Blood axe wrote:Do you mean if a player finds a suit of platemail he gets the gp/xp equivalent? Id say no. But thats an individual decision. Personally I dont give xp for gold at all. I give more XP for actions, role-playing,etc,etc.
So if you are lucky and find a 5,000 gp gem you go up a level or two?! Makes no sense to me. Bring it to the real world- a Priest wins the lottery and suddenly becomes the Pope. Or a boxer who never won a fight , now is the all time champ. Doesnt make sense. But it is just a game.
You can never gain more than one level at a time, whatever the amount of XP you gain. This was true in B/X, Mentzer and AD&D, and I suppose Dan wrote something to that effect also in LL.
Regarding the topic of "why characters advance in level with gold," Gary wrote a lot in the DMG. The final point is, it's a "metagaming" concept used to "push" the characters to go adventuring. A priest winning the lottery would not gain anything, since he did not risk his life to gain the money. But if he killed a dragon and took its loot (and brought it home safely,) he might become the Pope! (assuming he is one level short from becoming one; otherwise, see the rules above.)