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<blockquote data-quote="gizmo33" data-source="post: 3511235" data-attributes="member: 30001">We probably don't differ by much at this point.&nbsp; Maybe just some minor things, which could just be a matter of vocabulary.One minor point could be this issue of &quot;monetary incentive&quot; that you're talking about.&nbsp; You've emphasized non-money economies in a lot of ways that I'm not clear on the significance exactly, though I find nothing to object to that you say, the statements proximity to my statements and the tone would imply disagreement, but I don't understand what.I have some problems with putting too much emphasis on non-money economies (which I'm not sure you're doing).&nbsp; One is simply that DnD from beginning to end assumes such an economy for players - even if a character's starting goods are those he inherited, those goods have a value that's determined by gp value.&nbsp; There's very little-nothing in the default rules that makes non-money conditions on when you can buy swords or whatever.&nbsp; Secondly, I think a money-based economy is appropriate to the technological level that DnD seems to represent.&nbsp; You have platemail, merchant ships, mineral acids, spyglasses, etc.&nbsp; I don't think that the economic practices of the Early Middle Ages are necessarily the best fit.&nbsp; There are historical periods both before and after that seem better for this.&nbsp; (This makes DnD not a good match for Tolkien's world, but then I think Gygax always maintained this.)Lastly, there's what I call the &quot;buried treasure&quot; fantasy.&nbsp; Such stories of buried treasure are fairly ubiquitous, ranging from stories of Egyptian tomb robbers, to leprechaun's and their pots of gold, or even the contracts that devils would make with the conjurer to reveal treasure in Renaissance grimoires.&nbsp; I don't really know that these folktales exactly correspond to the Early Middle Ages, but they seem to suggest a fantasy in the minds of the people that doesn't make sense if they can't spend gold fairly freely.&nbsp; If there are so many social restrictions on the use of money that it doesn't represent basically unlimited potential, then I can't reconcile that with the environment that these stories seem to describe.&nbsp; As a corollary, one of my problems with being too restrictive on the selling of magic items is that you impede the &quot;treasure fantasy&quot; of the PCs.&nbsp; A big pile of gold ought to be a glorious thing to adventurers, it ought to translate as power and potential as it does in most historical periods in the real world.&nbsp; And yet if all you can do with it is buy oxen, or get saddled with a castle and a mortgage then it loses it's luster.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="gizmo33, post: 3511235, member: 30001"] We probably don't differ by much at this point. Maybe just some minor things, which could just be a matter of vocabulary. One minor point could be this issue of "monetary incentive" that you're talking about. You've emphasized non-money economies in a lot of ways that I'm not clear on the significance exactly, though I find nothing to object to that you say, the statements proximity to my statements and the tone would imply disagreement, but I don't understand what. I have some problems with putting too much emphasis on non-money economies (which I'm not sure you're doing). One is simply that DnD from beginning to end assumes such an economy for players - even if a character's starting goods are those he inherited, those goods have a value that's determined by gp value. There's very little-nothing in the default rules that makes non-money conditions on when you can buy swords or whatever. Secondly, I think a money-based economy is appropriate to the technological level that DnD seems to represent. You have platemail, merchant ships, mineral acids, spyglasses, etc. I don't think that the economic practices of the Early Middle Ages are necessarily the best fit. There are historical periods both before and after that seem better for this. (This makes DnD not a good match for Tolkien's world, but then I think Gygax always maintained this.) Lastly, there's what I call the "buried treasure" fantasy. Such stories of buried treasure are fairly ubiquitous, ranging from stories of Egyptian tomb robbers, to leprechaun's and their pots of gold, or even the contracts that devils would make with the conjurer to reveal treasure in Renaissance grimoires. I don't really know that these folktales exactly correspond to the Early Middle Ages, but they seem to suggest a fantasy in the minds of the people that doesn't make sense if they can't spend gold fairly freely. If there are so many social restrictions on the use of money that it doesn't represent basically unlimited potential, then I can't reconcile that with the environment that these stories seem to describe. As a corollary, one of my problems with being too restrictive on the selling of magic items is that you impede the "treasure fantasy" of the PCs. A big pile of gold ought to be a glorious thing to adventurers, it ought to translate as power and potential as it does in most historical periods in the real world. And yet if all you can do with it is buy oxen, or get saddled with a castle and a mortgage then it loses it's luster. [/QUOTE]

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