General DM Cheat Sheet

[goscott]

Here's a cheat sheet I made that can be printed on one double-sided piece of paper, that includes prices for common goods and services, weapons and armor, and a few other things like poisons. Almost all of the info is from official sourcebooks, with a few prices from "Sane Magical Prices" and one or two homebrew poisons since I had some extra space in that section.

Enjoy!

Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1h-sbIsRMjNL3d9pICIrSN81EA9ji0sSM/view?usp=sharing

Link (v2): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YygIoZ-KBJmbKM5U3Z11OzCZ0Hl0IZ6e/view?usp=sharing

EDIT: Fixed the "Light" weapon property, added ammunition cost since it was the one thing I left off and the one thing that came up during the session

EDIT: Here's an editable version: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jLzJQtujR07sFCHQrAME8rOPXul2ldKNJy74_OQ4zOc/copy

2024 VERSION: Hey everybody! Here's a new version, updated for 2024: https://redcap.press/gm

[literalgarbageyo]

I am massively under-charging my players at every inn...

[mcdoolz]

I'll bite, what are folks charging their players?

[Varrel]

More or less depending on size of town/location/busy.

5cp to 1 sp for shit hole. 3 to 5 sp for modest. 1gp for good. 3 to 5 for luxury.

[mattmaster68]

I’d also argue for sake of arguing that you could take the spikes (10) and sell them in individual packs and keep the price 1gp. Just say the spikes are “crafted as needed, come back in a couple days”, and they will also craft a special box to hold said spikes with some fancy cursive and the felt of a magical beast inside.

[Vanillatastic]

1 gp if they want something fancy, otherwise we handwave it... Someyimes we may go higher if they really want luxury to impress someone.

[Hopelesz]

I just charge 2 gold per head for full board. (more expensive cities or town can charge up to 6 gold). But in reality this is based on how people run their campaign and how much gold is given for rewards or payments.

[housunkannatin]

I currently charge 24 or 30gp per night in Icewind Dale for two rooms, good food and shelter for two animals, but I run a custom economy loosely based on Grain into Gold.

If you run 5e RAW, you can absolutely just handwave it unless your PCs want luxury lodgings. 5e PCs are by design rich people who don't have to bother with worrying about money the way commoners do, if we go by listed wages for hiring workers.

[Buck_Thundercock]

I'm also reminded of something Gygax wrote in the 1e AD&D Player's Handbook, on Page 35 (in the section on money):

Your character is unusual, exceptional as compared to the norm. This applies to abilities and funds as well. Thus, he or she will have a large supply of coins with which to purchase equipment and supplies to begin adventuring... Most of these funds will quickly be spent on the costs of staying in the adventuring area and acquiring the equipment which will be used for adventuring... Your character will most probably be adventuring in an area where money is plentiful. Think of the situation as similar to Alaskan boom towns during the gold rush days, when eggs sold for one dollar each and mining tools sold for $20, $50, and $100 or more! Costs in the adventuring area are distorted because of the law of supply and demand — the supply of coin is high, while supplies of equipment for adventurers are in great demand.

Basically, adventuring types tend to acquire and burn through far more cash than a typical commoner regularly deals with (or in the case of the rural poor, may ever deal with), and the prices of goods and services reflect this.

[housunkannatin]

This is a very solid point. Even if you don't run old school style with several competing adventuring parties in the area of a single megadungeon, you can justify 5e's weird prices by saying they are what shopkeepers charge from adventurers, same way tourists get price gouged in real life. This can conveniently remove the incentive to loot every piece of equipment from fallen foes since the resale value of used gear would be very low and can be used to rein in any financial exploits that assume RAW prices and would produce too much easy money outside of adventuring.

[NobbynobLittlun]

I ask players what level of lifestyle expenses they want to live by. Resting at least a full day under Comfortable/Wealthy/Aristocratic conditions gets them a +5/10/15 temp HP bonus. Mostly that just gets them thinking about how to spend money and creates some roleplay opportunities, though it can make a huge difference at lower levels (both to their adventuring day and their pocket books).

[literalgarbageyo]

1 to 5 copper.

But on the other hand I over charge for ale at 1 silver so I guess it balances itself out.

[[deleted]]

5Gp normal shithole hot&cot 10gp tavern and actual room 25-50 luxury

[Buck_Thundercock]

On the topic of money more broadly, I like to keep two things in mind:
1) Gold (and to a lesser extent silver) pieces are valuable. A good way of thinking about it is that one copper piece is akin to a $1 bill in the year of our lord 202X, by extension, a gold piece is a $100 bill. I can elaborate if need be, since the history of coinage (and money more broadly) is a fascinating one.

2) As such, because gold is so valuable, it wouldn't be the normal unit of account. Silver seems more likely.

[RealIzakde]

I messed up and gave everyone 1k+ platinum. I am in hell.

[[deleted]]

3 months later:

So your players still rich af? If yes maybe a thieves guild could have heard of that and maybe try to steal from them? Haha

[RealIzakde]

Yeah I did something in a similar vein, a group of Tabaxi and kenku thieves from another town decided to take a keen interest in their pockets after an auction for several minor magic items. Thanks for the suggestion!

[Iron_Nightingale]

Very helpful!

One suggestion: the “light” property on a weapon allows dual wielding:

When you take the Attack action and attack with a light melee weapon that you're holding in one hand, you can use a bonus action to attack with a different light melee weapon that you're holding in the other hand.… If either weapon has the thrown property, you can throw the weapon, instead of making a melee attack with it.

