Low Points

Today is my 48th post of the year. As things appear, 2018 will mark my lowest output of blog posts since I started the B/X Blackrazor blog back in June of 2009.

What can I say? I lost a big chunk of months...four, in fact. The only other time I lost more than two months of blogging was, well, never; my first year I only blogged in seven months, but they were consecutive months (June through December), and I still somehow got more than 300 posts done.

Fact is, this was a down year, for a lot of reasons. Some of those reasons were justifiable...and remain in place. Some were not, and I've tried to eliminate those from my life...trying to focus on the things that truly matter. And while blogging itself might not be super high on my list of priorities, it is...still...a far more practical use of my time than other things. It allows me to practice writing, it allows me to keep my mind on game design, and it allows me to be a part of the gaming community.

These things (writing, design, and community) ARE important to me. And unfortunately, this has been a down year in all three of these areas, too. This is something I intend to rectify, for both my own sanity and my own sense of self-worth.

"Self-worth?" Yeah, that. Part of my personal sense of self-worth comes from contributing constructively of my talents to a wider group of people. Most of what I've been doing lately has been playing small...contributing only to my immediate family, and spending my free time entertaining myself. None of which makes me feel extremely great about myself. My old job (that I worked in for fifteen years before moving to Paraguay) allowed me to feel like I was at least being a useful member of society, even if it wasn't making particular use of my God-given talents and creativity. Lately, though, the only thing I've been able to hang my hat on is the idea that I am "raising good children" who will someday benefit society. Which is...kind of lazy. And not quite good enough, anyway. I mean, if I'M not doing anything for other people, what kind of example am I really providing to my kids? What kind of role-model am I really being?

Anyway, balance and moderation have never really been my strong suits. And that's fine (we all have things we're good at and things we're not). I've been going too far one direction, and it's led me to a low point. It's time to move the scale the other way a bit, and one way I can make that happen is cutting out some of the useless dross that has mired me in inertia, and turn my attention and passion to constructive action...which I realize is both a "duh" thought and an "easier said than done" kind of thing. But that's it, that's where I'm at.

Consider this blog post a mark of my current mental state at this point in time. I shall not be waiting for the New Year to start resolving my resolutions.

Cheers, folks.

All I Want For Christmas...

Actually, I'm not thinking too much about Christmas. No one ever asks me what I want anymore (well, my mother does sometimes...).

Instead, I'm thinking about my D&D campaign setting. That is, the setting for my next D&D campaign...which, of course, I haven't yet started seeing as how I have neither players nor the time/means to play at the moment.

Thing is, that little roadblock (not having a game going)...well, I've decided that doesn't matter all that much. Really, it doesn't. World building is its own type of play, after all. And establishing a world, preparing a world, is good mental exercise. And it's fun...and it can be challenging, too.

For example, I'm still worried about how to build a fantasy economy. But I've decided I prefer the challenge of that to giving up my idea of updating the equipment list to include different pieces of armor. Actually, it's not even that I "prefer the challenge;" it's just that I don't care (at this point) about how terrible any fantasy economy I come up with happens to be. Because no one (at this point) is seeing what I'm writing anyway.

Same with my full intention to steal shit from other sources. I have no desire to build a campaign setting from our real world, but I definitely plan on stealing ideas and concepts from our real world history. I definitely plan on stealing some of my favorite concepts from fantasy fiction (even though I have no intention of setting the game in Krynn or Melnibone or Darkover or Middle Earth or whatever). And again, I think I can do this without a care to judgment for any perceived "lack of originality," because I'm the only one who's going to be seeing this.

I think that what I really want for Christmas is just a new, fresh notebook: something to write down ideas and concepts and (personal, subjective) justifications of rules and systems I want to continue using. I don't want to start another Word document or Excel spreadsheet...I've got plenty of those going already for various projects. I want something a bit more personal and portable that doesn't require a power source to use. Once the notebook is filled, then I'll go about transferring the info into an electronic format...a document or wiki page or something.

Yeah. That's what I'm wanting right now. Everything else (including players) can come later. Hopefully Santa delivers.

RPG 201

Looking over Ye Old Blog, I see that I've written more than 30 posts that mention or are directly related to the work of Alexis Smolensk. That's more than two-and-a-half times as many posts as I have for DragonLance (which probably says something about my priorities and interests). Welp, here's another one.

