Wealth in Draw Steel is an abstract mechanic meant to easily represent the purchasing power of heroes and simplify the age-old shopping sessions common at many tables. Today, we’re going to explore expanding that mechanic a little and giving wealth a little more meaning.
So here are a couple of quick thoughts. Nothing’s been play tested at this point, but I’ll take it to my table and see how it goes.
The Basics
Wealth in Draw Steel comes in six levels. While these levels are not named, they are given examples of what you can buy at various wealth levels. This table is very bare. The rules do call out to work with the Director to determine what else is available at these wealth levels.
| Wealth Score | Affordable Items |
| 1 |
Mundane clothing, gear, armor, implements, and weapons; meals or drinks at a common tavern; a stay at a common inn; passage on a boat |
| 2 |
Horse and cart; dinner at a fine tavern; a stay at a fine inn |
| 3 |
Catapult; small house |
| 4 |
Library; tavern; manor home; sailing boat |
| 5 |
Church; keep; wizard tower |
| 6 |
Castle; shipyard |
Lets go over to Kenneth Hodges “Price of medieval items” page and do some quick napkin calculations!
Wealth 1 –
- Tools range from 3d to 13£
- Armor from the basic leathers of a merchant guard to the fine armor for the Prince of Wales range from 5s to 340£.
- Clothing from 6d for shoes to 50£ for a fashionable gown.
- Common meal about 1d
- Cheap wine 3d/gal
- Good wine 10d/gal
- Poor ale .75d/gal
- Medium Ale 1d/gal
- Good 1.5 d/ gal
- Beer good 1d/quart
- Common Inn 2d per Head per Day (food, drink, board and stable)
Wow that’s a super wide variety in just Wealth 1 alone.
Wealth 2 lets just look at the horse. A draught horse would be 10 to 20s while a riding horse is 10£ and a war horse is 50£ to 80£.
Wealth 3 lets look at the small house, a 2 story 1 bay cottage 2£, row house 5£ and craftsman house 10 to 15£.
Wealth 4, House with Courtyard 90£ a Goldsmiths hall 136£
Wealth 5, Stone work for a church 113£ and Tower 781£
Wealth 6, Castle and college at Tattershall 450£ per year for 13 years (5850£ in total!)
Just a quick review of the Wealth levels brings me to believe that it is a wildly inconsistent mechanic. I know, Draw Steel isn’t about getting gold it’s about heroics. I just know my players like to shop so we have to do something about this!
1. The Basics
Lets keep a semi-abstract nature of the wealth mechanic and define it a little clearer. Also include a wealth 0 entry. I’m also going to keep it in £, s, d for ease of translation, but you could assume that £1 is equivalent to one gold or your settings coinage, £1 = 20s and 1s = 12d, so £1 = 240d.
| Level | Type | Suggested £ Range | Examples of Items |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Common Goods | <1s | Candle, loaf of bread, mug of ale, handful of nails, single egg |
| 1 | Everyday Tools | >1s – £1 | Spade, axe, tunic, hat, pair of shoes, chair, goose |
| 2 | Skilled Work & Simple Gear | >£1 – £4 | Simple sword, riding horse, guild fee, small plot of land, funeral (commoner) |
| 3 | Professional & Crafted Goods | £5 – £50 | Fine armor, books, jewelled belt, silk gown, warhorse |
| 4 | Wealthy Holdings | £51 – £150 | Large barn, merchant’s house, ship, noble townhouse, lavish funeral |
| 5 | Estates & Nobility | £151 – £500 | Stone gatehouse, manor estate, noble dowry, castle income |
| 6 | Grand Works | >£500 | Abbey transept, ornate chariot, memorial chapel, great castle, cathedral nave |
That’s a little clearer in what a hero could expect to spend on things. Now we come to some fun parts.
2. Wealth Limitations
I mean you got this wealth and heroes like to spend their money. Now normal every day activities at or below your wealth level wouldn’t upset the balance of things normally. A hero with wealth of 1 should be able to pay for lodging and food and drink almost anywhere in their world. It wouldn’t be luxury accommodations but it would keep them well rested, fed and slack their thirst.
Now when they start to make serious expenditures of coin outside the normal everyday living is where it becomes an issue on stressing their funds. I think to simply solve this is to allow a hero a number of Wealth items per respite equal to their level.
Going off the a hero gains a level of wealth for every 2nd level they obtain we get the following table:
| Hero
Level |
Wealth (All Others) | Wealth (Aristocrat / Politician) |
| 1 |
1 |
2 |
| 2 |
2 |
3 |
| 3 |
2 |
3 |
| 4 |
3 |
4 |
| 5 |
3 |
4 |
| 6 |
4 |
5 |
| 7 |
4 |
5 |
| 8 |
5 |
6 |
| 9 |
5 |
6 |
| 10 |
6 |
6* |
So a level 3 hero that was an aristocrat has wealth 3, and can use that wealth 3 times each respite. If we want to complicate things a little more then you can lower the wealth temporarily by 1 after each use of the current maximum wealth level. So our level 3 hero with wealth 3, can certainly buy a warhorse, but then his wealth temporarily drops to 2 until the start of the next respite.
3. Other Considerations
Temporary Wealth:
Heroes can gain coin, gems and other treasure during their adventures. These items would increase their wealth score until the end of the next respite activity. I’d suggest no more then their echelon in additional temporary wealth.
Full Purse:
When a hero’s wealth score excedes 6 these turn into additional uses of Wealth 6 activites before their wealth is temporarily lowered.
Patronage:
Heroes can gain the patronage of a more powerful individual. These patrons will gift temporary wealth levels to Heroes at the start of a respite. Directors should feel free to call upon the heroes for help when ever their patron needs it for any minor inconvenience.
Overspending:
Heroes can overspend their wealth as determined by the Director. I’d suggest that it would be considered overspending if they use their wealth more then 1.5 times (round down) their current level from the start of one respite to the end of the next respite.
Example: Our level 3 tactician aristocrat, can spend level 3+ resources 4 times between the start of one respite to the end of the next. This include any temporary wealth, patronage or full purse considerations. They just aren’t use to spending that kind of money in that short of time. Lower their wealth score by 1 permanently as bad deals really take their toll.
I’ll report back after I get this to my table and see their reactions to it. Until then keep your blade sharp and get ready to Draw Steel!
