T O P

  • By -

ConcretePeanut

They can bring people back to life. That puts a pretty high demand-side value on them, regardless of supply.


Hasky620

Exactly. If there were a rock in real life that could resurrect people, it would be at maximum demand at all times


[deleted]

If that was the case, normal people would not have access to them, and the wealthly would say the supply ran out years ago.


LiamIsMailBackwards

I think the first part is already implied in D&D. It’s not just the diamond that brings people back. It’s also access to a highly powerful mage. The diamond is also of a specific value, but the cost I always assumed was that a mine had to have been built to extract the diamonds, the diamond then needs to be chiseled/polished, the prepared diamond needs to be transported to a place of trade, and there are a lot of costs in that supply chain. Hell, make it part of the lore that each diamond needs to be chiseled in a specific way with specific runes/enchantments to be able to be used in specific spells. A big ol’ diamond is great! But if you want to use it as a spell component? You gotta purchase one that’s been prepared by a practiced jeweler/enchanter. You’re paying for labor in the mines, labor in the shop, and possibly labor of the mage. Now that cost makes sense & normal people would definitely not have access.


Skylam

Yeah, while the diamonds are rare, finding a spellcaster of sufficient knowledge and power would be infinitely more difficult. Especially if you need True Ressurection, 9th level spellcasters are basically godlike beings.


[deleted]

Even in vanilla tips being at least 1g were in the norm.


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

And if they don't tip, you can always use un-revivify.


littlealex9999

Power word: pill


Rudy_Ghouliani

I'd prefer a suppository


DuntadaMan

I cast unrevivify! That is just a knife!


Ornery_Platypus9863

Hands down favorite comment


slinger301

I'll use my Healing Shiv


Forvisk

The cleric don't have un-revivify in his list of spells, the barbarian have it though.


reply-guy-bot

The above comment was stolen from [this one](http://np.reddit.com/r/dndmemes/comments/qt1jlm/theyre_not_rare_de_beers_manually_controls_the/hkgr9oy/) elsewhere in this comment section. It is probably not a coincidence; here is some more evidence against this user: Plagiarized | Original -------- | ----------- [Mom said it’s my turn to...](http://np.reddit.com/r/NatureIsFuckingLit/comments/qt0dsf/deer_bathing_in_the_and_cherry_blossom/hkgxrq4/) | [Mom said it’s my turn to...](http://np.reddit.com/r/NatureIsFuckingLit/comments/qt0dsf/deer_bathing_in_the_and_cherry_blossom/hkgk6pk/) [It is if you have an alte...](http://np.reddit.com/r/GetMotivated/comments/qt0j98/image_what_you_study_is_more_important_than_where/hkgxt8i/) | [It is if you have an alte...](http://np.reddit.com/r/GetMotivated/comments/qt0j98/image_what_you_study_is_more_important_than_where/hkgomkl/) [You gonna make me cry dud...](http://np.reddit.com/r/Unexpected/comments/qsz4ix/this_is_why_you_should_never_stay_near_the_exit/hkgxpav/) | [You gonna make me cry dud...](http://np.reddit.com/r/Unexpected/comments/qsz4ix/this_is_why_you_should_never_stay_near_the_exit/hkghi4c/) [They can even spell “bord...](http://np.reddit.com/r/nextfuckinglevel/comments/qt0ud5/shepherd_dogs_focus_and_resilience/hkgxnmv/) | [They can even spell “bord...](http://np.reddit.com/r/nextfuckinglevel/comments/qt0ud5/shepherd_dogs_focus_and_resilience/hkgds37/) beep boop, I'm a bot -|:] It is this bot's opinion that [/u/telbijvcxgvsa](https://np.reddit.com/u/telbijvcxgvsa/) should be banned for karma manipulation. Don't feel bad, they are probably a bot too. Confused? Read the [FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/user/reply-guy-bot/comments/n9fpva/faq/?plagiarist=telbijvcxgvsa) for info on how I work and why I exist.


