Silver Standard?

[3catcircus]

I kinda like shifting coins down one step. Longsword = 15sp, Meals = 1cp etc.
Dunno how realistic it is, but it's different, though not enough so to have to change everything in the book.

Hmm, according to the medieval price list at Fordham University (admittedly taken with a grain of salt), a cheap peasant's sword was 6 pence, while a knight might own armor worth roughly 17 pounds. A knight (mercenary) earned roughly 2 pence/day.

 

[ChampionoftheTriad]

I use a custom silver conversion for my campaigns...

Everything in the PH that is simple and common...clothes, basic equipment etc. is converted from gp to sp

Armor is twice its gp cost in sp, simple weapons are about 5 times ,and complex weapons such as swords are 10 times their gp cost in sp (I have a multi leveled masterwork system...basic masterwork as in the PH is +50% cost)

Magic is converted as mundane items from gp to sp thus it remains essentially the same value (but an easy mod would be to increase the effective costs of magic)

This system serves to reduce equipment gain at the lowest levels so that masterwork greatsword or full plate armor is a little more significant...and also to add verisimilitude to my games by restricting the mounds of gold that are the equivalent of ALL THE GOLD EVER UNEARTHED by the 1500's to just "special" occasions...

oh...I also reduce the overall treasure per encounter to about half normal to slow down that magic build up...

 

[evilbob]

So, I really don't see how this will be meaningless - the PCs have to physically carry *more* weight in coinage to buy items.

My goal is two-fold. One - make it harder for PCs to utilize black holes of holding to carry off whole thrones, which seems too prevalent right now. Two - make it more expensive to purchase items by devaluing the actual coinage available, thus limiting access to magic items.

To me, it seems far simpler to just actuate those goals rather than increase the complicated math. "All money weighs twice as much." Done. "All prices are double normal." Done. Or, just do as other GMs and take the most easy path of all: limit access to wealth however you want during the game. In other words: this system is fine, but there are much simpler ways to realize these goals. It might be worth exploring them to keep the overall game structure easy to deal with for your players. (Then again, if all your players love this sort of thing, you're certainly headed in the right direction.)

 

[EvilPheemy]

I also use a Silver base for the main Kingdoms and Cultures in my campaign. Gold is rare, and Platinum exceedingly rare (to the point that Platinum isn't used as coinage). I develop complex monetary systems with differing exchange rates based on who minted what, and if they're friendly towards each other. It's not quite Alan Greenspan's "Dungeons and Fiscal Standards", but it does add a bit of flavor to my game. This way, even a simple chest of Gold Coins becomes a hook for further adventure, rather than "Yawn, 1,500 gp, move along".

The *real* wealth in my game comes from Title and Land. If characters really want to be movers and shakers in the Realm, that's what they're going to need. Title gives you the right to own Land, and Land gives you People to rule over. (Also, it's hard for the Theive's Guild to make off with your land after a night of drinking and celebrating.)

 

[TheYeti1775]

Valus (written by our own Destan) is based on the Silver Piece as the default vice the Gold Piece.

 

[GreatLemur]

Yeah. Use the standard system. Change the name of the coins (done that). For a bit of exotic flavour, introduce some strange coinage - like the old 2e electrum piece (woth five gp).

Pretty sure it was half a GP. Since the stuff's an alloy of silver and gold, it probably shouldn't be worth more than gold.

But yeah, keeping the decimal system and just changing the names and appearances of the currency seems like the best idea. The system from the post-apocalyptic MMO Auto Assault comes to mind, of all things. I think it goes something like 1 globe (unexplained glowing sphere) = 10 bars (solid ingots of nonspecific metal) = 100 scrip (pre-apocalypse paper money) = 1,000 clinks (pre-apocalypse coins, naturally).

 

[Randolpho]

2e electrum piece (woth five gp).

<Pedantic>Electrum is a gold/silver alloy, and was worth five *silver* pieces (or *half* a gold piece) in 2e.</Pedantic>