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DanielLC
2007-09-12, 10:40 PM
The whole gold pieces thing is way over used. What homebrew replacements are there? I was thinking about one based on an early American system:
CP = cent
SP = dime
GP = dollar
PP = eagle
The system was for amounts of money, not coins, but that will work. Technically, I think it still counts, but few people know the "one dime" printed on a dime refers to the value rather than the coin, and I think eagle is only used rarely.

A while ago I was thinking about the idea of certain coins made specifically for adventurers. What I came up with is small, differently colored and sized pieces of magnetite (lodestone). That way they'd be light, easy to tell apart, and wouldn't get lost easily. Even if a dragon has been collecting the smallest ones for years, it could easily be carried once the dragon is defeated. Naturally, the dragons would object to such a tiny horde, but they don't mint the money.

[Edit:] The reason it's made of lodestone is that it would magnetically stick together and wouldn't fall through small holes. It's not the cursed loadstone that you can't lose.

KillianHawkeye
2007-09-13, 08:40 PM
Personally, I don't think most players care about what their money is called, what it looks like, or how they're carrying it. Nobody cares that actually carrying around the amount of money most PCs have is extremely encumbering. D&D uses gold coins for currency because that is what people expect out of medieval/fantasy.

Of course, you are free to change it to anything you like, just don't be too disappointed if your players care less about it than you do.

Matthew
2007-09-13, 09:57 PM
I like to use regional coinage in my games, just as I like to use regional languages. Helps with suspension of disbelief and gives the campaign world a more realistic flavour. It's not for everyone, though.

Jasdoif
2007-09-13, 11:45 PM
A while ago I was thinking about the idea of certain coins made specifically for adventurers. What I came up with is small, differently colored and sized pieces of magnetite (lodestone). That way they'd be light, easy to tell apart, and wouldn't get lost easily. Even if a dragon has been collecting the smallest ones for years, it could easily be carried once the dragon is defeated. Naturally, the dragons would object to such a tiny horde, but they don't mint the money.Isn't that how gems function for monetary value, though?

Logic
2007-09-14, 01:20 AM
I like to use regional coinage in my games, just as I like to use regional languages. Helps with suspension of disbelief and gives the campaign world a more realistic flavour. It's not for everyone, though.

The hardest part about introducing regional coinage is by making an exchange system. County X's coins are not worth as much as those of Nation Y.

Hazkali
2007-09-14, 02:08 AM
The hardest part about introducing regional coinage is by making an exchange system. County X's coins are not worth as much as those of Nation Y.

You don't really have to go that far, just say that the Gold Pieces of country X cannot be spent in country Y, and that in order to get gold exchanged you need to go through a moneychanger who charges Z% interest.

F.H. Zebedee
2007-09-14, 07:28 AM
Personally, I like using GP as a guide to value while having gemstones and barter being used as the primary currency between places. A good idea when using this system is to have a little table for each prominent region/town/city listing multipliers for value.

Example: Recel's people, by way of the God they worship, hold diamonds to be sacred. Multiply by 1.5.

Example B: Octal is located near a prominent dwarven diamond mine. Thus, they care little for diamonds. (x.5)

Those are the more extreme ends. Beyond a city post-plague, needing diamonds to carry out resurrections, or a city that has ruled owning diamonds illegal, you won't get beyond the +/- .5 range.

BisectedBrioche
2007-09-14, 10:52 AM
Having gold/silver coins makes sense, after all they have a physical value which means that they can be traded in more places than a specific currency.

Matthew
2007-09-14, 11:51 AM
The hardest part about introducing regional coinage is by making an exchange system. County X's coins are not worth as much as those of Nation Y.

It rather depends on the game. I don't worry about it myself. Coins are all valued by weight. Purity could be a consideration, but probably not one I will worry about. The Adventurers will simply get whatever they can for them, which will vary by region and individual. If they're in horse poor country, good horses will be expensive. If the coinage they have has a reputation for being impure, then sellers will demand more of them. There need be no fixed exchange rates.

DanielLC
2007-09-15, 09:53 AM
Isn't that how gems function for monetary value, though?

The value of a gem depends on its size, how well it's cut, what shape it's cut in, and its impurities. If the gem isn't cut (and your world cuts gems), you would have to figure out what shape it could be cut in, and how much would be left. It would require an appraisal check to figure out how much it's worth, and it wouldn't end up being a round number. You might even have to make a knowledge check to tell how much an unusual gem is worth; for example: a yellow diamond.