I have reached a problem in my sandbox game...

Yeah, it's almost like OP mentioned they used a specific home brew item that clearly doesn't follow conventional rules.
You 3.X fags are so obsessed with RAW it's fucked your brain into uselessness.

This is SUPER easy to solve.

Give them a session of trying to deal with the actual logistics of transporting and cashing in that much gold, with all sorts of bandits and shadey organizations trying to steal it.

And then they bring it to the merchant's quarter of some major city to cash it in, it gets appraised, and in return they get...

Nothing. Nothing at all.

"Sorry lads, you've been rused. This gold has been magically tampered with, transmuted from some other substance. Transmuted gold is not legally considered gold by the kings law, and under that same law I am forbidden from assigning it any value. Otherwise, wizards and alchemists would just make their own gold all the time."
"As its only purpose is to deceive and commit fraud, I'm obligated to report this to the town guard for confiscation and holding, until it can be destroyed."

How are they going to transport it? Roll it to town?

Presumably they'll hide it in place and shave off pieces.
In most 3.x the actual magic to do such true transmutation is so rare that such a law would generally not exist.

OP here, going to answer a few questions:

>Why did OP make such a shitty homebrew object?
The staff is specially designed to either completely derail the plot or to cause massive problems for the party. Possible effects also include giving a target maximum intelligence (but making it violently hostile to the user and friends), obliterating the target in a giant explosion, bringing back to life a nemesis or ally, give targets automail limbs, and much more. There is a 4% chance the staff can turn something into solid gold, and this is the second time it's happened to them. They are still trying to save a random person they turned into solid gold. Ultimately, I gave the item to my players because I thought it was funny. So do they.

>How did they move it?
The transmutation wizard shrunk it from large size to small size, then the party rolled it out of the cave. Then, the Silver Wyrm teleported everyone, along with the ball, back to the lair. That is where the session ended last time. They will likely store the gold in their portable hole once they move the giant crystal they were assigned to get out of it.

>How will they convert the money?
It is true that there are many countries not even worth 16 million gold. They may opt to split the gold ball and sell parts of it at a time, or they may attempt to sell chunks of it to massive empires. First, though, I'm trying to convince the party they need the help of the best (and only real) economist in all of the lands.

>Bandits will be a problem
Possibly more than just bandits. There is an interdimensional mafia in the campaign, and if they find out about the gold, then the players could be in some serious trouble. Might make for a good story.

>Will the world economy crash
Possibly. If the gold is exchanged for things other than money (i.e., the Silver Wyrm buys the gold for decorating his lair in exchange for giving the party legendary magical items), then no flow of money will occur and the economy will remain the same.

Simple: Magically created gold isn't worth anything because it lacks the harmonic resonances of naturally occurring metals.

Guys... 3.5 is already 2 editions old.
Fuck off.
It is not relevant.
OP didn't bother mentioning the system so just assume the system doesn't matter.

As for OPI think you already mentioned one of the more elegant solutions, The Silver Wyrm offering them very powerful magic items in exchange.
That way the very large amount of gold is gone and they have something more manageable to use.
Ultimately I would let them choose. present the options organically like the Silver Wyrm, and then kingdom building.
if they don't bite then adventure comes to them.

Can you post the chart for the Staff? I think it sounds cool.

> In most 3.x the actual magic to do such true transmutation is so rare that such a law would generally not exist.
Polymorph Any Object is a Wizard/Sorcerer spell of 8th level, meaning one must be at least level 15 Wizard or a level 18 Sorcerer to cast it.
In any given Metropolis the level of the highest level Wizard is equal to 1d4+1d20+12, best of 4 rolls. So, an infinitesmal chance that a given Metropolis DOESN'T have a Wizard of high enough level to cast this "rare" spell. And that's not even considering the Sorcerers.
3.5 RAW has absurdly powerful magic.

Yes, but that's a duration permanent spell, not a duration instantaneous spell with a permanent effect.

Sorry, I saw the reply mentioning 3.x and assumed it was mentioned in the OP without going back to re-read it.

A dragon could smell that much gold from half the world away I'd imagine. Moving and dividing that giant ball would also be a huge chore, costing lots of time and other resources for the players.

OP here, in case anyone's wondering, characters are on average lv 13, and the transmutation wizard can reshape and divide the gold ball with some transmutation spells (imagine stone shape but instead modified to be "gold shape"). It is completely hidden inside the portable hole for now, so it is surprisingly inconspicuous. Since the spell True Polymorph is not available in my campaign, creating pure gold so easily is not normally possible.

The Staff of the High Priest of Nikowyxfenroughtrarthguornefxiwokin has 5 charges per day per person, meaning that sharing the staff with the party will allow the party to use it more than 5 times per day. A person can fire a bolt from the staff against anything within 120ft, and it will hit unless something blocks it (i.e., someone jumps in the way of the bolt or something). All charges recharge at dawn, and the only thing that is immune to the staff is the mad goddess Nikowyxfenroughtrarthguornefxiwokin (or her daughter).

