Balanced Wealth (3.5e Variant Rule)
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Balanced Character Wealth by Level
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Explanation
As it stands, Character Wealth by level (CWBL, page 135 of the 3.5 DMG) is horribly skewed in favor of casters. Where attackers need all of the Big Six magical items (magic armor, a magic weapon, a ring of protection, an amulet of natural armor, a cloak of resistance, and an item that boosts an ability score), casters for the most part only need two (cloak of resistance and an item that boosts an ability score), especially if they stay out of melee.
This variant attempts to fix this problem, one which gives casters a boost beyond their class abilities and spells. Rather than characters buying whatever they want, instead the total amount of wealth they gain is lowered and in its place they gain access to free equipment depending on their level. At level 20, taking out the value of all the Big Six (come out to 236k gp) from the level 20 CWBL (which is 760k gp) we're left with 524k, around 70% of the previous CWBL. Thus, we reduce the CWBL of characters across the board by around 70%, give or take a few gp for whole numbers.
Another potential problem automatically fixed by this variant is when characters are below the CWBL they should be at, according to the DMG. With this variant, characters always have at least the minimum level-equivalent equipment that they need to get through a fight.
How it Works
Replace Table 5-1, page 135 of the 3.5 DMG with the following table. At the appropriate levels, characters are able to influence items to gain the bonuses as marked below by meditating for an hour upon their items. For example, if a character had a nonmagical ring, a chain shirt, and a shortsword, they may meditate for a single hour to influence the items to become magical. Only a single item can be attuned at a time for each bonus (see the exceptions below), and characters must relinquish their influence upon an item (a full-round action) before they may begin influencing a new one. The items only benefit the character who has influenced them, reverting to their usual state in the hands of anothe being.
The exception to the rule of one item attuned per enhancement refers to weapons and armor, which may be split to multiple items. For every additional item attuned, the bonus decreases by 1. Thus, a level 20 character with two shortswords can influence both, and they each become +4 shortswords. The same thing with a level 20 character who wants to influence a suit of armor and a shield, influencing both to become +4 items.
With their spare gold, characters may still buy any item they wish. Should they wish to enchant the items that they've influenced further, they must pay the difference between what the items would cost if they had bought them normally without influencing them, and their new enhancement cost. For example, if a character has influenced a weapon to +4 and wishes to add another +1 enhancement bonus as well as the Flaming, Frost, and Shocking qualities, they must pay the difference between a +4 weapon (32000 gp) and the cost of their newly enchanted weapon (+5 Flaming Frost Shocking weapon, effectively a +8 weapon, or 128000 gp), which comes out to 96000 gp.
Balanced CWBL Table
| Level | New Wealth (in GP) | Equipment Granted | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Armor Enhancement | Weapon Enhancement | Deflection | Natural Armor Enhancement | Resistance | Ability Score Enhancement | ||
| 1 | 210 | — | — | — | — | +1 | — |
| 2 | 630 | +1 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 3 | 1900 | — | — | — | +1 | — | — |
| 4 | 3800 | — | +1 | +1 | — | — | — |
| 5 | 6300 | — | — | — | — | +2 | — |
| 6 | 9100 | +2 | — | — | — | — | +2 |
| 7 | 13000 | — | — | — | +2 | — | — |
| 8 | 19000 | — | +2 | +2 | — | — | — |
| 9 | 25000 | — | — | — | — | +3 | — |
| 10 | 34000 | +3 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 11 | 46000 | — | — | — | +3 | — | — |
| 12 | 62000 | — | +3 | +3 | — | — | +4 |
| 13 | 77000 | — | — | — | — | +4 | — |
| 14 | 105000 | +4 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 15 | 140000 | — | — | — | +4 | — | — |
| 16 | 182000 | — | +4 | +4 | — | — | — |
| 17 | 238000 | — | — | — | — | +5 | — |
| 18 | 308000 | +5 | — | — | — | — | +6 |
| 19 | 406000 | — | — | — | +5 | — | — |
| 20 | 532000 | — | +5 | +5 | — | — | — |
- Note
- When using this variant, you should also lower the amount of treasure given out by encounters by 30% to keep characters at the new wealth.
