Jan12
on January 12, 2017
A Treasure Beyond Worth
My players are a little surprised by the wealth of their PCs in my current 5e campaign. Or rather the percentage of their wealth that is consumed by iron rations in preparation for an expedition. Money was such an insignificant part of Pathfinder with their loose change they found beneath the cushions of their couch, they could afford months worth of meals. Now that buying magic items is not assumed, and money from treasure has been reduced, they’re stunned by the percentage of their wealth tied up by not dying of starvation. And they’re continually baffled by how peasants can survive. Of course, commoners aren’t buying preserved food, but the cost of rations is rather high.
To me, this seems like a step backwards compared to 3.5 or even 4e. It’s like they listened to the minority of people who were complaining that 4e “removed the roleplaying” (you don’t need rules in a book to be able to roleplay) and then tried to force it with 5e. I could be totally wrong, but this is what it feels like to me.
3e I liked a lot. 4e… less so. But I’m loving 5e. In part because the rules are stay out of the way a little more and allow me to just DM and tell a story. I don’t need to check the book to find the exact DC and if the players want to try something outside of the text of the rules I have more freedom to say “yes”.
I like that it *encourages* roleplaying. It’s not enough that you can roleplay if you want. Because you can roleplay in a miniature combat game like Battletech. You can roleplay through a game of Magic the Gathering. You can even roleplay through a board game (try it next time you play Clue). Actual roleplaying games *should* encourage you to roleplay.