Money Matters: What Kind of Cash is in Your Campaign?

[Tonguez]

No Money at all

My setting -Hawaiki (Mythic Polynesia)- has no money and an economy based on 'ritual gift exchange'. Wealth is thus determined by a persons ability to 'Influence' others and convince them to provide goods, services or labour.

On a mechanical level this 'influence' (Mana) works in a way similar to the ModernD20 wealth system (ie rolling vs Cost DCs) but also has some additional purposes. Base Mana/Influence is determined as Level + Cha mod (thus Cha is no longer a dump stat) with Acquired Mana being added (or subtracted) depending on a characters deeds

 

[Pseudonym]

In my Forgotten Realms game, I use the standard coinage, plus the exotic coins such as the Waterdavian Harbor Moon to spice things up. Bloodnotes and other forms of paper trading coster marks tend to turn up. My players tend to buy up gems and other easily portable items before they make long journeys, and the infamous 100GP pearl has taken on a life of its own as a medium of barter between wizards.

In general I try not to let currency become a center stage issue, though I will throw them for a roleplaying loop every once in a while, such as the ultra-patriotic Cormyrean merchant who flatly refused their Sembian coins.

If anything, currency only comes up as an encumberance issue, which I am a stickler for.

 

[Khorod]

Tonguez, that's the coolest use of d20 Modern's system I have heard of. Takes it from so-so to some synonym of cool. (Hate to use the same word twice)

 

[Treebore]

The only thing I did was change the weight of the coins to 100 per pound. 10 coins per pound is rediculous. A more realistic number would probably be closer to 50 coins per pound, buyt i seem to remember readin in an old Best of Dragon that the Romans had like 123 coins weighing a pound, so that is the way I have done it ever since.

 

[Ace]

The topic on no Common language got me thinking about this, since it's another aspect of the game which doesn't seem to be thought about much in comparison to some of the bigger mechanics (magic, combat, races, classes, etc.).

What kind of system(s) of currency do you use in your campaign? Do you use the standard 3.X D&D currency system? Do you use an earlier system (1st ed. AD&D, for example)? Do you use a system from another setting or game (like Dragonlance's steel pieces or Dark Sun's ceramic pieces)? Do you have alternate forms of currency (like paper money in a medieval-style game, copper-alloy coins of various sizes and denominations, etc.)? Do you even use money in the game (maybe use the barter system instead, or special trade methods)?

Then again, do you have multiple currency systems IYC? Do your PCs have to concern themselves with exchange rates while on the road? Do prices & coin values fluctuate? Do they have to worry about counterfeiting?

Money isn't super important IMC. Most of the characters have jobs that pay the bills more or less and magic items are more found or gifted than bought

However each nation will have (I am still in the process of building parts of the world) its own currency with a different look

In general though currency weighs a lot less than its D&D counterparts

Coins weigh roughly 1/4 to 1/5 of what they do in the PHB (200-25 per pound of weight)

The base of the economy is is the Silver penny -- I figure that sits in for GP in the rules although I will be tweaking some costs.

Copper Pieces are about the size of a US penny and are called "Bits"

Gold coins are 240 (or 4800 in D&D terms) to the pound and are called Crowns (or Guilders in some places)

Thats the basics --

What this does is gives me a more historical feel for currency

While a D&D world is much richer than a real medieval world would be I do prefer more down to Earth (pun intended) numbers

YMMV

 

[Norfleet]

I used the standard currencies like before, but nowhere close to the level of coinage suggested by even the prices of items now. Instead, players received payments in horses, cows, pigs, sheep, grain, and soforth. When a farmer sends a party off to kill some monsters which have been bugging them, he sure as hell doesn't have a few hundred gold pieces as a reward. He *DOES*, however, have a pig or a mule he could give them. Some of these non-traditional rewards can take on a life of their own. Others get traded off, perhaps at a net loss from a goldpiece point of view. This all helps to keep the wealth level under control while not having to badly stiff the players, since I can just alter the mix of actual cash to assets. A fighter with a 3000gp farm isn't quite on the same level as a fighter with a sword of the same value. The former arguably gives him a bit more flavor, too. Besides, swords get lost or stolen. I'm a regular demolition derby on gear, since from personal experience, I know that rarely does a soldier make it back with most of his original gear intact.

