So, what's it worth? (My Players Stay Out Please!)

[FCWesel]

Okay.

My players are gonna need to get thier hands on a 10,000gp Diamond (which they will eventually have to get crushed to dust) and I am trying to come up with a better idea of the "worth" of such a thing. What kind of beast might have such a diamond? What would a king or ruling body want in trade for such a thing? What thing could they want done?

And, of course, once they have it...What can crush a diamond of that size and quality into dust?

Any thoughts?

 

[Darth K'Trava]

Does it have to be ONE diamond of that value or a multiple of diamonds equal to that value?

 

[Crothian]

What can crush a diamond? a simple hammer. Hit it enough and it will be all diamond dust. Diamonds are hard to scratch, but not hard to destroy.

As for the worth, is the diamond one of a kind like the Hope diamond or is just one of say 100 in the world worth that much?

 

[FCWesel]

Does it have to be ONE diamond of that value or a multiple of diamonds equal to that value?

I am thinking (for my taste) the one diamond worth 10,000gp.

(btw, thanks for replaying guys.)

 

[Patman21967]

I would make it a fairly difficult quest to find it, if it's a 1 of a kind thing.

Maybe a Lich has it and uses it as a scrying device, or you could use the old dragon standby, or perhaps they have to make a deal with a demon or devil to get it, and then they get double crossed, and the demon doesn't give it to them, and they have to kill him for it...

just off the top, without any real thought.

 

[Turjan]

Diamonds burn pretty easily. It's just carbon after all .

 

[LostSoul]

Here's a really wierd thing about those material item components: it doesn't say anything about the size or the carats of the diamond, just how much it costs.

Since something is worth whatever someone will pay you for it, can the PCs just drop 10k at the local jeweller's, buy a 1 carat diamond, and use that?

No?

Okay then.

10,000 is 10,000 is 10,000. That's how much it is worth. The question then becomes, who has the power to have 10,000 gps worth of resources tied up in something as powerless as a diamond? Much better to have some kind of magic item, no?

So it may be somebody rich who doesn't need to protect themselves (ie. the Queen's poolboy) and the diamond is just a gift, or somebody who's very powerful who doesn't care about 10,000 gp, or perhaps an artifact of the state like the US Constitution valued for its symbolic value, or belonging to a thief who needs to get rid of it, or rabid monkey ninjas!

Or whatever, really... it's just a McGuffin that can grease the wheels of your plot.

 

[the Jester]

A 10,000 gp diamond, imc, is an impressive rock. It's very impressive, for a diamond. That says something! It's not quite the Hope Diamond- that's prolly more like a 50K diamond- but it's definitely beyond the norm.

Who would have one? The best jeweler in the world- a gnome. Perhaps even a svirfneblin. Make him a 20th-level expert. It doesn't matter what level your party is; they aren't likely to fight him, and it establishes his place as the preeminent jeweler out there. What would it take to get this gem off of him? Probably another gem, either one as huge and flawless (and therefore valuable) as the diamond; or one so unique, so unusual, that he's never encountered it before. Perhaps this leads the party to the Elemental Plane of Earth, or the fabled plane of Minerals, or to the gemstone mines of Mechanus, where all the crystals are perfect in their symmetry. Maybe they need to take the gemstone heart of a powerful golem, dragon or magical beast. Maybe they need to steal the jeweled eyes of an eye of fear and flame. Maybe it's some sort of psionic crystal or the gem from the greatest of the clockwork horrors. Or maybe it's been made into an enchanted, intelligent item.

Here's a really wierd thing about those material item components: it doesn't say anything about the size or the carats of the diamond, just how much it costs.

Since something is worth whatever someone will pay you for it, can the PCs just drop 10k at the local jeweller's, buy a 1 carat diamond, and use that?

I have actually given a lot of thought to this sort of issue. One of the plot points I introduced in my high-level game a while back was that the pcs had bought out all the local diamonds (they're a component for a ton of great spells- stoneskin, wall of force, protection from spells, etc). They had to travel about to find more- and there was a serious shortage, because a bunch of powerful entities have been buying up most of the high-valued ones as a strategic move in a war.

That particular issue is a "get back to you on that" sort of thing at this point; but it's bound to come up again (one of the pcs mulled this sort of thing in a kind of philosophical way).

Another way of looking at it: if a group of adventurers drives up the price of diamonds by 50% by buying them all up an an area, and then needs a 1000 gp diamond for a spell, do they need to spend 1500 gp on the spell?

 

[Roman]

Hmm... about the value of the Hope Diamond

How much is the Hope diamond worth?
Spencer
North Platte, Nebraska

Dear Spencer:
Worth is a relative measure, so it is difficult to assign a dollar value to the largest and "most perfect" blue diamond in the world. Some sources value the 45.52 carat rock at a quarter of a billion dollars ($250,000,000), while others quote a more conservative figure as low as $200,000.
Much of the stone's value comes from its long and storied history beginning in India where it was said to have adorned a religious idol. A French merchant named Jean Baptiste Tavernier purchased the stone, and in turn, sold it to France's King Louis XIV.
The king had the stone recut and reset, and it remained in his possession until it was stolen during the French Revolution. The gem disappeared for many years before resurfacing in 1839 in the possession of one Henry Philip Hope. Hope, who lent his name to the jewel, purchased the diamond for $90,000. After his death, the diamond passed through a variety of hands before it was purchased by Pierre Cartier.
In 1912, Cartier sold the stone to eccentric American heiress Evalyn McLean for $185,000. McLean owned the famous gem until her death (although she did hock the jewel frequently when she ran out of funds).
Jeweler to the stars Harry Winston bought the Hope diamond from the McLean estate in 1949, and it toured the world for a number of years. Then in 1958, Winston donated the Hope diamond to the Smithsonian Institute, its present home.
The jewel is often reported to bring bad luck to those who possess it. Cartier started the tale of the stone's curse in order to intrigue Evalyn McLean into purchasing the diamond. The various tragedies Evalyn encountered during her lifetime only fueled the superstition. Evalyn, however, held a more pragmatic view of the stone's power saying, "What tragedies have befallen me might have occurred had I never seen or touched the Hope Diamond. My observations have persuaded me that tragedies, for anyone who lives, are not escapable."
http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20030609.html

 

[FCWesel]

Thanks all for your replies.

Jester, I like the Gnome idea. I had thought a king or queen might have one (would in all likelyhood) and that they could simply as a favour for it, not unlike your gnome idea. Hmm, maybe I can combine them in some way.

What if the PCs go to the gnome and make a deal. He gives them something not easy to do. Then when the PCs arrive, the gnome tells them that agents of King X came and made him sell the diamond to them. He truly was in a rock and a hard place.

He can tell them where they might get another diamond; a dragon's horde, a lost dwarven hold, a thieves tale, etc. Or the heroes can go and seek out the King's agents and get back the stone.

That way they have two entities to deal with, neither really evil.

(btw, Roman thanks for the neat info on the Hope Diamond.)