04-28-2021, 12:44 PM | #21 |
Hero of Democracy
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: far from the ocean
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Re: Grain-based local currencies in medieval fantasy games
I've seen my players do extensive bartering with grain... but in that game they controlled the granary, and they were literally trading the grain without using an intermediary script.
Money can be used to add local color, but conversion rates are often a pain. Usually its a good run of currency if the main currency actually gets used by players, as opposed to referring to everything in gurps bucks, and those usually need a simple divisor or multiplier.
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04-28-2021, 12:55 PM | #22 | ||
Join Date: Jun 2013
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Re: Grain-based local currencies in medieval fantasy games
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Depends on the scope of the campaign. In a full-on sandbox setting, PC's can probably restrict themselves to dealing exclusively with communities who use the type of currency the PC's prefer (although they may need to actively reject work - "Yes, I know you've traveled far from home looking for heroes to deal with your goblin problem, and I know you're willing to pay handsomely, but your people don't use real money. Find someone else"). For something more plot-driven, characters will have to deal with the economic realities of wherever the plot takes them. Of course, unless you already know your players would enjoy such a diversion, it's best to talk to them before putting something like this into play - it would be rather annoying to spend time developing such an economic system only to have the PC's completely bypass it, and arguably worse if you force your players to slog through a system they hate.
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GURPS Overhaul |
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04-28-2021, 08:17 PM | #23 | |
Join Date: Aug 2007
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Re: Grain-based local currencies in medieval fantasy games
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No PC wouldd o this because grain money is as good as gold money. It plainly isn't. PCs who rescue the villagers in exchange for low level room and board and being paladin-like and not satisfying theri greed.
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Fred Brackin |
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04-28-2021, 09:46 PM | #24 |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
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Re: Grain-based local currencies in medieval fantasy games
Sure there is. If you, say, own a riverboat, getting ten tons of grain that you can take down river and sell is perfectly valuable. Most PCs don't have a real way of making use of large amounts of trade goods, though.
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04-28-2021, 09:54 PM | #25 | |
Join Date: Aug 2007
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Re: Grain-based local currencies in medieval fantasy games
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You might be overestimating medival grain prices too.
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Fred Brackin |
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04-29-2021, 12:14 AM | #26 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Udine, Italy
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Re: Grain-based local currencies in medieval fantasy games
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Sure, the PCs can't choose what money is in their world; but I, the GM, can. And our real world evolution of what money is seems a good indication of what my players will prefer. |
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04-29-2021, 06:01 AM | #27 | |
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Iceland*
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Re: Grain-based local currencies in medieval fantasy games
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Anything that contains precious metals is potentially valuable, it's just not necessarily trusted enough to be accepted as currency anywhere that the ruler's writ doesn't run.
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04-29-2021, 08:28 AM | #28 | |
Join Date: Jun 2013
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Re: Grain-based local currencies in medieval fantasy games
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04-29-2021, 04:49 PM | #29 | |
Night Watchman
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Cambridge, UK
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Re: Grain-based local currencies in medieval fantasy games
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One that was even more amusing was an AD&D game where a vast treasure was all in copper coins. This was intended to annoy us, and it did, but we removed it anyway, and then kept quiet about it for a while. Then we sold it as bulk refined copper, by weight, and got about twice the coinage value, because that DM didn't check his arithmetic.
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04-29-2021, 05:00 PM | #30 |
Join Date: Jul 2006
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Re: Grain-based local currencies in medieval fantasy games
Mind you, those of us who are both grogs (or just like old movies) and Kurosawa fans (might be the same thing these days) will recall that the Seven Samurai were paid in actual rice... and come to think of it, people taking advantage of "heroes" by paying them with something less than convenient is a trope as well isn't it?
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currency, money |
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