9.1 Wealth and Item Ranks

The worth of an item can be measured with money, or with the more abstract concept of an item’s rank. Both measurements are closely connected. In general, gold pieces are a more useful concept at low levels, and item rank are more useful at high levels. However, both concepts function at any level, so you can use whichever makes more sense in a particular game.

9.1.1 Coins

The most common coin is the gold piece (gp). A gold piece is worth 10 silver pieces. Each silver piece is worth 10 copper pieces (cp). In addition to copper, silver, and gold coins, there are also platinum pieces (pp), which are each worth 10 gp.

The standard coin weighs about a third of an ounce (fifty to the pound).

9.1.2 Item Ranks

Each item has a rank associated with it. An item’s rank is generally correlated with the item’s effectiveness, rarity, and value. A magic item’s power is equal to twice its rank. These effects are summarized in Table ??: ??. In general, five items of a given rank are worth the same as a single item that is one rank higher.

Permanent Items and Consumables: Long-term items that are expected to be worn or otherwise used repeatedly are more expensive than items that are destroyed immediately after being used. Although consumable items are cheaper, they still use their full rank for all other purposes, such as their power and how difficult they are to buy. In general, five consumable items of a given rank are worth as much as a single non-consumable item of that rank.

Rank	Power	Typical Permanent Item Price	Typical Consumable Price
0	0	10 gp or less	2 gp or less
1	2	40 gp	10 gp
2	4	200 gp	40 gp
3	6	1,000 gp	200 gp
4	8	5,000 gp	1,000 gp
5	10	25,000 gp	5,000 gp
6	12	125,000 gp	25,000 gp
7	14	625,000 gp	125,000 gp

Items with a rank of 0 or 1 may be found among common folk, though few commoners would have more than one magic item of any value. Items with a rank of 2 or higher are usually only owned or used by nobility, wealthy merchants, and adventurers.

9.1.3 Buying and Selling Items

Items of any rank can be exchanged for other items based on their rank. In general, items with an rank of 3 or less can be bought or sold in exchange for gold pieces. Items with an rank of 4 or higher are exceptionally rare. The monetary value of such items is so exorbitant that they are almost never purchased or sold with gold pieces. Instead, they are typically exchanged for similarly rare magic items or gems.

Wandering adventurers typically have a limited time frame to sell their items. It can be difficult to find a buyer for valuable items on short notice, so they must accept lower prices than merchants can charge. When selling for gold pieces, you can expect to receive a fifth of the item’s typical value according to its rank. When selling for another item, you can expect to receive an item or trade good of one rank lower in exchange. These ratios can be negotiated, and favorably disposed merchants or nobles may give better deals.

Trade Goods

Some items are considered trade goods. Trade goods have a widely agreed upon value, but no intrinsic use. Gold pieces and gems are examples of trade goods. Trade goods differ from other items in that even adventurers can typically receive their full value when selling them to established merchants. Some common trade goods are detailed in Table 9.2: Trade Goods.

9.1.4 Typical Wealth Acquisition

A typical character finds one non-consumable item appropriate for them per level. That item would have a rank equal to that character’s highest rank at the time. For example, a typical 5th level character would have five items: two rank 2 items, and 3 rank 1 items. In addition, characters typically find several consumable items per level that are appropriate to their rank.

Over time, lower rank items stop being useful, so most characters use no more than five or six different items at a time, plus various consumables. A typical 20th level character does not carry around 20 different items. However, the lower level items are essentially irrelevant from the perspective of calculating wealth, so the “one item per level” guideline is still useful.

This is a drastic simplification of the sometimes messy process of accumulating wealth and magic items over the course of a typical campaign. Characters will often find additional items that they have no immediate use for. Players may go several sessions without acquiring any particular items until they complete their current quest, which may reward them with a large number of items at once. This is all fine, and the GM should not feel compelled to keep item acquisition perfectly on rails. Rise is only loosely balanced around this general pace of item acquisition, and it is not hard - or always necessary - to adjust encounters to deal with unusually wealthy or poor characters.