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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Stormprince" data-source="post: 921464" data-attributes="member: 2046">Well, originally, the idea was that "steel pieces" were to represent the ephemeral nature of wealth, as steel was more valued than gold during the Age of Despair...a great concept, but one that doesn't easily transfer itself well...The way that I kind of view it is this: making pure steel isn't an easy process, requiring quite a bit of smelting, mixing in the right amounts of copper (I believe, but my mind's not all here today, so I could be wrong) with iron, and getting out the impurities. If the steel was treated in a special way, such as the folding process used in the crafting of katanas, or mixed with a different alloy to make it useless as a weapon (if it's melted down, it loses its qualities, or the like). A single steel coin could represent twice its weight in actual steel. Steel is not the oddest currency, not even in our own world. Everything from salt to sea shells have been used. The thing to remember is that in most medieval-type socieites, money is actually uncommon, most trade is done through bartering...which doesn't really translate well into a game... I mean, how many eggs = a chicken, how many chickens = a sword? All in all, it's a flavor thing. Just as sea shells or coins threaded along strings have represented wealth in other times and places here on earth, in Ansalon, steel coins (whatever their ration of "steel" is) represent a certain amount of monetary value in trade goods. Remember, you're not only purchasing the material in the weapon (such as using steel coins to pay for a steel blade), but you're also paying the craftsman or merchant a portion of the profits as well...which is why it takes 15 steel pieces to buy a 4 lbs. steel sword...Christopher</blockquote>

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