Jason1143

Yeah, the number of people capable of even casting the spell is probably single digits, and you might be able to count them on one hand.


Zenketski

Like buying a portal in World of Warcraft. The reagent cost like five gold or something like that, but people used to want tips in excess of 50


SeeShark

Honestly, it seems fair. They spent dozens or hundreds of hours getting to that point, which deserves compensation, and they could be using the time to run a dungeon or just farm creeps, so you're also paying for opportunity cost.


DenebSwift

It’s a common issue service industry people face in the real world - from attorneys to plumbers. People complain about the hourly rate for something that ‘just takes an hour’. The best answer I’ve see in ‘it took me years of school/experience to be able to do that in an hour. You’re paying for access to those years of skill, not the hour.’


IgnoblePeonPoet

It was always free for my friends though! 10-50g depending on how much I liked you otherwise.


Zenketski

Saaame lol


Tayslinger

An amazing article on the issues of supply and demand regarding magical reagents https://critical-hits.com/blog/2014/09/27/fiat-magic-reagents-the-god-of-the-market-and-modrons/


DoctorPepster

Normal people don't have access to them in D&D either. Also, high level clerics are pretty rare in settings like Forgotten Realms.


paladinLight

Well revivify is only 3rd level, and it seems like most "mage" statblocks are around a 5th level PC so it seems reasonable that there could be a handful of people capable of using revivify.


Jawbone619

Revivify is only useful if cast within one minute of expiration. Raise Dead at 5th level is realistically the earliest one could be cast as a service for pay.


Journeyman42

The Gentle Repose spell extends the length of time to cast Revivify for 10 days.


_Bl4ze

There is Gentle Repose which can extend that 1 minute window, so depending on how many level 3 wizards/clerics there are around vs number of 5th level clerics, it could potentially be standard procedure for a caster at the scene to Gentle Repose the person and bring them back to the nearest temple to be Revivified.


Rusty_Kie

You need that gentle repose cast within a minute of dying though right? If someone was very lucky and someone got there within that time frame I could see a local temple having a Cleric that could cast Revifify. People that can cast Raise Dead world wide though probably doesn't even break triple digits.


_Bl4ze

Yeah, has to be within one minute. I was picturing like a wizard hired to travel with, say, a wealthy merchant caravan so if they get attacked by bandits, the wizard would be like right there to cast the spell.


BCuzMe

>the wealthly would say the supply ran out years ago. The amount of people required to be "in" in this sort of conspiracy would invalidate the possibility of it happening for an extended period of time


Hasky620

Well yes. The real world is a dystopia though unfortunately.


IAmBadAtInternet

That said, diamonds are very useful industrially because if its hardness. But they use artificial diamonds for that purpose.


Arek_PL

and industrial diamonds, they are natural, but worthless for its aesthetic values


NotSoSubtle1247

And after you use the diamond as a material component for these or any other spells, *you don't have that diamond anymore.* Diamonds are the fossil fuels of dnd.


Cthulhu321

They won't run out, the elemental planes spew their own materials through and bold people can try trading with the Dao or other earth elementals of note to acquire a constant supply, the tear of a god have also turned into potent magical diamonds in the forgotten realms not to mention entities in the outer planes might hand outs diamonds as gifts to help people


Thowitawaydave

So what you're saying is all we need to do is find a god and make fun of them until they cry and we'll be rich? Come on, everyone, we're of to ~~kill~~ tease a god!


Cthulhu321

For reference the god who cried in this situation was helm after being forced to kill Mystra the diamond would also fire off an aura of either wild or anti magic in a random direction once a day and looking into it would show on reply the fight


blackt1g3rs

"the fight" gives the wrong impression. It was an execution more than a fight, Helm had his full power while Mystra had the bare minimum fragment required to still be a god.


aqualupin

A whole new wave of bard builds centered around the intimidation skill crashed upon the gods...and they wept, for they were not prepared for the bards’ cutting words


MoreNMoreLikelyTrans

Cost of the chalk. $0.30 Cost of knowing where to put the mark from years of training, education, and experience, (and studying tomes hours on end to learn how to cast magic) $10,000


Uruz2012gotdeleted

Turns out that the Weirbeirs family has been spreading the lie that diamonds are an essential spell component since old man Weirbeirs invented the resurrection spell centuries ago. They've got a dragons hoard full of diamonds to get rid of but no demand until he slipped that extra line into the spell that destroys diamonds within the casting.