Variant to Magic Weapons
With this variant comes the option of making magical weapons both simpler and cooler. No character in a fantasy story has a +5 Shocking Screaming Flaming Frost Shocking Axe, right? Rather, they have magical sword of fire, axes covered in rimefrost, and hammers that crackle with lightning. A way to replace the usual bulky items is to create simply Flaming weapons, Corrosive weapons, and so forth, which scale with one's character. Here are a few examples of weapons that might scale with a character:
- Flaming weapon - Deals an additional +1d6 fire damage per +1 enhancement bonus the player adds to their weapons
- Frost weapon - Deals an additional +1d6 cold damage per +1 enhancement bonus the player adds to their weapons
- Corrosive weapon - Deals an additional +1d6 acid damage per +1 enhancement bonus the player adds to their weapons
- Shocking weapon - Deals an additional +1d6 electricity damage per +1 enhancement bonus the player adds to their weapons
- Sonic weapon - Deals an additional +1d4 sonic damage per +1 enhancement bonus the player adds to their weapons
- Wounding weapon - Deals 1 point of con damage for every +2 enhancement bonus the player adds to their weapons
- Anarchic weapon - Deals an additional +1d6 damage against lawful creatures per +1 enhancement bonus the player adds to their weapons
- Axiomatic weapon - Deals an additional +1d6 damage against chaotic creatures per +1 enhancement bonus the player adds to their weapon
- Bane weapon - Deals an additional +3d6 damage against creatures of a specific type per +2 enhancement bonus that the player adds to their weapons
- Merciful weapon - Deals an additiona +1d6 damage per +1 enhancement bonus the player adds to their weapons. All damage is considered nonlethal
- Speed weapon - Weapon grants an additional attack on a full-attack action for every +3 enhancement bonus that the player adds to their weapons (does not stack with haste or any similar effects)
You get the idea. This way, weapons stay magical and powerful throughout gameplay, and the player doesn't have to upgrade them at the local magic-mart with new additions and enhancements.
A few examples for armor:
- Fortification - Gain a 25% chance of being immune to sneak attack and critical hits at +1 enhancement bonus the player adds to their armor. This upgrades to 50% at +3 enhancement, and 100% at +5
- Spell Resistance - Gain SR 9 + 2 for every +1 enhancement bonus the player adds to their armor. Thus, at +3 armor enhancement, this armor grants a SR of 15
- Blinding - Twice per day, anyone within 20' of the wielder must make a Reflex saving throw or be blinded for 1d4 rounds. The DC of this is equal to 12 + 2 for every +1 enhancement bonus the player adds to their armor
- Fire resistance - Gain Fire Resistance of 5 for every +1 enhancement bonus the player adds to their armor
- Acid resistance - Gain Acid Resistance of 5 for every +1 enhancement bonus the player adds to their armor
- Cold resistance - Gain Cold Resistance of 5 for every +1 enhancement bonus the player adds to their armor
- Sonic resistance - Gain Sonic Resistance of 5 for every +1 enhancement bonus the player adds to their armor
- Electricity resistance - Gain Electricity Resistance of 5 for every +1 enhancement bonus the player adds to their armor
Extrapolate these examples to whatever bonus you have in mind, making sure to keep the ability gained in line with the level the character would be when they would be able to gain the ability normally.
- Note
- This variant is for the DMs who don't really want to take the time to keep characters at CWBL, and who just want to give out cool arms and armor while not overpowering characters by giving them a +3 Speed sword at level 7 simply because they rolled high on the random treasure tables. If used, one must expect many characters to be weaker than they would otherwise be, since they would not have access to the utility items that they would normally have to get out of sticky situations, and could be screwed over far more easily by various effects.
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