Treasure, loot and economy

[Milmoor]

I’m rather new to 5E. I used to play with a homebrew system, in a homebrew world. Low Fantasy, magic does exists, quite a bit even, but the players hardly ever get magic items or other loot. More of neglect and convenience than on purpose. My economy mostly isn’t, the system didn’t have long lists of items and that just was not an issue.
Switched to 5E, got a few new players and now they want fat lootz! I’m ok with that in principle, but finding some guidance on how is hard. I reward mostly playtime/adventures, not just killing things. Adventure Leage has a treasure point system, but that didn’t appeal. They want shiny coins. How to solve this? I don’t mind distributing/adjusting a bit to fit the theme, but really don’t want to look into the gritty details. Any suggestions?

Economy in the title perhaps should have been laziness;)

[Griogre]

The 5E DMG has a bunch of shiny treasure tables by level tier. There's two basic types: incidental and hoard. Basically you can give incidental treasure per encounter if it makes sense - it's like pocket change. Then give a "boss" type a hoard treasure type once per level as that level's major haul. The hoard treasure doesn't really have to come from a monster it can be quest rewards, ect.

[LordEntrails]

So, 5E is predicated on few magic items for combat balance. If you limit the availability of magic items for purchase (i.e. no magic item shops, only scrolls under level 6 and uncommon potions for sale) and are careful handing out anything more than +1 weapons and armor, you can give them as much money as you want will little harm.

Think of Dragon Heist, that ends with the party at level 5 and 50k gp reward. As long as they can't go magic item shopping, the money does no harm to the game (and can be used to get them engaged in the roleplay of the world around them). Their are various sources for Downtime Activities, plus you can allow them to buy property, invest in business, or get involved int eh politics of their realm with the money (i.e. establishing trade with a nearby city/kingdom, building an fortified outpost, etc) they can then spend all that money getting their characters more involved with the world you build.

Now, as for magic, again, limit it. Use the minor magic properties from the DMG artifacts section. No reason you can't give them a magic sword that only glows when underground (no plus). Or armor that stays clean. Or a ring that grants dwarven stone cunning, or a bracelet of sending (sending stones). etc. Give them cool stuff, but at the trinket level.

[Vos]

Horde items are interesting.
One of the things I have given out is a generic +1 item. The players can dice for it but ultimately all the players will get one of these.
The + 1 can be anything, in any form the player wants it to be, but once the player defines it, that is the way it will stay.
so it can be a +1 cloak of charisma, a ring of protection, or a +1 longsword. This way you can give out a minor items that is exactly what the player needs.

I also used the 3.5 Eberon artificers as an NPC class. They could suck magic out of one item to empower another. So now the players have a use for those ten +1 evil aligned swords from that temple. and fighters who wanted to specialize in odd weapons could get exactly what they wanted without my having to insert items into a module.

[Milmoor]

Things to think about, thanks. Also found this one for some basics lootz: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?44001-5E-Random-Treasure-Generator
Will experiment a bit.

[GavinRuneblade]

For guidance on treasure, I strongly recommend this: https://www.dmsguild.com/product/272569/?affiliate_id=1636027
This is the Comprehensive Wealth Manual. They have a bundle but only the equipment is available for FG. I still think it's worth it. Great book. Has recommend wealth by level, by parcel, etc in a much more logical manner than either the DMs guide or Xanathar's. Better suggestions for what to do with wealth, how to handle giving out too little or too much, etc.

You only have to fear letting plyers buy and sell magic, that will break things. Otherwise it's all easy. In one of my campaigns all my players are nobles with estates and lands that generate tens of thousands of gold per month passively. Doesn't cause any trouble. Also, it consumes most of that in upkeep, but they can be ostentatious if they want with the left overs.

[Milmoor]

Will look into that guide, thanks. I found some guidelines in discussions about Adventure League Treasure points. I really didn't have a clue and I couldn't find guidelines in the DM guide. I will mostly stick to coins and gems, and maybe some potions. That should be a safe start. Seems a bit much to, I'll probably do 25% of it at first. My players are level 3, I'm a level 1 GM in 5E, proficiency at loot distribution comes at level 2.
Tier 1 previously 75g now 100g
Tier 2 previously 150g now 200g
Tier 3 previously 550g now 1440g
Tier 4 previously 5500g now 5500g

I had to look up the definitions of the Tiers
Tier 1: characters of 1st-4th level.
Tier 2: characters of 5th-10th level.
Tier 3: characters of 11th -16th level.
Tier 4: character of 17th-20th level.