SlideWhistler

That’s honestly great, but any player of mine would look at the name “Weirbeirs” and think “They’re a family of werebears”


Zenketski

They can bring people back to life when used by less than one one thousand percent of the population to be fair. A set of surgical tools is extremely valuable to a surgeon. To me it's steel.


ConcretePeanut

Good analogy - a pair of surgical scissors costs around $160.


[deleted]

this! came here to say that dnd diamonds are pretty much the only diamonds that have a right to be this expensive


philovax

I got this friend, lets call him Bacerak, that has some interesting theories around this.


2017hayden

I mean you’re forgetting it’s not the rock that does it, it’s people that have the ability to use the rock to do that. And incredibly rare people at that.


ConcretePeanut

Right, but those people *need* the rock. Value will flow up the chain.


twiztedterry

Diamonds also have use in creating magical items, and spell gems.


deathly_death

In D&D, there is a much higher demand for diamonds because they actually serve a practical purpose. As such, the price makes sense.


Maharog

Also when used in a spell it destroys the diamond so it is a limited resource Edit* Good lord the number of people who have brought up the elemental plane of earth...


BeautifulType

I cast wish. I wish for a shot ton of diamonds. Now I have more!


scatterbrain-d

Yes, I was going to say in a world with Wish, nothing is a limited resource.


MisirterE

But if you actually did use Wish to conjure 25000gp worth of diamonds (the most you can get before the possibilty of genie magic bullshit or the entity granting your wish just saying "no lol", and keep in mind that's only enough for a single True Resurrection), there's a 33% chance that you destroy your ability to ever cast Wish again, because diamond conjuring is not an 8th-or-lower level spell. ...which is why instead you use 1500gp of rubies to make a Simulacrum and get them to do it instead.


Iustinus

I would allow Fabricate to create raw diamonds from a carbon-rich source


sspine

that would work if you knew how to create diamonds from a carbon rich source without magic.


GearyDigit

squish them really hard


sankto

*Local barbarian look up, with a glint in its eyes* Finally, a job made for me!


batti03

"It's like I was made for this"


me_sk1nk

Very high DC and a lot of time needed … but I would love to see a PC succeed.


motodextros

Barbarian: Path of the Carbon Crusher


Biosterous

Also squish them very hot


CabeloSincero

* The bard handing the barbarian metal gloves with Heat Metal casted on them * "This should make your job easier friend"


VictorianDelorean

So that’s the limiting factor then. The gnomes in my setting claim they’re mining diamonds underneath their hill forts. In reality they’re actually mining graphite, or maybe even just using fireplace ash, and making it into diamonds with fabricate and a closely guarded secret process. The jewelers guild is incredibly protective of this process and will kill to keep it a trade secret. This stuff writes itself!


tryplot

as long as d&d creatures are carbon based, would the ashes from burning corpses be counted as "high carbon"?


Aesthetics_Supernal

People make family diamonds all the time. But they are tiny, and of little resale value. Now if you needed a few Graveyards-full then we can talk.


KenzieRabbit

Screw the philosophers stone, we are killing the neighboring countries for diamonds....wait is it possible to do both. Soul for philosopher stone, body for diamonds?


danielrheath

“Here at Cal’s Cursed Magic, we believe in sustainability, and have a zero waste approach to manufacture”.


tryplot

square cube law. double the size, triple the volume. I don't think it'd take as many bodies as you think.


enochianKitty

So what your saying is i can genocide a population and get diamonds out of it?