Today is December 23rd and I'm writing from Orizaba, Veracruz (that's in Mexico, folks); local time is 10am (at the moment) and I got up around 8:30am (after partying till 1am or so). My last post was written on the 20th. I started traveling on the 21st (left the house at 6:30am), landed in Mexico City around 8pm, spent the night in a hotel, then took a four-hour bus ride to Orizaba on the 22nd. Seen a lot of old friends and family, done a lot of eating, drinking, and merriment, spent a lot of time dozing (when possible) on planes and buses, when I wasn't entertaining my two small children or trying to wrangle giant bags filled with gifts through various security lines.

In the free waking moments I've had, I've been devouring Alexis's RPG 201 course material.

I think it was back in November, that I first checked out a couple of his classes (the 15th class, and his mid-term exam)...probably when I had some spare time over the Thanksgiving holiday. I was interested and wanted to go back and catch up on my Alexis reading but...well, life, you know? Then, probably around the time I was shutting down my laptop to pack it for the trip, I chanced to read his most recent Lab class...and then went and read his other two lab classes...and then decided I needed to go back to the beginning. Which is what I've done.

Wow.

Alexis started this series of posts back in August, and has so far put together 20 classes and three labs, as well as several (what I'd call) "side-bar" posts providing additional explanation, reasoning, and methodology. Reading it really does feel like taking a course in the psychology of role-playing game operation...though, I might have called it "205" (as I wrote in 2014, I consider the first parts of his book How to Run as the 201 course material). Regardless, it's fantastic...and a very, very good read.

I strongly recommend folks check it out, and consider their own gaming/DMing experiences in light of the material. I don't think it's a stretch to say Alexis is doing some of the most important academic work on role-playing games on the internet (some might argue he's the ONLY person doing real academic work on RPGs). Folks should not be put off by the intellectual nature of the subject matter; it's both accessible (with a little patience), and pertinent to any tabletop role-playing (not just D&D, and certainly not just "ancient edition" D&D).

My understanding of my own game mastering has increased in leaps and bounds since I started reading this series...and I'm only caught up through November (I'm debating doing the mid-term essays...even though I missed the due date...as I think they're still a great mental exercise). I have a strong feeling that I'll be returning to this "coursework" in the future to help cement certain concepts and ideas; hopefully, Alexis will compile the classes into a single text book after he's finished the series, as I'd love to have it available as a reference. Hell, I'll volunteer to edit the damn thing!

Anyway, my boy's up now (and breakfast is nearly ready), so I've got to go. Don't know how much posting I'll get done here in Mexico, but there's plenty to read over at The Tao of D&D. You should really check it out.

Feliz Navidad!

Kender

Four days?! Have I really gone four days without a post?

Welp, the holidays are well and truly upon us. I'm leaving town (heading to Mexico for what may be my last trip south for a LONG while) and I've been running around trying to get everything squared away for Christmas. Combined with fighting my annual bronchitis (and the morning grogginess that comes from chugging NyQuil) I just haven't had time to sit down and write.

[well, I did spend one morning writing several scathing paragraphs about Douglas Niles, but in the spirit of Christmas decided it would be best not to publish those remarks. Suffice is to say that Against the Cult of the Reptile God remains the only highlight of his TSR career...in my opinion]

All right, time to play out the string. This should PROBABLY be my last DL post for the foreseeable future.

At the beginning of most every DragonLance adventure (I don't recall one that doesn't...and I ended up reading through all of DL1-DL15 over the last couple weeks), the author takes pains to point out that the Krynn setting has several "important differences" from the standard AD&D play:

1. Gold has no value in the world (except that, in later modules, it has some value outside the starting region of the DL campaign).

2. Clerical spells have not existed for 300 years (though they become available to both characters and antagonists beginning with the second module in the series...still it colors NPCs attitudes toward clerics).

3. Dragons haven't been seen for a thousand years and are considered a myth (though this also changes following the first module as dragons run rampant over the setting).

4. Halflings are unknown in Krynn; instead they are replaced by the Kender race.

Thanks to the popularity of Tolkien, "Hobbit-equivalents" have been found in fantasy gaming since the very beginning. OD&D originally had them (available as a fighting class with a maximum level of four...probably the most accurate modeling of the species ever to see print). DragonQuest makes them a more balanced adventurer (though still with tongue-in-cheek references to LotR). Palladium uses "gnomes" to fill the same ecosystem (I've see other RPGs use "brownie" in the same way). Warhammer Fantasy has perhaps my favorite depiction of the handling species (with the snarky wit typical of all GW games, they are grubby, gluttonous thieves and low-lives). As a fantasy race, the halfling is as ubiquitous as elves and dwarves.