Many of the effects of the staff were lifted from a campaign I once heard about, but I've since modified it with a few of my own retarded ideas. The list is still undergoing revision, and I am trying to replace some of the effects I don't like or find interesting. The list is a little large for posting, so I put it on pastebin.

pastebin.com/qmKFS50Y

You can also use the staff as a melee weapon that deals an extra 1d8 damage of a random type. It is considered an artifact, as it was directly created by the mad goddess Nikowyxfenroughtrarthguornefxiwokin. There's another, creepier effect too, but that's a secret for my players.

>2-10: Odds- Roll 1D4. 1=Right leg. 2=Left leg. 3=Right arm. 4=Left arm. The wielder's limb corresponding to the roll becomes automail in some way. The specifics are left to the DM's discretion. Evens- Target turns to gold.

Why not just have this be dispellable like Polymorph Any Object is dispellable?

Some of these effects are dispellable, albeit with some difficulty sometimes. In fact, the gold effect is indeed reversable. The players have gotten that effect twice. The first time they got it was when they cast it on a friendly npc and turned her into a solid gold statue. The party is still trying to fix her, and they will soon enough. Perhaps I should have the gold ball be dispelled back into a giant mound of flesh.

Let them buy castles, lairs, magic items, etc.
Then, create some big, massive threat to both their wealth and the world's general well-being that is foretold to arrive soon, and have it target them directly so they can't pay someone else to take care of it. Maybe one of the magic items they bought mysteriously turned out to be this cursed device part of an ancient prophecy that awakened this powerful force now coming after them.
Also, incentivize them to spend at least some of their money on an airship, which they will need for the fight.
Be sure to make the lavish things they want to buy extremely expensive, so they end up with a lot of stuff, but their funds relatively even out. If you encounter any players who are economically wise and choose to invest some of their money so that they keep making more, create some sort of business dilemma, with whatever sort of group you prefer, mafia, rival guild, etc. Excellent opportunity for plot hooks.
For your final step, make the climax an awe-inspiring, multi-faceted boss fight that requires them to possess an airship. I believe you can do it.

>With that much money, who needs to go on an adventure anymore?
Exactly. Let them retire their characters and tell them to come back with a real character motivation next time.

Have some BBEG attack their holdings. Destroy their property. Steal their wealth. Kidnap their loved ones. Nothing motivates murderhobos better than revenge.

Fun fact: if you gathered all gold that has been ever mined throughout the entire history of mankind, you'd have a cube with a length of 20 meters. (I wonder how big that cube would have been in the middle ages.)

Do you know realize the insanity of your scenario?

Try to get them to invest in stuff. Is their campaign localized? If so, why not buy a big house for the whole party? Why not build an inn and/or tavern? Why not start some sort of adventuring company, maybe along the lines of the Companions from Skyrim?

Of course, with that much money that would just be a small fraction of it. So go a bit bigger. Build a town! Turn it into a city! Make that city into a state! Fortify it, recruit and equip an army and fight for independence!

Alternatively, build a fleet and launch an expedition to far away lands! Just the supplies alone would represent a big chunk of that money. Or just straight up become pirates.

Just give them a little push and let them be creative.

Go "The Old Man and the Sea" on them.
They've got their great treasure. Now they just got to get all back. Easy-peasy.
That is until the sharks come.

>Should I try to convince my players to become the kings of their own nation? Should I have the interdimensional mafia come and steal the gold, thus making the player's new quest to shut down the mafia? Should I try to get the players following the one player with a non-monetary goal? Or should I just be simple and start a new campaign?

Have you tried asking them what they want to get out of the campaign?

This deserves more attention. Where are they going to keep all that gold? It's such a large amount of money that everyone will want their shit.

OP here, I've resolved to make the gold dispellable by a strong Dispel Magic or Remove Curse casting, and I'll make sure to tell them that in-character as well. Though they can get away with selling some of it, attempting to sell it to a major empire will get them in a nasty situation. I am eager to see how much of the 16 million they can get out of it.

I'll still ask them if continuing the campaign is in their interests, though.

My next session is starting in 2 hours, so I'll be able to tell you all what happens after that. I imagine they'll get some magical items out of it and stop before the gold ball is dispelled back into a flesh ball by a high-level magus. Thanks for the help Veeky Forums

You really should have stipulated that the golden beholder was holo, and gold with a magical signature is illegal in the kingdom.

But, now that they have that much cash, you might as well up the ante and have them go legit. Have them found a kingdom with that cash (just have a regent who is in debt and willing to sell seek them out or some shit) - and then rain down war and hellfire on it for them to contend with. Running a kingdom in a sandbox is pretty much a full time adventure.

Nah, it's the difference of gold in circulation and gold withheld. As long as they don't go spending it all, the net value doesn't actually change. Heck, even 16 million gold wouldn't shift most world economy in divided kingdoms as are most DnD settings.

However, that IS enough money to start wars or sway profits.