making this exchange is always the same: The player determines how much total wealth the character has, as defined in Character Wealth, Treasure, and Money, below. He can only make the exchange if the total is at least 30 gp, except that a character can always make the exchange with his initial funds.

This total wealth is divided by three. One character point costs one third of the character’s wealth, and he can buy a maximum of three points by spending all of the character’s money. The deductions occur immediately, though the character does not get to spend or give away his lost wealth. The DM will decide the exact campaign situation. Coins and gems are stolen, for example, while livestock falls to disease, trade goods rot, ships sink, etc.

Character points, as a general rule, cannot be expended for money or items of equipment. However, the DM can make an exception during character creation. If a player wishes to start out with an unusual amount of wealth, he can cash in a single character point for an extra roll on the Initial Character Funds Table in the Player’s Handbook.

Character Wealth, Treasure, and Money

A character’s financial worth can be counted in many ways—only two of which are relevant in making a trade for character points as described above.

The most obvious, of course, remains the metal coins, precious baubles, and ornamented jewelry that have been standards of wealth for millennia. In game terms, this treasure is represented by a value measured in gold pieces.

Secondly, wealth can be measured in personal possessions (including weapons, armor, and magical items), all manner of trade goods, livestock and beasts of burden, wagons, tack and harness, boats and ships.

The total of these two categories equals the character’s wealth for purposes of the money-for-points trade explained above. When making this total, however, the character is allowed to hold one weapon and one other possession (armor, magical item, horse, etc.) out of the equation.

The DM should insure that players are straightforward about their wealth when making such an exchange. There are several forms of wealth discussed below which are not relevant for purposes of the money/character point trade. However, a player who converts most of his assets into another form (purchasing an estate for 10,000 gp, for example, in the process spending everything but his last 60 gp) should not be allowed to immediately trade 20 gp increments for character points. In this case, the land and holdings should count toward the total, and immediately suffer a 1/3 devaluation of their worth. Flooding, earthquakes, tornadoes, or locusts are a few suggested DM tools for accomplishing this price decrease.

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