Currency in the War of the Lance Era | DragonLance Saga

[@DLSaga]

Thank you for watching today's Dragonlance Setting episode. What do you think of the myriad of currencies used across Ansalon? Leave a comment below!

[@josephS490]

Thank! That’s extremely helpful. I was having trouble finding out the unique currency of this setting

[@DLSaga]

You’re very welcome!

[@SteveKavadas]

Whew,the economic complexity post Cataclysm feels like trying to watch the stock market ticker with no idea how commodities work. 😂 Awesome video, I’m only barely halfway through the Chronicles series but I’m developing a huge appreciation for Dragonlance as a whole. 👍

[@DLSaga]

That’s awesome!

[@TrampasWhiteman]

Fascinating. I didn't realize this much level of detail existed. This might make good flavor for novels, but would be wholly confusing for game play. Using steel pieces is confusing enough for your average gamer.

[@DLSaga]

Yea, though I’ve never played in a continent spanning game, I usually keep them to specific regions. So it never really becomes an issue. But let’s be honest, no one would ever use all this in a home game :)

[@CANDROU1]

Wow, great video. I had forgotten about all the different exchange rates and currency in the game. It's this level of detail that the game designers put in, that makes the setting so epic and realistic. However, it's also the same reason we get frustrated by the lack of details and canon consistency by the novel writers who don't seem to share the same interest in attention to detail.

[@DLSaga]

Yep

[@chicochiggy4976]

Great video. Amazing work. I love the flavour and detail this gives the setting especially the reasoning behind it but could imagine an over enthusiastic dm having a breakdown if dealing with a dockside marketplace to seriously!😂 Probably easier to assume that nova all know the values as standard until you want an annoyed Minotaur encounter for your players to deal with…

[@DLSaga]

hahaha very true. I could definitely see that.

[@billcarson6954]

Man, I never it was so complex! I always took it for granted that DL was, in many was, a post-apocalyptic setting. Trading steel & other utilitarian resources over shiny rocks. My brain must’ve kept it at just that, cuz I’ve never heard of some of these currencies! 😂 Also, 5:36 what happened to poor Edward Snakehands? lol

[@DLSaga]

It is really convoluted!

[@rhicrtr]

This rules. So much D&D stuff is only aesthetically medieval and doesn't work like a real world, but this is super interesting and more realistic

[@DLSaga]

It may be a bit too convoluted for a fluid game. But I think it's interesting.

[@weldonchen3709]

First, ye gods, great video. Kudos on the bravery of talking about this very nuanced part of Dragonlance. I assume that value of the coins and money are not based on the actual material used. The economic term is "fiat money" Money's value is based on the strength of the money issued by said government. A real world example of this, is the 1943 U.S steel penny. The US needed copper for bullets, so they dictated that a steel piece be minted for that year. That's it. You're now using steel pieces, U.S. citizens. In the same way, look at paper bills.

[@DLSaga]

I try not to make logical justifications, since it’s just fantasy and nearly everyone ignores it anyway :) I thought it was interesting to discuss though. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on it!

[@JamesAdams-nd1td]

OK, this is something I’ve never understood about Dragonlance: how does steel work as a fist currency? Unless Ansalon reverted to the Bronze Age, it should still be a pretty common metal. Is it like our world’s paper-and-cloth currency where it’s so intricate counterfeiting is nearly impossible? Does the steel coin’s value accurately reflect the strength of the nation’s economy? Also, I think it’s hard to believe that gold is “worthless.” Wouldn’t it still have value in decoration and art? Or as a spell component?

[@DLSaga]

These are great questions. The only information I know of is in the video. Always remember that this is fantasy, not our reality.

[@silverwolf5101]

I find the whole concept a bit ridiculous. Even if gold wasn't worth as much, that's no reason to stop using it as a currency. Also merchants would probably use a standard trade bar or equivalent, no matter the region. The economy also doesn't make sense. A longsword is worth 10 gold/steel pieces according to the player's handbook. If I were to melt it down I'd get 60 steel pieces. I could also imagine thieves ripping out fittings, locks, nails, horse shoes! While it's interesting lore, you won't get banking bogging down my gameplay!

