Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="El Jefe" data-source="post: 2581672" data-attributes="member: 19990">Well, I think excessive is in the eye of the beholder, I don't think anyone has a handle on that.  I mean, being the devil's advocate for a moment, you could argue that if they were married, he'd provide for her until the end of either his or her days.  What's Joe Peasant's income worth, 1 sp per day?  1 sp provides, per PHB, "poor" food for a day.  The lass would still have to put a roof over her head.  1 sp/day is just over 54 years worth of income at the lowest rung of the ladder.  If she's 16, that keeps her alive until she's 70.  It doesn't maintain her "in the style that she is accustomed to" unless she is Jane Peasant, and it doesn't provide for a child...unless you presume the child will care for her in her old age.  Then there's the matter that 1000 gp goes to the city and 1000 gp to the family...none is specifically  earmarked for her.  Why is that?  I mean, is the city just "running up the fine" to encourage marriage?  Or to put it out of reach so that Joe Peasant becomes a slave to the city for some unspecified number of years?  Does the 1000 gp go to the "widows, orphans, and unwed mothers fund"?  Etc.Well, how long is the indentured servitude for?  And what is the "rate per day" for paying off the fine?  And wasn't "jail and hard labor" an option to be imposed instead of a fine?  I don't think it's a given that "jail and hard labor" means specifically 54.1 years of hard labor.Well, does Joe own his own house?  The cheapest house in the game is 1000 gp for a 1-3 room hut.  At 1 sp a day, it would take Joe peasant 27 years to pay that off, so unless he's middle aged or older, odds are he doesn't own it.  And what value is having a wife?  If she's just caught Joe fooling around with the neighbor girl, she's likely to toss his shoes, anyway!  Now, tell me, just what would a fair fine be for a married peasant?  I'd think that anything over 30 gp might as well be a million, for most of them.  I just don't see Joe Peasant paying the fine, even if you lowered it tenfold.</blockquote>

Verification