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Game Design 112: Wealth
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<blockquote data-quote="Radiating Gnome" data-source="post: 7651272" data-attributes="member: 150"><p>One of the things I've been fascinated about in museums here are there are some of the small, local currencies that crop up here and there. It's something that we rarely see detailed in a D&D game, where money is money, gold pieces are gold pieces, etc. </p><p></p><p>My favorite was tavern tokens -- local currency minted in lead or pewter or something else fairly common. They were used to make small change, etc. </p><p></p><p>Here's a link to a picture of some: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10662608@N06/941241462/" target="_blank">http://www.flickr.com/photos/10662608@N06/941241462/</a></p><p></p><p>I like the idea of these local tokens or chits as a sort of stop-gap between national coinage and a barter economy -- and unlike gold or silver coins -- where the value is basically the literal value of the precious metal -- these tokens are actually closer to paper money, where they have a value that's related to what the currency <em>represents</em>, rather than what it's actually made of. That lead slug from the Fox & Whistle is worth a lot more than a little slug of lead -- it's worth a large pint, or a bowl of stew. But it's value is very local, too -- it's only good at the Fox & Whistle, don't try to use it down the street at the Toad Whisperer Saloon. </p><p></p><p>Trying to add that kind of depth and character to a RPG isn't always worth the effort -- it's a distraction -- but it might be an interesting source of clues -- the way it works in Joe Abecrombie's <em>Red Country</em> (ancient currency becomes a clue). </p><p></p><p>-rg</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Radiating Gnome, post: 7651272, member: 150"] One of the things I've been fascinated about in museums here are there are some of the small, local currencies that crop up here and there. It's something that we rarely see detailed in a D&D game, where money is money, gold pieces are gold pieces, etc. My favorite was tavern tokens -- local currency minted in lead or pewter or something else fairly common. They were used to make small change, etc. Here's a link to a picture of some: [url]http://www.flickr.com/photos/10662608@N06/941241462/[/url] I like the idea of these local tokens or chits as a sort of stop-gap between national coinage and a barter economy -- and unlike gold or silver coins -- where the value is basically the literal value of the precious metal -- these tokens are actually closer to paper money, where they have a value that's related to what the currency [I]represents[/I], rather than what it's actually made of. That lead slug from the Fox & Whistle is worth a lot more than a little slug of lead -- it's worth a large pint, or a bowl of stew. But it's value is very local, too -- it's only good at the Fox & Whistle, don't try to use it down the street at the Toad Whisperer Saloon. Trying to add that kind of depth and character to a RPG isn't always worth the effort -- it's a distraction -- but it might be an interesting source of clues -- the way it works in Joe Abecrombie's [I]Red Country[/I] (ancient currency becomes a clue). -rg [/QUOTE]
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