COMMUNITY WEALTH

While the Dungeon Master’s Guide gives guidelines for determining the assets available in a city, as well as the maximum value for any given item, not all items are available in all districts. More expensive items are impossible to find in all but the richest districts, and little ready cash exists in a poor district. The following table presents the gp limit for items purchased in various districts, based on social class.

GP Limit by Social Class

Social Class	Small City	Large City	Metropolis
Upper	15,000	40,000	100,000
Middle	6,000	16,000	40,000
Lower	1,500	4,000	10,000

To determine the amount of ready cash available in a district, multiply the population of the district by the appropriate number on the table below. These numbers assume that about 40% of a city’s ready cash is concentrated in the upper-class districts, though these represent only 10–18% of its total districts. About 50% of the city’s assets are in its middle-class districts, and the remaining 10% are in its lower-class districts.

Asset Multiplier by Social Class

Social Class	Small City	Large City	Metropolis
Upper	4,000	7,500	16000
Middle	1,500	3,500	9,000
Lower	150	350	800

Most cities are made up primarily of lower-class districts, though in larger cities, the upper class increases while the lower class shrinks, as shown on the table below. In addition, upper-class districts are less densely populated than less wealthy ones.

Social Class Neighborhoods by City Size

City Size	Upper Class	Middle Class	Lower Class
Small city	10%	30%	60%
Large city	15%	30%	55%
Metropolis	18%	30%	52%

A particularly wealthy city might have more upper- and middle-class districts and fewer lower-class districts, while a poor city would be the opposite. A city heavily engaged in trade would have a larger middle class than one that is mostly isolated and self-sufficient.

Generally, districts of the same social class adjoin each other. In some cases, one or two adjacent districts have a social class one step higher or lower than the others. Very rarely, upper-class and lower-class districts exist side by side. In such cases, they are separated by some geographical or artificial feature, such as a small cliff, a river, or a wall.