Silver Standard

"A copper saved is a copper earned"

~ Benjamin Hobbit

Something that always bugged me about D&D was that everything was priced in Gold (GP) from the start. This made SP less interesting as treasure, but somewhat important overall- not worth overlooking at lower levels but not worth the headache of hauling it out of the dungeon later on. CP was just something tacked on to buy stuff at inns and generally not worth the bother of keeping track of. Also, from the beginning, treasure was given out in insane amounts of gold, which meant the party was jaded to SP and CP treasure from level 1.  All this changed when I came across an article about changing the game to an SP standard. (Part 1 & Part 2 can be found here as well as an additional article that gives the reason D&D used the inflated GP system to begin with. To top it off here's a great look back at $ from the earliest editions up to 4e)

The benefits seemed worth the effort...

In the new system CP are worth more (5 CP to 1 SP) and not worth leaving behind at lower levels; SP is always worth taking; and with a few GP, a character can carry great amounts of wealth without having to resort to Bags of Holding. For those traditionalists out there who like the 1 GP = 10 SP = 100 CP exchange rate, add Bronze Pieces (BP) at the lower end for day-to-day trades. (Vote on which system you favor- lower right of Save Splug, near bottom of page)

100 BP = 50 CP = 10 SP = 1 GP

Coin: "Name / Slang"                 Weight (# to 1 lb)

BP: "Common / Scummer"         1/3 oz. (50 to 1 lb)

CP: "Merchant / Plowman"           1/3 oz. (50 to 1 lb)

SP: "Noble / Moonsong"                1/3 oz. (50 to 1 lb)

GP: "Royal / Lobby"                   1/3 oz. (50 to 1 lb)

STEPS: 

• Convert to SP Standard: Equipment is now priced in SP- read the Equipment Lists as SP NOT GP (includes prices of gems, jewelery, tolls, everything...) 
•  GP = SP / SP = CP / CP = BP
• Reduce Coin Treasures: Divide treasure by 10 (Treasure Values per Encounter used for Example 1)
• Example 1: Party Level 3 / Medium Advancement yields 800 GP (Under the old system this treasure in GP weighs 16 lbs- 50 coins per 1b- and can buy a suit of Half-Plate (600 GP) and a Heavy Horse (200 GP)
• New System: divide by 10 = 80 GP, which is the same as 800 SP and using the modified Equipment Lists (GP = SP = CP = BP) it buys the same amount, but only weighs 1 1/2 pounds. (Suit of Half Plate = 600 SP; Heavy Horse = 200 SP)

• Example 2: Uses the Pathfinder Random Treasure Generator (Using Default Settings / Level 5 Average Party Level) yields

• Old: 1395 GP (Assorted treasure sold at market) + 78 GP Gems + 77 GP Coins
•  31 pounds
• New: 140 GP (Assorted treasure sold at market- rounded) + 8 GP Gems (rounded) + 8 GP (rounded) = 156 GP 
• 3 pounds
• Enough to buy a suit of Full Plate Mail (1,500) under either system. 

• All coins weigh 1/3 oz. (50 coins to 1 pound) Easy to figure out encumbrance. Coins are roughly the same size/weight as 2 quarters stuck together.
• You can use Historical Pricing: Use the internet and historic websites to price items

• Pence = same number of CP; Shillings (x3 for SP); Pounds (x6 for GP)
• Example: 1 sheep = 10 pence = 2 SP (2 SP in Core Rulebook-remember GP now converts to SP); 1 War Horse = 600 pence = 120 SP (110 SP Combat Trained Horse, Light)
• Main Benefit: PCs can carry more buying power with fewer coins- 5 GP is now a good day at the office buying 50 SP worth of equipment (say a suit of Scale Mail).  Also, the new system is more in line with medieval Europe which D&D sets itself after anyway.  
• Variant System 1: reintroduce EP (Electrum Pieces) worth 1/2 a GP or 5 SP as a further step between SP and GP. 
• 100 BP = 50 CP = 10 SP = 2 EP = 1 GP 
•  Variant System 2: Move EP into the GP slot and make GP worth that much more. 
•  100 BP = 50 CP = 10 SP = 1 EP
• 1 GP could be equal to 5 or 10 EP: 1 GP valued at 10 EP would be worth 100 SP, enough to buy a suit of scale mail, a shield, and a sword
•  Final Variant (I promise): Use the standard system discussed in the main article: 100 BP = 50 CP = 10 SP = 1 GP (all 1/3 an oz; 50 coins to a lb.) but introduce different sized coins to add historic flavor, a lot like the Greyhawk currency system of yore
• Add coins between SP and GP by doubling the size/worth of a SP for the new coin (2/3 oz; 25 coins to a lb.- roughly the size of a Silver Dollar or a Dollar Coin)
• Do the same to the GP, doubling the size of the standard coin  

Variant 2

Alternate Names