tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post627465514693317378..comments2023-10-14T03:58:59.333-06:00Comments on The Tao of D&D: Size of Gold CoinsAlexis Smolenskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-53614622460011397992017-12-12T00:15:31.122-07:002017-12-12T00:15:31.122-07:00It's interesting you should say this; the 3.5 ...It's interesting you should say this; the 3.5 gold coin is 50 to the pound. <br /><br />Much closer to real values (but a easier to calculate number). Archonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17718160700690722856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-48447041676158437282017-12-06T20:44:59.592-07:002017-12-06T20:44:59.592-07:00My response would be that prices are relative to p...My response would be that prices are relative to purchasing power. What's the annual income of a labourer, or a tradesman, or a lower landed gentry / knight?<br /><br />In 14th century England, a knight had an income of at least £40. A man-at-arms made about 1s. a day on campaign. A labourer made about 2d. a day. A complete armour would start at £4 for a very basic model (gauntlets, bacinet, mail shirt), plus maybe another pound for the arming coat. Add on plate armour over top - brigandine, vambrace, and rerebrace, probably another £3 at least. So your entry level "plate mail" could be estimated at ~£8, or about 20% of the poorest knight's income, or 160 days wages for a man-at-arms, or about 960 days wages for a labourer.<br /><br />Now, I realize your world is set some two hundred years later. Armour would be less expensive, as it was less useful, and industry had advanced. But the point is, armour was expensive. Unless a labourer is making less than half a gp a day, it doesn't seem high at all. Even if they were, the prices I quoted would be the entry-level unit. No leg armour, for instance (it doesn't seem to have been universally used).<br /><br />D&D has always really underpriced armour.Charles Ahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00941603544547428940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-590667179581113502017-12-06T11:35:13.946-07:002017-12-06T11:35:13.946-07:00+1+1JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-15837382918445612702017-11-29T14:34:02.265-07:002017-11-29T14:34:02.265-07:00Then let's make an agreement. Where you see a...Then let's make an agreement. Where you see a post like that, write,<br /><br />+1.<br /><br />In the comments. And I'll understand. Do it on as many posts as you like.Alexis Smolenskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-79604195878013440732017-11-29T14:15:11.920-07:002017-11-29T14:15:11.920-07:00I miss Google Plus letting me "+1" a pos...I miss Google Plus letting me "+1" a post, because there are several posts where I have nothing to add, but want to say "someone is reading and is interested."Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02846071799831004752noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-79581671880763862752017-11-27T21:06:10.346-07:002017-11-27T21:06:10.346-07:00The oddly high, yet nice and round, weight of coin...The oddly high, yet nice and round, weight of coins is probably something that people stick with for the same reason that they stick with a ten-coin (or more rarely, 100-coin) exchange rate: it's a lot easier to remember and calculate on the fly, especially when hauling hundreds or thousands of the things. The uniform size and shape of said coins is probably kept for the same reason - although it was a bit sloppy of the writers of the early rules to set the weight of each coin at 0.1 pounds, and then state in the same paragraph that said coins are the same size and shape as an American half-dollar piece.<br /><br />For a fantasy game, it's easy enough to hand-wave the value and size of all coins this way, just like it's easy to stick to round numbers in other areas. (I admit I'm guilty of this; my own setting has months that are <i>exactly</i> 30 days long, because at the time I didn't feel that it was necessary to do otherwise if I was creating the planet from scratch.) But in a game based in the real world, like your own, this can certainly add another layer of immersion for the "Alphas" you describe in the post following.Fuzzy Skinnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10606454596061907461noreply@blogger.com