All That Glitters

 

Continuing the earlier thoughts about gold in classic D&D…

Over the years, one overall trend in my perspective on playing or running TTRPGS is an increasing deference to the Rules As Written (RAW). That’s not to say I never house rule any more, I do quite often, but it has become more selective and less of a go-to move. There was a time, and this blog contains ample evidence of it, that I would seize upon some game mechanic or suchlike and figure that my decades of experience meant I ‘knew better’ and could fix D&D. Shockingly, it wasn’t quite so simple.

As a result, I have seen more and more concepts and house rules and home-brew charts slip out of my metaphorical gaming Trapper Keeper and out of use when I plan or play a game. A “side effect” of this is watching other folks online work through similar thought processes about the same issues I was trying to “fix.” Often, I watch them arrive at a similar place to mine in real-time, as conversations evolve on chat servers and message-boards with other members of the online groups.

One common bugaboo that seems to come up over & over is coinage. Specifically in two main areas: gold vs silver as the standard denomination, and why coins weigh as much as they do (encumbrance). I’ve toyed with things like the “Silver Standard” (changing over to SP being the default coin) in the past. I’ve since come around to just using gold as in the books. I’ve had a similar progression of ideas regarding coin weight and size. I wanted to talk a bit about my rationales here and I’d like to address the second issue first (as it seems simplest): the matter of encumbrance.

In Basic/Expert D&D, 10 coins weighs a pound (16 oz., or around half a kilo). Now, most of imagining this might say “Whoa there! Those must be some HEFTY discs!” and you wouldn’t be wrong. I believe -and if I ever get the chance to hang out with Zeb Cook again, I hope I remember to ask him- that the numbers were chosen for ease of calculation over any concerns about realism.

That said, I get how it rankles some folks. 100 coins weighing ten pounds seems like it would make shopping around town quite exhausting. For those folks who decide to make the rate things like 20cn/lb or even more, as long as other weights for equipment, etc. are appropriately adjusted, go right ahead.

For myself, I tend more towards things like OSE’s basic encumbrance rules where the weight of most gear is ignored and a character’s movement is determined by how much (if any) armor they are wearing and whether they are carrying treasure. It makes things like equipment choices important, and takes into account the difficulties of hauling loot out of the dungeon without bogging down into every item’s individual weight. Obviously this requires ad hoc rulings on occasion. A recent example in a discussion group centered around carrying a ladder into the dungeon and what it would weigh. My suggestion was to treat it like having treasure in hand (an extra load) without having to get into debates on ‘how heavy is a 10’ wooden ladder’?

The caveat I would make is that D&D coins should be markedly heavier than modern coins, now whether that’s because a modern coins are less dense (the US Quarter hasn’t had silver in it since before I was born), or because the fantasy coins are just bigger, the fact remains if the money is supposed to contain the valuable ores in question, it’s going to be made of dense metals instead of modern alloys. Make them heavy enough that hauling a bunch out of the dungeon is at least a bit of a chore.

The other issue that is frequently brought up “the silver standard” or some variation of it. I should make it clear that I am talking about folks changing D&D’s gold piece default via a house rule, not about separate games with a silver standard baked-in from square one. In a nutshell, this is house ruling that silver is the default currency instead of gold, so prices in the equipment lists are in SP instead of GP. Most, but not all, versions of this house rule also make 1SP=1XP.

Again, I understand the reasoning. I’ve had similar ideas myself. Different people have posited different defenses of the silver standard house rule over the years, but as far as I can see, it boils down to complaints about “realism.” The argument tends to go along the lines of “10 gold coins weighs a pound, that means there are literally HUNDREDS OF POUNDS of gold in that chest. That’s nuts! There isn’t enough gold in the world for there to be so much treasure like that lying around! If there was, then gold would be worthless!” Or words to that effect. Fair enough, I suppose. But let me offer a few points in defense of why I use the gold standard as is in the rules.

Firstly, it’s easier to not change a rule than to change it. It’s how the game was designed, it’s how all the adventures and supplements use it, so it’s less headache for me to just leave it alone.

