In my last session, players looted a tomb with lots and lots of treasure. There was enough that they each took all the gold they could carry. I need to figure out how much that's worth before today's game. Please help me out. I'll post more about this campaign in the actual play forum later.

Encumbrance limits?
System?
More info, please!

It's 3.5. Strength varies player to player, ranging from 8 to 18 IIRC. I just don't know how much gold (or generic treasure if I need to take down the value) is worth per pound. If I know the baseline, I can have stores try and cheat people out of their money in town.

Quote from: beejazz;387071In my last session, players looted a tomb with lots and lots of treasure. There was enough that they each took all the gold they could carry. I need to figure out how much that's worth before today's game. Please help me out. I'll post more about this campaign in the actual play forum later.

Historical coinage is quite small. My uncle gave my dad a coin collection before he died and he had some silver coinage from different eras (Persian, Greek, and 13th century England) Basically they are about the size of a United States Dime.

250 to 200 per lb is historically accurate. The largest coins were about 1 oz (16 per pound) but not commonly used. Wikipedia has several good articles on coins of various eras and their weights. Above that you are talking precious metal in bar form.

Older editions of D&D use 10 per lb which is silly.

Quote from: estar;387078Older editions of D&D use 10 per lb which is silly.

In terms of pure weight, yes. However, older editions of D&D also said that Encumbrance is not only weight, but also volume and just ease of carrying in general. Case in point, you probably can't just cram your pockets and backpacks full of small, relatively heavy coins, since much of it would spill as soon as you started moving. You'd need purses and money bags, but those in turn also have their problems: you can't just hang an unlimited number of small heavy sacks on your belt, as anyone who wears belts regularly will tell you.

Quote from: Premier;387079In terms of pure weight, yes. However, older editions of D&D also said that Encumbrance is not only weight, but also volume and just ease of carrying in general. Case in point, you probably can't just cram your pockets and backpacks full of small, relatively heavy coins, since much of it would spill as soon as you started moving. You'd need purses and money bags, but those in turn also have their problems: you can't just hang an unlimited number of small heavy sacks on your belt, as anyone who wears belts regularly will tell you.

10 per lb of encumbrance is still silly. I played NERO LARP for over a decade and their coins are about quarter size. It is trivial to carry 100 to 200 coins which in older editions of D&D is 10 to 20 pounds.  The older editions are off by a least a factor of 10 if not more.

It is my opinion it is a dick rule  born of frustration to check what Gygax felt was the abuse of carrying large amount of treasure out of the dungeon. In this case it went too far on the punitive side.  It not like the first time this happened in when people DM and Gygax is human like the rest of us. In this case Gygax gets it wrong.

Basically regardless what you actually use for encumbrance I find players generally don't carry more than 5 lbs worth of treasure as a rule. Any more then it starts messing up their existing item scheme and they find alternatives to getting it out.

The difference is between 50 coins and 1,250 coins. The added weight doesn't help in the really big hauls. You still need to get mules to haul the bulk of it out.

Coins in 3.5 are 1oz each.

estar is right, 10 per pound is a ridiculous limit. Part of the whole point of money is that it's supposed to be highly portable. As to the OP, why not just give as much as you're comfortable giving? If they're able take more than you're comfortable with, you're just going to "cheat" them out of it, right? Why present them with the illusion of more reward than you're actually willing to give?

Give them all there is.
Having that much gold will attract others just like them. :eek:
Having enough money is a blessing. Having too much is a curse.
=

Quote from: two_fishesAs to the OP, why not just give as much as you're comfortable giving? If they're able take more than you're comfortable with, you're just going to "cheat" them out of it, right? Why present them with the illusion of more reward than you're actually willing to give?

I'd never cheat my players out of what they've rightfully stolen, and they earned the shit out of that gold too.

The shopkeepers who hear about a party coming to town with bags and bags of gold on the other hand... they might have ridiculous prices, shell games, and bogus "investments" for the party.

Part of the reason I gave 'em a shot at such a good haul so early on is because I don't do this often, and players in my games tend to get mostly mundane loot and oil of slipperiness type items. So one exceptional haul won't hurt things so much.

