Let's talk about selling treasure...

[Hand of Evil]

My question is WHY DO DMs TELL THEM? You find a chest, inside is 500 GP?

It should be:
DM: You find a chest inside is a large amount of gold?
Player: Really, how much?
DM: You going to count it? Besides, can you count over 20?
Player: Over 20! I am freaking rich!

 

[Zappo]

I think that round numbers are handy, while odd numbers add little to the game. Selling gems, on the other hand, is another matter entirely. IMC, gems aren't currency; you need to Appraise them, find a buyer, haggle, and all - and generally speaking, you'll sell them for half their value, like everything else.

As for counting... well, you don't really need to count them. You can get a pretty good approximation by weighing the coins with some scales, and it doesn't take more than a few minutes. Also, you can safely assume that the PCs are pocketing them without counting, and that they will count them later when they have an hour of time. Bottom line, counting coins isn't an issue.

 

[Turanil]

Low-magic, low-wealth, odd number of coins, hassle to sell treasure, etc. I do all of this to help bring a suspension of disbelief and ambiance to my games!

Chests with round numbers of gold-pieces, gems with set prices that don't need Appraise checks and transform into gold when the players just declare "they sold them", all of this sounds to me as a door / room / monster to kill / take treasure, then go to next room. It reminds me of a published module, when in the depth of a tomb, my character opens a door on a small corridor and... random encounter with a charging Gorgon! I have grown tired of this way of playing, I had fun with this only in the beginning when the game was new and exciting, and we didn't look at this kind of details. Now for me, all the above in the game, is just like if going to see the LotR movie, I noticed that Aragorn wears a Rolex, because the actor didn't bother to remove his watch.

 

[Slobber Monster]

Some of us call this "glossing over the unimportant details". If you consider the important part of the game to be running excited tactical combats, interracting with powerful NPC's, shaping the destiny of kingdoms, and so on, why bother with every bit of minutia involving the disposal of wealth. Let the accountants worry about that stuff, my player's characters are too busy being heroes.

Mind you, some mundane items do get histories, or plot tie-ins, are hard to dispose of, or are even red herrings. There's usually a good reason for it though.

 

[shilsen]

I use round numbers for coinage, but the players know that I'm approximating. Once they have a substantial amount of money in hand, I don't make them mark off prices for mundane things like buying a newspaper or a meal or a new belt, so the rounded off amounts for treasure are because the extra coins are being spent for such minor things.

As for gems, appraise checks do matter and other skills (diplomacy, sense motive, etc.) will help when selling them.

 

[der_kluge]

I will second Phil's 101 Mundane treasures. Perfect for this kind of stuff. Just perfect.


Also, it seems probable that some chests *could* have a nice round number of coins in them, like 500gp, but there would likely be more than one, and the last would have some oddball number, like 134. In other words, for convenience, the owner might put 500 gp in each chest for ease in counting, so 3 chests, that's 1,500gp, and then whatever was left over in the 4th.


And good for you, Turanil. Treasure can really add a lot to the game if played right.

 

[philreed]

I am certainly interested in this! Where can I get this document (ahem... assuming it is available for free ).

Well, it isn't free but this is:

http://www.roninarts.com/downloads/dozensampler.pdf

 

[Turanil]

Thanks for the dozen-samplers!

 

[VirgilCaine]

Also, it seems probable that some chests *could* have a nice round number of coins in them, like 500gp, but there would likely be more than one, and the last would have some oddball number, like 134. In other words, for convenience, the owner might put 500 gp in each chest for ease in counting, so 3 chests, that's 1,500gp, and then whatever was left over in the 4th.

Good point there.

 

[Warehouse23]

As for chests with round numbers of coins in them, you have to remember that in some ways, treasure chests are the attache-cases-with-neat-stacks-of-twenties-in-them of a fantasy world. A decadent potentate might just keep piles of swag littered about his palace, but most intelligent opponents with large amounts of wealth (read: people or dragons who happen to have treasure hordes sitting around) are going to keep their loot organized and counted (to make sure it's not stolen, or so it can be used quickly and efficiently). Conversly, loot from a slathering orc's den might consist of a chest with scores of unorganized coins, bits of trash, and anything else he threw into the bin in a fit of orcish whimsy.

If you really want to be cruel to your players, fill a room with useless fake coins (say, tin disks, a few feet deep) with a few platinum pieces sticking out of the pile. Then let them spend hours in game sorting through the similar looking pieces, trying to seperate the wheat from the chaff. That should give their opposition a few hours to regroup and counter-attack....