Secondly, the game is designed around exploring dungeons to find treasure. Getting past the traps and monsters to that chest of loot is literally and figuratively the players’ reward. The game mechanics of the treasure are irrelevant to the emotional satisfaction (aka “Fun”) the players get from their success. One of the ways I can make that better for them is in describing the scene well, and gold is just more evocative of wealth than silver. It’s just cooler looking. Look how ubiquitous it is in popular culture. Pirates’ chests are full of gold! The dragon doesn’t sit on a pile of silver!

Thirdly, Dungeons and Dragons was not created to emulate anything remotely like a real-world economy. Some editions, settings, and supplements have taken whacks at it, but originally no. It’s a fantasy game. Also for what it’s worth, it’s unlikely a fantasy/medieval gold coin is very pure. It could easily be 10K or less. Besides, all money is fake. It’s an agreed upon delusion that lets economies happen, so as long as folks agree that one “gold” coin can buy X amount, then it’s all good.

Lastly, the dragon sitting on the hoard is realistic, but what the coins are made of is too far??

Finally, let me just remind folks I’m talking about the games that I run. Other GMs’ mileage may vary, but for me, chasing after some standard of simulationism just leads to diminishing returns on the enjoyment of the game.

RSA: Floating Disc

This is a curious one. Anyone who has played old-school D&D has at least heard of this spell. In my experience, it doesn't get used much unless magic-using characters roll their starting spell randomly. When your entire magical arsenal for the day consists of one or two first level spells, a luggage cart just isn't likely to be your first choice.

Floating Disc (from Moldvay)

Range: 6'

Duration: 6 turns

Without quoting the whole spell description, the disc of magical force appears at the caster's waist height and stays no more than 6' away from him or her as they move about. It can carry 5000 coins in weight (500 lb.) and moves at the caster's movement rate.

Because it's a utility spell with next to no combat application (not to discourage player creativity), it has a decent duration. It's not all day, but an hour from a first level spell isn't bad. Since it basically dumps what it's carrying on the ground when the spell ends, you probably aren't going to use it as a caddie.

Here's where the spell gets interesting.

Five thousand coins carrying capacity. That's more than a mule can carry! The disc floats along behind the caster at the same movement speed. That means your unarmored, unencumbered, 120' per turn magic-user can carry more than a pack animal out of the dungeon faster than the big, brawny fighter. So one tactic for recovering as much loot as possible might be to load up the wizard's disc and have him sprint for the surface, towing the treasure. He can also carry out a wounded/fallen comrade. 

Nothing in the spell indicates the caster needs to maintain the spell, so he's free to cast others if he has them, fight, talk, map, etc.  It's described as the size and shape of a small round shield, which I interpret as about 2-3' in diameter. I find that an odd size for carrying that much weight. 

I'm not saying I would want to play a 1st level MU going into the Caves of Chaos with FD as my only spell, but I wouldn't say no to a scroll for the spell. 

The BX setting (part 3)

OK, I am wrapping this up. Seriously!

To finish up my musings about settings for a setting representative of the Basic/Expert game, I wanted to touch on just a few more topics: Resources, Risks, and Rewards.

Resources

For me, and many grumpy old-schoolers, managing your resources is no small part of classic D&D play. Heck, I even created products specifically to make it easier to incorporate into tabletop play. Rules like encumbrance, searching times, movement rates, and light source duration all lead to some real cost/benefit decisions being made: Do we take the time to search every room? How many torches did you bring? Do we hire someone to carry our extra stuff?

Now all these sound more game mechanics-related than setting, but bear with me. A BX world is a place where not only do decisions like those above matter, they matter because it's a world where dungeon crawls are a relatively common thing. Ancient labyrinthine ruins, extensive subterranean caves, mysterious catacombs, they practically flourish in a BX world. Of course this is true for many other versions of D&D, too. The point is the characters live in a world where someone, at some point, decided that it was a good idea to carve out an underground lair that looked like this.

There are weird, even zany places in a BX world. Maybe they are ancient ruins or a mad wizard's tower, but those that decide to brave those places prepare for mapping long corridors, regular booby traps, hidden passages, and foul monsters lurking around corners. Which brings us to...

Risks

Whether it's claw, sword, or spell, PCs face most of their risks in combat. The BX world is one where monsters are real and your character is going to have to fight for his life at some point, if not many times. A BX world allows for the possibility of a dragon flying over your head as you travel the King's Road or for a hill giant to be walking down a city street! This is a fantasy world. 