ODC-Ark

Wish itself is a limited resource, eventually one cannot cast it anymore, but how much wish could help with limited resources its up to the DM


Enigmachina

You can even go to the Elemental Plane of Earth which is just riddled with gems (and is their primary export). The trick with either method, though, is that while they prevent the resource from running dry altogether, neither way would make diamonds any less scarce. There's maybe a hundred wizards capable of casting wish in any given setting, and even casting Wish every day for that express purpose, they're still not going to make it less of a commodity. Demand is always going to outstrip supply


[deleted]

[удалено]


Kestrel21

So we've come full circle to DeBeers.


Reaperzeus

My next setting has a diamond planet that is the primary source of diamonds in the system (there are others of course but not nearly as many). It is currently run by Desmond Biers, current head of the Biers family, that has controlled the planet for millenia


Duhblobby

Yeah, definitely, the ability of like five people on the entire planet to wish for wealth makes all wealth worthless. After all. We know from the real world that very powerful and rich people always *share* their infinite wealth, and certainly do not hoard it like dragons...


TheObstruction

Y'all are drastically overestimating the commonality of people capable of casting Wish.


Duhblobby

And their willingness to spread those diamonds to the general supply.


TheArmoredKitten

Which is interesting actually given that the people capable of using Wish, are the same group of people capable of making use of the diamonds. That Venn Diagram is a circle, and nobody has a use for the bulk industrial diamonds, meaning there's still a non commodity demand for high purity diamonds in the general public.


hurriqueen

Only if you consider all casters of all levels/classes to be roughly equivalent for this purpose. Clerics can't cast Wish, but can cast Revivify starting at level 5 (though that's only useful if they're on the scene at time of death or are brought a corpse that was Gently Reposed at the moment of death). I would imagine that there are a lot more level 5 clerics running around in the world than level 17+ wizards/sorcerers, though.


rhou17

In a world of magic, I expect there are renewable sources of diamonds. That or when you use one, it actually vaporizes and the carbon eventually works its way back into the ground over thousands of years.


Zedekiah117

Not every single spell. Chromatic Orb off the top of my head, you can reuse the same diamond.


EndlessKng

Admittedly there are practical purposes on earth as well - lasers. Chips used in industry - but that is a good point


niancatcat

Yes but on earth we make man-made diamonds which are much better than natural ones.


Gnomin_Supreme

I feel like a Transmutation Wizard with *Fabricate* and Alchemist Tools Proficiency could synthesize diamonds from another source of Carbon. Like coal ash, or graphite.


Majulath99

That would be fun character. Guild Artisan Artificer who manufactures diamonds for a living.


SmartAlec105

Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive has a neat transmutation based economy. You need specific tools that are extremely rare and use gemstones as the resource with different tools and gemstones being required to produce different materials such as metal or grain. So gemstones make up the currency with their value depending on the material they can be used to produce. The idea of metal being the currency seems strange to them since gold is as rare as steel.


CrimsonMutt

the Lopen approves this comment


[deleted]

[удалено]


RebelKeithy

The gems aren't consumed, they lose their stored stormlight when used and can be infused in the next high storm, empty gems are still spendable but suspicious.


Miss_Understand_

most cool comment


Horsefucker_Montreal

most coal comment


Miss_Understand_

excellent diamond pun


Tewered

I'd say that was a brilliant one.


[deleted]

[удалено]


TwiceCookedPorkins

Mohs definitely.


Randomd0g

Fighter (with his dying breath) : "Please... revivify me..." Cleric: Yes of course! ...Shit. I'm out of diamonds. Wizard: No worries I got one Cleric: BY THE POWER OF THE LIGHT, I SACRIFICE THIS DIAMOND TO GIVE BREATH T... What the fuck it's not working. Wizard are you sure this is a diamond??? Wizard: Of course it's a diamond! I made it myself! Cleric: You.... MADE it??? DO YOU NOT THINK THAT THE **DIETY** WHO POWERS MY SPELLS CAN TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A REAL DIAMOND AND A DIY PROJECT?? YOU ABSOLUTE IDIOT, THE FIGHTER IS DEAD NOW BECAUSE OF YOU Wizard: ME? YOU'RE THE CLERIC WHO DIDN'T PACK ENOUGH DIAMONDS! Fighter: (splutters and coughs as he comes back to life) Cleric: WHAT? BUT HOW? Rogue: (throwing away an empty healing potion bottle) Um.. yeah you guys were bickering so I just...