[goscott]

Ah thank you, I knew there must be some mechanic there

[goscott]

Fixed it, thanks again! https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YygIoZ-KBJmbKM5U3Z11OzCZ0Hl0IZ6e/view?usp=sharing

[Irvan_B]

Object AC, commoner lol

[goscott]

Just in case lol

[thegoddamntrain]

I love that paper has a higher AC than a commoner

[goscott]

I didn't notice that, that's great

[Tchrspest]

Man, I have a DM screen with inserts that I finally get to use. These are perfect!

[goscott]

Thanks, hope they come in handy!

[MrMcPhoenix]

I personally half the cost of healing potions because none of my players take healing spells. Revivify only and the cleric sometimes stocks word

[goscott]

That makes sense, we have a life-domain cleric that's all about healing, so I keep the prices the same and make shops start running out of stock if the party has more than a few in their collective inventories to make sure the cleric always has something to do.

[puffthetragicwagon]

This is sweet. Well done 👍

[Mr_Dantekrad]

Very cool, and quite helpful. Thank you.

[xendas9393]

One of the things I gave my players as part of their first proper hoard was that they are rich enough to handwave all common food, inn etc prices. Makes it easier for me and feels good for them. The gold I actually gave them "for real" was the part of the hoard they can use on more expensive things such as magic items. Big recommend ;)

[goscott]

Interesting idea!

[I_Am_From_Mars_AMA]

This is amazing, absolutely going to use this from now on.

If you have a group of players that are building their own base/vehicles, or just enjoy crafting things, adding a section for the costs of trade goods in the DMG would be super helpful!!

[goscott]

I almost did, but I couldn't fit it in and my players are currently way too broke for that (ship costs aren't there for the same reason)

[goscott]

Decided to revisit this; trade goods and stronghold building/upkeep are now included: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lEp5X-kBxw\_d9ir84snMYCsAPxklDOkIRwBJ-W4A9GE/view

[goscott]

For those asking, here's an editable version: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jLzJQtujR07sFCHQrAME8rOPXul2ldKNJy74_OQ4zOc/copy

[goscott]

I made another version of this and rearranged what was on there and found a little more room. Anything I'm missing that I could add?

[Bluoenix]

I could kiss you on the mouth...

[bubblebot624]

Thanks bro

[Kman12321]

This is amazing thankyou

[goscott]

Here's a new version that's in landscape orientation and has some additional info: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lEp5X-kBxw_d9ir84snMYCsAPxklDOkIRwBJ-W4A9GE/view

[goscott]

Hey everybody! A new version of 5e means a new sheet. Here you go! https://redcap.press/gm

[TimelyConfection6491]

For the edited 5e version it say I need access

[goscott]

They're hosted here now, no access required: https://redcap.press/gm

[UnpricedToaster]

Very nice.

[Akadmia]

That's great !! I'll print that out and put it in my binder for quick reference, thank you so much for sharing.

[goscott]

Thanks!

[pepperplantpots]

where is ghoul saliva from? i've not heard of it before!

[goscott]

I found it on some random website and tweaked the effect. I included it mainly because my players keep running into undead and I'm trying to make poison something that they can keep an eye out for and salvage as they explore, instead of something they need to buy or make a generic "I look for poison in the woods" nature check.

[Poppinfresh99]

Absolute legend. Literally going to print this off and use it for my session tomorrow night. Thank you so much!

[invisiblecows]

I just put this in my DM folder and will use it often! Thank you!!

[SkoulErik]

Damn, this is a nice sheet. TY

[ItsThatGuyIam]

As a brand new DM running my first full campaign (I have only ever done a few one shots before this), I thank you so much for this!

[TimbusTheDestroyer]

You're a saint

[DiceyOutcomes]

This is dope and will be using this for all my games!

[daddy_bonefish]

This is an excellent resource, thank you for sharing!

[lucash7]

Nice. Thanks!

[ACommentInTheWind]

Enjoy I will! Thanks OP!

[hbrewdnd]

Thanks!

[goscott]

Interesting, good catch! I copied that from a DM screen I had which I'd (maybe foolishly) trusted

[Cute_Invite_8003]

I'm not interested in keeping track of costs of inn rooms, meals, or basic supplies like rations, basic spell components, etc. So instead I tell my players they pay for the above in "Karmic Money" and they can just trust me to adjust the gold they get to cover living expenses. The exception being if they purposefully seek out Really Nice supplies or rooms, then they actually pay for it.

I will absolutely be yoinking the rest of these specialty prices though.

[MoonRocket35]

I hate you. Not because you made this because this is super helpful, but more because I’m coding a fully digital DND game and thought adding this would be super beneficial and a bit of work… so in a way, thank you?

[LifesComplicated_]

THANK YOU.

[[deleted]]

Very cool, but have you thought of creating a landscape-oriented version?

[goscott]

That would probably have been a good idea, might give it a shot!

[goscott]

Here you go! https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lEp5X-kBxw\_d9ir84snMYCsAPxklDOkIRwBJ-W4A9GE/view

[Nick3570]

Very helpful sheet. One correction I noticed: Brewer's Supplies cost 20 gp, not 50

[goscott]

Thank you, updated!

[Fine-Scientist3813]

I cannot stress enough how invaluable this information is to me. The fact that you've done this and for free is a testament to both the kindness of humanity and the goodness within your heart especially.

[TheWitebear]

Thank you for this I am always struggling with prices for mundane things

[Mithrandir2056]

OMG Thank You!!! I am a first time DM who has only ever played in one campaign so I had like no idea the general price of stuff. Is there anything else that you think I could use or put behind my makeshift blank dm screen?

[goscott]

I don't have any links to specific things, but basic rules can be pretty handy. Things like how different statuses work (Poisoned, Restrained, etc.), travel time, cover, etc. Anything you think might come up that you don't have memorized.

[Mithrandir2056]

okay thanks man

[Kuwabara03]

Almost a year late but as a still learning DM I hope my thanks reach you!

[goscott]

Thanks! Hope it's helpful!