Gold is the mundane wealth resource of Dominions, measured in pounds and kept in your national Treasury. It is used to recruit troops and commanders, to build buildings (forts, temples, labs), and to pay for province defense.

Gold is a critical resource in the early game, as it's needed to build infrastructure and recruit troops. Compared to Gems, though, its value starts to dull a bit as nations advance in their magical research; over time, nations will find more uses for their Gems, but not for their Gold.

By the way, gold prices for units on this wiki are listed next to this symbol. →

Each turn, each of your provinces generates gold Income based on its population, modified by all scales except Luck and Magic and unrest. Forts give a bonus to income in their provinces. See Province Attributes: Income for a more detailed description.

Generally, units purchased with gold cost a small amount of Upkeep each turn. Yearly Upkeep (over the course of twelve turns) is normally 80% of the unit's price, but it's 40% for Sacred units and for Slaves, and it's 20% for Sacred Slaves.

Gold can be sent to other players in a multiplayer game and can therefore be traded for magic resources, scouting info and Items (particularly those which are inaccessible) or used for racketeering. Gold cannot buy Gems or Blood Slaves in a single player game, however the Mages it can hire may boost your Gem and Blood Slave income. On the other hand, Gems can be converted directly into potentially worthwhile amounts Gold, using Alchemy Spells and a Mage trained for the role, preferably a well-boosted Alchemist using the Alchemist's Stone.