Everything costs money. For most people, this means getting a job. While most NPC's work the daily grind, the Player Characters earn their living through adventuring. The hours stink, the benefits aren't very good, but when you kill the monsters, you get to steal their treasure!
New suits of armour, healing potions, and replacement arrows and bullets don't come cheap, so to get by, the Player Character has to have money, preferably lots of it. Even the most notorious thieves have to pay for things sometimes. Listed below is a description of the money system. The money is based on coins, most of which constructed from precious metals. The value of the coin is based on the value of the metal it is crafted from. Glass coins of much lower value also exist (much like pennies and nickels are used in America.). Their value is derived from the belief that there exist precious metals in the banks and the government's coffers to back up these coins; much like the (mistaken) belief that there are gold bricks to back up paper money in the United States.
| Table: Money Types | ||
| Coin Type | Value of Coin | Symbol |
| Platinum | 10 gold; 100 silver; 1000 copper | PP |
| Gold | 10 silver; 100 copper; 1000 glass | GP |
| Silver | 10 copper; 100 glass; 1000 fragments | SP |
| Copper | 1/10 silver; 10 glass; 100 fragments | CP |
| Glass | 1/10 copper; 10 fragments | gP |
| Fragment | 1/10 glass; 1/100 copper | fP |
Metal coins are imprinted with the emblem or sigil of the city in which they are minted. In the case of raw gold (such as nuggets mined by prospectors and the like), many government mints will convert the raw materials into coin form for a nominal fee. Most metal coins weigh approximately ¼ ounce, and are 1/8 inch thick. The diameter of the coin, thus, is determined by the specific gravity of the element (i.e.. gold weighs more per cubic inch than copper, thus a gold coin that weighs ¼ ounce and is 1/8" thick would have a smaller radius than a copper coin). Additionally, most governments craft their coins with edge ridges to prevent coin shaving.
Glass coins are crafted from only the most talented glass blowers. The coins are 1" in radius and ¼" thick. Additionally, each coin is impregnated with tiny rods (or canes) of coloured glass as a means of authentication. Glass coins are the least valuable of the currencies. There are two types of glass coins: glass pieces, which are worth 1/10 of a copper piece, and fragments (which have a much simpler cane pattern) which are in turn worth 1/10 of a glass piece. Fragments gained their name because they were originally reworked fragments from larger glass pieces that were broken in the production process. It should be noted that if glass coins are broken, they become utterly worthless except for what the value of glass shards might be to a glass blower.
Acceptance of Coins. Coins crafted from metal are accepted worldwide, as their value is based solely upon the metal from which they are crafted. Because coins vary in shapes and sizes from city to city and continent to continent, most foreign currency is weighed for its value compared to local currency. Because it is the weight of the metal that gives value, coins of platinum, gold, silver, and copper have effectively the same value worldwide.
Glass coins are always accepted within the city in which they are made. They are usually accepted in cities on the same continent as the mint; the decisions to accept such coins are up to the individual merchants. However, glass pieces retain little or no value if they are brought overseas to a foreign land. Thus it is usually beneficial to convert excess glass to metal coins prior to traveling abroad.