I was looking at the Campaign Coins on Paizo's website, but to get enough to last an entire 1-20 level adventure path you'd have to spend a fortune. Plus half of them are out of stock.
But then I looked at eBay instead. And started looking at plastic coins. And I found you could buy hundreds and hundreds of them in different sizes and in gold or silver colours for a pittance. Some are based on real-world currencies (like kids' pretend money), but a lot are pirate-themed and the like. Use the larger sizes as larger denominations, and you can pick up enough to last you forever and spend less than you would on a new book.
Then I got even more adventurous. I found toy plastic gold and silver bullion bars, tons of cheap toy or fake gemstones, and more. So I grabbed 10 each of a few different colours (clear, green, white, black, blue, red, etc.) I'd still spent almost nothing.
And then I bought a kid's toy pirate treasure chest for under a fiver to keep them all in.
None of this stuff has arrived yet, but when my massive haul of treasure arrives I'll post a picture. When I run my next campaign, I'll buy a drawstring bag/pouch for each of my players to keep their money in, and when they loot a guard's corpse, I'll be able able to say "You find this pouch" and throw a sall puch with assorted coins and gems onto the table and let them divide it up how they want.
I did this when I ran Age of Worms a couple of years ago, but I was using printed-out card money, which isn't the same. I combined that with Paizo's item card sets, and we had a rule "If you don't have it, you don't have it". Money and equipment counts itself just by virtue of existing. If anyone says "Oh, I gave that potion to him before the fight started" I can say "Did you? Who has the card?", and when the players are shopping I can literally sell an item card for coins or gems, or when a player drinks a potion, he hands to card back to me.
I find it really does add a level of immersion. It reduces accounting. And it's fun. Finding treasure feels like finding treasure.
I'm not running a campaign right now, but next time I do, I'm gonna go prop-tastic with it. It's gonna be a blast!
I might look for some toy plastic necklaces and rings and stuff now. Not for magic items, but for assorted treasure trinkets.
But then I looked at eBay instead. And started looking at plastic coins. And I found you could buy hundreds and hundreds of them in different sizes and in gold or silver colours for a pittance. Some are based on real-world currencies (like kids' pretend money), but a lot are pirate-themed and the like. Use the larger sizes as larger denominations, and you can pick up enough to last you forever and spend less than you would on a new book.
Then I got even more adventurous. I found toy plastic gold and silver bullion bars, tons of cheap toy or fake gemstones, and more. So I grabbed 10 each of a few different colours (clear, green, white, black, blue, red, etc.) I'd still spent almost nothing.
And then I bought a kid's toy pirate treasure chest for under a fiver to keep them all in.
None of this stuff has arrived yet, but when my massive haul of treasure arrives I'll post a picture. When I run my next campaign, I'll buy a drawstring bag/pouch for each of my players to keep their money in, and when they loot a guard's corpse, I'll be able able to say "You find this pouch" and throw a sall puch with assorted coins and gems onto the table and let them divide it up how they want.
I did this when I ran Age of Worms a couple of years ago, but I was using printed-out card money, which isn't the same. I combined that with Paizo's item card sets, and we had a rule "If you don't have it, you don't have it". Money and equipment counts itself just by virtue of existing. If anyone says "Oh, I gave that potion to him before the fight started" I can say "Did you? Who has the card?", and when the players are shopping I can literally sell an item card for coins or gems, or when a player drinks a potion, he hands to card back to me.
I find it really does add a level of immersion. It reduces accounting. And it's fun. Finding treasure feels like finding treasure.
I'm not running a campaign right now, but next time I do, I'm gonna go prop-tastic with it. It's gonna be a blast!
I might look for some toy plastic necklaces and rings and stuff now. Not for magic items, but for assorted treasure trinkets.
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