That being said, most of these creatures are monsters, not NPC or PC "playable" races (BtB at least). But "monster' does not always equal "enemy." A decent reaction roll and the appropriate language slot can result in parley or even friendly communication. 

Combat can be de-emphasized and other aspects of play can be focussed upon, but by default at least the threat of violence is deeply ingrained into a D&D setting. What can give this a more "BX feel?" Well, BX is a fairly lethal flavor of D&D. PCs tend to be fragile with their lower hit dice and -by the book- 0 hit points being dead. Even mid to high level PCs can be killed fairly easily, and morale rolls can lead to the better part of valor being exercised by monster and hireling alike. Compare that to some of the later versions of the game and you can easily picture a world where life can be a bit cheap and those that live by the sword are likely to pick their battles carefully as well as try to squeeze every advantage out of a situation. And once the battle is over, they will be sure to get as much of the spoils as possible to offset the risks.

Rewards

XP for GP. That brief statement tells me this is a world where its inhabitants gain influence and become more competent by getting as much as they can for as little risk as possible. It's not the slaying of the monster, it's the treasure it was guarding. A BX world is a place where foul humanoids have piles of loot stolen from victims or looted from old castles they now infest. Half-rotted coin pouches lie among the bones in the lairs of terrifying trolls and gigantic spiders. And that axe of antique design wielded by the bugbear chieftain? It has a +2 enchantment on it. 

This is a world of coin-filled coffers and magic swords. Of scrolls containing mystic spells or treasure maps. Of idols with a single ruby eye the size of a golf ball. Of dragon hoards, staves of power and magical rings. The DM may not wish to flood his world with  magic items but in a BX world, such things exist and even leaving it to the random treasure charts the PCs will encounter at least some of them. 

Assuming the characters live long enough, it's also a world where lowly murder-hobos and would-be heroes might accrue enough wealth, fame, and connections to become lords (and ladies) of the land themselves. It's not a place where everything is 100% fixed sociopolitically. Maybe there are wars, or dynastic struggles, or rebellions and invasions. Maybe there are young nations that are still growing. The point is even if your PC started as a turnip farmer, he could one day be a knight in a keep with a fiefdom of his own to rule.

Wrapping Up

What does all this mean? Have I answered the question? Well, no. probably not. But I don't think that it's a question that can be answered definitively. What I do think I've accomplished is to work through some concepts of what I think a setting should or shouldn't have to be a good fit for Moldvay/Cook. 

And maybe it's done a bit that for you, too.

Moldvay Musings VI: Encumbrance

I always forget that encumbrance in BX is an optional rule. I use it so often in my games that it seems integral to the system to me. I can totally understand someone choosing to "hand wave" the whole thing though.

It seems that encumbrance is one of those mechanics that RPGs tend to struggle with. Despite the simplicity of the idea ("Carrying lots of stuff is hard!"), different games have tried all sorts of methods to represent this. More often than not, they come up short, either in playability, or realism, or both.

The B/X method –being one of the oldest– is fairly simple compared to some, and while far from perfect, does the job well enough, IMO.

Two of the most commonly cited "weaknesses" of the mechanic are:

• No Strength modifier for carrying capacity.
• 10 coins per pound is a harsh scale.

The first is easily house-ruled. I commonly allow a character's STR adjustment (to hit/damage) to alter the allowed weights by 100 cn per ±1. So, for example, an 18 STR can carry 700 cn without being slowed down, while a 3 STR character could only carry 100 cn before being encumbered. 

The idea that an individual coin weighs 1.6 oz. means you're talking some serious metal discs and a LOT of gold per piece. It's easy enough to explain away though; a relatively primitive society, lots of impurities in the alloy (a "gold piece" would probably be more like 10K than 18 or 24K), etc.

One tidbit I like in the system is the idea of armor slowing you down regardless of weight. The very fact you are in armor limits movement, etc. It tends to make PCs a bit slow. When you love resource management and wandering monsters as much as I do, though, that's a feature not a bug! To me, it's as much a part of the challenge as fighting monsters when players need to sweat running out of torches, or the extra time it takes to move through an area, because of all the stuff they are carrying or wearing. Watching them debate taking that one more sack of coins but leave their rations behind? Priceless!