The kender is the first re-skinning that really steps far from the hobbit archetype.

Kender look like "wizened 14-year olds" and unlike halflings (hobbits) they wear shoes. They are described as having an insatiable curiosity, and no real sense of property ownership (they tend to "borrow" anything they find interesting that isn't nailed down). They have two system/rule-based abilities: they are immune to fear (magical or otherwise), and they have the ability to taunt others (save versus spells or incite folks to attack with reckless abandon...and substantial penalties) with "verbal abuse."

The model for the 3E "halfling."

It's basically a character class that models your annoying little sibling who you forced to play a halfling thief, because no one else wanted to play one in a campaign setting that features a war against dragons and a profound lack of treasure (because, hey, gold is worthless).

Kleptomaniac, annoying children...empowered to stick their noses into trouble, steal shit that doesn't belong to them, and irritate people with a special mind control power. In the books, kender make a nice bit of comic relief from the grim-dark melodrama and hopeless odds of the setting. In gaming? Well...

As I wrote earlier, we never actually played in the DL setting, or ran any of the modules. However, we have halfling thieves in our campaign whose personality and behavior was modeled fairly substantially off the kender. Well, one was...the other one was closer to a gully dwarf (being a bit slower of wit). Here's the thing, though: both were NPCs in the campaign, run by the same DM (not me). Both were played (mostly), for comic relief, though they never upstaged the other PCs. One (the dim-witted one) was, in fact, the henchman of another PC and was both fiercely loyal and affectionate to her (though being none-too-competent). The other was more-or-less Tasslehoff in all but name (his name was "Mouse," for the record), but far more helpful than a hindrance.

Neither of these displayed any of the "kender skills:" they didn't taunt (at least, as a system for taking control of someone), they weren't immune to fear ("Shorty" the henchman was quite the coward), they didn't use "hoopaks" for weapons. They were curious and they did acquire a lot of items with their light fingers (all of which were stored in their multiple, bulging belt pouches)...and they did speak (squeakily) in a childlike fashion with a kender's wide-eyed innocence.

[and...on rare occasion...act as a deus ex machina. Well, one time at least: when Mouse liberated MY character from an eternity of torment at the hands of Lolth. However, I was left to rot (literally and figuratively) for several months prior to rescue]

But that was just a choice of how our DM wanted to run halflings in her campaign. None of the players were running halflings (well, only my kid brother who...once...ran the guy as an annoying, klepto-style, as only a 10-year old brat can do. And, no, he never read the DragonLance books. That character was a thief-acrobat...) so she was re-skinning simply to make the race interesting as an NPC. After all, we were slavishly devoted to the Rules As Written in those days...to simply CUT halflings (or paladins or monks or whatever) from the game, even though no one ever used them, was unthinkable to us. Better for us to find some way to make use of their existence in D&D.

So, I guess I have a bit of a soft-spot for kender...not as a playable race, but as an NPC personality. I enjoyed Tas in the DragonLance books, and I enjoyed Mouse in his similar role as an occasional traveling companion (he did not accompany us on ALL our adventures...he was more of a campaign personality that would wander into our party from time-to-time). Unfortunately, I don't think there are many people who could pull off playing a kender-type...either as a PC or even as an NPC. I'm pretty certain I couldn't; I just don't have the whimsical humor necessary to portray such a character (maybe I'm too mean-spirited).

If I were to run a DragonLance campaign (and at this point, I've all but decided against the idea), I would include kender as a B/X-style class. Fear immunity would simply be a +2 bonus to saves and/or Morale (there are plenty of times in the novels that Tasslehoff acts in all the ways as someone who is nervous, scared, or paralyzed with fright, despite his statements to the contrary). They'd all receive some thief skills (notably picking pockets and locks...probably with a substantial bonus), but they'd receive a negative reaction with most intelligent species in Krynn (after all, not all humans are thieves, but all kender...well, they do have a reputation).

