What to do with treasure?

 In fantasy role-playing games, particularly those which link character advancement to recovery of treasure (of which practice, for the record, I am a fan and proponent), characters are going to accumulate a lot of silver, gold, and jewels over the course of an adventuring career. There is, unfortunately, a dearth of things on which to spend it in the rule books. At character creation and shortly thereafter, the focus is on the acquisition of basic adventuring gear. A newly-created PC may have to economize, especially on armor and weapons,but by second level, most of those concerns have been settled: a fighter who's accumulated enough treasure to gain his first level advancement has more than enough to purchase a suit of plate armor and his weapons of choice (if he hasn't already found magical versions) and probably a warhorse to boot. Mid-level characters may take interest in the "vehicles" section of the equipment roster, contemplating the purchase of ships or wagons to extend their exploratory reach. At high levels, there's the prospect of building, buying, or renovating a castle, fortress, or other stronghold. Even so, a name level fighter in Classic D&D has accumulated a minimum of 240,000 experience points; assuming around 3/4 of that comes from treasure, he's likely sitting on a hoard in excess of 150,000 gold pieces in value. 

What to do with all that loot is a valid question, and unfortunately much advice on this topic is not only profoundly unhelpful, but actively anti-player agency and anti-fun. Often it is framed as a matter of how to relieve characters of "excess" treasure. This is to be achieved through various heavy-handed measures, including but not limited to taxes, thievery, and training costs. The last of these is especially abhorrent to me (despite its seeming popularity in certain old school circles; after all, Gary himself endorsed this one), being the equivalent of placing essential game mechanics behind a paywall. It doesn't pose any interesting choices; you either pay up or your character gets left behind and unable to improve in basic functions of his class. "Here's enough treasure to earn the XP you need to advance to the next level. Now give a big chunk of it back, so we'll allow you to advance to the next level." 

Taxes and thievery (alas, I repeat myself) at least have the virtue of infusing some verisimilitude into the game world, but if they're simply deducted from the players' coffers as a matter of course, you're doing it wrong. Choosing to acquiesce, or not, to the demands of the ruling class, and how you go about it, have interesting effects and consequences in-game. Likewise, the choice of how to hide or protect one's riches from common thieves implies things about the characters' place in and relationship to the setting. Neither success nor failure at keeping one's wealth to oneself should be foregone conclusions, nor should players simply be forced to accept and move on. If they decide to turn their talents to undermining the baron who claims a share of their hard-won dragon-gold, or if they want to try to track down and take vengeance on the thieves who robbed their homes while they were out on another adventure, then you as DM have an obligation to stat up their adversaries and game it out with them, and that's how fun is had at the table.

Now, on to more productive inquiries. Instead of thinking in terms of how we can relieve characters of treasure, we ought to be thinking in terms of what sort of interesting options we can provide. Traditionally, most of us, I think, have tended to channel ourselves in the direction of personal equipment and possessions which have direct applications in adventures -- swords and armor and ships and horses and even magic -- and I believe in that we have unduly limited ourselves and our games. There's no need to turn our backs on adventuring equipment; in fact, I'd love to see expanded lists of things and adventurer might find handy on the job. Particularly at mid and high levels, though, we might also profitably look at things characters can spend money on to affect their place in and relationship to the fiction of the campaign world, not directly linked to their performance during an adventure or their effectiveness as adventurers generally or as members of a character class. 

Consider, for instance, a party based out of a small settlement on the borderlands, a fairly common campaign scenario. Assuming you've done a fair job of making the place and its inhabitants colorful, interesting, and generally useful, the players will hopefully feel some affection and attachment toward them and sympathy for their problems and concerns. Establishing a rivalrous or antagonistic relationship with some residents adds even more possibilities. Many opportunities for spending and investment exist, and which ones players choose will affect how their characters are perceived, their reputations at home and spreading to neighboring lands, will open some doors and close others, and in general guide the development of the campaign setting and its stories.

• The PCs could invest in a cottage or farmhouse when they tire of sleeping rough or crashing in the village flophouse, which establishes them as semi-permanent residents in the eyes of the villagers.
• Or, they could pool their coins and build or buy a luxurious villa, where they might entertain important visitors, who of course are invaluable sources of important connections and adventure leads.
• The party could invest in a local business. The local smith laments that he could make plate armor, if only he had a better forge and tools and a couple more apprentices, so the party puts down some loot to make it happen. Or, the adventurers want a market to sell their salvaged non-monetary loot and buy things that just aren't available in such a backwater, so they fund the construction of a merchant hall or lavish market square.
• The PCs could fund the construction, enlargement, or renovation of a church or temple, earning the gratitude of a clerical order and easier access to healing and spiritual services for themselves.
• The local public house is a dive and the proprietor is a jerk, so the adventurers put their names and fortunes behind a brand-new inn, attracting traveling minstrels and all the intriguing news and rumors they bring with them.
• Build a library or museum and buy or donate books and other items of interest to stock it. Eventually, you might attract sages and other learned folk, who are always good for an adventurer to know.
• The village experiences a catastrophic crop failure with a hard winter on the way; the party may earn tremendous good will by spending coin on bringing in food stores from abroad to ensure the villagers' survival.
• Bandits and monsters plague the roads connecting the village to its neighbors. After clearing out the worst, the PCs might decide to hire mercenary patrols and/or build outposts to keep them clear, benefiting the village with increased trade and traffic, and themselves with enhanced opportunities to hear news and sell salvaged goods.
• Or, in these troubled times, finance the construction of a wooden or earthen wall around the town, keeping your own base safe and perhaps mollifying the cranky old folks who worry about you stirring up danger for them by poking local monsters.
• Throw lavish festivals for the local folk on holy days, or spend small fortunes entertaining nobles or other dignitaries passing through town. You'll make very different sorts of connections, but either has all sorts of potential and possibility.

All of these examples offer benefits both to the adventurers who finance them and to NPCs of the campaign world, but let's not ignore the possibility that someone might be put out or take offense, too. Making oneself a Man or Woman of the People probably won't impress the aristocracy, but courting the favor of the local baron or duke isn't likely to win many friends among the peasants. Building or supporting one enterprise might anger a competitor. Opening up the village to foreign commerce might irk rustics and old timers who liked it just fine as a quiet backwater, thank you very much. 

Just don't forget to keep track of whom your PCs have impressed, who owes them, and in whose side they've made themselves thorns.

Further reading:

For my previous thoughts on opening non-adventuring businesses in a game of heroic fantasy adventure, see this post from my old blog. 

And some thoughts on spending treasure to gain access to new areas of the campaign world.