i hear what you are saying civ5.
how to deal with dying/reloading in rpg's is tuff. many don't deal with it at all and that's fine, as well. but, for me to redo the same stuff over and over again isn't realistic, either.
that's why i think penalties is the answer. you have to have a high enough penalty, yet, not go overboard.
i think that's why i lean towards the "lose all inventory" solution, as a minimum. it's most likely going to be harsh, unless, one regularly travels with their non-best gear, lol.
the gold amount is the particular i'm trying to work out. 300 is fine, but, i don't know bwooly's reasoning so i'm in the process of rationalizing my own figure.