Taunting would work differently: a kender would be able to force a reaction roll, and could apply their Charisma adjustment as a NEGATIVE, even if normally positive (a low CHA kender would apply their reaction normally). Creatures incensed to fight would suffer a penalty to attack (probably not AC). Other PCs would be immune to this sort of thing, as would NPCs with more levels/HD than the kender (and I would limit kender to eight levels of experience, just like the halfling class they'd replace in B/X).

I'd probably remove the halfling bonus to missile combat (leave the AC bonus), and would use their stealth ability for any type of "sneaky thief skill" (move silent, etc.)...all kender would have the same chance to be unobtrusive, regardless of level. Wearing metal armor would negate these bonuses/abilities, of course...no lenders clinking around in plate armor should be able to sneak up on someone and rob 'em.

Personally, I think such a species works far better in a B/X-based campaign. Despite being written for AD&D, nearly all the protagonists are "single class," and all are pretty "basic;" even the elves in the DL adventure modules are all of the fighter/magic-user type (with the exception of Laurana). Only the Plainsman, Riverwind, uses a non-B/X class (he's a ranger), and he's easily converted to a straight fighter (he never uses any ranger abilities in the novels anyway).

Hmm...maybe I will write another DL post, just to do some conversion notes for folks who like the idea of B/X DragonLance.

But not today. I'm leaving my house around 6am tomorrow and I've got lot still to do (including packing). I'm not sure I'll be taking my laptop (which would be a first), but even if I do, I'm not sure I'll be blogging again before the New Year. If you don't hear from me...well, hopefully you'll all have a happy, happy one (I'm pulling for ya!). I'll be back for sure in 2019.

Later, Gators!
: )

5 Minute Game Design

My wife got back into town last night, and she was kind enough to let me sleep in this morning (she got up and took care of the beagles). Unfortunately, the early morning, pre-waking hours are usually my only time to write, so my continuation of my DragonLance posts will have to wait. Sorry.

SO, to make sure I still write something (I'm really trying, folks), here's a little game I designed with my 7 year old last night, while waiting for the pizza to arrive at our table. In truth, I did most of the design, but Diego provided me the materials I had to work with: a miniature spiral notebook (2"x4"), a couple pencils, a stick from Pick-Up-Sticks, a handful of (small) random plastic minis, and a bagful of assorted dice. Oh, yeah...and he wanted me to try to duplicate our "robot game" that we used to play down in Paraguay.

Here's what I came up with on the fly:

Each robot is represented by a single model, and three randomly-determined abilities: armor, firepower, and speed.  Abilities are determined as follows:

Armor: Roll D10+10
Firepower: Roll 2D6+6
Speed: Roll D4...add the result to the difference of 20-Armor (more armored mechs are slower)

Speed determines the number of actions your mech has:  1-4 one action, 5-8 two actions, 9+ three actions. An action may be a "move" or an "attack." One move is one-half the Pick-Up-Stick (there is no action spent to change facing).

An attack is made against any opponent within range, providing line-of-sight isn't blocked by items on the table (pints of beer, bottles of cheese or chili peppers, etc.). Range for all robots is one Pick-Up-Stick. To make an attack roll D20 under your 'bot's Firepower. Success inflicts D6 damage, subtracted directly from Armor (while it never came up in our battles, I would have awarded a "critical hit" on any roll of "1," inflicting double damage).

When a robot's Armor is reduced to zero, it is destroyed.

All 'bots must begin at a range greater than one Pick-Up-Stick. All players roll D6 ("initiative") to determine turn order. Turn order does not change during the battle. You are not required to utilize your full number of actions on your turn, but unused actions are lost.

[sorry...I don't have any photos to post]

Anyway, it was a fun little game to play while we were waiting for our pizza. Sofia (my four year old) won our first battle (I had the smallest, fastest 'bot; Diego had the heaviest, slowest) through a combo of luck and courage (okay, mostly luck). Feel free to use it as a jumping off point for your own Pizza Night games. Diego and I are already thinking of ways to expand the rules.
; )

I Find Your Lack of Faith Disturbing...

From DL1 (Dragons of Despair):

Clerical spells have not existed for nearly 300 years. Some people still call themselves clerics, still belong to worshipful orders; however, all of these have turned their backs on the true gods in search of other, less demanding gods (which do not exist). These pseudo-clerics use the same combat table as true clerics but have no spell abilities. 

There are a LOT of gods in the DragonLance setting: twenty-one, in fact, divided evenly between good, evil, and neutrality. Eighteen of these (including the Big Guys, Paladine and Takhisis) are represented by constellations in the night sky, while the last three are named for the planet's moons, each one of which represents a different alignment of magic.

