PCs who don't know what money is

I've come to realize that in almost every generic fantasy game I've played or GMed there's been at least one character who doesn't know what money is. Is this actually a thing that a lot of people do, create characters who don't know what money is? I'm genuinely curious.

Could you be more specific? Like the ideas of currency exchange confuse them or they don't know what their physical money is made of/called?

It's the idea of currency exchange. They never know the value of it and they will often question its use.

It happened in a game I GMed once with a player who was raised by wolves. It was a part of a bigger thing though, since he also asked me if he could speak dog instead of common and I agreed on the grounds that it sounded funny.

The party rogue (who was surprisingly trustworthy) handled his money for him, although he never wanted much since he insisted on using a massive stone axe he took from an animated statue they fought.

Had it happen a few times. Very much in the minority, I do not find it common.

Were they wild children? Were they from a tribal people? I've never seen it done before but I can imagine how players of characters who are either Tarzan-esque savages or rustic tribesmen might want to do that in order to add to their character's shtick. I doubt those people come into the game thinking, "I'm going to make a character who doesn't understand money," I just bet people make a character and then decide that that character wouldn't know what money is.

Most of them were tribals but one of them was brought up in an isolated monastery. I think most of them decided that they were going to play characters who aren't used to civilization.

Prior to about the 16th century, most of the human race had never touched money as we think of it, although a majority would know what it was.
Most folks in the middle ages paid for things in goods or service, and were themselves paid in kind. Actual coins were usually used only by merchants and the very wealthy.
In such an environment, there will be plenty of backwoods folks who don't really understand how this "money" stuff works, and some tribal folks who may have never heard of money at all.

While I appreciate the history lesson I'm not as interested in the 'why' of it as in if it's a common choice of character trait.

I think and gave me a satisfying answer. I guess its just chance that made it the most encountered character trait for me. Thanks for your time!

>I GMed once with a player who was raised by wolves.
Sounds like you live in an interesting place, user.

It's a somewhat common thing for characters like Druids or tribals like Lizardmen.

Do you mean that literally?
Because I've played a D&D character who understood what money was, but could not conceive of a realistic way to spend the amazing amount of money obtained from a single dungeon.
We're talking 600 GP cash *each* and who knows how much in antiques, within three in-game days of starting the campaign. We couldn't spend it all in shops in the nearest town if we tried, there simply aren't enough material goods in stock to equal our wealth, let alone high-quality gear we'd actually use. We don't want to buy land yet, because we intend to continue adventuring and being effectively homeless for a while. What is all this gold for, just hookers and blow?

Bribing peasantry and guards with a years worth of wages with your pocket change.

Backstories were a mistake.

Stop ignoring encumbrance rules and consider adopting carousing rules (XP for gold wasted: wine, women, song)

Not recognizing coins or paper as currency is one thing, but not understanding the concept of currency is extremely unusual. Cowrie shells, great stone disks or bits of metal have served as currency across the world for over 4000 years, all but the smallest and most secluded tribes should understand it.

>retard DM gives you fucking boatloads of gold
>suddenly bribing anyone doesn't work

>ruining kingdoms you pass through with the rampant inflation caused by all the gold you throw around
Truly this is what's best in life

It's not inflation it's just circulating gold that was previously in the hands of the wealthy (and dead) 1% elite('s grave that you robbed)

Depending on how old that grave was that gold may not have been part of the economy. Being buried for a century is pretty good grounds for being declared out of circulation, especially if nobody knows it's there.

Like Goldfinger in reverse!

I'm onto your game, Mansa Musa!

>The party rogue (who was surprisingly trustworthy)

Sounds like lies and slander to me.

I've seen it happen in a few playgroups.

Usually by someone that just wants to unga bunga and be "above" money.

This way they can basically turn up their nose at the DM offering them gold for quests/etc, and be a huge piece of shit and derail the game (force the DM to make guards try to arrest them for not paying for items/food/lodging etc).

It's even more retarded when they try to argue their character simply can't and won't understand the notion that people exchange items for goods and services. Your adventuring PC has to be sub-retarded to not grasp that when explained.

Was going to post him.

>But Musa's generous actions inadvertently devastated the economy of the regions through which he passed. In the cities of Cairo, Medina, and Mecca, the sudden influx of gold devalued the metal for the next decade. Prices on goods and wares greatly inflated. To rectify the gold market, on his way back from Mecca, Musa borrowed all the gold he could carry from money-lenders in Cairo, at high interest. This is the only time recorded in history that one man directly controlled the price of gold in the Mediterranean.[20]

I'm playing a Lizardman right now. He knows what money does, but doesn't really make the distinction between the value of individual coins. So he pays for everything with a gold piece. If that's not enough, he will add more gold, one by one.

XP for combat was a mistake.

XP per adventure is the answer.

Hell, no. XP for treasure recovered is the answer. Makes players be sneaky and clever and diplomatic. XP per adventure just makes 'em show up to get their door prize.

So what you're saying is you don't want to just hand out participation prizes? Sounds good!

I think XP for meaningful social interaction might be nicer though. If you bonded with an NPC or started building resent towards/from an NPC through dialogue then that gives you XP for actually altering the state of the world and/or your own character with roleplaying.
Interacting in a way that furthers your fulfilling of some objective could be considered meaningful in the same way.

Now we just need the most combat-heavy system to shoehorn this thing into.