The reason this is an issue in D&D is that by default the PCs don’t have a job. They’re freelance mercenaries, so the game needs to give them a reason to advent

The reason this is an issue in D&D is that by default the PCs don’t have a job. They’re freelance mercenaries, so the game needs to give them a reason to adventure, and by default that’s making money. The way out of this is to have the PCs do a job, or at least have a core activity the players and their characters sign up for. Jane’s Bond is a civil servant, Indiana Jones is a professional archaeologist, the crew of the Starship Enterprise work for Star Fleet, Jason Bourne isn’t employed, but he has no choice, they really are out to get him, etc. What this goes is make the game about something other than just personal advancement. Either the kinds of problems you’re solving can’t be solved with money. In Call of Cthulhu it’s usually less formal, but you’re not in it for the money, you’re in it to save humanity. Alternatively the game builds in an economy into the core activity itself. Upgrading your starship and buying cargo. In Blades in the Dark you’re a gang of criminals with ongoing expenses. There’s a default core activity and objective you all share. In the examples in the article of games that solve this in various ways we can see this at work. In Stonetop you’re in it for the community, it’s about survival. In Impulse Drive and Traveller you’re trying to make a living. So the problem with D&D is the default murder hobo setup in which there really isn’t actually a setup. In practice a lot of D&D GMs and campaigns do build in a driver for adventure. A job, or an imperative threat, or an assumed objective everyone agrees to buy into.