Quote from: Greentongue;387093Give them all there is.
Having that much gold will attract others just like them. :eek:
Having enough money is a blessing. Having too much is a curse.
=

This was also part of the plan. Bandits and muggers and such. Enough money and a good town and an adventure takes care of itself.

Quote from: estar;38708210 per lb of encumbrance is still silly. I played NERO LARP for over a decade and their coins are about quarter size. It is trivial to carry 100 to 200 coins which in older editions of D&D is 10 to 20 pounds.  The older editions are off by a least a factor of 10 if not more.

It is my opinion it is a dick rule  born of frustration to check what Gygax felt was the abuse of carrying large amount of treasure out of the dungeon. In this case it went too far on the punitive side.  It not like the first time this happened in when people DM and Gygax is human like the rest of us. In this case Gygax gets it wrong.

Basically regardless what you actually use for encumbrance I find players generally don't carry more than 5 lbs worth of treasure as a rule. Any more then it starts messing up their existing item scheme and they find alternatives to getting it out.

The difference is between 50 coins and 1,250 coins. The added weight doesn't help in the really big hauls. You still need to get mules to haul the bulk of it out.

I never found it to be a dick rule so much as an easy one.  Nor did I percieve him as getting it 'wrong', so much as trying to make it very simple.  I still use a variant years and years later (though about 20 years ago I made my smaller coins the size of half-dollars, for this very reason),
however, I totally agree that the amount a person can carry with them has a finite limit that is low enough that without aid, it shouldn't be able to break the system (depending on the economy of the area).
A really large haul requires advance planning and logistics, which I enjoy, but many players do not.

Quote from: LordVreeg;387110I never found it to be a dick rule so much as an easy one.  Nor did I percieve him as getting it 'wrong', so much as trying to make it very simple.

A 100 to 1 lb is likewise simple. There no reason a DM would use the 10 to 1 lb unless he got a problem about character hauling treasure out of the dungeon. Even in the 70s research at the public library would have shown that coins were never that big.

With that being said it is not a big deal. Every DM got their "issues" lord knows I never lived down the hunting cow incident when I went too far on the realism side of things using Harnmaster.

I recount the incident here. http://batintheattic.blogspot.com/2008/10/cow-in-attic.html

In a nutshell the players went into the wilderness going from Tashal to Cornanan along the Salt Route. Harnmaster has simple rules to implementing the effect of bad weather. They got caught in days of cold rain and were going to die unless they got food and shelter. They decided to go hunting and I rolled their target prey. All they knew it was a hoofed animal. They rolled badly so it took way longer than it should and when they finally found it. It was a cow

They were not amused.

Quote from: estar;387127A 100 to 1 lb is likewise simple. There no reason a DM would use the 10 to 1 lb unless he got a problem about character hauling treasure out of the dungeon. Even in the 70s research at the public library would have shown that coins were never that big.

With that being said it is not a big deal. Every DM got their "issues" lord knows I never lived down the hunting cow incident when I went too far on the realism side of things using Harnmaster.

I recount the incident here. http://batintheattic.blogspot.com/2008/10/cow-in-attic.html

In a nutshell the players went into the wilderness going from Tashal to Cornanan along the Salt Route. Harnmaster has simple rules to implementing the effect of bad weather. They got caught in days of cold rain and were going to die unless they got food and shelter. They decided to go hunting and I rolled their target prey. All they knew it was a hoofed animal. They rolled badly so it took way longer than it should and when they finally found it. It was a cow

They were not amused.

Pcs and realistic weather rules are rarely on friendly terms.  I tend to run games in temperate or colder climes...
"What do you mean, you didn't buy a tent???"

*sigh*

3.5 Player's Handbook, page 112.
"The standard coin weighs about a third of an ounce (fifty to the pound). It is the exact size of the coin pictured in the illustration on page 168".

Don't forget the PCs may have other equipment they need to carry...e.g. 'allow 5 pounds for clothing'   Encumberance is pg. 162: a character can push/drag up to 5x their max. load if conditions are right.