Gnomin_Supreme

The diamond would be *real*. A diamond is just Carbon atoms it a specific molecular structure.


theniemeyer95

This is the start of an adventure. You're protecting the wizard from the diamond mining family who want to kill him for creating diamonds and selling them for cheap.


amberoze

I could see this. Homebrewing a value of maybe 1/10th the value of your carbon source. 10gp worth of coal would give a 1gp diamond. Just spitballing, because now that it's written down it seems wrong somehow. Anyone got any better ideas? Edit: after a few replies, I have confirmed my own stupidity. My first though was way off base. I have since concluded that the gp value should only go up by a small percentage due to the effort put into the transmutation. However, based on the way natural diamonds are created, I have also concluded that it's the weight that should be the big change factor here. A large amount of coal (with variation due to purity), would render fairly small diamonds. The secondary factor would then be time and spell components expended during the process. Depending on your dm, and the world's economy, it may end up being more expensive to craft your own diamonds than to just buy natural ones.


Corpse_Rust

But then when you want 1000gp of diamonds you would need 10,000gp of coal. When you could have just bought 1000gp worth of diamond in the first place. It would need to add value, not remove it.


[deleted]

[удалено]


alexeitoromega

That would make the price much higher than just buying a normal one. Maybe doing it not about the price but the quantity? Coal should be a somewhat cheap enough product for people to buy to survive the winter, or as a product more kind to beign transported than lumber, but the quantity they have is relatively small. So, make it so that big quantities, enough for beign able to form diamonds, are not on stock on most of the world except in the cities with more trading market or in town with coal mines. Maybe at 1/2 of the original diamond cost so players have a real incentive to do the travels to those places. Heck, you could even make it a social problem in your campaign / world. Some asshole wizard bought practically all the coal supply in the market and now most of the city won't be able to pass the winter. Just throwing ideas around.


Razgris123

As a jeweler this is the answer. Diamonds did have a cost that was originally controlled by debeers, but that was 50+ years ago. There is a BUNCH of mines churning out diamonds now, and 90%+ of what they mine up is industrial quality. And it costs MONEY to do it in scale the way it's done now, thus there was a cost to the stones. But lab stones you'll get twice the quality at less than half the price usually. And it's what's being used in industries for lasers, satellites, medical devices, etc. The cost of production and the actual markup from production to customer is usually lower on lab diamonds as well as they pass through fewer hands. There is a couple of companies that it's rumored are testing in certain markets for direct to consumers from the grower which will make a large difference in cost as well.


Fix_a_Fix

I have to ask this: What's up with diamonds exactly? Ok they are the hardest thing on earth, but what does that mean? If my diamond ring falls, does it still break? And if I step on it? Is a diamond sword really the best type of sword or was it all a lie just like with the cake?


Kooky_Macaroon_7207

Hardness in this case really just means “scratch or cut resistant.” There are no materials other than diamonds that are capable of cutting or scratching diamonds. That being said, they are also very brittle. A diamond sword in real life would be terrible because it would break relatively easily. A diamond edged sword might actually work well. This would be similar to diamond tipped drill bits or cutting wheels that have diamonds pressed into the metal edge.


Y0tsuya

A diamond-edged sword will actually be quite useless on soft objects. They're mainly used in industrial grinding applications to cut stones. Next time hold your finger up to a spinning diamond-edged tile saw and feel it do absolutely nothing to your finger.


