Treasure

When characters undertake adventures, they usually end up with
some amount of silver, gold, gems, or other treasure. These rewards
might be ancient treasures that they have unearthed, the hoards of
the villains they have conquered, or pay from a patron who hired
them to go on the adventure.
Splitting Treasure: Split treasure evenly among the characters
who participated. Some characters may be of higher level than
others, or some might happen to have done more on a particular
adventure than others did, but the simplest, fastest, and best policy
is to split treasure up evenly.
Special Items: While gems can be
cashed in for gold pieces and the coins
split evenly among adventurers, some
treasures can’t be split up so easily.
Magic items, for instance, can be
sold, but only for half of what they
would cost to buy, so it’s usually
better for characters to keep them.
When a character gets a magic item,
count half its cost against his or her
share of the treasure. For instance, if
Jozan, Lidda, Mialee, and Tordek split a
treasure of 5,000 gp and a +1 large steel
shield, the group would count the
magic shield as worth 500 gp,
roughly half the price someone
would have to pay to
buy one. Since
the treasure is
worth 5,500 gp
altogether, three characters
would each
get 1,375 gp, and
the fourth character
(probably
Tordek or
Jozan) would get the shield (valued at
500 gp) plus 875 gp in coin.
If more than one character wants
a single item, those interested in it
can bid for it. For example, Jozan
and Tordek both want the shield,
so they bid over how much
they’re each willing to “pay” for
it. Tordek wins the bid at 800
gp. That means the total
treasure is 5,800 gp. Mialee,
Jozan, and Lidda each get
1,450 gp, and Tordek gets the
shield (800 gp) plus 650 gp.
A character can only bid as
much as his or her share of the
treasure would amount to, unless
he or she has extra gold pieces
or treasure to back up the bid.
For example, if Tordek had no
other treasure from earlier
adventures, the most he
could bid for the magic
shield is 1,250 gp—he
would get the shield, and
the other three characters
would split the
5,000 gp.
If no one is willing
to take a special item,
the party members
should sell it (for
half its cost, as
listed in the
Dungeon Master’s
Guide, if they can
find a buyer)
and split the gold evenly.
Costs: Sometimes characters incur costs on adventures. A character
turned to stone by a basilisk may need a break enchantment
spell, and it costs at least 450 gp to pay a cleric to cast that spell. (See
Table 7–8: Goods and Services, page 128. A cleric must be at least 9th
level to cast break enchantment, which is a 5th-level spell). The default
policy is to pay these costs out of the treasure found on the adventure,
as a sort of “adventurer’s insurance,” and then to split whatever’s
left.
Party Fund: The party may also want to have a pool of
money that its members can use to buy things that
benefit the whole group, such as potions of healing or
holy water.
Amassing Wealth: When you and your friends
have split up the treasure among the characters,
record your character’s share on your character sheet.
Soon, he or she will have enough gold to buy better
weapons and equipment, even magic items.