This week as I was working on my personal RPG system, a lot of different thoughts about currency in fantasy campaigns came up that I thought I should share while the thoughts were still fresh.
To my mind, currency in a campaign is a much overlooked resource for adventuring fun.
In fact, I recently heard a comment to the effect that no one cares about currency in treasure piles - magical loot is what the people want.
Pity, because done well, currency is magical loot that can't be spoiled by a simple "Detect Magic" spell.
Reading the D20 5E System Reference Document subsection on Currency in the Equipment section, I was impressed by how far its come since OD&D.
There are hints about the "real life" uses of each of the coin denominations, who gets paid how much, and such.
Do those hold up in your world, or are they different - and why?
Just how much DOES a loaf of bread cost?
It's a decent framework even including uncommon currency found in treasure and how some folks might be distrustful of such.
Let's use those ideas as a jumping off point:
Where does the currency even come from in your campaign?
Mines, fortresses to protect those mines and miners, caravans, refiners/smelters, royal mints, vaults - currency is the tip of the iceberg of an entire ecosystem built right into your game world.
How a currency is created in your game says a lot about the region - is this a prisoners and slaves operation profiting a tyrant?
Are peasant miners who are at least free to go but would rather toil for a coin of their own and crusts of bread along the way bettering their lot in the kingdom?
Did the region create ... or capture... the mine?
Whose faces and what symbols are struck on each coin? Why?
Need to unload some exposition on campaign history without putting the table to sleep?
Why not bar trivia and gambling based around knowing the details of the faces of the coins and the deeds that made them famous?
Researching currency in medieval times can also lead to some fascinating side quests.
For example: How common was counterfeiting (even without magic)? How could magic be used or why can't it be used?
So much opportunity there for glamer type spells to make smooth river stones into trickery...
Archaeologists have found medieval counterfeiting operations (from their waste) in castles and caves.
Common techniques included cheap metal blanks and light plating of metals over them to pass as legit coins.
How many adventure opportunities can you make out of both being a counterfeiter operation (there's your rogue's scam waiting to happen) as well as being the victim of a counterfeiter (what do you mean our treasure hoard we delved and suffered for IS A FRAUD?!?) as well as chasing down a counterfeiting operation?
Beyond that - the D20 5E reference becomes bland by just describing one currency.
We know the world is not that simple, don't we?
How many encounter opportunities can you make out of PCs arriving a new place with unknown ... or worse unwanted ... forms of currency?
Each currency the players find or us is a "game piece" that GMs can use for all sorts of shenanigans, especially factoring in magic.
Who is willing to exchange that "worthless foreign coin, probably fake" for locally acceptable coin?
Is every stable and bar proprietor willing to accept strange "adventurer coin" why? why not?
How many scams can a place run ON adventurers with strange coin before the adventurers catch on?
Give those poor moneychanger and appraiser NPCs a moment to complicate the PCs lives a little and open up easy detail for your campaign world that is often dismissed.
How many other game uses can you come up around currency for encounters, NPCs, monsters, locations, etc?
And here's a parting thought - an intelligent rust monster pawnbroker who trades "useless" junk like equipment for that "delicious coin" to put food on his kids' tables?
To my mind, currency in a campaign is a much overlooked resource for adventuring fun.
In fact, I recently heard a comment to the effect that no one cares about currency in treasure piles - magical loot is what the people want.
Pity, because done well, currency is magical loot that can't be spoiled by a simple "Detect Magic" spell.
Reading the D20 5E System Reference Document subsection on Currency in the Equipment section, I was impressed by how far its come since OD&D.
There are hints about the "real life" uses of each of the coin denominations, who gets paid how much, and such.
Do those hold up in your world, or are they different - and why?
Just how much DOES a loaf of bread cost?
It's a decent framework even including uncommon currency found in treasure and how some folks might be distrustful of such.
Let's use those ideas as a jumping off point:
Where does the currency even come from in your campaign?
Mines, fortresses to protect those mines and miners, caravans, refiners/smelters, royal mints, vaults - currency is the tip of the iceberg of an entire ecosystem built right into your game world.
How a currency is created in your game says a lot about the region - is this a prisoners and slaves operation profiting a tyrant?
Are peasant miners who are at least free to go but would rather toil for a coin of their own and crusts of bread along the way bettering their lot in the kingdom?
Did the region create ... or capture... the mine?
Whose faces and what symbols are struck on each coin? Why?
Need to unload some exposition on campaign history without putting the table to sleep?
Why not bar trivia and gambling based around knowing the details of the faces of the coins and the deeds that made them famous?
Researching currency in medieval times can also lead to some fascinating side quests.
For example: How common was counterfeiting (even without magic)? How could magic be used or why can't it be used?
So much opportunity there for glamer type spells to make smooth river stones into trickery...
Archaeologists have found medieval counterfeiting operations (from their waste) in castles and caves.
Common techniques included cheap metal blanks and light plating of metals over them to pass as legit coins.
How many adventure opportunities can you make out of both being a counterfeiter operation (there's your rogue's scam waiting to happen) as well as being the victim of a counterfeiter (what do you mean our treasure hoard we delved and suffered for IS A FRAUD?!?) as well as chasing down a counterfeiting operation?
Beyond that - the D20 5E reference becomes bland by just describing one currency.
We know the world is not that simple, don't we?
How many encounter opportunities can you make out of PCs arriving a new place with unknown ... or worse unwanted ... forms of currency?
Each currency the players find or us is a "game piece" that GMs can use for all sorts of shenanigans, especially factoring in magic.
Who is willing to exchange that "worthless foreign coin, probably fake" for locally acceptable coin?
Is every stable and bar proprietor willing to accept strange "adventurer coin" why? why not?
How many scams can a place run ON adventurers with strange coin before the adventurers catch on?
Give those poor moneychanger and appraiser NPCs a moment to complicate the PCs lives a little and open up easy detail for your campaign world that is often dismissed.
How many other game uses can you come up around currency for encounters, NPCs, monsters, locations, etc?
And here's a parting thought - an intelligent rust monster pawnbroker who trades "useless" junk like equipment for that "delicious coin" to put food on his kids' tables?
Last edited: