The Ring of Inflation (Ring of Nibelung)

[MercuryAlloy]

I'm planning a game for political intrigues of overpowered lords in world-rulling Empire.
One of major players is House of Greeneye, with their overpowerness came from cursed artefact in their secret possession: Ring of Nibelung, that doubles your gold every sunrise (and summon some devil to eat your soul if you cross the limit of gold in your treasury).
Of course if you just start spending money faster then they can duplicate you will be able to delay your death, but unlimited spendings leads to inflation making you to spend more every time, until you one day will cross the limit or increasing all prices higher, than you could afford.
But House of Greeneye was able to exploit the ring: they became unofficial Central bank of Empire, controlling inflation in the state to their benefit by duplicating gold with ring and by drowning gold in the sea (literally). By itself these provides little benefit, but it gives Greeneyes several ways to gain the actual one:

1. "Red button" – Greeneye may create hyperinflation at any moment hurming all Empire at once. That is their most powerfull weapon in any war, yet near the last one
2. "Instant credit" – Greeneye can to skip one drowning of gold to buy something more, then their current income can afford. Of course they must cut their spendings for a bit later, but that lets them buy anything they want.
3. They can choose which coins to duplicate (there are several Houses, that can print money) and by that creating illusion of wealth of one or another house.
4. Sacrificing gold to spirits and gods sends gold to the other planes and thus do not increase inflation in Empire, so Greeneye can buy near unlimited blessings

Yet, I have quite primitive understanding of economics and I fear, that I miss something in the way such ring would works.
So if you can please help me with it and sorry for my bad English.

[brian 333]

Last point first: never apologise for your use of English. Only English professors and drunk Brits care. I am impressed by anyone who was born to a more logical language who chooses to learn and use English. If you effectively communicate you have used "good English."

Next, you might consider the effects of an unlimited supply of gold.

1 gold art everywhere
2 gold used to decorate buildings
3 gold and gilded weapons, armor, and equipment
4 the local devaluation of gold allows other metals to be used as a local measure of wealth. Silver and copper would be more valuable locally.
5 craftsmen and commoners would come from around the world to make money so they can go home and retire wealthy.
6 trade routes from around the world would link to the city.
7 creatures which eat gold would be abundant. Aaurumvorax, xorn, and other pests would be well fed pets.

There are many such ramifications to the presence of such a device. But there is one possibility which may have been oerlooked; what happens if the demon is slain?

If the ring summons random demons, then slaying them might buy only a day's respite.

If it is a singular demon and it is slain, it will require one hundred and one years before the demon can return.

You can do a lot in one hundred years, including hiring the best demon hunters in the kingdom and preparing for the next demonic visitation.

[MercuryAlloy]

Thank you for answer. (and I don't think, that English is more illogical than my native language by the way)

Idea of gold-eating pets (or in that case even armies) is really interesting and its definitely more profitable way of decreasing inflation, than drowning gold.

Greeneyes also limit their gold supply specifically to avoid inflation (most of the time) and sustain prices of gold on the same level (they actually are the main reason, why gold cost roughly the same all the time), so its unlikely that they will cover everything in gold.


Devil of the ring is a Duke of Hell, so it won't be easy to defeat him. But if someone manage to kill him, the ring will lose all the power.

[brian 333]

Why would the ring lose it's power? Killing an outsider on the material plane is not permadeath; it's a minor inconvenience.

But your ring. Your rules!

[PirateMonk]

This is very interesting. Some considerations:

-If retrieving the gold from the ocean floor is remotely feasible, it's going to be a tempting target for anyone who knows about it. Even if they try to keep it secret, dumping large amounts of gold on a daily basis is necessarily a fairly involved operation; there will likely be at least a couple former employees who want to take advantage of the situation (and there's also the risk that some of the gold gets intercepted or stolen).
-How much gold is mined in the Empire and its trading partners? If the rate of growth in the gold supply exceeds the rate of economic growth (generally very low in medieval worlds, although magic could change this), this will provide an external source of inflation they have to offset, at considerable personal expense.
-Similarly, if fractional reserve banking catches on, a fixed supply of gold will be able to support a much larger amount of economic activity, potentially threatening their position. If they realize this is a problem, they might just try to have fractional reserve banking banned, since it is pretty shady from a premodern perspective.
-Is there necessarily a fixed exchange rate between coins issued by different houses? Selectively duplicating a single house's coinage in moderation could make that house look wealthy and powerful, but if you do it enough it might lead to suspicion of debasement or counterfeiting. If the Greeneyes can flood the market with a rival's currency without fueling too much general inflation and without attracting suspicion, that could be worth considering.

[MercuryAlloy]

Thank you for answer.

1) Greeneyes are major power in Imperial colonies, so they always send ships somewhere, keep gold in a secret and trust its management to only the most loyal servants. They send ships to some unimportant northern island (they chose one near deep water and without any seafolk) in sea that no pirate have interest in, so its relatively safe. They send a ship once a week (if they send any) and it suppose to be suspicious for players, that notice such detail. For additional hint there are some rumours about it.
2) Empire owns the world, so there is no trading partners. But yes Greeneyes spend a lot to negate inflation and even more to expand economy of Empire (that gives them a fame of Maecenas) – their most successful project so far is colonisation.
3) I haven't thought about it, thank you. I guess there is not so much banks around for them to even know about such problem (only Knights Order of Dragonslayers gives any noticeable credits).
4) Great idea! I think they could do that within a couple months. It could also be an interesting twist if they can be caught on duplicating coins of obsolete style.

[rferries]

Here are some other magical effects (whether from spellcasters or permanent magic items) House Greeneyes could use to dispose of the gold:

-teleportation circle (set to teleport the gold into a volcano / the sun)
-plane shift / gate
-disintegrate / a Sphere of Annihilation
-transmute metal to wood /polymorph any object

[D&D_Fan]

What if you transmute the gold to another material?

What if you have other people to swap the ring with, so all people benefit, and nobody gets to the point of danger as fast?

Also, what if you just don't use the ring when you don't need to:
Remove curse (or equivalent) + end attunement+ take off ring = Problem solved.
If it makes gold just by being near you, just put it in a demiplane.

You could also make a deal with the Duke of Hell in question, and change the rings properties to get rid of the more direct risk of the devil, at the expense of something else? eg. 100 innocent souls.

What I'm saying is that the ring can be a problem but doesn't have to be.