Value and coins

Box

The world of Stonetop has no central government, no common currency, and no standard exchange rates. So, what constitutes a fair trade?

Any given item has a Value from 0 to 4 (or rarely higher). Values are not linear; they are tiers. A single Value 2 item is worth about a dozen Value 1 items. Three individual Value 1 items don't add up to Value 3; they're just three Value 1 items.

"A fair price" means trading things with the same Value, but it might not be a 1-to-1 trade. It might be 2- or even 3-to-1 when trading a common, local resource for imported, desirable, or specialized goods (or vice versa).

Exchange rates are anything but standard, but...

A Value 0 item is generally worth:

A purse of copper coins
A single silver coin
A favor
A few days of unskilled labor
A common, mundane item

A Value 1 item is generally worth:

A handful of silver coins
A season (or so) of unskilled labor
A few days of skilled labor
A unit of trade goods* (a sack of grain, a pouch of salt, a stack of pelts, etc.)
A bit of finery (a richly embroidered cloak, a silk scarf, a silver comb, etc.)

A Value 2 item is generally worth:

A purse of silver coins
A single gold coin
A Surplus Surplus
A year (or so) of unskilled labor
A season (or so) of skilled labor
A cartload of common trade goods*
An item of luxury or status (a gold ring, an artful silver torc, a gemstone, etc.)

A Value 3 item is generally worth:

A handful of gold coins
A year (or so) of skilled labor
A good, trained horse or mule
A precious item (ruby ring, gold torc, etc.)

A Value 4 item is generally worth:

A purse of gold coins
A dozen or so good horses
A "priceless" item (huge flawless gemstone, a gold statuette, a bejeweled scepter, etc.)

*Exotic trade goods are +1 Value

A purse of coins contains about 10 handfuls. A handful of coins is about 10 individual coins, and so a purse contains around 100 coins.

One silver coin is roughly worth a purse of coppers (or about 100 copper coins). And one gold coin is roughly worth a purse of silvers (around 100 silver coins, or an absolute pile of coppers.)

Coins are rarely used between the residents of Stonetop; they're mostly used for trade with outsiders.

"Hey, before we head out, can I get, like, a lantern?" asks Caradoc. "It's Value 0, so I can just have it, right?"

No, he can't. It's a special item, not on the inventory sheet, so he has to roll to Trade & Barter. He rolls +Prosperity (+0) and subtracts the Value of 0, and gets an 11. "I think Sawyl keeps a couple lanterns in the shop, you ask him for one?" He does. "Take it," Sawyl says. "Go save those kids."

After facing the swyn, Rhianna wants some bronze arrows (Value 0). She rolls to Trade & Barter and gets a 9. I pick "something close, but not quite right."

"You can't find bronze arrowheads, but you can scrounge up a few bronze pots that folks don't need. Taliesyn can recast them into arrowheads, but he's always so busy, it'll be next season before he gets to it. Or you could Persuade him to prioritize your work." She's happy to wait. "Cool, what little favors or promises do you end up making, in exchange for the bronze scrap and Taliesyn's time?"

Blodwen wants more bendis root before they head back to the Green Lord's tomb. "Don't you grow that in your garden?" asks Rhianna. She does, but only 1d4 uses each spring. She's all out.

She rolls to Trade & Barter, subtracting the bendis root's Value 1, and gets an 8. "Glenys has some," I say, "but isn't keen to give it up. It's the last batch in town, and she doesn't want to waste it. Or encourage this trip back to the tomb. Do you try to convince her otherwise? And if so, what do you offer in exchange?"

Blodwen pleads her case and offers a bezoar in trade (also Value 1). She rolls a 7 to Persuade, and so Glenys reveals something costly, tricky, or distasteful that could convince her. "She thinks this trip is just foolish curiosity. Which it is, right? But if she thought there was some lingering, unnatural evil out there, and that you were secretly going back to deal with it, she'd let you take the bendis root for sure. I don't think she'd even want the bezoar. What do you do?"

The PCs have brought 1 Surplus worth of food and whisky (Value 2) to Gordin's Delve. "This is a trade opportunity, so that 1 Surplus will get you three Value 2 items that are commonly available here. Plus you can each pick a commonly available Value 1 item, too." I give them the list (from the Gordin's Delve entry in Book II*).*

They pick some spare wagon/cart parts (Value 2). Rhianna asks if they can get, like, a whole bunch of iron tools, spears, and hatchets (Value 0) as one of their Value 2 items, and I'm fine with that. "What about a donkey?" she asks. That's still a special item, and she has to roll. She rolls +1 for the Delve's Prosperity, -2 for the donkey's Value, and with advantage because this is a town*.*

On a 10+, I'd say that sure, the donkey can be one of their Value 2 items. But she gets a 7, so I decide it'll cost more than usual. "The cartwright's got a donkey. You can't take it as one of your picks for the Surplus, but he'd sure take that silver filigree sphere for it. What do you do?"