The basic gist of the setting's premise is that the Cataclysm occurred 300 years ago due in part to A) the pride of the world's best cleric (the King-Priest of Istar) and B) to help prepare the people for "the tests that were to come" (the return of the dragons and the Fourth Dragon War). After the Cataclysm (a giant meteor strike from the gods that re-made the geography of the planet while causing massive destruction), people "turned away" from their gods, believing that their gods had forsaken them. Because of this, they've lost the ability to even become clerics (of the spell-casting variety)...so much so that three centuries later, folks consider the idea of spell-casting clerics to be a myth (at best) or blasphemy and "witchcraft" at worse. Magic-users are few and far between in Krynn (despite the prevalence of enchanted weapons in the adventure modules *ahem*) and in some of the more...er, "devout" towns and villages, folks are not above burning them at the stake out of fear and revulsion for their powers.

Okay. Now...

Now (in the time of the War of the Lance) Takhisis has entered the world (at least partially). Actually, she entered the world partially around the same time as the Cataclysm (that part's a little sketchy). Somehow, she got some folks to start worshipping her (in secret, natch) and managed to get them (or her evil dragons) to steal the good dragon eggs (thus blackmailing them to stay out of the War), and thus built up an army (complete with dragon-riding officers) to conquer the world...

In the first adventure module, the players manage to find "proof" of the gods (well, the good ones anyway...) and clerics who convert to the True Faith suddenly gain access to spell magic as a cleric of the same level they already were (so a 5th level cleric of a false god would become a 5th level cleric of Paladine with all the resulting power and ability, for example). The only gods really available for worship within the capsule time period of the War are Takhisis, Paladine, and Mishakal (the good goddess of healing). Presumably the other gods would come into play in any on-going, post-War campaign set in Krynn.

[as a side-note, I actually find the few "false gods" that are detailed in the module to be quite interesting]

Okay.

Okay. *sigh* This isn't terrible. There are just some holes in it that raise questions I don't like (at least, I don't like the answers). Here's the main crux of the matter:

1) In times of disaster (like, say, after a terrible Cataclysm), more than a few folks tend to turn to faith (i.e. become more devoted to their deities). Certainly, some people will shake their fist at Heaven and curse the gods, but not EVERYone. And in the pseudo-medieval world, it would take a LONG TIME for folks to even get an inkling that the Cataclysm was caused by "the gods' anger." Word of the doings in Istar (on the eastern edge of the continent) wouldn't travel very fast, given the that most of Istar (and its surroundings) are underwater, and that the roads between the regions would have become incredibly hazardous (due to the epic magnitude of the disaster), and that folks would be too worried about salvaging their lives in a post-apocalyptic world to bother with sending messengers. Remember that magic-users were in short supply, having become personas non grata and being kicked out of all cities shortly before the time of the Cataclysm. Why would they bother to enlighten anyone? More likely they'd have a BETTER idea of what actually happened, given their ability to contact other planes.

[perhaps wizards were responsible for spreading the false rumors of the gods' "abandonment" of Krynn? That would make some sense, especially given a motivation of NOT wanting to see the re-ascendance of clerical power...after all, it was the King-Priest's edicts that removed magic-users from their towers, even if he wasn't ALSO responsible for a fiery mountain smashing the planet]

Anyway, folks in Palanthas or Abasynia would be more likely to turn to their gods in the months following the disaster...and wouldn't their faith be rewarded? At least by the gods of good? Wouldn't evil followers of the dark gods be turning to worship out of fear and servility (and wouldn't Takhisis be O So Glad to welcome them into her fold, hoping to establish a foothold all the sooner?)? Certainly many individuals continued to believe in the gods (the dwarves never stopped believing in Reorx, for example)...you'd think that in 300 years some individuals would have established small congregations of followers of the True Faith? So why no granted spell powers from the true gods of Krynn?

2) Here's a possible explanation: more than pure faith/devotion is necessary. This is the (D&D) idea that clerical miracles are still spells, not prayers. And spells require a deeper understanding of cosmic forces (or, at least, knowledge of the proper magic words) to function. And since all "true clerics" magically disappeared a couple days before the Cataclysm (I didn't mention that earlier...it raises it's own philosophical questions regarding "what the hell are the gods doing?"), I can see how that specialized knowledge would have been lost, sunk to the bottom of the (new) Blood Sea of Istar. In this case, no matter how devoted a worshipper, there would be no spells "granted" by the gods, the deeper mysteries having been lost from the gods' worshippers.

