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View Full Version : Coins Backed by the Nine Hells / fun campaign currency stories



Nifft
2018-03-15, 03:28 AM
In one campaign a while back, the highest-denomination currency was a certain coin minted in the Nine Hells.

Each of these green-steel coins was carved with an arcane mark, which uniquely identified a specific soul that had been processed through the iron city of Dis.

The coins were worth roughly 100 gp, because at least one book at the time had said something about captured souls being worth ~100 gp. The market price was set because this nameless currency was backed by the souls of the damned.

It was known as the hardest currency on any plane. (Also it had cold iron tracery around the edges which burned the skin of demons, because devils are jerks.)


What would be a good n... wait, let me rephrase that.

What would be an apt name for this type of evil coin?



Also, stories about inventive / interesting / unusual / fun campaign currencies are welcome.

Cluedrew
2018-03-15, 07:07 AM
I feel like the name of the coin would be something in the language of demons, which might translate to something like "Soul Mark" or something simple like that. Well Soul Mark is kind of a double reference to the old German currency (I just wanted the name of a currency in there) and the fact that the coin has been marked by a sole.

My interesting currency story is not from a campaign, but in a multiverse setting the standard currency across all/most world was a silver dav (if I recall the name). Once there had been an empire that spanned multiple works that minted a variety of dav coins, but the ferrymen (who could travel between worlds over water) charged one silver dav per soul for travel. That is the most universal way to travel across worlds so even after the empire fell and was forgotten, people kept minting silver davs to travel from world to world.

JeenLeen
2018-03-15, 08:16 AM
What would be a good n... wait, let me rephrase that.

What would be an apt name for this type of evil coin?

I don't have a good suggestion, but I see two routes for a name coming to common use.
1) it's a world fairly reflective of what it is, something representing a damned soul. Soulsteel is used by some games, so that comes to mind.
2) it is a euphemism. The practical utility of this currency means that even good forces need to use it, but they don't like being reminded of what it represents. So something innocuous-sounding is used.
Though I reckon, regardless of the normal name, some slang terms will be common among the less savory. Maybe even calling them "souls".

EDIT: from your description of it, greensteel or greens could also be common. In a confusing twist, maybe a play on 'copper', since copper turns green when not kept care of (right? or am I mixing up my metals?). Be confusing but interesting if copper refers to cheap copper coins for most of the population, but in really rich society it means 100 g a copper. Sorta like how a 'dime' in gambling lingo can mean 10k (or 1k? I forget.)

Esquire
2018-03-15, 09:00 AM
These coins are called 'deaths.' Why? Because 'the wages of sin is death.'

Pleh
2018-03-15, 10:30 AM
These coins are called 'deaths.' Why? Because 'the wages of sin is death.'

If you want to go biblical with your inspiration, I'd recommend rather to call them "Mammon."

Some background on the name. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammon)

It's the name of a Syrian god of wealth, but has often been associated with the greedy pursuit of financial gain. At times, Mammon is one of the seven princes of hell. The famous line from Jesus Christ, "you cannot serve both God and Money" used the term "Mammon" for the greek and was intentionally referring to money as a pseudo (if not actual) conscious mind that manipulates the hearts of people.

As for what it should be called, it really depends on who is talking about it. See, with regular dollars, there isn't much about them to describe beyond how they are guaranteed (in that instance, the US government). These dollars have a hard value and can be used for something besides trade, not to mention their very creation is a heinous act. What I'm saying is that different people will probably have different names for them based on their perspective on the value of human life.

I'd expect the church to have a name that warns of the danger of associating with such dark forces. Mammon is a good name the church might use.

Greens are a decent term for irreligious mortal black market terminology, because it makes the coins sound harmless and banal, allowing them to discuss their unsavory business without attracting the attention of paladins who might smite the crap out of them for owning such things.

The devils themselves might just call them, "pennies" or "coppers" because they probably have a mindset that devalues the worth of the human souls they trade, despite how valuable such commodities actually are to them. It makes sense that Lawful Evil Lawyer/Salesman would push as hard as they could get away with to make what they have sound lucratively valuable while everything they don't sound worthless and insufficient.

jay103
2018-03-15, 12:28 PM
I would have to agree that the common/slang term for them would be "greens". For the real name "Soul Mark" seems like the best idea.. You did say it was marked with a soul, and "mark" is also a (real-world) monetary unit. So I agree with several people :)

Nifft
2018-03-15, 01:16 PM
If you want to go biblical with your inspiration, I'd recommend rather to call them "Mammon."

