Chatter: Treasure

[Vardaen]

I was seeking a bit of info on treasure and discovered this in the Lake Town Book.

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Silver and Gold
In the North, a form of currency is starting to circulate once again, especially in the city of Lake-town and along its main trading routes. The coins that are exchanged are mainly gold pieces, silver pennies and copper coins . Gold pieces are very valuable and rare - the majority of those that are seen in Dale, Erebor or Lake-town come from the treasure of Smaug, and most people show some propensity to hoard them and put them away. Silver pennies are more common - a gold piece is worth about 20 silver pennies. Copper coins are those of the least worth, with 1 Silver penny being the equivalent of 12 copper coins.

Treasure and Money
The One Ring uses a fairly abstract system for money, with a Treasure rating corresponding to broad improvements in standing and wealth. But some players prefer to have a way to gauge their accumulated riches in more familiar terms. So, how much wealth does Treasure really represent?

• In broad terms, 1 Treasure can be considered to be equivalent to 1 Gold piece.

1 gold piece = 1 Treasure
1 gold piece = 20 silver pennies, 240 copper coins
1 silver penny = 12 copper coins

The following lists are provided to give a measure of the worth of wealth in the civilised areas of Wilderland. The various coins are abbreviated as follows:

gold piece = (g), silver penny = (s), copper coin = (c).

Standards of Living upkeep for 1 year
Poor 1g
Frugal 3g
Martial 6g
Prosperous 12g
Rich 24g
Upkeep costs indicated are minimums, and include household costs for more affluent individuals.

Customary Weregild for the Dead under the laws of Dale
Weregild for a common man 200s
Weregild for a landless noble 600s
Weregild for a thane 1200s

Market Prices
1 old, or half-starved pony 3s-4s
1 healthy pony 8s-10s
1 draught horse 10s-20s
1 riding horse 1g
1 war horse 2g-4g
1 cow 8s
1 pig 2s
1 sheep 1s
2 chickens 1c

[Vardaen]

STANDARDS OF LIVING
The characters in The One Ring are adventurers, individuals used to relying on their abilities to find sustenance in the wild, rather than by putting their hands into their money bags. To avoid the need for a lengthy equipment list or overly-detailed rules for economics, a character's culture provides them with a Standard of living. This rating describes the affluence of an individual coming from that culture. The Standard of living rankings are Poor, Frugal, Martial, Prosperous or Rich. A character's Standard of living is used to determine his access to resources; for example, to assess whether he can afford to buy a new pair of boots to replace the one he lost, or if he can give something to a fisherman in exchange for renting his boat, or even if he could reasonably have a length of rope already stashed somewhere among his travelling gear.

Out of Pocket Expenses
Using the following guidelines, the Loremaster and his players should able to judge in most circumstances what a character can afford. Buying a round of beers for all patrons at an inn should not be a problem for a Barding character who comes from a Prosperous culture, while it could be difficult for a Woodman hero, coming from a Frugal folk.

Sometimes, it could be helpful to compare a character's Standard of Living with that of the individual selling an item or providing the service. For example, Ulf, a Beorning hero, has a mind
to buy passage on a cart led by a merchant from Dale headed for Esgaroth. Beornings are a Martial folk, and the Prosperous merchant from Dale doesn't see anything among Ulf's possessions worthy of his time and discomfort. It is probably time for Ulf to look for different ways to persuade the merchant...

Equipment
The same approach can be used when a player is wondering whether his character should already have a particular item among his standard possessions. When this happens, the player should ask himself (or the Loremaster) how relevant the object in question is to his character's trade. In this case, a character's Calling should provide most answers, especially if combined with an appropriate Standard of Living. For example, should a Barding Treasure-hunter have among his possessions a set of lock-picks? Yes, and a high-quality set it is, too.

RAISE STANDARD OF LIVING
The riches he had brought back from his travels had now become a local legend...

Having several chests filled with gold under the bed makes it far easier for an adventurer to go around with a pouch filled with coins. Players spending their Fellowship phase at home may reduce their heroes' treasure rating to raise their Standard of living as far as out-of-pocket expenses and the acquisition of equipment are concerned.

It costs 1 Treasure to spend one month at a Prosperous standard of living, and 2 Treasure to spend it at a Rich one. At the end of the month, the character must spend the amount again or revert to his previous Standard of living. Players may invest as much Treasure as they like to maintain their characters at a higher standard of living for longer periods of time.

[Vardaen]

Current Standard of Living for the Fellowship:

Aerth - Frugal
Borir - Rich
Pipkin - Prosperous
Varuthil - Martial
Wren - Martial

Treasure Points for the Fellowship:
Everyone: 3 Points

So if you want to upgrade gear, get more items you'll look at your level and we determine if you can afford it. If not you can spend treasure to improve your standard of living for a month and get better items.

Lake-town, Dale and Erebor have markets where you can buy items with static bonuses (like a fine harp for +1 to performance). Here in Woodland Hall you can't find that sort of thing. All in all nothing really changes much but I had to go through it again, and wanted us all on the same page.