So, this makes quite a bit of sense...it's one of the reasons I like the B/X system of not awarding spells to clerics until 2nd level. HOWEVER, if that's the case clerics should NOT suddenly be awarded high level magic just by acquiring a magic amulet and professing devotion to an old deity. That's just...no. Nope. Too easy. And too dumb.

And this "crux" is just the main issue...I've see a lot of plot-holes surrounding the concept in an AD&D-based setting (where clerics of non-human races exist). In a B/X- or OD&D-based setting I can make a little more sense of things (the latter because it turns Takhisis-worshipping clerics into "evil high priests"), but those don't matter much if you can't solve the problem of Elistan suddenly gaining the ability to raise dead after decades spent following false gods.

Oh, and the setting doesn't say anything about a cleric's ability to turn undead. Is this ability possessed by false clerics? Or is it only granted by picking up a magic medallion of "True Faith." The rules don't address the issue (and there are plenty of undead in the adventures).

All right, that's enough for now.

Why Gold is Golden

Ever wonder why currency was (in the old days) linked to gold and silver? Here's a good article on the subject. To sum up the reasons:

• as a substance, it is stable (it doesn't react or oxidize like other metals)
• it is non-toxic (uranium would make a poor choice for a currency)
• it was (in ancient times) easy to extract and work with compared to other metals
• both gold and silver are scarce, but not impossibly rare

Of the two substances (gold and silver), silver tarnishes, reacting with minute amounts of sulfur in the air. Gold doesn't react at all, looking just as shiny as ever, even after centuries. That makes it prettier...and thus a bit more valuable than silver.

Iron, on the other hand, will rust and disintegrate, unless kept completely dry. Though even without that little reality (an entropic currency), there's just too much of it lying around to be truly valuable, in the same way as gold and silver. As the article points out, you'd need some pretty large iron coins (or a lot of them). Gold and silver, because of their scarcity, becomes much more portable...and thus more practical to use as money.

The setting of DragonLance (the world of Krynn), doesn't state that it is particularly "iron scarce" (as is the case in Athas, for example: the world of the Dark Sun campaign setting). Here is the justification given for a steel currency in the post-apocalyptic world of Krynn:

"Before the Cataclysm, the days were calm and ordered; nothing was unexpected. Now the world is changed: its change has taught two great lessons.

"First, no beauty...is safe. All the riches of the past could not protect the ancient peoples. Gold has no value in the world now: it is too soft for swords or armor. Steel is the most valued metal of all, though each small kingdom has its own currency and exchange..."

Okay, I can understand steel being more valuable in this "new Iron Age" (ha, just realized the whole devaluation of gold thing might be a metaphor for the end of Krynn's "Golden Age")...but there's a difference between something being valuable because of its intrinsic worth (people don't care about decoration and jewelry in a world where you live and die by the sword), and something being valued as a unit of exchange. People didn't give sell chickens for gold coins because they preferred to eat gold...it's because the gold could be easily exchanged with someone else for some other valued commodity. It's easier (and more sanitary) to carry a purse of coins than a bag full of chickens.

[yes, I realize that medieval folks, especially in rural areas, were mostly on the "barter system" and that chickens have never been valued in gold]

So given that we're still talking about using coin currency as a medium of exchange in a world that's got 14th-15th century technology, I think it's ridiculous that "bricks of gold may prop open doors and hold down papers."

Likewise, given that gold appears to have been the standard unit of currency pre-Cataclysm, and several towns and large cities (like Palanthas) managed to escape the destruction, why would they change how they do business? And why would a dragon hoard in an ancient, pre-Cataclysm city consist of "steel pieces." Isn't gold a softer bed to sleep on?

And in a world where dragons exist, proliferate, and (presumably) value gold, shouldn't other intelligent species feel the same? If only to bribe said dragons and keep them from from raining destruction on their communities?

SO...no, not a fan of DragonLance's "steel piece" currency. That's the first thing I'd need to rewrite prior to conversion (though I like the idea of different currencies and exchange rates between different territories...I might keep that, just for fun).

More later.

This is not currency except (perhaps) in Gamma World.