Some background on the name. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammon) Hmm, in many editions & cosmologies, that's a literal guy you can fight. Saying the name of an arch-devil too casually seems a bit risky.

However... now I wonder if there's ever been a coin named the Hastur, and moreover, how much danger pay you'd get from a bank to be the person responsible for counting up their Hasturs.



EDIT: from your description of it, greensteel or greens could also be common. In a confusing twist, maybe a play on 'copper', since copper turns green when not kept care of (right? or am I mixing up my metals?). Be confusing but interesting if copper refers to cheap copper coins for most of the population, but in really rich society it means 100 g a copper. Sorta like how a 'dime' in gambling lingo can mean 10k (or 1k? I forget.)

The devils themselves might just call them, "pennies" or "coppers" because they probably have a mindset that devalues the worth of the human souls they trade, despite how valuable such commodities actually are to them. It makes sense that Lawful Evil Lawyer/Salesman would push as hard as they could get away with to make what they have sound lucratively valuable while everything they don't sound worthless and insufficient.

Heh, now this is good.

Allegedly the etymology for one usage of Victorian English Copper is Latin capere -> Dutch kapen, by way of meaning "to grab or capture".

The common theory is that they're called Coppers because they're green like copper.

The truth is they're captured souls.

Pronounceable
2018-03-15, 03:16 PM
It's virtually guaranteed that Dispater would put his iron tower on coins minted in his city, so I'd call that sort of thing Irons or Towers.

Though any big finance going on in DnD's Hells will be under Mammon's management, unless Big A made him play nice with Dispater, in which case you'd need a name appealing to both archdukes. OTOH, just because the souls are processed in Dis doesn't mean the coins were minted in Dis. Dunno what sort of Mammony+Dispaterly names would go for this bit.

Or if the coins are for representing power/wealth of all Hell, they'd have Big A on. Which will prolly be his Ruby Rod, so you'll get Rubies or Rods or possibly Reds (cos no way Big A's gonna let a thing in his honor be not red).


Trivia: Dispater's touch can turn flesh to iron. You should have highest denominations of them evil coins be made of Dispater's personal victims.


e: Also if we're doing homebrew, my devils don't believe in material wealth. Mortals are stupid and don't understand that the only thing of true worth in existence is oppression itself and inflicting pain is the most direct and pure manifestation of it. Ergo, hell money is liquid pain, distilled from damned souls in automated mass torture factories. It heals, nourishes and strengthens devils and hurts everything else. Called Mammbrosia due to the extraction process invented by Mammon who doesn't count humility among his virtues.

Concrete
2018-03-15, 03:57 PM
I dunno about the proper name, but you should have at least one group using the word "sole" or even "shoe" for them, because slang can get stupid sometimes.

FreddyNoNose
2018-03-15, 05:20 PM
In one campaign a while back, the highest-denomination currency was a certain coin minted in the Nine Hells.

Each of these green-steel coins was carved with an arcane mark, which uniquely identified a specific soul that had been processed through the iron city of Dis.

The coins were worth roughly 100 gp, because at least one book at the time had said something about captured souls being worth ~100 gp. The market price was set because this nameless currency was backed by the souls of the damned.

It was known as the hardest currency on any plane. (Also it had cold iron tracery around the edges which burned the skin of demons, because devils are jerks.)


What would be a good n... wait, let me rephrase that.

What would be an apt name for this type of evil coin?



Also, stories about inventive / interesting / unusual / fun campaign currencies are welcome.

well, in my game there was currency that wasn't coins but it was souls. How about: calling these coins souls. You don't have to make them contain souls, but...

Got 100 souls for that.

Nifft
2018-03-15, 05:38 PM
It's virtually guaranteed that Dispater would put his iron tower on coins minted in his city, so I'd call that sort of thing Irons or Towers. Hmm, a stylized tower makes me think of a chess piece.

Maybe it's a civilization that has chess pieces as their currency symbols -- the green coin might be a rook.

8 copper pawns = 1 brass knight.
8 brass knights = 1 silver noble.
8 silver nobles = 1 gold bishop.
8 gold bishops = 1 platinum queen.
8 platinum queens = 1 green rook.
9 green rooks = 1 ruby king.


