this post was submitted on 16 Nov 2024
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Let's Make Better Rpg Currencies

@rpg

https://youtu.be/VADntQSNMB4?si=VUw999G0yZ0x52IW

I'm curious what currency systems my fellow #ttrpg GMs have dreamt up when #worldbuilding.

It's always annoyed me how #dnd's gp/sp/cp currency resembles the USD system so much in the way it is used, despite the fact that IRL a single gold coin would be worth more than my car. Does #WotC think my backpack is worth $8k? That makes no sense to me.

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[–] malin@dice.camp 3 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

@Shkshkshk @rpg yea, basic expenditures needs to be in copper.

Shadoversity had a video where he spent 20 minutes saying 'gold is heavy', and shows that hiking with 1000 gold coins isn't really feasible.

I have no idea what medieval things cost, so I decided 1cp = £1, and assumed items cost what you might see on Etsy (which I also have no idea about, I have done no research).

[–] Shkshkshk@dice.camp 2 points 11 hours ago (3 children)

@malin @rpg

I mean, usually my #dnd players strongly dislike tracking encumbrance, so the coins might as well be weightless.

Something I think people tend to forget about is the practice of "free lunch". Sit yourself down at the bar, order a drink, and you get access to a whole lunch menu as long as you keep drinking. It particularly makes sense if a pint of beer &/or a single lunch actually costs slightly less than a cp, so two beers would cover the cost.

[–] malin@dice.camp 2 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

@Shkshkshk @rpg
I just listed an entrance cost, all drinks included. Sounds like you basically arrived at the same solution.

The beer's gonna rot after a day or two anyway, so it's not like the barkeep really needs to cling to it.

[–] Shkshkshk@dice.camp 2 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago) (1 children)

@malin @rpg

Wait, beer rots? Gonna look into this real quick. Sounds like something beer shouldn't do

Edit: Turns out ale was nearly nonalcoholic back then and was viewed the way protein shakes are now

[–] kinsale42@mstdn.games 2 points 4 hours ago

@Shkshkshk @malin @rpg yeah wasn't it basically *just enough* alcohol to make it safer to drink than water?

[–] trantion@masto.ai 2 points 9 hours ago

@Shkshkshk @malin @rpg the PHB does pretty much say that coins are rarely used day to day, and most trading is done by barter or other exchange. True, adventurers are some of the people most likely to use coins, but maybe those gold coins aren't all literal gold coins

[–] lord_ryvan@ttrpg.network 0 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Ah mate please don't bring #hastags in the middle of sentences to this platform, please.

[–] ThisIsAManWhoKnowsHowToGling@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

Dude they are posting from Mastodon

[–] lord_ryvan@ttrpg.network 0 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

Yeah, I know. I recognise the @'s at the beginning of the message. Please don't bring middle-of-the-sentence-hashtags to it. It makes the text less legible, for the sake of better SEO on... Mastodon

I find it funny that you are only taking issue with it here, in the comments, not with the original post