Gold
| Type | Currency |
|---|---|
| Rarity | Common |
| Item level | 1 |
| Weight | 0.001 lbs |
| Value | 1 gp |
Gold is the only currency in Valdaria. One gold is the smallest unit there is, and no silver, copper, or lesser coin exists beneath it, so every price you are quoted and every purse you empty is counted in whole gold. Prices are written as gp on item cards and in the storefront, and a coin carries the emblem of an eclipsed sun, struck by the Ion Empire.
Coin never takes up a slot in your pack, so however much you carry it sits alongside your crafting materials in a pouch of its own. Its weight still counts against what you can bear, at a thousandth of a pound a coin, which means a thousand gold weighs a pound, as described on Encumbrance.
Where gold comes from
Coin is real in the world rather than a number that appears when the story needs it, so what you gain comes out of someone's purse and what you take is what they lose.
- Looting the fallen. A body carries the coin it actually had, and a purse you empty stays empty.
- Chests and stashes. Coin lying in unattended places scales with your level.
- Selling. A merchant pays from their own purse, as described on Merchants.
- Paid work. NPCs pay for real work, so escorts, deliveries, bounties, protection, and favors put earned coin in your pocket once the job is done. An NPC asked for money pays from a real purse that can run dry, and the Narrator reports the amount that actually changed hands when a purse holds less than expected.
Killing something far beneath your level leaves scraps rather than coin, because rewards follow danger, as described on Loot.
What gold buys
Most of your coin goes across a merchant's counter, where you buy from their stock and sell them what you have found. Beyond the counter you can pay a maker for work, which is a commission, and a craftsman working on commission charges a labor fee on top of the materials. Crafting your own gear costs you no coin at all, only the materials, the tempers, and the roll.
A merchant who lacks what you want can set one aside for you at a firm price, which sits above the fair rate and is pinned when the order is made. The top rarities are never made to order, and Legendary and Mythic pieces are never sold by any merchant at any price.
What a thing is worth
An item's value follows its rarity and its item level together, so a piece of higher level is worth more than the same piece at a lower one, as described under Item level. Item effects raise a price as well, because a merchant pays more for gear that carries one and charges more for gear that comes with one.
Everyday goods cost pocket change, and materials and consumables price below gear of the same rarity, so a stack of provisions never costs what a weapon does.
Prices and haggling
Buying and selling settle at the price the storefront shows. Your Bartering skill moves that price in your favor as a standing rate, so a practiced barterer buys for less and sells for more on every line.
Beyond the standing rate a bargain can be struck in conversation, though a discount is won rather than granted for the asking. You have to win a Bartering check, the discount never runs deeper than thirty percent, and a merchant never pays more for something than they would charge for it. A price a merchant has already agreed to is honored at their counter afterward, even if their purse would otherwise have run short before the restock.
A trade with no quoted price settles at the item's fair value rather than whatever number came up in the conversation.
| Items & Equipment |
|---|
| Items · Equipment · Affixes · Item effects · Tempering · Crafting · Merchants |