Topic: Money - Coins in the Shadow World

[craggles]

The Shadow World books I've gone through all talk of the type of coinage is standard in a particular region/culture talking of the type of coins and what's embossed on it etc which is good...

...but coming from a more generic campaign, we have the standard Mithril, Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze, Copper, Tin, Iron pieces (in that order of value where any coin is worth 10 of the coin to the right).

I can't remember if a specific section in the Atlas or Modules talks about the global value of the metals used in coins. Although I'm sure some money wouldn't be considered legal tender with certain cultures which would increase book keeping complexity (which I don't want to jump straight into right now) so as an indication of general wealth, we're going to stick with the generic coinage tier system for now.

Mithril is obviously from a different system 'that shall not be named' so that's out of the picture straight away but does the Shadow World have a generic coinage tier at all? Does it have a high value coin which is the equivalent of the 'Mithril'? Does it have lower value coins that replace or slot in-between the our current coinage tier?

I've redone the excel sheet we use for our character sheets and there's been a lot of changes in the skills, languages and lores and I thought I'd finished everything until I started dropping in the player's money and then I realised I'd missed an important bit out.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

[Rasyr-Mjolnir]

Considering that the Navigators are about the most wide-spread organization, and a commercial one at that, I wouldn't put it outside of the realm of possibility that they have established their own coinage system, and that they use this system as the rule by which they measure local currencies.

Over the centuries, the local coins would/could have slowly evolved (as nations rose and fell) to be more and more inline with this "universal currency", and it is quite possible that "Navigator currency" is treated the same as, or perhaps even better than local currency (depending upon the local economies).

[vroomfogle]

There is no universal currency.    Most of the currency in circulation in Emer would be of Sel-kai mint, while Rhakhaan provides the most common currency in Jaiman.   As far as high-value currency goes, Sel-kai mints a paper currency that comes in denominations of 100 and 500 gold at least.   Most other kingdoms also mint their own, though these will of course primarily be used locally.   Anything minted higher value than gold will generally be quite unusual as the standard isn't gold but silver.

In the cultural descriptions in the books it usually has a section for Currency and Economy.   Eidolon has a list of currency near the back before the price charts.  The continent player guides will have a list of all the local currencies and we will try to fill in any gaps as well.

[craggles]

Thanks Matt

I see the money on page 135 now - the diamond and platinum notes and there's jade pieces too. oooh.

I'll leave the jade pieces off and as we're currently in Sel-Kai, they can have the notes... to be converted into coin on their departure.

I'll look forward to the Continent Player Guides and more info on money and peoples.

[Rasyr-Mjolnir]

There is no universal currency. 

Correction, there is no published information on one. That is not the same as there not being one, or a GM not being able to introduce one if he wants (which is what I understood the original question to be about).

My post about the Navigators was more of a supposition of what a GM could do if he wanted a universal currency.

Another possibility is the Alliance (Powers of Light & Darkness, page 58), a commerce based oligarchy that covers a large area and is rapidly expanding outwards.

There are other possibilities for introducing one as well.

[craggles]

I do like the Navigator universal currency.

...as they are EVERYWHERE, they would conceivably take the Sel-Kai printed money too?

[vroomfogle]

Navigators would take anything of value (within reason).  In fact I think one of the low level Navigator spells is Appraisal or the equivalent to give the approximate value of goods.

[Rasyr-Mjolnir]

Navigators would take anything of value (within reason).  In fact I think one of the low level Navigator spells is Appraisal or the equivalent to give the approximate value of goods.

Actually, that would be incorrect, the Navigator base lists - http://www.ironcrown.com/ICEforums/index.php?action=tpmod;dl=item589 - do not have any such spells (though it sounds like they should).

The Bard base list, Item Lore, and the Dabbler base list, Thieving Law (IIRC) both have spells that work like that. I think that Item Lore would be more appropriate though.

And since those sort of spells would be based upon the caster's own experiences/knowledge (i.e. the value given is based on Navigator's training and navigator currency (should they happen to have such), the Item Lore spell list would make for an excellent addition to the Navigator spells.

[markc]

  Maybe they can use gems that have been appraised by the "guild" if there is one that has a small printed price on them for exchange of large amounts. Or unique items that can be exchanged at a specific bank for a specific hoard.
 Just some thoughts that may or may not help.
MDC

[egdcltd]

Magically etched gemstones? (like the etched sapphires used as currency in Neal Asher's Polity)

[vroomfogle]

Another thing that appears in the Grand Campaign are Navigator tokens - the one in GC specifically is for a Jump to Gryphon College.    I wouldn't think that there would be any sort of Navigator currency in the sense that it is usable elsewhere (few would accept it), but they could have tokens that are worth certain denominations or types of service that could be purchased from any Navigator.

[Rasyr-Mjolnir]

Navigator Tokens? For an organization that is well know for charging "all that the market will bear", that makes tokens sound more like "subway tokens", "bus passes", or like those green dot credit cards (i.e. you fill them up as a pre-pay sort of thing).

They would give out tokens instead of refunds. Or for "pre-paid" jumps.

But tokens would never be considered currency, jumps and other Navigator services are way way too expensive for that.

But, as I said above, if there were any organization/government that would create something close to a universal currency, it would be the Navigators.

Again, this goes back to the Navigator mindset of charging for every possible thing.

By creating their own currency, they can pay their individual Navigators in that currency, who would then spend it every place that they went.

They can also give an automatic discount to any currency that is not Navigator currency, allowing them to actually charge more (due to the "exchange rate"). It also makes their currency more sought after (by those who use Navigators frequently), and this could maybe create a business in and of itself.

Now chances are that there is no true universal currency simply because there are too many different culture with far too many different methods of payment. IIRC, some culture still indulge in bartering, even on Emer, let alone some of the more far flung cultures...

[RandalThor]

I see a Trade War between the Alliance and the Navigators brewing....... ooooohhhh....aaaahhhhh.....excitement!

[Terry K. Amthor]

A few notes:

1) Rasyr is right about the Navigators tending to devalue anything other than a few recognized currencies, especially if they think they have you over a barrel. One of the few currencies they will accept at face is any Sel-kai currency, even paper (once they make sure it is not counterfeit, they have their ways), because they know that place is good for it with all the wealthy banks (as long as they don't get into complex mortgage instruments) backing it.

2) I don't recall if the Navigator disks are called 'tokens' but they are very expensive magic items that allow you to call a Navigator in an emergency from anywhere (usually one-use) rather than having to get to an obelisk. Currently in the Shadowstone story Kyan Kim was given one by Randae, but because of the incoming Flowstorm, it's not working. This type is just a 'call a Navigator' disk though in this case Randae made arrangements that they would get the best (but still not enough against a Flow-storm). It could be possible to 'pre-buy' a passage to a specific place as well, but it's a rare situation, partly because it is so expensive. The Navigators are basically committing an immediate-response jump-capable Navigator at a moment's notice.

3) No Mithril! That's a Middle-earth metal and nothing quite like it exists on the Shadow World. Some very early Loremaster books may have mentioned it but it is not part of the canon now. Atlas 3 (and I believe a free download supplement for atlas 4) list all the enchanted and otherwise interesting metals on Kulthea.

[craggles]

Thank you Terry - I've added the Sel-Kai currency to the character sheets and I'll sort the currency changing per location when I get to those situations.