Using Gold To Level Up in 5e

GOALS –

1. I want leveling up to feel more diegetic. Something that happens from an activity like research or training. It’s not enough for me that you just kill enough orcs and now you know fireball.

2. I also want to replace XP with something that has a value in the game world. I’ve experimented with Milestones, but I didn’t like that it was basically “my call” when players leveled up. So I want something that is more tangible and provides players with a little more agency over their progression.

Gold is an obvious answer for this. Gold means you don’t have to kill anything, unless you’re into it, but it also means you can think of other ways to gain money besides looting. Hit those gambling halls. Create an organized crime ring that shakes down local businesses for “protection” money. Become a baron of a local area and collect taxes. Or stick to what you know, dungeon delving and slaying dragons for their hoard. It’s all good.

This is not a new idea. This is how they did it in the olden times. However, asking the google machine “XP for Gold in 5e?” yielded me a lot of discussions that devolved into “But that’s not what 5e is!” And I don’t have time sorting through all that bullshit.

3. I want leveling up to take time. With this format you will spend 58 months just training to get to level 20. Add in adventuring time to acquire the funds necessary, and we’re looking at well over 5+ years of in game time to max yourself out. That sounds reasonable to me. Lebron James was in the NBA for 6 years before he was voted MVP and 9 years before he won a title. So in D&D terms it’s like it took him 9 years before he learned the Wish Spell.

Before reading on, keep in mind… I haven’t even used these yet - but I’m gonna.

Gold Based Rules For Leveling Up (v 0.1)

When you’re ready to level up, consult the chart to left to determine how much gold and how much time you need to reach your desired level.

Time spent must be in an appropriate place. Usually around civilization or spent around someone that can train you. Druids hang with druids. Clerics and paladins hang out at a church. You get the idea. Wizards and Sorcerers need a place to experiment. Maybe that’s in a tower you built(which cost money) or maybe that’s in a room at an inn, like the Invisible Man did. What could go wrong?

During this time you’re not exploring the world, you’re just… exploring yourself. Zoinks.

However Leveling Time is not just a passive period in which your character goes into stasis and comes out with new skills.

We’ll make rolls to determine what other trouble you got into. Maybe your rogue made an enemy of a neighboring crime lord. Maybe your wizard unknowingly opened a wormhole to another plane of existence. Or maybe something great happened. Maybe your Paladin gained some new cult member curates who will assist them on their adventures. Maybe your Warlock’s Patron sent them a fucking dire bat to ride around on. The Old Ones were Pleased.

Additionally the world changes around you for better and worse. Maybe witnesses of your epic deeds are spreading the word of your exploits. Maybe a neighboring town got raided by Mer-Wraiths. You didn’t even know Mer-Wraiths existed!

Level	Funds	Time
2	100 gp	1 month
3	150 gp	1 month
4	200 gp	1 month
5	400 gp	1 month
6	2000 gp	2 months
7	2500 gp	2 months
8	3000 gp	2 months
9	3500 gp	2 months
10	4000 gp	2 months
11	4500 gp	2 months
12	9000 gp	3 months
13	10,000 gp	3 months
14	14,000 gp	3 months
15	18,000 gp	3 months
16	22,000 gp	3 months
17	26,000 gp	3 months
18	80,000 gp	6 months
19	160,000 gp	9 months
20	180,000 gp	9 months

Methodology

These numbers were derived from someone else’s math. They looked at the treasure hoard tables in the DMG and averaged out how much Gold heroes started each level with. I took those numbers and found the difference between each level. I then raised or lowered that number to something round. I then fiddled with those numbers until I thought it sounded good. That’s it.

The time element coincides with major leaps in monetary value. It looks like after 5th, you’re expected to start pulling in some major coin. So let’s spread that 2000g over two months instead of one. Same at level 12. Again at 18.

These felt like a good place to start….I guess. I just wanted to not do math. These numbers also give me a method of determining treasure levels for rewards.

Initial Thoughts

Yes you’ll have to choose between spending money on equipment or leveling up. You might hate this. I think it’s hilarious.

Yes you’ll eventually need to find a place to store your money while you earn enough to level up. That will probably also cost you money – money you could’ve spent on leveling up. How bad do you want that plate mail that costs 1500gp? You might hate this. I think it’s hilarious.

Not every treasure you get is coin. Paintings. Antique furniture. Jewels. You’ll need to sell those. And if you don’t have a fence you can trust… you might not get fair market value.

Bartering might be an interesting way to get items without paying coin for them. Maybe you know your local blacksmith needs a new horse for his daughter’s dowry. Maybe you could find one, and trade it for that chain mail you were looking at. Hopefully that horse didn’t belong to someone...alive.

You might also find a sweet spot in terms of level and game play. You choose when it’s time to stop and get better, which means you can hang out at any level you want and enjoy it as long as you want.

It’s possible that you and your party want to level up at different times. That could work. Let’s say you’ve been frugal because you really want to be a 6th level character, but everyone else blew their money on a silvered weapons. Take your two months off. Roll up a new character to adventure with the gang during your main character’s time off. Try out a new class. Maybe you’ll like the new character better. Who knows.

BUT THE ECONOMY

4 characters dropping a combined 88,000 gold over three months just changed the entire GDP of this small town!

Yeah. I know. It’s awesome.