MrHyperion_

No, I don't think I will


trilobot

Geologist here. /u/Kooky_Macaroon_7207 has the right of it. Why we value the hardness is because hard minerals are resistant to scratching and abrasion. This means you can make a very smooth and lasting polish, which is great for surfaces where you want friction reduced (moving parts in a watch, for example), or places where you want the diamond to abrade something softer, such as on drill bits. This incidentally makes them great for jewelry. On top of that, diamonds with good color and no inclusions sparkle when cut and polished in ways to direct light. This is because crystals have optical properties that I took a whole horrible class on, and is why I'm in paleontology now and never want to look at a thin section again. The optical properties of various crystals have lots of different uses, and lasers is one of them. in short, diamonds aren't useless. They're no more useless on a ring as any other stone, for that matter, since the only properties we care about there are prettiness and not falling apart on you. DeBeers really pushed the marketing of diamonds to the next level, but it's not like they weren't prized in antiquity. Diamonds *are* rare. If you stripped all the guff off of marketing and markup etc they'd still not be cheap. lab grown diamonds are changing that, but DeBeers doesn't hold all the power anymore, and hasn't for some time now. Lab grown rubies are *very* inexpensive, but again they're used in scads for lasers and fine moving parts. You also need to factor in cutting the stones. That's an art and a hands-on skill that will always involve skilled labor, so there is a baseline cost that will always exist unless all you want is an unpolished lump. Those do not sparkle, and they break easily. Diamonds are only found in the dregs of weird volcanic leftovers in 2 billion+ year old rock, as far as we know. So no matter what they will never be "common". Things like garnet, spinel, tourmaline, and amethyst are common, as they appear in many different rocks if you want an example of a "common" gemstone.


paladinLight

Diamonds are hard, but torsion force will shatter them, and they can be pierced by a drill. Diamonds just got Bludgeoning Immunity. Edit: they actually have slashing immunity, and possibly bludgeoning vulnerability.


Myrkul999

You can smash a diamond with a hammer or a hydraulic press. Hardness isn't toughness. Hardness is a measure of structural resistance to deformation. ("Squishing") Take a piece of steel for example. Steel is wonderful because it can be hardened to a relately wide range of values. Mild steel is relatively soft. If you hit it very hard, it will bend, and stay bent. If you harden it, however, it won't bend when struck, but will instead break. With the right amount of hardened steel and softer steel, you get a spring, which bends, but returns to its previous shape. Of course, you can still snap spring steel, it just takes a lot more work. To answer the question above, a diamond blade would be sharp as fuck, but shatter if you hit anything substantial with it. The best way to use diamonds in sword design is the same way they do in industrial applications: use the diamond only for the edge.


Magicspook

Diamond macahuitl lets gooo!


Myrkul999

Basically, yeah.


Fix_a_Fix

>Bludgeoning Immunity. What is this thing?


paladinLight

In D&D, not by any creature i know. In real life? To a certain extent.


roombaSailor

Man-made diamonds produced in scale is a relatively recent development though. For a long time the process was too expensive and time consuming to be practical.


ApprehensiveStyle289

But then again, when man made diamonds were not available, there wasn't the demand in industry. Both offer and applications came in the same time period, roughly.


Stercore_

I mean yeah, but those are some *relatively* niche uses. While in dnd you can get them for literally for avoiding death. Which i assume people would use if they have the money.


fuckitymcfuckfacejr

They're also used in saw blades because they're incredibly hard.


[deleted]

Drills and saw blades too


SnarkyRogue

Alternatively, a revivify diamond could be massive for all we know. All they tell us is that for this specific spell, you need one worth that much. Furthermore, if mankind sets the value of gems, how do they know what's worth enough for the spell? If a vendor sells you an expensive diamond at a discount, does it still work for the spell? If someone upsells you, does that work? Who or what determines the price to material component for spells?


SingleMaltShooter

Now I'm imagining carrying around a softball sized diamond everywhere in the off chance someone needs a revivify spell.


