Currencies in D&D and what they can be used for

[howandwhy99]

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Remember that in the older editions GP wasn't 'exchanged' for XP. You simply got xp based on the treasure you accumulated.

It was 5:1 IIRC. Something 3e picked up retained in its own way. It wasn't some "hand over gold and go up levels" deal, but both quantities were used in determining overall capability of a challenge, creature, location, or whatever. Everything was rated, albeit for multiple different ends. XP & GP are the only two currencies I know of for old D&D, but their might be more.

 

[Dausuul]

I think hp as currency is a bit reductive. Let's talk about daily resources instead. That covers hit points, spell slots, barbarian rage, daily powers, et cetera.

In this model, daily resources are the "cost of doing business"--what you spend to keep yourself alive and victorious during an adventure. XP, meanwhile, is "investment," permanently expanding your capacities. Gold in 3E and 4E is a slush fund which can be spent on either. You can spend it on consumables and spell components which supplement your daily resources. Depending on the campaign, you may also be able to spend it on permanent magic items, which supplement your XP.

Gold is notable for being less tightly controlled than the other two, and also for the fact that it can be stored up. 3E demonstrated the problems that can result from this. On the one hand, wands of cure light wounds, knock, and the like could radically expand one's daily resources. On the other hand, permanent investment in the "big six" magic items had a staggering impact on character power. 4E tried to tackle this by instituting tighter controls on cash flow and having prices scale up radically. The results were... well, as a game mechanic supporting D&D the squad-level wargame, it worked okay. But when you got out of the dungeon and let PCs interact with non-adventurers, it started to break down.

Another thing about gold is that, in 1E, it wasn't a slush fund--it was just XP by another name. You found gold, you got XP. After that, aside from buying a few spell components, there wasn't a whole lot to do with it. From what I gather, the general idea was that you would spend it partying like a rock star. (I may go to the May art thread and ask Jon Schindehette if we can get an illo of adventurers with a sack full of gold pieces making it rain.)

I think daily resources and XP are going to look about the same in D&DN as in editions past, but the role of gold is an interesting question. I'd like to move away from the "slush fund" model, and I'd love it if the rules encouraged or at least did not punish partying like a rock star. However, I also don't have any great hankering to go back to gold-as-XP.

Ideally, gold would be the currency of "interacting with the campaign setting." It wouldn't do much for you in a typical adventure, except for the occasional bribe. But if you want to hire servants, buy a castle, raise an army, or just throw crazy parties, gold is what you need.

 

[kitsune9]

Man, I just envisioned D&D derivatives...

I just made 200 gold from an iron condor setup on put and call options with the underlying in City of Greyhawk municipal bonds.

 

[erleni]

I just made 200 gold from an iron condor setup on put and call options with the underlying in City of Greyhawk municipal bonds.

And now we need a Margin Call monster...

 

[Frostmarrow]

Didn't levelling cost money? Bring that back. Then you can describe how you spend it. –Partying like a rockstar for rogues and tracking down and pouring over books for wizards. The point is that you must spend it.

 

[nnms]

One of the very first things I did with 4E was chuck out buying magic items and creating magic items (except for some potions). Why? I didn't want GPs to be a secondary source of XPs to give bonuses and powers through magic items. I also made rituals usable without expending GPs.

What did the party do with its treasure? They built a nation funded by dragon hoards.

I would prefer GPs not being a secondary form of XPs like they are in 4E, but I will happily house rule them away.

 

[Kinak]

In my games, the exchanges flow basically one way. You get XP, gold, and items in encounters.

You use the XP to gain personal power. You use the gold to establish narrative control, changing the game world in all the ways money does. Items are the wild card, usable for personal power or exchangeable for gold.

I think spending gold to purchase and perform rituals fits into that scheme beautifully. A permanent teleportation gate or locking away a major demon isn't really about personal power, it's about narrative control, so that goes in the gold column.

Obviously, this model doesn't support the walk-in magical item store. It does support social encounters for magical items, however, in the forms of a variety of negotiations, favor-trading, and barter. I also use special components to tie crafting back into encounters.

Cheers!
Kinak

 

[Crazy Jerome]

Echoing Lost Soul, I wouldn't mind at least a trial of a specific currency for "favor"--reputation, relationships, standing, etc. Naturally, there is some limited trade with gold, but too much of that can have an (in-game) consequence. Everyone knows that rich merchants buy minor titles of nobility or marry into them, but it isn't something you flaunt or even talk about in polite company.

This makes "party like a rock star" another option, with the obvious payoff--it enhances celebrity and builds up a group of people that owe you "favor".

 

[Stalker0]

Why, Ale and Whores of course!

 

[Frostmarrow]

In my games, the exchanges flow basically one way. You get XP, gold, and items in encounters.

You use the XP to gain personal power. You use the gold to establish narrative control, changing the game world in all the ways money does. Items are the wild card, usable for personal power or exchangeable for gold.

I think spending gold to purchase and perform rituals fits into that scheme beautifully. A permanent teleportation gate or locking away a major demon isn't really about personal power, it's about narrative control, so that goes in the gold column.

Obviously, this model doesn't support the walk-in magical item store. It does support social encounters for magical items, however, in the forms of a variety of negotiations, favor-trading, and barter. I also use special components to tie crafting back into encounters.

Cheers!
Kinak

Very interesting. So if you can't trade magical items for gold, would it be posssible to pay for magical items with some sort of XP-based conditioning system where you bond with your items buy investing XP?