Laketown gold and its purpose

[MasterSmithwise]

My group really wants to have more things to do with their treasure. Everyone is satisfied with their current standard of living and so collecting treasure points doesn't really interest them that much. They're going to raise their standing a little... but they got super intrigued by the coin conversion in the Laketown rules. The issue there is that they don't need horses and they don't want chickens. So what do they do now with those coins? We are the more traditional gamers in that having stacks of gold and silver make them feel cool. Now we just want tangible things to spend it on.

Any advice? (Or if I'm forgetting something in the rules that treasure is spent on you can mention that too. I'm not 100% I'm not missing something).

[Blubbo Baggins]

What about buying equipment that helps with their rolls? For example, a Musical Instrument costs 1 T (or 2T) and gives a +1 bonus to Song; if you later upgrade it for another 1-2 T, it gives a +2 bonus (max).
Or a rope for a bonus to Athletics (where appropriate), or nice clothing for a bonus to Courtesy (etc).

Have them invest money in a Holding, and come up with some nice house rules when doing the Holding rule at the end of the year that additional benefits from the Holding can be gained depending on how much has been invested.

Here's some great rules about Courting and Marriage (fan made).
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2788
To marry someone of higher Standing requires a great deal of Treasure. Hopefully you can interest a player or two in setting up a Holding, getting married, etc. Those things will certainly use up their addl Treasure.

Or, finally, get into restoring ruined cities in Eriador, or among the Woodmen, etc. (I guess this is related to Holdings), but you could try to build up the free folk in areas Tolkien left vague.

[Falenthal]

There aren't lots of ways of spending Treasure, but the few there are, are expensive.

I think the "what do I do with my money?" question has arisen in every player of TOR, but the fact is that Treasure is not very important in TOR. At least, as a way of buying things.

Treasure is, in fact, just a mechanic to develop further your character and his role in the world.
There are four things I can come up right now where you can spend Treasure:

1) Raising the Standing in your own culture. Per se, not very interesting if it isn't followed with a nice story of how you spend the Treasure (or invest it) to go from a paseant to a famous citizen, or to a court counselor. Standing has an in-game effect of raising Tolerance during Encounters with NPCs from your culture, but the most interesting point of raising it is developing the story of your character, that can get from an average hobbit to an excentric millonaire with just two small chests full of dwarven gold.

2) Raising the Standard of Living for a finite time. I still can't see the use of this Undertaking, anymore than saying "I go to Las Vegas and spend my whole Fellowship Phase there, living la vida loca!". But maybe someone here can give new ideas of how to use this UT.

3) Investing in Holdings (from the optional rules of Darkening of Mirkwood): Holdings, again, are just a mechanic to gain more Treasure. Stupid if -again- not followed by a nice story of how you open up your own inn in the farmlands of your parents, hoping to profit from all the new trade instead of working from dawn to twilight under the sun or rain. And, year after year, your small inn becomes a trading post, the neuralgic core of all Free-people travelling the Wild. One year even an old magician came and cast a spell of blessing on your wrapped sausages! Oh, man! That really made the business grow...

4) And then there's the Lake-town Undertaking of Going to the Market-pool and buying objects of good quality that improve your skill rolls.

I think, however, that it's important that your players stop thinking about "how can I spend my money?" and start thinking of "What do I want to do with my life?". And then, spend the Treasure to aquire the Holdings and/or Status needed for that.

[zedturtle]

I think, however, that it's important that your players stop thinking about "how can I spend my money?" and start thinking of "What do I want to do with my life?". And then, spend the Treasure to aquire the Holdings and/or Status needed for that.

Now that's advice that's worth a silver penny or two.

[Falenthal]

I think, however, that it's important that your players stop thinking about "how can I spend my money?" and start thinking of "What do I want to do with my life?". And then, spend the Treasure to aquire the Holdings and/or Status needed for that.

Now that's advice that's worth a silver penny or two.

What can I buy with two silver pennies?

[Otaku-sempai]

In general terms, one or two gold pieces (or twenty to forty silver pennies or pence) will allow an adventurer to live comfortably for at least a month.

If you want to role-play interactions with an innkeeper then you might want a table for prices for food and lodging (I am adapting a table from MERP):

Beer/Ale (cheap) = 1 c / pint
Beer/Ale (good) = 2 c / pint
Brandy = 10 c / 1/2 pint
Cider = 1 c / pint
Mead = 5 c / pint
Wine (poor) = 3 c / pint
Wine (good) = 6 c / pint
Wine (Dorwinion) = 1 s / 1/2 pint
Meal (light) = 6 c
Meal (normal) = 10 c
Meal (heavy) = 1 s
Normal rations (1 week) = 6 c
Preserved rations (dried: 1 week) 1 s
Preserved rations (cram; 1 week) 6 s
Poor lodging = 10 c (communal sleeping)
Average lodging = 20 c (separate bedding)
Good lodging = 2 s (separate room)
Stable = 2 c (includes food for beast)

1 gold piece (g) = 1 Treasure
1 gold piece (g) = 20 silver pennies (s) = 240 copper coins (c)
1 silver penny (s) = 12 copper coins (c)

This isn't perfect; the prices are just suggestions. Alter them to fit your requirements.