Do you let players know the value of the gems and art objects they find? Or do you wait until they try to sell it to let them know the value? It seems like waiting until the sale would be the right answer, but that causes all sorts of book-keeping headaches. I'm curious how other DMs have handled this.
Its better from an accounting standpoint to let the players know the value once they have them. If you don't, then the players and DM need to keep track of where the items were found until they get these items appraised. Unless you think the benefits of the players not knowing adds something to your game, I'd void the extra overhead.
I agree, just tell them. The bookkeeping isn’t worth it. Really, most of the time, players don’t even note it. Instead of agate worth 25 gp, they write 25gp. Unless it’s a piece of jewelry a character wants to wear for rp reasons. If you want art to mean something, make moving it part of the challenge. Like, that painting is worth 1500gp, and it 6 feet wide and 8 feet tall. Who’s going to carry it? Or that sculpture weighs 500 pounds. How will you get it back to town. And of course, there’s a question of a buyer. In a city they can probably find someone, but no one in the fishing village nearby wants a 6x8 painting.
Do you let players know the value of the gems and art objects they find? Or do you wait until they try to sell it to let them know the value? It seems like waiting until the sale would be the right answer, but that causes all sorts of book-keeping headaches. I'm curious how other DMs have handled this.
It doesn't cause serious bookkeeping headaches (just write down a list of loot, with values) but unless you want 'find, identify, and sell the loot' to be a significant campaign aspect it's not terribly useful.
The only big exception I just thought of, where the value is important is spell components. A 500 gp diamond is really worth one casting of raise dead, for example.
I agree, just tell them. The bookkeeping isn’t worth it. Really, most of the time, players don’t even note it. Instead of agate worth 25 gp, they write 25gp. Unless it’s a piece of jewelry a character wants to wear for rp reasons. If you want art to mean something, make moving it part of the challenge. Like, that painting is worth 1500gp, and it 6 feet wide and 8 feet tall. Who’s going to carry it? Or that sculpture weighs 500 pounds. How will you get it back to town. And of course, there’s a question of a buyer. In a city they can probably find someone, but no one in the fishing village nearby wants a 6x8 painting.
My players don’t write down the gp instead of the art objects because I do make them both move it physically and financially. (At one point it was a 6-foot tall, 12-foot wide painting in a full filigreed frame.) And if they only write down the item and not the value I tell them then instead of whatever number I don’t know because they didn’t write it down, I just use 10 gp as the base value for negotiations. 🤷♂️
They know what the art or gem *might* be worth at a market. If they want to sell it, they will find out after the haggle is done.
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“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
I tell them what it is and tell them the value when it's a trivial amount. Most of the stuff my players have picked up they use to decorate their joint home. One of the nice things about VTT is it lets them interact with their base. So there's now scribbles pointing out where the bone trout sculpture is sitting on the mantle.
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Do you let players know the value of the gems and art objects they find? Or do you wait until they try to sell it to let them know the value? It seems like waiting until the sale would be the right answer, but that causes all sorts of book-keeping headaches. I'm curious how other DMs have handled this.
Its better from an accounting standpoint to let the players know the value once they have them. If you don't, then the players and DM need to keep track of where the items were found until they get these items appraised. Unless you think the benefits of the players not knowing adds something to your game, I'd void the extra overhead.
I agree, just tell them. The bookkeeping isn’t worth it.
Really, most of the time, players don’t even note it. Instead of agate worth 25 gp, they write 25gp. Unless it’s a piece of jewelry a character wants to wear for rp reasons.
If you want art to mean something, make moving it part of the challenge. Like, that painting is worth 1500gp, and it 6 feet wide and 8 feet tall. Who’s going to carry it? Or that sculpture weighs 500 pounds. How will you get it back to town. And of course, there’s a question of a buyer. In a city they can probably find someone, but no one in the fishing village nearby wants a 6x8 painting.
It doesn't cause serious bookkeeping headaches (just write down a list of loot, with values) but unless you want 'find, identify, and sell the loot' to be a significant campaign aspect it's not terribly useful.
The only big exception I just thought of, where the value is important is spell components. A 500 gp diamond is really worth one casting of raise dead, for example.
I tell them a price, but that’s just a guide more for myself for when they go to sell them. They still have to haggle.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
My players don’t write down the gp instead of the art objects because I do make them both move it physically and financially. (At one point it was a 6-foot tall, 12-foot wide painting in a full filigreed frame.) And if they only write down the item and not the value I tell them then instead of whatever number I don’t know because they didn’t write it down, I just use 10 gp as the base value for negotiations. 🤷♂️
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
They know what the art or gem *might* be worth at a market. If they want to sell it, they will find out after the haggle is done.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
I tell them what it is and tell them the value when it's a trivial amount. Most of the stuff my players have picked up they use to decorate their joint home. One of the nice things about VTT is it lets them interact with their base. So there's now scribbles pointing out where the bone trout sculpture is sitting on the mantle.