Chapter 6: Q&A / Discussion

[Jeff]

In my first post, I've shifted from the past tense of the Interlude 2 to present tense: so we're in the moment again.

Although I'm going to make an effort to try and end scenes more quickly, to move the game along. We'll see how that goes.

[Ken]

Jeff,

Just wanted to say that Kal's new avatar is really cool! Makes him look with the young Russell Crowe/Eric Bana "bad boy" that comes across in Darren's posts.

[Jeff]

Huh! Hadn't thought of either of those people, Ken. But yeah, I like this new one for Kal. It may change again someday, if Darren and I can find a better one. But as much as I liked the one Josh made for Kal (especially its colors), I just wanted to find something that meshed better with the other avatars. Plus I thought everyone (Belarin excepted) needed a good 5th level update image.

[Darren]

I just want to say how much I enjoy the interaction between Kal and Belarin. Some of my favorite moments.....

[Ken]

Thanks, Darren! I take that as a great compliment. It's been a kick for me, too.

I've enjoyed playing up the sibling-like relationship. I sometimes think of Kal as the big brother who studied hard, went out with the hottest girls, was Big Man on Campus, put a lot of effort into being the best that he could be, and was tasked with the responsibility of carrying on the family business.

Belarin is the younger brother who ran away to join the circus, hung out with the Goth chicks, can schmooze anyone, and doesn't like responsibilities.

[Jeff]

"...Kal as the big brother who studied hard"? Studied hard? Hah! Kal's a sorcerer, not a wizard. Like Belarin, he's a flair sort of mage. Kal is the kind of guy on campus who would have paid someone else to do his homework, or charmed a nerdy girl to do it.

But everything else is spot on.

[Darren]

Hey! I.....

Oh, hell. Jeff's right.

[Jeff]

I think Belarin is the more scholarly one here. Though technically, he cheated a bit. His scholarship was fey-based. And they cheat.

Then again, I think Kal's more learned on history.

The irony is that Kal IS a little brother.

[Brian]

He sees Condign quietly eating, and thinks he might catch a small smile curling the tiefling's mouth. A strange sight, indeed.

Darren, Kal's response was so spot-on perfect it was priceless!

[Brian]

Condign is full and content and therefore ready to move on! ;D

[Darren]

Yah. What Brian said.

[Ken]

Same here. Belarin is getting too coherent.

Avanti!

[Jeff]

Going to wait for confirmation from Joe before moving on from the current scene.

But here's a question for you guys: Would you guys be interested in having your money placed in a House Kundarak bank? Pretty much the safest way to go in Eberron, and not risk theft. Also, if you create a pool of the party's money (of course, keeping some on you), you can better see how to spend it, going forward. We won't need to roleplay through the Kundarak Bank stuff unless it's part of the real plot. There's be several locations in Sharn where they can access a bank.

Which reminds me: both Kal and Streko can do some rituals, especially Streko. Now that you're all 5th level, you can do even more. I'll address that soon. Kal can do both Eye of Alarm and Magic Circle, because of the Mark of Sentinel.

[Ken]

Hmm, cool idea about the bank. I'm all for that. Thanks for the suggestion, Jeff.

[Jeff]

Cool. For those for it, state how much gold you want to put into the pool. This will be considered the party's collective money, which you can always discuss OOC whenever you want to spend it.

[Darren]

Well, Kal has been carrying around the satchel of coins that Prince Aurad gave to us, so technically that's not his money. So that could go in the bank.

[Jeff]

Quite right. That's something Aurad would have let you keep as reward money, since it wasn't spent. Take a look at my signature below. That's where I'll keep the party's total.

But Darren, is that all? Kal will carry around all that platinum on him?

[Brian]

The bank idea is fine with me. Condign only had one gold piece, so he'll keep it on him. Any reward money can go to the party bank account.

[Joe]

The bank is an EXCELLENT idea. Streko will donate all but ten gold and the smaller units he has in his haversack.

[Darren]

Huh. Kal does have quite a bit of platinum, doesn't he?