Or if the coins are for representing power/wealth of all Hell, they'd have Big A on. Which will prolly be his Ruby Rod, so you'll get Rubies or Rods or possibly Reds (cos no way Big A's gonna let a thing in his honor be not red). Rupee and Ruble are both potential corruptions of "ruby".


Trivia: Dispater's touch can turn flesh to iron. You should have highest denominations of them evil coins be made of Dispater's personal victims. That's awesome.


e: Also if we're doing homebrew, my devils don't believe in material wealth. Mortals are stupid and don't understand that the only thing of true worth in existence is oppression itself and inflicting pain is the most direct and pure manifestation of it. Ergo, hell money is liquid pain, distilled from damned souls in automated mass torture factories. It heals, nourishes and strengthens devils and hurts everything else. Called Mammbrosia due to the extraction process invented by Mammon who doesn't count humility among his virtues. Neat idea, and in at least one book it seems like Liquid Pain sells for ~200 gp, which is in the same ballpark as a soul. So that would be a drop-in replacement.


I dunno about the proper name, but you should have at least one group using the word "sole" or even "shoe" for them, because slang can get stupid sometimes. If your players are familiar with Exalted, then perhaps it's a green sun coin called a "SOL", which the highborn think means "sun" in ye olde imperial language, but the street-wise know it's because the coins are backed by those who were "S--- Outta Luck". (Plus of course it's pronounced exactly like "soul".)

Maybe an an expression for the very rich is "green-sol'd shoes". Devils like this phrase because it means that an enviable social position is one in which you are stepping on souls.

Joe the Rat
2018-03-16, 10:09 AM
Hmmph, as heavily American as the population is here, I'm surprised nobody suggested "Greenbacks."

My personal preference is Soul Inscribed Nomisma - SINs.

Because what better demonstration of Lawful Evil than the obsessive use of acronyms when an actual name would do.

TheCount
2018-03-16, 03:23 PM
Devils are bartering for a mortals soul....most of the time.
Its common knowledge that if you bargained with one, you will pay for it. there is even a saying: "give the devil his due."

so, Devil's due. or dues for common people.

let it be a reminder, a warning, and the always present temptation, because someone is always ready to make a deal.

Nifft
2018-03-16, 03:52 PM
My personal preference is Soul Inscribed Nomisma - SINs.

Because what better demonstration of Lawful Evil than the obsessive use of acronyms when an actual name would do. That's awesome.

I'd probably use a simpler version -- something like Soul Index Number, and make each coin numbered like modern currency is -- but that's probably the best suggestion so far.

Thank you!



"give the devil his due."

so, Devil's due. or dues for common people. Hmm, not bad in itself, but using the word "dues" to mean a specific coin seems like it would hamper ordinary communication.

Like: "Did you pay the guild your dues?" -- "What dues! That coin is too large!" -- "No silly, she means dues (2b) noun ordinary membership payment, not Dues (1a) proper noun an expensive infernal coin."

comicshorse
2018-03-16, 04:00 PM
'Roots', after all they are the root of all evil

KillianHawkeye
2018-03-20, 12:19 PM
While reading this thread, the coin that took shape in my imagination had a big 'IX' (the Roman numeral nine, for the Nine Hells) printed on one side, so some people might refer to the coins as "Nines".

Also, I'm totally stealing this idea to use in a future adventure or campaign setting! :smallamused:

Malimar
2018-03-21, 11:58 AM
In my setting, banknotes are issued by the Blue Dragon Bank, the proprietor of which is a blue dragon. You deposit your gold, she adds it to her hoard, you get Blue Dragon Banknotes backed by the hoard. Theoretically, the banknotes can then be exchanged for gold from the hoard, but... No, actually, she does willingly give up gold from her hoard to back the notes if necessary, because a.) she's Lawful and b.) it would be foolish not to, because then the bank wouldn't be as trusted.

Mastikator
2018-03-21, 02:36 PM
You could decide that one of the sides of the coin has the face of one of the arch devils in charge of money and just naming it after that.

Or maybe Charon (because of the "give gold coin to charon" thing)

"That ring will cost you 20 Charons"

For extra flavor you could decide that devils pronounce it differently than how the person is called (soft or hard C) but non-devils pronounce it the same.

Devils_Advocate
2018-04-01, 02:12 PM
In one campaign a while back, the highest-denomination currency was a certain coin minted in the Nine Hells.

