Koku?

[rmaunus]

In Magic of Rokugan, everything is priced in koku. How much gold is one koku worth? Is it equivalent?

[Waker]

According the the L5R Wiki,

The koku was the standard unit of monetary measure in Rokugan. Its value was equal to the amount of rice that would feed a man for one year, roughly five bushels of rice....
One koku could be broken into five smaller silver coins known as ichibukin, or more commonly known as bu. A bu could be further broken down into ten copper coins known as zeni.
So it doesn't quite translate into D&D currency in the same fashion.

[rmaunus]

According the the L5R Wiki,

So it doesn't quite translate into D&D currency in the same fashion.

Hrm..

Maybe someone could help regardless of it being koku. I'm looking at getting the Hammer of Earth from the Magic of Rokuban book. It says 9000 koku is the price. Anyone with even a shot in the dark answer?

[Doc_Maynot]

Well if a zeni is a copper piece, would that not equate it to a copper coin?
If so, one koku would be five gold, right?

[rmaunus]

Well if a zeni is a copper piece, would that not equate it to a copper coin?
If so, one koku would be five gold, right?

So in that case we're looking at 5x9000= 45000 gold for a +1 warhammer that adds con to damage. Does that sound right?

[Jurai]

According the the L5R Wiki,

So it doesn't quite translate into D&D currency in the same fashion.

Sort of. 1 k=5 b=50 z. Assume <INSERT FUZZY LOGIC HERE>. This means 1b=2 Ar. 10 Ar=1 Au. This means we double the price, or 18000 Au.

[Faily]

In Rokugan d20 and Oriental Adventures, Koku is basically the GP of Rokugan. For d20 purposes, such as buying, crafting, etc, 1 Koku is the same as 1 GP.

[Waker]

Well if a zeni is a copper piece, would that not equate it to a copper coin?
If so, one koku would be five gold, right?

Perhaps in my sleep-addled mind this just isn't computing, but how do you figure? The normal exchange rate between coinage in D&D is metric, 10 copper equals 1 silver, 10 silver equals 1 gold. Here however it's 10 zeni equals 1 bu, 5 bu equals 1 koku. So whereas 1 gold is equal to 100 copper, 1 koku is equal to 50 zeni. So if we accepted that copper=zeni, the Warhammer would be 4,500gp. This all of course hinges on the notion that the currencies are equivalent, which I don't think will fly with your DM.

[Doc_Maynot]

Perhaps in my sleep-addled mind this just isn't computing, but how do you figure? The normal exchange rate between coinage in D&D is metric, 10 copper equals 1 silver, 10 silver equals 1 gold. Here however it's 10 zeni equals 1 bu, 5 bu equals 1 koku. So whereas 1 gold is equal to 100 copper, 1 koku is equal to 50 zeni. So if we accepted that copper=zeni, the Warhammer would be 4,500gp. This all of course hinges on the notion that the currencies are equivalent, which I don't think will fly with your DM.

Oh, that's right. I was stupid and forgot about silver. So a koku would be 5s each?

[rmaunus]

I feel like even 9000 gp is still too low for that weapon.

[Faily]

Most likely. It should be noted that the writers of the d20 material for Legend of the Five Rings did *not* have a solid grip on d20 mechanics.

[mabriss lethe]

Most likely. It should be noted that the writers of the d20 material for Legend of the Five Rings did *not* have a solid grip on d20 mechanics.

AMEN! (though half the time, they didn't even have a solid grasp on their own mechanics either.)

[Faily]

If you feel the price is incorrect, you could always just whip out the good ol' DMG (for 3.5) and calculate the accurate cost of Hammer of Earth.

Prices for magic items in d20 Rokugan is more to cover the costs to create them, as the setting does not have any "magic-mart" support. Magic items are either rare, or deeply personal (such as the Samurai class' Ancestral Daisho class ability). In setting, buying magic items just does not happen.

If using items from Rokugan-books in non-Rokugan games, I'd suggest checking that with your GM first, since they are also 3.0 and with very sloppy mechanics and most sane GMs will just say no.

[Kelb_Panthera]

The Rokugan campaign setting, from the same designers of Magic of Rokugan , says 1 koku is equal to 1 gold piece for converting to a Rokugan campaign, 1 bu is 2 silver and 1 zeni is 2 copper, sidebar on page 60.

[rmaunus]

The Rokugan campaign setting, from the same designers of Magic of Rokugan , says 1 koku is equal to 1 gold piece for converting to a Rokugan campaign, 1 bu is 2 silver and 1 zeni is 2 copper, sidebar on page 60.

Ahh thanks!