CREATING CURRENCIES
Currency is a specialized form of trade where real goods or commodities are exchanged for coins or markers representing an equivalent value (possibly with some exchange rate), which can then be exchanged for other goods or commodities, rather than directly exchanging one commodity for another.
Reputation may also act as a form of currency.
Currency Design
☐ NAME
What do issuers of this currency call it?
☐ FORM
What form does the currency take?
☐ PLOT HOOKS
What secrets does this currency hold?
Optional Additional Currency Design
☐ PURPOSE
What roles do currency play in your setting? Buying? Selling? Goods? Services? Advancement?
☐ NUMBER
How many currencies exist within the setting?
☐ EXCHANGE
What exchanges rates affect this currency?
☐ AVAILABILITY
How readily available is the currency? Rare? Widespread?
☐ COSTS
What do common goods and services cost in this currency?
☐ TAXES
What fees or taxes occur when using this currency?
☐ EARNINGS
How do the Adventurers earn or otherwise acquire the currency? Missions? Trading? Looting?
☐ SPENDING
How do the Adventurers spend the currency?
☐ REACTIONS
Do NPCs approve or disapprove of Adventurers using this currency?
☐ LEGALITY
Is this currency used for primarily legal or illegal transactions?
☐ ECONOMIC
What economic issues affect the currency system?
☐ POLITICAL
What political issues or factions affect the currency system?
☐ SOCIAL
What social issues or factions affect the currency system?
☐ ISSUERS
Who issues or backs currencies within the setting?
☐ INDUSTRIES
How do industries within the setting affect or impact the currency system?
☐ TECHNOLOGY
What technology exists or affects which relate to the currency system?
☐ RESTRICTIONS
Are there limits to who may have or use the currency?
Currency By Technology Level
Currency is an Chronology Tech Level: -8 (Bronze Age) innovation to account for the amount of grain stored by someone in a granary, and as a medium of exchange during long distance trade.
Currency improvements by Tech Level allow for improved resistance to counterfeiting, and improvements to the efficiency of trade enabled by the currency.
For example, in Chronology Tech Level 0 (Information Age), electronic currency transactions can be performed globally within seconds through the use of networked banks and terminals and standardized account transaction systems.
| TL | DESCRIPTION | CURRENCY IMPROVEMENTS |
|---|---|---|
| -10 | Prefire | Exchange of raw gems and other precious stones |
| -9 | Stone Age | Paleolithic or Ice Age exchange of worked gems and other precious stones |
| -8 | Bronze Age | Minted coins in ancient Egyptian, Greek, or Chinese civilizations |
| -7 | Iron Age | Minted coins in ancient Greek and Roman civilizations |
| -6 | Middle Ages ~500-1400AD | Minted coins in Medieval or Medieval Fantasy civilizations |
| -5 | Renaissance 1400-1500 | Minted coins in Renaissance, improved banking practices and letters of credit |
| -4 | Age of Sail/Exploration 1500-1760 | Minted coins in Pirates, Swashbuckling eras, with improved banking practices and letters of credit |
| -3 | Industrial/Technological Revolutions 1760-1914 | Initial specialized paper currency in Old West 1780-1920's, Horror 1890's-1920's eras |
| -2 | World War I and II 1914-1945 | Improved counterfeit resistance of Pulp 1920's-1930's currency |
| -1 | Atomic/Nuclear/Space Age 1946-1970's | Changes in minted coins away from precious metals to common metals during Atomic Age Horror 1945-1970's, Superhero Era 1940's-1970's, Espionage Era 1940's-1980's, Space Age 1960s-1980s |
| 0 | Information Age 1970s-~2020 (Now) | Rise of electronic accounts replacing the use of paper and coin currencies in the Modern, Modempunk, Modern Conspiracy/Horror 1990's- eras |
| +1 | Synthetic (Biological/Intelligence) Age ~2020-2199 | Paper and coin currencies replaced in tomorrows or Cyberpunk eras |
| +2 | Stellar Age 2100+ | Improved electronic currency reconciliation during conquest of the Solar System, Transhumanist, After the Apocalypse (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical, Technological, Ecological) age leading to post-scarcity economics |
| +3 | STL Interstellar Age | Post-scarcity economics remove currency from personal use, and leave it only as interplanetary trade bookkeeping mechanism |
| +4 | Massless Faster Than Light (Communication) | Moving energy/information only above c drives energy production/communication exchange of value as only interplanetary currency |
| +5 | Massy Faster than Light (Travel) | Moving energy/information and mass above c all use of currency ends as interstellar increases post scarcity economics |
| +6 | FTL Interstellar Age | Currency deprecated in core worlds during interstellar Expansion, Post-Scarcity, Federation, may still be used in frontier societies at lower tech levels |
| +7 | Galactic Age | Interstellar Empires, Decadent |
| +8 | Extragalactic Age | |
| +9 | Pre-Ascendant | the Krell, Markovians, Xeelee, limited mass/energy conversion and control |
| +10 | Post-Ascendance | After the Singularity, Post-Instrumentality, total mass/energy conversion or control |
Additional Resources
Roleplaying Tips #0116 - 9 Tips for Enhancing Treasure to Improve Your Campaigns
Roleplaying Tips #0334 - Card Based Tools for RPGs Part 2