Dragonlance What do you want from a Dragonlance 5e?

[generic]

Simple. In an age where conflict is common, weaprons and armor are rife. Existing steel has been forged into useful items. Steel coins are rare (they’d be more useful fashioned into weapons or armor) and they represent potential (you can have them refashioned into the arms or armor you need) and oaths (“I pledge my steel to you“, I.e. - I may not be good at fighting myself so I’m turning my steel over for you to defend me in return for the goods or protection I need”).

The problem being that steel is as cheap as dirt, comparatively. Unless the medieval armorsmiths of Dragonlance are using more steel (and I mean much, much more steel) than WWII nations ever used, this explanation is just silly.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Stormonu]

....but, that makes no sense. None. If this was the case (and it isn't) we'd be discussing a barter economy.

EDIT: ninja'd

Neither does the gold standard, or for that matter why someone takes a scrap of paper with a $5 scrawled on it for a cheeseburger meal.

 

[generic]

Neither does the gold standard, or for that matter why someone takes a scrap of paper with a $5 scrawled on it for a cheeseburger meal.

Well...

The precedent for a trust-in-government based economy was not alive and well in most medieval nations, and Dragonlance mirrors many medieval conventions. The problem here is that the justification given in-setting is illogical, and trust-based economies supported by government had to be backed up through the use of objective "valuables".

We can all agree that the gold standard would be silly today, but it's simply an objective fact that gold and silver, and, even, copper, are all more scarce than steel.

 

[Stormonu]

The problem being that steel is as cheap as dirt, comparatively. Unless the medieval armorsmiths of Dragonlance are using more steel (and I mean much, much more steel) than WWII nations ever used, this explanation is just silly.

Maybe cheap as dirt by the War of the Lance time, but in the upheaval following the Cataclysm (when the change from gold to steel occurred) there’s a good chance that the steel-making process was rare until society rebuilt. Think of the tin and other scarcities that occurred during WW2 and the rationing that occurred during that time because so many materials were being consumed by the war effort.

 

[Tony Vargas]

It's simply an objective fact that gold and silver, and, even, copper, are all more scarce than steel.

OK, unless it's just not the same thing. Not an alloy of ubiquitous carbon and plentiful elemental iron from ore, but a unique metal that's comparatively rare - falls from the sky, maybe.

Though, I do agree that putting it out there that steel &c are scarcer/more-valuable than gold, then having no rules for bronze/stone/bone/etc alternative weapons doesn't hold together, internally.

Neither does the gold standard, or for that matter why someone takes a scrap of paper with a $5 scrawled on it for a cheeseburger meal.

Gold was used as a medium of exchange because it was comparatively scarce/valued (accidental/arbitrary) and because though heavy, it wasn't bulky, and it didn't go bad. It was a dependable "store of value*. The $, OTOH, is a fiat currency, backed by the full faith & credit - and guns - of the fed-ral gubmint.

 

[generic]

Maybe cheap as dirt by the War of the Lance time, but in the upheaval following the Cataclysm (when the change from gold to steel occurred) there’s a good chance that the steel-making process was rare until society rebuilt. Think of the tin and other scarcities that occurred during WW2 and the rationing that occurred during that time because so many materials were being consumed by the war effort.

Yes, I understand this perfectly well. However, it's not at all the same. Steel is as cheap as dirt compared to gold, and now, you're making too many assumptions to be reasonable. Really? If you have to justify your currency system through a sudden loss of knowledge on how to create steel, your currency may be flawed.

And, on the topic of steel shortages, those just don't happen. But, if they did, would the governments use steel as currency? Real world governments have consistently made their currency out of two things: valuable metals and metals which they have in surplus. Steel would be neither. And, the factor of making weaponry out of something complicates this.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

There was a Dragonlance short story that had a brief mention of an old dwarf making toys for kids out of "worthless gold."

Doing some research, it looks like iron has been used as coinage throughout history, but not really as anything more than pennies.

Now, I'm imagining a Dragonlance where every dirt farmer has a spear made of solid gold, and the nobles dine on, and fight with the superior metal: steel.

 

[generic]

There was a Dragonlance short story that had a brief mention of an old dwarf making toys for kids out of "worthless gold."

Doing some research, it looks like iron has been used as coinage throughout history, but not really as anything more than pennies.

Yes, iron has been used, but not as the measure of value in currency. Thanks for posting this.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*