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If I use the starting wealth rolls of my class, do I keep any remaining money left over after I buy equipment?

In D&D 5e you can roll the 4d4 × 10 to determine starting gold, forgoing any equipment your class and background gets. This is not up for question. What is up for question is whether or not the PC keeps any remaining gold that they don't spend on equipment. As far as I have been able to tell, this is not explicitly stated in the PHB nor in the Basic Rules documents.

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    – Someone_Evil ♦
    Commented Feb 24, 2020 at 20:44
  • \$\begingroup\$ Note that "4d4 × 10" isn't always used to determine starting gold. Each of the 12 original classes has its own formula in the Starting Wealth by Class table on page 143 of the Player's Handbook, with amounts as low as 5d4 (for Monks) and as high as 5d4 x 10 (for Bards, Clerics, and Rangers). The amount for Artificers is also 5d4 x 10, which is specified on page 10 of Tasha's Cauldron of Everything. \$\endgroup\$
    – gto
    Commented Jun 7, 2021 at 21:24

2 Answers 2

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You keep your unspent gold.

Remember the design philosophy of 5e "There are no hidden rules". The rules text states that you "start with [X] gold pieces", so your character has [X] gold pieces, period. It does not further expand that you lose any unspent money after character creation, and why would you? You haven't spent them (obviously), and they wouldn't just vanish into the æther after buying that last piece of rope.

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The phrasing

...you can start with a number of gold pieces based on your class...

(PHB, p. 143)

could be construed as to say you keep any leftovers, but you are right in that it's not explicitly spelled out. This is something the DM of your table will have to make a ruling on.

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    \$\begingroup\$ I'd think this means, that technically you start with the gold, and using it is actually happens in-game already. \$\endgroup\$
    – WakiNadiVellir
    Commented Feb 24, 2020 at 20:40
  • \$\begingroup\$ @RevenantBacon It also doesn't explicitly say that you keep it, and there are some systems out there where you don't. Yes, I'm being more legalistic than 5E supports, but some other game systems (and hence some players) are that legalistic, and I'm of the mind that such thinking is what led to this question being asked in the first place. \$\endgroup\$
    – Stop Being Evil
    Commented Feb 24, 2020 at 21:37
  • \$\begingroup\$ @StopBeingEvil Sorry, I moved my comment to it's own question. But I will reiterate: "there are no hidden rules in 5e". If it doesn't say that's what happens, then it doesn't happen. \$\endgroup\$
    – RevanantBacon
    Commented Feb 24, 2020 at 21:48
  • \$\begingroup\$ I'm not disagreeing with your conclusion or your logic. I'd make the same call in your shoes. (the last phrasing came off harsher than I wanted to, sorry) \$\endgroup\$
    – Stop Being Evil
    Commented Feb 24, 2020 at 21:54
  • \$\begingroup\$ Maybe the phrasing was meant for specific archetypes that have restrictions built-in i.e. they got robbed on their way to the place \$\endgroup\$
    – eagle275
    Commented Feb 25, 2020 at 9:07

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