[@JamesAdams-nd1td]

Yeah, that’s always been my complaint. In a more metal-poor setting like Dark Sun I think it would work great, the player conflict over whether to keep your steel coins to purchase food and lodging or melt them down for weapons and armor or vice versa. In Krynn, I just have to wonder what’s stopping anyone with a forge from just counterfeiting all they want.

[@silverwolf5101]

@@JamesAdams-nd1td Exactly!

[@weldonchen3709]

@@silverwolf5101 I don't know... Imagine Istar, the ruling trading nation, so powerful that Solamnia bent the knee. So powerful they forced Tarsis to acclimate. So annoying to Silvanesti and Qualinest as the superior religious priest to Paladine, god of goodness. They had power economically, militarily, religiously. And they has their gold coin to represent their power. Then it got hit by a giant fiery mountain. I can imagine survivors leery of money from a nation that just got blasted away by the gods' "wrath". So let's not make gold money on the moral grounds that more giant space rocks can come a'calling.

[@ahoda6149]

The steel piece situation is rather strange to me, because of three reasons. 1) steel is an alloy, with a rather long and labor-intensive production in a medieval setting and can vary greatly in carbon amount, changing its properties. Removing contaminants from precious heavy metals like gold and silver is a somewhat easier process. 2) While steel is much more responsive to remaking by melting than, say, cast iron, it is still more logical not to craft tiny coins out of it using specialized machinery, but cast small ingots or buillions (like Spartan obol or Medieval Russian grivna). 3) Steel, like iron, is susceptible to oxydation and rusts incredibly quickly in open air if not tended to, while gold oxidizes very slowly and oxides of copper (including on bronze) and silver form a protective layer against the air, preventing further destruction of metal.

[@DLSaga]

Very interesting! We always have to remember this is a fantasy setting not our world. Logic only goes so far in fantasy. :)

[@weldonchen3709]

Actually, Steel being an alloy is probably a reason it would be good for minting. Stainless steel doesn't rust in the same way as iron or other forms of steel. So it's long lasting. Also as a hard alloy, it's harder to make and therefore tougher to counterfeit. it's also harder to shave, unlike gold coins (see roman coin examples in history) and the material cut off from stainless steel is harder to melt down and reuse as material. If a powerful nation-state, like Palanthas, or the Dragonarmies has the power to produce money as a symbol of their work, they would want to make sure nothing muddies their economic weight through counterfeiting.

[@ahoda6149]

@@weldonchen3709 However, IRL earliest stainless steel alloys were introduced only in 19th century, after the discovery of chromium. Industrial developement of the time also has played no small part in it. Post-Cataclym Ansalon doesn't look like a setting where this could happen. There are tinker gnomes, of course, but we all know that they would probably fail horribly trying to invent such an alloy. While I do not argue that steel is easily melded and reforged, if the idea behind steel pieces is that the money can be quickly transformed into a weapon or other instrument, producing ingots instead of coins would be much more logical, in my opinion.

[@weldonchen3709]

@@ahoda6149 If we are evaluating steel based on usefulness as a re-shapable material I'd agree with you, steel sucks. Iron is the better starting material, and you add the carbon to make your steel in it's final shape. But going beyond that? Chromium in the form of Chromite ore can be added to iron to make that stainless steel. So then, can Ansalon find chromium and steel to make stainless. I think that stainless steel could be discovered much earlier because we do have gnomes and dwarves. And Chromite can be dug up quite readily by Dwarves much earlier than Earth miners. And dwarves can also make steel much earlier too. Dwarven nations trilogy and other sources talk about dwarves using giant solar lens to heat ore into metal, nearly 2000 years before the Cataclysm . While Earth discovered stainless steel in the early 20th century, Chromium was already found uses as pigments and stains well in the 1700's on Earth. it's just a matter of believing that discovery of mixture of ore materials can be found early.