 

[kigmatzomat]

What kind of system(s) of currency do you use in your campaign?

I base the common currencies on the standards with local flavor.

Shield = copper coin. Has hole punched in it so that it may be kept on a knotted string (the poor man's coin purse). Shields are commonly woven into traveling clothing.

Solnar = silver coin. Named for the founding king's clan.

Sovereign = gold coin.

Measure = platinum coin. Named from the common Solamnic phrase "by the oath and measure" since a single platinum coin often measured a knight's worth.

Mark = not a coin per se, but 1lb of coin. A Shield Mark is 50cp. Used most commonly by treasuries & userers to inventory coin. Name comes from tally book entries.

Check - Two marks (100 coin, 2lb) rarely used except by people who have a thing for round numbers.

Letters of credit, guild coins and trade bars are the typical means of moving large amounts of wealth.

Letters of credit are a very chancy thing unless from a particularly hard to forge source that you trust. The most common letters of credit are between familial nobles ("Cousin, these men are in my service. Please pay them two marks gold and I shall make restitution at harvest.") or between particular churches of the same faith. At times a letter of credit is worth less than the paper it's printed on.
Letters of credit are always marked with a seal, some bear the seals of witnesses, and often include a code hidden in the document or a magical mark.

Guild coins are less a currency than a verification. They tend to be incredibly ornate and used like a seal to signify the authenticity of a message or letter of credit. Each guildmaster has a handful of personalized Guildcoin and as such they are valuable to the guild both for their rarity and the potential chaos they could cause.

Trade bars are certified weights of precious metal (typically 1lb). They have a seal engraved into them and often a magical mark. Most trade bars are shipped between branches of a guild to provide a balance of wealth or establish a base of capital. They aren't currency as much as hard wealth in a more easily handled form than coinage.
The majority of trade bars are shipped from the miners to the coin mints and turned into traditional currency.

 

[Holy Bovine]

No Money at all

My setting -Hawaiki (Mythic Polynesia)- has no money and an economy based on 'ritual gift exchange'. Wealth is thus determined by a persons ability to 'Influence' others and convince them to provide goods, services or labour.

On a mechanical level this 'influence' (Mana) works in a way similar to the ModernD20 wealth system (ie rolling vs Cost DCs) but also has some additional purposes. Base Mana/Influence is determined as Level + Cha mod (thus Cha is no longer a dump stat) with Acquired Mana being added (or subtracted) depending on a characters deeds

Very nice modification of the d20 Modern welath system. I really like the system as is for Modern play but have been trying to think of ways to adapt it to my D&D and Dragonstar games. If you have any other details about it please post them!

For my games currently I just use the standard coins from the PHB. Monetary stuff has always been a thorn in my GM side as invariably I either ignore it and have the players never spend a penny until they need to make magic items or i becoem obsessed with it and nickel and dime them into madness.

That is why I am looking at the wealth system from d20 Modern. i know that's not really what this topic is about but Tonguez's post got me thinking about it again.

 

[AFGNCAAP]

Thanks for the replies! Keep `em coming!

The only time that I had any sort of alternate currency was for an old homebrew campaign. I wanted to have a silver standard currency, so I increased the silver piece's value to that of a gold piece (roughly $1), created a brass piece for a new $0.10 value coin, & increased the value of electrum (now $5), gold (now $10), & platinum (now $50). It proved a bit confusing for the players, since the were used to the "gold standard" of the core game.

Now I'm pretty much sticking with the core currency system, and its existence throughout the area goes hand in hand with the "commoness" of the Common language--invasion & conquest. There is only 1 (rather large) human kingdom in the region, & they set the standards for the land.

 

[Storm Raven]

The base coin in the current campaign area is the shilling, a dime sized silver coin roughly equal in value to a standard gold piece.

The next step "down" is the copper penny, also a dime sized coin, ten of which make a shilling.

As a step "up" there is the gold mark, a larger, heavier coin, worth 50 shillings.

Interspersed with this are "cut" coins.

Gold marks, shillings, and pennies are all commonly cut in half, making the "half-mark", "half-shilling", and "half penny".

Copper pennies are commonly cut into eight pieces, called "bits" for small transactions.

In other areas of the world, currency is different, but gold, silver, copper, and bronze are the common base metals used.