tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post1890432361815853501..comments2024-03-28T23:59:18.362-07:00Comments on B/X BLACKRAZOR: Money IssuesJBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-7222281902290596122011-11-30T23:02:00.919-08:002011-11-30T23:02:00.919-08:00@ Alexis: Thank you for the generous offer...I kno...@ Alexis: Thank you for the generous offer...I know this is a subject you have plumbed in depth!JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08532311924539491087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-76870089486209700822011-11-30T13:24:09.901-08:002011-11-30T13:24:09.901-08:00Anytime you want some advice, JB, we can sit down ...Anytime you want some advice, JB, we can sit down at length and talk.Alexis Smolenskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-4021731004664704122011-11-30T06:12:32.794-08:002011-11-30T06:12:32.794-08:00Currency can be really cool in a fantasy world, ju...Currency can be really cool in a fantasy world, just take our own history there were so many variations. The Chinese had paper currency, the north had hack silver. I can visualize elves with rune inked parchment. The Dwarves using gold links or hack silver. This gives a lot of character to a campaign world.Timothyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14247111947962371547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-1959526319323999602011-11-30T06:09:01.021-08:002011-11-30T06:09:01.021-08:00@ Brian:
I suspect Gary's "explanation&q...@ Brian:<br /><br />I suspect Gary's "explanation" was a bit of post-design justification/rationalization.<br />; )JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08532311924539491087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-28491607109245164182011-11-30T04:27:59.138-08:002011-11-30T04:27:59.138-08:00A stimulating post. I prefer a more historically a...A stimulating post. I prefer a more historically accurate medieval economy, with a silver standard. <br /><br />In the passage Brendan cites, I dislike the economic assumptions Gygaz makes--that adventuring is a common profession, that there's a perpetual Dungeon Rush boom economy in action. Following that line of thinking, you get a society where magic and monsters are so commonplace that the culture becomes unrecognizably different from historical medieval societies. To cite an especially silly example, you might get a city where the authorities use gelatinous cubes to clean streets and alleyways (in Paul Kidd's novelization of White Plume Mountain).<br /><br />Those settings feel unaesthetically artificial to me. They make magic and monsters mundane.<br /><br />I prefer to keep adventurers, monsters & magic rare, to maintain the medieval moorings of my fantasy world, and to preserve the sense of wonder that should surround the wilds and dungones where magic and monsters dwell. Finally, it allows PCs to be more special, and to have a larger impact on the world around them.Brian MacKenziehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12752842049666489041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-677015567410617822011-11-29T20:43:21.373-08:002011-11-29T20:43:21.373-08:00@ N.: Yeah, I was mostly just fooling around anywa...@ N.: Yeah, I was mostly just fooling around anyway.<br />; )<br /><br />@ Brendan: I had NOT seen that...thanks! Makes me feel a bit better, but I figured that ("fantasy inflation") was part of it.<br /><br />@ Lee: Depends on where you're buying the real estate. Location location location!<br />: )<br /><br />@ Spawn: Get all ranty...I know what you mean and am on pretty much the same page. I'm hoping sleep deprivation will get my brain fuzzy enough I can just write up some psychadelic-fantasy hash that looks cool to the naked eye (even if it doesn't stand up to much scrutiny).<br />; )JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08532311924539491087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-53275989658013247602011-11-29T20:09:21.196-08:002011-11-29T20:09:21.196-08:00You know, between monetary systems and Bards it...You know, between monetary systems and Bards it's hard to tell which one is more of an Old School pit of despair when one tries to make it either more realistic within a pseudo-Medieval setting, or more mechanically justified with the rest of the game. Of course you learn a lot just by trying to address the problem and researching history, but, well ... can somebody explain to me why a silver standard is something other than an aesthetic choice? Raggi (e.g.) thinks it's more gritty, some say it's more realistic to Medieval Europe. So what? If you're also pegging XP to SP on a silver standard, what have you done to game play? It doesn't seem like a substantive change.<br /><br />Sorry for being ranty. I'm writing a diss chapter about estimating ancient population in an ancient Maya city and am overwhelmed by the futility of trying to model something with utmost precision while you're aware of the multiple compounding errors that make it educated guess-work. It is far less fun than just playing D&D in a world where full plate is 1000gp, sp, sheep , cows, dogs, lizards, eggs, snot balls, or other currency. If I need 10000 snot balls to reach the next level, where is the Lair of the Snotball King/Queen?Spawn of Endrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10431848914619887998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-41298120654994258942011-11-29T15:01:14.594-08:002011-11-29T15:01:14.594-08:00I looked into all this for Redwald, based on Anglo...I looked into all this for Redwald, based on Anglo-Saxon currency the silver pound is worth about $7,000.<br /><br />http://redwald.blogspot.com/2010/11/rdwald-gear.html<br /><br />I rounded things down to simplify, but it's close to the historical value. <br /><br />Here's my source material . . .<br /><br />http://www.regia.org/misc/costs.htm<br /><br />They list the cow as 88.5 Shillings, so about 21 pounds of silver. At $7,000 a pound a full suit of chain, per the 12 cows, would be worth the equivalent of $148,680 would that get a small house (apartment?) in the states these days?<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />http://osrandom.blogspot.com/Lee Lawrencehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01127805337560546059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-62553802079351307402011-11-29T14:20:14.353-08:002011-11-29T14:20:14.353-08:00Maybe of interest, though you've probably alre...Maybe of interest, though you've probably already seen it, I bet:<br /><br /><i>ECONOMICS<br /><br />There is no question that the prices and costs of the game are based on inflationary economy, one where a sudden influx of silver and gold has driven everything well beyond its normal value. The reasoning behind this is simple. An active campaign will most certainly bring a steady flow of wealth into the base area, as adventurers come from successful trips into dungeon and wilderness.</i><br /><br />-- Gary Gygax, Dungeon Masters Guide page 90Necropraxishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12716340801054739658noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-46846498559540421472011-11-29T13:51:27.185-08:002011-11-29T13:51:27.185-08:00I only skimmed your article, but that's entire...I only skimmed your article, but that's entirely because I had the same problem: money is complex enough in the modern day without having to figure it out in the medieval ages. <br /><br />Really as long as prices have the right "bellyfeel", nobody's going to look twice.Nickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08596442998967851832noreply@blogger.com