D&D 4E 4E Item price parity.

[Saeviomagy]

How hard do you think making full plate is then?
i can tell you, a lot more, lot more work and time too
and it needs some mad skills to fit the person who will use it.
by the end of the dark ages only 6 places in europe (and the world) were known to have crafters good enough to make them.
A fully plated knight and warhorse cost enough to equip 100 soldiers.

so yeah, if they still make plate out of steel, it should be a bit expensive.

They were called the dark ages for a reason.

And it's not because the knights were long.

 

[VannATLC]

KKDragonLord.

What's the foundatiion of your DND worlds economy?

Most complaints I've seen about the economy end up groundless, because they have no set point for value comparison.

What would a PoL's economy be based on?

Food?
Metal?
Labour? (If food is plentiful.)

The price of plate all depends on this. If you've a society that's has magic to improve crop growth, has magically means to refine ore, etc, then what's the worth of an item calculated on? (In that case, it would likely be labour. Something similiar to our markets now. In which case, plate would be cheaper.)
Also, if you're going to work on consistency, then I hope you're running in a world with very low magic. Any sort of magic tends to through out economies.

For me, I've made it easy.

Residium is the basic core of economic value. Household rituals, Crafting Rituals, Crop Rituals.. All of these things are hedge magic, available to most people, if they want to learn. So.. the core thing that defines wealth is not just magical ability, which is simply a skill that can be learnt, but resources of magic.

Also, the price point for gold has always been idiotic, in DND. The whole economy has always been broken. I've fixed it in every version, and I'll fix it in this. Using the same method, and looking at what can most easily affect the basic conditions of a society.

Labour will be highly valued in a society that has lost the skills for Magic. Items of art will hold less economic value, and more cultural and personal value. Societies, say like the Eladrin, whom have magic for everything, will value art at an asthetic and economic level, and have a much more similiar outlook to us, now.

 

[KKDragonLord]

For me, I've made it easy.

Congratulations! We both have our own solutions

Like i said, many posts prior, Dwarves influenced humans, currency is commonplace, lots of need for weapons and armor, Plate costs 200gp
players start with plate (with background tied justifications), artisans have gps, merchants have gps, gps are all around, plate is somewhat cheap though still restricted for professional men-at-arms who can afford them and constantly patrol roads.

The Mundane items, as i said in the very beginning are for the most part irrelevant. After level 3 the characters can get all they need with the standard amount of gold treasure.

For magic items i use the perfectly awesome 4e option of not having them sold, only found or created, with added house rules for players to try making higher level items.

But you would certainly already know this if you bothered to read my previous posts

Obs: As a 4e comparison standard, in my economy a Lantern costs 12sp and not 7gp

 

[Surgoshan]

They were called the dark ages for a reason.

And it's not because the knights were long.

Because it was period of intense and constant social and technological development as northern and western europe climbed from the barbarism that was never ameliorated by the presence of Rome? Because, really, that's what the period following the fall of the Roman Empire was, and it was called the dark ages only before forensic archeology proved that the times weren't dark and backward, but were rather a time of innovation and development.

 

[Dausuul]

This.

The point is, wasting time, pages and complexity on something that will matter for 10 seconds while already doing paperwork (building your character) and then never matter again is pointless. Make it simple and move on. Keterys's simplification here is even better. Just have everyone start with basic gear + adventurers pack and don't sweat it. You basically never buy mundane armor again anyway.

I agree. I don't really expect my PCs to do much with money except pay for ritual components, and since there's no real-world analogue for those, they can be priced at whatever the PHB finds convenient. For the rest, I'll probably say that the actual prices of these items are quite different (plate armor damn well costs more than ten lanterns!), but you don't have to worry about it for your starting gear.

 

[KKDragonLord]

They were called the dark ages for a reason.

And it's not because the knights were long.

Lol, i dont really understand what justifies fanboys, like some religious fanatics or terrorists who cant think straight to save their lives but.

Just to make something clear, i for one am in love with 4e, not to the point of blindness as some obviously are but a real kind of affection.

I had given up dming d&d on 3.5 simply because it was way too stressful
4e has completely revived my love for d&d and its the first rpg i bought through preorder. I am pratically flooding my players with details from our campaing through our recently created google group and i have already planned the campaing up to the 11th lvl

just because i am pointing out that something is obviously absurd in the rules as is, it doesnt mean anyone has to champion the cause and defend the games honor by giving as many rules mechanics justification as you can come up with.

4e is the first incarnation of d&d to make 10 laterns cost more than a set of plate. Officialy, 3.5 plate is still in effect as 4e is not even released yet. So yeah, 4e is less accurate on this, it certainly doesnt mean that its completely unplayable otherwise. We played d&d for 30 years with plate as the most expensive armor and portable item money could buy, so please dont try to make it sound like if anyone tries to do that the game will be unplayable, its just blatantly not true.

can we please remove the equine tunnel vision blinds now?

 

[Surgoshan]

Why the obsession with lanterns? Lanterns are actually tough to make, because you have to be able to let light out and air in without also letting wind in. It's not like a lantern's just a rock with a candle stuck on.

 

[KKDragonLord]

i know they are
Laterns rock, they take some 1337 skills to make, not everyone had one.

but its still harder to make plate
like 4 months of everyday work with helpers harder.

thats why its so fun to point it out =p

 

[see]

Are you serious?! This is a 4e (or any e) rule?OK, but does this no-money-for-non-magic-stuff idea extend to going back to town with non-magical gems, jewelry, works of art, tapestries, books of lost knowledge, golden statues, captured ships, etc. and trying to sell them? If so, that's bloody ridiculous. If not, then what's the difference between selling 6 gems and 6 longswords?

Treasures like gems and artwork do specifically sell, for full price . . . and the mechanical reason they're different is (presumably) that they're built into the treasure "packets" in the DMG, while the swords you took off the dead orcs aren't.

The rule is presented to the players, with an 'unless your DM' clause, probably so DMs can decide if they want to bother with you carting away everything that can be pried from the floor and adjuting treasure hoards if it gets out of hand. A presumption of prohibition lets the DMs who want to allow it to play the good guy, instead of the ones who don't want to bother having to play the bad guy.

 

[Starfox]

Plate being so expensive is partly a rumor. Plate mail requires a larger, more specialized workshop, but once you have that, it can be grinded out pretty cheaply. Any village smith can make chain mail, but its slow work.