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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Al" data-source="post: 58378" data-attributes="member: 2486">DnD v Real World Price ExchangeShoot me down in flames, but I did a brief sketch to work out the equivalent value of gold pieces in today's money:Current Gold Price= $300/oz (I think)The DMG states that 50 gold pieces weigh 1 lb.  Therefore each gold piece weighs roughly 1/4 oz, and is worth $75.Which means that one silver piece=$7.50, and one copper is $0.75.  So KD's 1cp=$1 equivalence is quite good, if a bit generous.  And his 1cp=50p is almost exactly correct.I'd agree with KD's fundamental point.  The peasant wages listed in the DMG are far too low, using either labour market analysis or just comparing it with the prices of everday goods.A multiplication of 5 seems sensible- it provides the peasant with a living wage without making it ridiculously high, and compares well against the untrained Craft skills.Going back to my argument,LostSoul: Easily.  The typical peasant I believe starts with 2d4gp (ok this is metagaming but we have to for now).  Craft tools cost 5gp, so this isn't a problem.  If worst comes to worst, he could get a loan from the local lord (who were generally keen to encourage enterprise in most medieval/feudal lands: higher vassal wages means higher taxes).  Under standard rules, with his additional income he could pay off the loan with interest in under a fortnight.Storminator: This image of the 'strongarm guild' is a popular misconception.  The guild of medieval times acted more as a meeting-place, a secure market, a place to discuss techniques and expertise and a medieval pseudo-social security system (e.g. looking after member's widows).  The 'strongarm guild' would not exist: for one, the local lord looked very disfavourably on private muscle (private armies in England were banned after the Norman Conquest- and that's for nobles, let alone guilds) and secondly, most guild members would not approve.  More realistically, the guild would take in and train apprentices who showed an interest and relative aptitude to the task, much as The Oracle layed out, although most people did not remain apprentices for long.  The free labour market may not have existed, but then it was far more flexible than you suggest, and with a wage disparity of sevenfold, most peasants would be exceedingly happy to go for apprenticeship, especially if the labourer wages are as pitiful as in the DMG.  As for the guild, it was usually keen to recruit new apprentices: more apprentices meant more influence for the guild, greater revenue and 'economies of scale' (in a medieval sense of the phrase).And curiously enough, as a sort-of aside, one CN party member once tried asking an old black dragon why he needed to hoard his treasure and what he intended to do with it.  It attacked him before he managed to say 'you should invest it in long-term growth medium-risk corporate bonds'.</blockquote>

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