Players: "So, what's it all worth?"
Me: *sigh* "625 gold pieces, all told."
Of course, I could insist that they tally the actual number of copper and silver coins and track their encumbrance, that they use their skills to appraise the value of their gemstones and not cash them in until they get back to town and find a buyer, but that all seems like bookkeeping for its own sake. I'd rather spend my one evening a week locked in mortal combat than haggling over commodities, and my players feel likewise.
That said, the treasure loses some of its luster when nobody cares about what they found, only how much it's worth. So I'm trying to come up with some ideas that will give my players reasons to actually be excited about finding gems and art objects (without relying on Jabba-the-Hutt excuses--I want finding these treasures to be a reward, not an obligation).
Here are my ideas so far. I've decided to institute vendor mark-ups on magic items across the board to give some value to the magic item creation ritual, so I was thinking that maybe the mark-up applies to cash purchases but that characters paying in gemstones can buy items at list price. Either that, or somehow tying gemstones to the ritual in Adventurer's Vault that allows characters to improve existing items.
My thought for art objects was to weave an art-collector NPC into the story whose desire for these objects goes beyond their monetary value (I was thinking perhaps he needs to decorate a palace or some such). Not only will he pay the PC's cash for the objects they bring him, but art collection becomes a repeatable minor quest, giving the party XP as well as GP. My concern with this approach is balancing it at higher levels, when it looks like PC's are finding many more art objects.
Any other ideas out there? I'd love to hear them.
I don't see this as a book keeping issue, being the Rogue it is my responsibility to do all of this. I have a notebook and track it along with everything else, it really isn't that difficult and doesn't take any extra time.
Sometimes when we go to town we may hear that someone is looking for specific stones or art works and they are willing to pay more than the standard appraised value which is one way to incoporate it in.
We also did one adventure where we were hired to return some art objects that were stolen from a church, that were all associated with a god. We were payed beyond their value for them because they had sentimental value to the individual that hired us.
As a character point, my Rogue collects oddly shaped gems and I make sure the other players don't cash those in; essentially they don't get to count those as part of the treasure to be distibuted. Sure they could argue those are my portion to do with as I wish, but I have been successfully able to convince them otherwise. ;)
Also, occasionally our DM will author up a history that goes with a piece of art; and someone may hear that this particular work was once a sought after item to a particular hero and if you find them, they might pay handsomely. This in an of itself sets up a whole adventure, going out to find the hero at large in the world.
Good luck. :D
I'm trying to find a way to make gems and art objects relevant to my game.
Any other ideas out there? I'd love to hear them.
Possibilities
1. Grant small amounts of XP for finding those items.
2. Don't use them as ritual components. Instead, allow to use them to enhance rituals (might require some work how different kinds of gems and jewelry etc. affect each ritual type).
3. Explain to your players that if they have a house, they have a renown score. It grows as they decorate the house, as they invite guests, wear (nonmagical) jewelry, and so on. This score can be then used to call favors of any kind.