I don't know how much money I'm supposed to carry around. I never really know what things cost. Like, should I hang on to 10 platinum? Is that like keeping $100 in your wallet? Give me some sort of metric to work off of....

[Ken]

One platinum piece = 100 gold pieces.

Considering that a really good room at an inn would cost 2 gp per night, with one at a city's top hotel probably costing 5-10 gp per night, even 1 platinum piece will take you far. But in terms of "walking-around" money, you're better off with gold. Not everyone is able to change a $100 bill.

Jeff, Belarin will keep 1 dragon (pp) and 15 galifars (gp) on hand and put the rest in the bank.

[Jeff]

Done, guys. See the total now. Nice. And you'll get more...you're adventurers. Feel free to consult the books for what sort of things you can buy. We can always talk OOC about what things would be available. Magic items are usually purchasable in House Cannith facilities.

As for Kal, well, I suppose it would be like him to walk around with a lot more cash than anyone else. It's his call.

But to avoid confusion, any money placed in the vault is removed fro your character sheets.

Also, it's probably only worth putting gold and platinum (translated into gold value) in the vault. Keep silver (sovereigns) and copper (crowns) as pocket change. They come up more often in everyday transactions, anyway.

Unless you get a LOT of silver that's worth converting to gold and placing in the vault.

[Jeff]

By the way, this is a tribex:

The art never made it into the original Eberron campaign book a few years back. A shame.

[Darren]

Kal will keep 10 platinum on him, along with whatever else he's currently carrying. The rest of the platinum can go into the bank.

Sometimes, Kal likes to live large.

And to everyone else....you're welcome.

Also, Jeff, wasn't there a lot more than just 1000 gp in that satchel from Aurad?

[Jeff]

Not at all, Darren.

[Darren]

Is Ken's comment wrong, then? Does 1 pp actually equal 10 gp and not 100? Cause if he's right, then that satchel contained 8,200 gp, not 1000.

And if that's the case, Kal would probably prefer to keep maybe 30 platinum on him.

[Ken]

Actually, my comment isn't wrong, but that money-conversion was news to me when I looked it up this morning. In previous versions of D&D, 1 gold = 10 platinum. In 4e, 1 gold = 100 platinum. I didn't realize that until today, and I wouldn't be surprised if that's what happened here. It's highly unlikely that Aurad would give us nearly 10,000 gp!

[Jeff]

Bleh. Yes, it turns out 4th Edition did change the currency system, and I hadn't even noticed. Until now, I've been assuming (like in 3rd Edition) 1 platinum = 10 gold. Clearly that's not the case anymore.

Ken's comment is correct, but so is Prince Aurad's gift, that money was given of the equivalent of 1,000 galifars (gold). That's still so.

From now, I'll make sure conversion is up to date. 1 pp = 100 gp

But the money in the Kundarak Bank is still accurate. I've updated it with Kal's platinum deposit.

Also, platinum remaining in your inventories have now been updated. So Ken, that 1 pp that Belarin opted to hold onto is now just 10 more gold pieces. And the 10 pp that Kal opted to hold onto is now 1 pp.

If you want to take some back out from the bank to hold onto, say so now.

From here on, 1 pp = 100 gp

[Darren]

I'm still confused. Before you updated, Kal had 65 platinum in his personal coffers. Are you saying that that was only ever 6.5 platinum? That would be extraordinarily sad for me.

If he had 65, he's hanging on to 10 and putting the rest in the bank. If he had 6.5, he'll hang on to 3 and put the rest in the bank.

[Jeff]

You had 65 platinum, right. 55 went into the bank, and you held onto 10.

That 65 platinum was worth 650 gp under 3E, and so 650 gp was added to the bank. 10 platinum, worth 100 gp, stayed with Kal.

But now, under the 4E update, that 10 platinum is now 1 pp. The total is still worth 100 gold. All values remain the same. Kal and the rest of the party still have the same amount of gold value they had before coming to Sharn. It's just listed under 4E currency.

So now take a look at the numbers in your inventory as they're listed now and tell me what you want to do.