Skip to main content

Currency and Exchange

Exchange

Glorantha is a world of communities. Exchange therefore often says something about those who guarantee it: clan, temple, city, cult, empire, or merchant network.

You do not need detailed accounting to play. The main thing to remember is that a currency has value because people and institutions recognize it.

High-value currencies​

  • Guilders: bronze currency associated with Issaries and major trade;
  • Lunars: silver currency of the Lunar Empire;
  • Wheels: large Dara Happan gold coins, especially rare and prestigious;
  • Bolgs: pierced pieces of lead used among the Uz.

Exact usage varies by region and culture. A currency recognized in one place may be awkward, suspicious, or difficult to exchange elsewhere.

Small coinage and barter​

Most ordinary transactions may use barter or lower-value units:

  • copper coins;
  • aluminum stars in the Lunar Empire;
  • clacks among the Uz;
  • goods directly useful to the community.

The exact price matters less than the relationship: who accepts this exchange, who guarantees the value, who incurs a debt, and what does this transaction mean here?

In play​

When wealth, debt, cargo, or the scarcity of a currency becomes important in the Situation, record it as a concrete fictional element. It may then become a Bet, a resource that can be lost, an obligation, or a problem to solve.

Otherwise, simply let exchange remain part of the world without turning it into an economic subsystem.