D&D: Five Ways To Get Rich Quick Between Adventures
Every adventurer needs money, but if you find yourself short on gold pieces with a brand new dungeon coming up, here’s how to make money in a hurry.
Money makes the world go round, and no matter how much work you put into modeling the economics of your world, or how carefully you track the price of your imaginary made up currency, there’s always gonna be some adventurer who comes along and utterly devastates your market.
But have you ever thought – YOU could be that adventurer. The power to devastate local economies and make your medieval luxury dreams come true. Live the fantasy life of a noble lord with these foolproof, get-rich quick schemes.
Put On a Show
One of the easiest ways to make a quick gold piece is to put on a performance, create a unique piece of art for the townsfolk, if you will. All you need is the Entertainer background, which lets you always find a venue, a hot meal, and lodging:
You can always find a place to perform, usually in an inn or tavern but possibly with a circus, at a theater, or even in a noble’s court. At such a place, you receive free lodging and food of a modest or comfortable standard (depending on the quality of the establishment), as long as you perform each night. In addition, your performance makes you something of a local figure. When strangers recognize you in a town where you have performed, they typically take a liking to you.
Now all this background lets you get is free lodging–but if you’re bringing in the locals, and you have a decent enough Performance and Persuasion skill, you should be able to convince the innkeeper to split the door with you. Especially if you can encourage the audience to adhere to a two-drink minimum.
Pit Fighting
Of course, if you’re the typical adventurer, odds are good you’re hardier than the average villager, and depending on your class, you’re likely hardier than the village toughs. All you’ll have to do is find a venue to fight in. Of course you’ll have to be good at Strength (Athletics), Dexterity (Acrobatics) and a Constitution check that adds your best hit die. With a little bit of luck, you might win 200 gold pieces over the course of a week, and that’s enough to stock up on healing poitions.
Sell Those Old Magic Boots You’ve Been Lugging Around
Every adventurer will eventually end up with more magic items than they know what to do with. Now we’re not saying you should sell that random magic item that your DM rolled up and nobody knows what to do with it now – that’s guaranteed to win you the campaign in a clutch, but wands, old Boots of Elvenkind, and other typical adventuring gear can be transformed into something a little more fungible, like gold pieces. Get rid of your non-fungible items, and, using the rules found in the Dungeon Master’s Guide, you could make anywhere from 100 gp-200,000 gp, if you can find the right buyer.
Gambling
Of course, you can double all that money if you just bet on black. Or was it red? Or was it cryptocurrency, which is obviously the currency you unearth in a crypt? You’ll need a week of time to find out the right kind of scheme, and with successful Insight, Deception, and Intimidation, you could pretty easily double your bet (as long as you’re good at those three rolls).
Crime
Of course, when all else fails, the sky’s the limit if you can just do a crime. Now you can use the downtime rules in Xanathar’s Guide and expertise as a rogue to blow through Stealth, thieves’ tools, and Investigation/Perception/Deception to score a quick 1,000 gp any time–or you can try and rob your friend who’s just sold their magic item instead. And if you’re rich enough, remember, it doesn’t really count as a crime.
Then just gamble it all and make enough money to buy that one rocket-powered tower in Candlekeep and take it straight to the moon(s).
Happy adventuring!
