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Old 10-20-2018, 07:35 PM   #1
JohnPaulB
 
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Default Gem Size

When you envision magic Gems mentioned in TFT, what size do you think of?

Golfball Size?
Eyeball Size?
D20 size?
Pea Size?
BB size?

The reason I ask is that if we are using Real World gem price ratios as a ballpark:

a 2 carat (2mm round cut) diamond would run about $5000.

So if we are picturing walnut sized gems (300 carats?), they are either going to cost something like $25,000,000 or the price of a carat is going to be vastly reduced.
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Old 10-20-2018, 07:43 PM   #2
hcobb
 
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Default Re: Gem Size

100 "large gems" is one pound (ITL 67)
which makes each 22 carat.

a third of an ounce of jewel dust ($140) (ITL 147)
which gives a value of $3/carat.
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Old 10-20-2018, 09:29 PM   #3
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Default Re: Gem Size

There's gems and there's gems. Jet is a gemstone, after all. A 22-carat piece of jet should be worth a lot less than a 22-carat diamond but might be just as enchantable as the diamond. (The Wikipedia article even mentions Jet's magical uses.)
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Last edited by Buzzardo; 10-20-2018 at 09:32 PM.
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Old 10-20-2018, 09:44 PM   #4
JohnPaulB
 
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Default Re: Gem Size

Quote:
Originally Posted by hcobb View Post
100 "large gems" is one pound (ITL 67)
which makes each 22 carat.

a third of an ounce of jewel dust ($140) (ITL 147)
which gives a value of $3/carat.
Thank you for finding this.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Buzzardo View Post
There's gems and there's gems. Jet is a gemstone, after all. A 22-carat piece of jet should be worth a lot less than a 22-carat diamond but might be just as enchantable as the diamond. (The Wikipedia article even mentions Jet's magical uses.)
Yes. I'm trying to work this all out, especially the other gems.
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Old 10-20-2018, 10:15 PM   #5
Skarg
 
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Default Re: Gem Size

Probably varies by the local market and by gem quality and cut, quite a bit. It could be fun to have some guidelines and examples, though.

(Also it may be good for the GM to decide how it works in his settings, so players can't meta-game an appraisal skill their characters don't have. Though even if there are established prices, being able to identify gem type and quality is still going to need the PC to do the assessment.)


(Sounds like this may be the sort of topic that they want in the house rules section.)
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Old 10-21-2018, 09:59 PM   #6
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Default Re: Gem Size

Cidri was engineered to be a playground for egomaniacal plane-hopping gods.

Maybe it was designed to have a profusion of enormous gems, at least compared to our Earth.

This would naturally mean that stones like the hope diamond would be worth comparatively less due to being much more common.

I tend to assume that Cidri's environment and ecology was to a large degree engineered by the Mnoren to suit their fancies. Therefore, the bacteria that tend to ruin gunpowder are there because they didn't want sophisticated gunpowder to be too commonplace. Perhaps they didn't like the idea of people shooting at each other. Or them.
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Old 10-22-2018, 05:08 AM   #7
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Default Re: Gem Size

Quote:
Originally Posted by hcobb View Post
100 "large gems" is one pound (ITL 67) which makes each 22 carat.

a third of an ounce of jewel dust ($140) (ITL 147) which gives a value of $3/carat.
Real-world gem values aren't linear with weight (modern diamond prices are more like exponential), so division and multiplication aren't as useful as they might seem for projecting values for different sizes, types, or quality of gems. GMs have a lot of wiggle room to fiddle around with prices or pick a size and material for any desired value.
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