D&D: The Five Best Things Your Starting Money Can Buy
Struggling to spend your starting gold? Well, we’re here to help make sure that you start your new character with the best things that money can buy.
Dungeons & Dragons is a game of high-fantasy adventure where lowly heroes can rise up from humble origins to sit astride the jeweled thrones of the world. But where does it all begin? Usually with a sprawling backstory and about 100 gp worth of starting equipment. That last part can be especially important, as that’s liable to be the only money you have for a while.
But what can you do with it all? How can you set yourself up for success? Easily enough, just buy the best stuff and you’ll be good to go. What is the best stuff? That’s what we’re here for.
A Dagger
There’s a reason that a dagger is the most common piece of equipment out of every character. They’re a weapon every class can use, from the mightiest fighter to the most melee-inept wizard. But a dagger is also basically a fantasy omnitool. Use it as a makeshift prybar, a reflective surface to not have to look at a Medusa or even something you can eat with it in a pinch.
A Tent
This will only set you back 2 gold pieces, but what a luxury it buys you. Because you can’t really put a price on a good night’s sleep—and with a portable canvas shelter that, pointedly, sleeps two, you’ll have a spacious shelter that’s ready to go wherever you may be. Get a good night’s rest while your compatriots are sleeping out under the stars, about to be attacked by bears.
Burglar’s Pack
If you can’t figure out what kinds of shenanigans you can pull with a Backpack, a bag of 1,000 Ball bearings, 10 feet of string, a bell, 5 Candles, a Crowbar, a Hammer, 10 pitons, a Hooded lantern, 2 flasks of oil, 5 days Rations, a Tinderbox, and a Waterskin, then I don’t know how I can help you.
Friendship
Sure, friendship might have been the real treasure all along – but it’s a treasure you can buy. All you have to do is turn to the downtime activity rules, expanded in Xanathar’s Guide to Everything. There you’ll find that 1 week of carousing (which often ends in friendship) will only run you about 28 gold per week. Which is enough to get you one month’s worth of hard drinking and partying. Just tell your DM you’re just coming down off of four weeks of partying (with enough left over for a dagger) and you’re bound to have some great friends.
Five Hundred Chickens
Okay, but the real treasure was actually just treasure all along, and that’s why you’re not going to spend your hard-earned starting gold on weapons or armor or even any of the other stuff listed above. If you want the real strats, buy yourself 500 chickens. If you are worried your DM might make you house them, maybe set aside 20gp and only buy 400 chickens and five days’ worth of wealthy lifestyle—which will surely provide for all of them. After all, nobody cares how weird you are when you’re rich.
Then all you have to do is sell the eggs, or if you have proficiency with cook’s utensils, you could even whip up a fancy meal or seven and start selling the eggs and meat back to the town for a little bit of a markup, and you’ll be turning more profit than an adventure over the course of just a few days.
Happy adventuring!