Each of these green-steel coins was carved with an arcane mark, which uniquely identified a specific soul that had been processed through the iron city of Dis.

The coins were worth roughly 100 gp, because at least one book at the time had said something about captured souls being worth ~100 gp. The market price was set because this nameless currency was backed by the souls of the damned.
Sounds like a seed for an amusing campaign.

Devil Cult Leader sold his soul to a devil for power, which is how he became leader of a devil cult. But Devil Cult Leader has a contingency plan to avoid being damned for eternity when he dies. His followers agree (in exchange for power, of course) to be magically bound to retrieve their leader's soul after his death and get him resurrected.

After a group of adventurers kill Devil Cult Leader and loot his body, as one does, his followers gather together the funds necessary to obtain one of these coins. They manage to locate a sufficiently wealthy person who needs someone to make change for her, and with their newly acquired infernal coin they make a harrowing journey into Hell.

Hello, we would like to buy back a soul please, they say to the devil in charge.

Okay, let me go get that for you, says the devil.

No, wait, we want a specific soul, they say. Of this guy we knew. We need it for a thing.

Well, each coin corresponds to a specific soul, the devil explains. That soul belongs to the bearer of that coin. Do you have the coin corresponding to the soul you want? Because the particular soul associated with a particular coin is the soul that you get in exchange for turning that coin in.

Well, no, they admit, we don't have that exact coin. But obviously these coins have value as currency only because one soul is as good as another for most purposes. So, like, if you could just give us the soul we want, and just give the soul associated with this coin to whoever comes to claim the soul we'll be taking, it's not like whoever turns that coin in will know the difference or care...

Whoa, whoa, whoa, says the devil, that's not how it works. Rules Are Rules, and that simply isn't How These Things Are Done. If you want a specific soul, you have to turn in the right coin. If you're interested in locating a specific coin, then there's an office that keeps records of purchasers. With enough information, they can figure out the serial number associated with a specific soul, and can likely tell you how to get in touch with the purchaser. For a fee. I can direct you to this office, the devil says, also for a fee. Of course, the longer you wait, the more likely that the original owner will have paid the coin to someone else, so you'll want to expedite your search. Which can be done, for a fee, and maybe a few minor favors to the right parties...

One of the cultists pulls the others off to the side. I told you jerks that allying ourselves with the forces of Baator would wind up with us neck-deep in Kafkaesque bull****, but would you listen to me? the cultist angrily whispers. We could have joined a normal evil religion to a normal evil death god who only asks that you fill your murder quota and the details of how to do it are up to you. "More opportunities for advancement" my ASS.

(Sorry, I don't have any good ideas for names right now.)

Vogie
2018-04-05, 09:10 AM
To tap into the soul portion of them, you could call them "Sols", "Faces", "lives", or variations of "anima".

If you want to tie them to an idea of ultimate wealth, you could have variations on the names of wealth/fortune based deities

Plutus - "Plut", (may be too close to "plat" for platinum)
Kubera - "Kubers", "kubs"
Mammon - "mams"
Caishen/Tsai Shen - "Cais", "Tsais", "kais"

Tvtyrant
2018-04-10, 10:25 PM
I like Pitchfork or Forks. "Pay the man 40 Forks" seems close to a real phrase, or "Pitch the man some Forks".

chainer1216
2018-04-11, 03:49 AM
Obviously Diabloons.

But more honestly a simple name like Soul/s would be what people actually call them.

"So that'll cost you one thousand gold coins or ten Souls."

Nifft
2018-04-11, 08:41 AM
One more quick thought:

Soul Archive Index Number Token.


It might be simple irony -- albeit cruel green iron-y -- or it might be some diabolical long-term plan about corrupting the concepts of goodness by making the words of goodness synonyms for filthy lucre.

Also: "Just as every cop is a criminal, and all the sinners SAINTs, as heads is tails just call me Lucifer, cause I'm in need of some restraint."

comk59
2018-04-11, 11:17 AM
I actually did an extremely similiar thing in my campaign, but with each coin representing a certain amount of time for the soul before it's sent back to its proper plane of existence(The denominations ranged from minutes to years).
This was less because the Devils needed souls for some diabolical purpose, and more because, with an infinite number of planes of reality, mortal souls are the only truely rare thing in existence.

Anyway, in this campaign they just called the coins Infernals, with nicknames for each specific denomination. Like how in America the money is in dollars, but we have a Buck, a Fiver, a Benjamin, etc.