Subject: MYSTARA-L Digest - 28 Oct 2002 to 29 Oct 2002 (#2002-281) From: Automatic digest processor Date: 30/10/2002, 19:00 To: Recipients of MYSTARA-L digests Reply-to: Mystara RPG Discussion There are 2 messages totalling 167 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. Zeitgeist Games Website updated 2. Gold ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp The Mystara Homepage: http://www.dnd.starflung.com/ To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 29 Oct 2002 11:19:14 -0500 From: Dustin Clingman Subject: Re: Zeitgeist Games Website updated Hey Guys! Here's a quick reply to a couple of questions posed here. //My question is, can't those rights be licensed? The rights to Mystara and Greyhawk could be considerably priced. It's not in the cards right now to do so. //If, as it seems, this is not the plan, is a completely new //world being built around Blackmoor or is it being build as a //more localized setting that basically ignores the question of //the world at large (and hence can be placed in any world the //DM desires)? One of the most important aspects of Role Playing according to Dave Arneson is that the GM be able to change anything they want. This means there will be some concrete, but if you don't like it call in the wrecking crew. At this point Blackmoor will be ambiguously set so that it can exist in Mystara as it has if desired. We may expand that world in the future, but who knows. It mostly depends on whether people are paying attention. :) Another thing I would like to say about this list. I have seen some very creative people's work posted here. There are some people who are of professional caliber. I have faith that anything that may be different will be properly tweaked so that it fits just fine. :) Cheers! Dustin ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Oct 2002 17:57:26 -0800 From: Darth Darknerd Subject: Re: Gold > ATTACHMENT part 2 message/rfc822 > Date: Mon, 28 Oct 2002 02:48:51 -0600 > From: George Hrabovsky > Subject: Re: Gold > > Think about the quantity of gold in the real world. > There are trillions of > dollars worth of gold equating to trillions of > coins... It doesn't make it > less valuable or desirable. I think that if there is something that is so readily accessible, it wouldn't be so valuable. If for examples emeralds were littered everywhere like discarded trash in some parts of the world, emeralds would not be as valuable. I cannot confirm the amount of gold, as I do not know and would dare not speculate, but I do know that gold is scarce and expensive. If everybody had gold (like dollar coins), it would not be as valuable as now, and if gold was even more rare, I think it'd be way more expensive. In U.S. history before 1848, it was very rare to mine/find gold in US borders, and the value of it was high. Then after the gold rush of '49, the population increased in a year by outrageous amounts with immigrants from not only US and south americas, but also from Hawaii, China, India, Russia, Europe, and elsewhere. The amount of gold extracted was > You would prefer to murder humanoids for no reward? > Just the satisfaction? > > In my game humanoids are not always backward or > without resources of their > own. Actually, IMC, I make humanoids more dynamic, instead of sentient beings that are evil by nature (genetics). I think this preception encourages prejudice that can indirectly train us to generalize and simplify the dynamic groups within our world. Also, IMC, humanoids are not backwards either, but they are primitive in many regards, or more politely not as developed, but yet not incapable either. I take ideas from the Slayer's Guides by Moongoose Pub., and I also gets some ideas from WarCraft III. For, example, I have a goblin tribe of inventors, much like the gnomes of Highforge. > > Thinking of humanoids, where did they come across > > minted gold coins? If they had this in abundence, > > how? If this was through raiding, then the army > would > > go and exterminate them, and so forth... > > You mean, murdering them and taking their gold? I'm not sure what you mean. I think my point is still valid, if they have so much gold, the humanoids are doing good. But the humans would organize and exterminate them completely, and perhaps assimilate them as a labor force. This is so common in our history such as Mexican-American and Indian-American relations in U.S. California history and Spanish/Mexican California history, and western and eastern European midieval history. The groups considered inferior were either exterminated or assimilated as a free/cheap labor force, much like serfdom but in a different form. > > Also, if seems that it seems that well made metal > > weapons are so scarce. The humanoids would surely > > want such weapons if they could not make it > > themselves, they would barter, steal, or offer > > something very valuable to humans than gold. > > Who said well made weapons are scarce? Master-work > weapons are scarce. > Well-made weapons are commonplace. I am not saying metal weapons are scarce in general, but rather they are scarce for more primitive humanoids. I drew an analogy with the Norse-Skaeling relations in my New Foundland example. The skaelings did not have metal weapons or knew the needed craft skills to mine, smelt, and forge such weapons. However, they saw the obvious advantage in possessing such weapons. For humanoids in Mystara, I think this is the same. I think it is unlikely that a humanoid can seek apprenticeship in human society to learn how to craft metal weapons. Though, this varies from humanoid group and tribe to tribe. Going back to gold... I think the value depends on availabity/accessibility and also on the ability to barter with it. In Mystara, it is so widely accessible and available, that generally I don't see how it can be valuable given common sense economics of valuation, and also being that humanoids probaly cannot trade it to humans (considering that they might perhaps be slayed on sight), the humanoids could barter/trade with something completely different amongst themselves and different groups. One has to consider the motivational and driving factors behind different groups, often competitive groups, and consider the value of things (such as gold) given availability and accessibility. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? HotJobs - Search new jobs daily now http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ End of MYSTARA-L Digest - 28 Oct 2002 to 29 Oct 2002 (#2002-281) ****************************************************************