How do you handle jewelry and valuable art as a GM?

[dragoner]

Doing near future sci-fi, Art is probably the single most valuable object, gems and jewelry, not so much. No real system, however.

 

[Jd Smith1]

A typical circlet is a pound or two. Fancy ones can be up to 6 lb; the coronation crown (St Edward's Crown) of england is about 4.9 lb (2.23kg). Queen Elisabeth's Imperial State Crown, when jeweled was 2.3 lb (1.03kg).

True. But I don't put crowns in loot. They get rings, bracelets, necklaces. Post My fantasy system & settings use a silver-based economy, so the loot values are about 10% of a D&D campaign.

And the tech level is later than the Viking era.

 

[aramis erak]

True. But I don't put crowns in loot. They get rings, bracelets, necklaces. Post My fantasy system & settings use a silver-based economy, so the loot values are about 10% of a D&D campaign.

And the tech level is later than the Viking era.

Note that the jewelry of the viking era is still not uncommon in the current era, especially since it turns into Scots and Irish as well.

The basis of the currency affects the prices, not the weights.

Given that jewelry is always a worn object, and may or may not be jeweled... linguistic drift... the gem on the jewelry is only a jewel once mounted to it. Many necklaces are known to be multiple ounces.

 

[Jd Smith1]

Note that the jewelry of the viking era is still not uncommon in the current era, especially since it turns into Scots and Irish as well.

I also do not have Scots or Irish in my settings.

Given that jewelry is always a worn object, and may or may not be jeweled... linguistic drift... the gem on the jewelry is only a jewel once mounted to it. Many necklaces are known to be multiple ounces.

A gem is a gem, mounted or not. I think you are confusing semi-precious stone with gems.

In a medieval setting, jewelry is going to be small-cast, or wire. Very light. Again, what monarchs and high nobility wears won't be what shows up in lairs.

 

[aco175]

I mostly blow it over and just give out the GP value. Then it is assumed they sell it off in town first chance they get. I try to penalize the PCs for destroying things for the parts. If there is a statue with gems I say is worth 1000gp and the PCs choose to break it up for parts, they might get 200.

I used to track the pieces of art and items that I gave out. I would track how long they had something and depending on what type of item it is made from, start taking worth off based on weather and battle damage. Say the PCs had a 4ft painting worth 500gp they were toting around for a month in and out of dungeons, dodging fireballs and camping out in rainstorms, it might not be worth that much afterwards when they get to a town to sell it.

I found the players did not care as much, so now I just skip it.

 

[MNblockhead]

I currently running WFRP. I have them role an evaluate role to get a very general idea of whether it is valuable. When it comes time to sell, I used the trading rules to see if they can find a buyer. I set the price offered based on a rough guesstimate of what makes sense based on prices for luxury good in the consumer guide. They can make a haggle check to attempt to increase the price 5 to 10 percent. Sometimes there is an in-story reason or good opportunity for a hook to lead them to specific merchant or black marketeer in which case I may have an over generous offer.

 

[Piperken]

...So: Do you figure weights and values for jewelry and art pieces ad-hoc by hand-waving? Or do you have some sort of system? I'm interested in systems, particularly those that don't make a hash where the 'artistic' value is negative. I really want the minimum value to be the value of the gem and precious metal components.

Thoughts?

With the understanding this is the general rpg section, so everyones' suggestions will be different:

Treasure by Courtney Campbell I've found useful for covering some aspects of treasure generating and inspo for what kinds of treasure might be found.

In the current game, the party had a recent opportunity to make off with a lot of loot from a mostly abandoned noble property. They could've fetched a cart from the very small village that was closest to this site, but realized they needed a horse or other draft animal to pull it, as they were three days travel from their starting point.

However, they had a running clock for a different task.

They lacked the money to purchase someone's animal, no villager in this village was willing to be bereft of their daily livelihood for 6 days, and the PCs weren't nefarious.

All to say, sometimes the situation will just pan out with PCs not being able to take every last thing they want.

Some players will have characters that are loot goblins (or the players themselves are loot goblins.) While weight/inventory slots/etc can be a primary factor, I often bring up fictive considerations in situations as well:

While any thief is capable of carrying off ten sets of silverware, what did they do to stifle all that noisy jangling?

A dozen crystal glasses? How were they packed to avoid them breaking?

Carting off that exceedingly valuable, floor sized rug? What are you putting away in your hand, to ensure it doesn't just fall off your shoulder? How are you walking with it rolled up, through that door?

I employ fences as a downtime action, who in return for a small cut, become involved when:

• PCs have goods they want to sell, but wish to be anonymous
• PCs have illegal goods they want to be rid of, but there's no time pressure or heat

The cut the fence takes goes up if:

• There is high heat surrounding the goods
• The goods are unique or identifiable by authorities
• PCs desire a quick sale

The fence can then attempt to get rid of the goods, but the actual sale price will be less than its original value. They'll also demand a higher cut. Agreeing to a lower total percentage of the value of the goods, ensures PCs will be rid of it faster.

A roll is made and based off that result, possible fictive complications for above could include:

• Something gets traced back to the PCs
• An item or several items initiates, or ends up counting as, evidence in an investigation
• The prospective buyer gets cold feet, makes a second offer for less, or reneges
• The sale could be an op by the authorities, criminals, a faction, etc.

 

[Jd Smith1]

A reminder than in RL, 10% of actual value is a good price for stolen goods. Certain goods, such as gold jewelry, guns, and high-end golf clubs, will get more, and sell easily. Electronics are usually not worth lugging, with the exception of top-end game platforms.

If you are selling jewelry that will be melted down, you're not getting much; the value of jewelry lies in craftsmanship, not the metal. On the other hand, its pure profit. But items recovered from non-Humans won't be illegal and won't need to be melted down. All you need is to haul it to a city large enough to have a demand. But you're still only getting a fraction of its true value, because you are selling it to a middleman.

Gems, on the other hand, would have a higher resale value because they are in demand as a portable, concealable medium of wealth that is not subject to currency exchange rates. And Pcs can easily hold into them until they find a price they find acceptable price.

Portability and durability are the keystones of my player's looting habits. I occasionally try to bait them with statues and the like, but they resist the temptation.

 

[Distracted DM]

Treasure by Courtney Campbell I've found useful for covering some aspects of treasure generating and inspo for what kinds of treasure might be found.

Appreciate this share!

One of my favorites for finding a hoard of treasure is Frog God's The Mother of All Treasure Tables.

Spoiler: The preview really doesn't do it justice, so here's one page:

As for various art pieces like paintings, sculpture, etc. I keep it relatively simple while maintaining some level of verisimilitude: if the piece is worth a lot, they can sell it for a fraction of the price immediately OR they can try to find a buyer via downtime, or by commissioning a go-between to find that buyer for them.
Say they find a wonderful bust of an ancient dwarven king with possible historical value, call it 2500gp. They could sell it immediately at market for 250gp (10% of value), or they could sell it for ~70% of its value via the go-between, but it'll take some time for them to get a buyer (probably a month). Or they could spend their own downtime making checks to sell it for 100%, probably over a week or two.

 

[Piperken]

I have a degree on the side in art history, and would love to geek deep into the subject as GM. My players though are uncultivated barbarians, so I just handwave and move on

What do your uncultivated barbarians find valuable?

Optionally, what would be the most art history geeky object they feel was not valuable, but suddenly find themselves in charge of a) recovering and b) ensuring it gets to where it needs to be safely?