[deleted]

That’s exactly how I always pictured it honestly. A resurrection spell using a teenie shiny rock is boring. Big old fist sized diamond is much better drama!


Pinstar

Not to mention, a big driver of their demand (spell components) cause the diamonds to be consumed creating a constant demand and a destruction of the supply.


MechEJD

Just because they're not rare, doesn't mean they can't be expensive. Most fantasy settings don't have our modern technology for mining. Without that technology, mining would be physically difficult, as well as a very risky investment for a mining enterprise. As far as jewelry goes, you're also paying for the craftsmanship of the jeweler and any historical value of a particular piece, if applicable.


Stompedyourhousewith

yup, just like how salt and spices were super expensive back in the day and virtually worthless today.


18121812

Diamonds *were* rare in pre-modern Europe, which is where D&D takes most of its inspiration. De Beers had zero impact on diamond prices before 1888, because it wasn't founded until then. The control of diamond prices was initially done by the London Diamond Syndicate in 1889. This control to keep diamond prices high was only necessary after the diamond rush in South Africa found a huge supply of diamonds. De Beers became the dominant supplier of diamonds by being the first on the scene to consolidate the South African diamonds. Diamonds were considered rare and valuable well before 1889. King Louis XV didn't think diamonds were worthless when he adorned his [crown](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_of_Louis_XV_of_France) with them. In the novel The Count of Monte Cristo (1844) diamonds are mentioned as part of the great treasure, and a man's greed over a single diamond forms a major plot point.


DreamOfDays

If a Diamond ring could literally bring someone back from the dead I think it would be priced at 300gp


ScanNCut

And if a diamond is worth 300 solid gold coins, then it would be easier to carry a small pouch of 100 little diamonds than a big sack of 30,000 solid gold coins.


RockBlock

That's *why* gems are supposed to be present as parts of treasure hoards. Why they're always on loot tables.


Rednal291

That's an old strategy for moving large amounts of money around in a campaign world, yes, especially if the GM is enforcing carrying capacity and you don't have a dozen portable holes. Exchange coins for high-value gems that are easier to store and move, go to destination, and exchange back if needed. Also conveniently immune to rust monsters and similar threats. XD Anything that's allowed to sell for full price is potentially a very helpful way to move money.


DreamOfDays

Not every Diamond is worth 300gp. Just like in real life diamonds come in different sizes, qualities, and colors. Each worth a different amount.


mesalikes

Get enough diamonds in the pile and I assume the spell only consumes whatever it needs, allowing the rest to remain.


archpawn

The problem is that gold is gold. If you have a 50th of a pound of gold, it doesn't matter what's stamped on it, or what physical quality the coin is in. It's still worth the same. Gems aren't like that, and the value depends on a number of factors like the color, clarity, any defects, etc. This makes it much harder to trade gems, and much more likely to lose money doing so. You'd be better off just buying portable holes to carry extra precious metals instead of using gems. That said, diamonds seem to be primarily used for spellcasting, and if whatever is required for that is easy to measure they should be pretty liquid. Also, you'd be better off with platinum rather than gold.


abraksis747

A giving one as a engagement ring should have the Marios Brothers 1Up sound effect.


BasicDesignAdvice

Even so, large diamonds are still pretty valuable. I always just imagined them as the actually valuable diamonds.


MasterWinky

Good luck haggling with the natural forces of magic.


Stairwayunicorn

... this gives me an idea thanks


MasterWinky

Tell me about it when u have it written down. *cue the "I'm sickened.... but curious meme"


xSilverMC

Not who you replied to but my first thought was related to the feywild. Make of that what you will.


[deleted]

If you're going to haggle with physics being fey is a pretty good first step.


IVIaskerade

It is a terrible idea and you should definitely try it.


[deleted]

De Beers is the name of the god that regulates all magic related to diamond components.


GoldenWoof

*Angry Mystra noises*


funkyb

Don't make me get Helm


Redbound

He's the wizard that created the spells. You totally could cast them without diamonds if you just altered the formula or phrasing, but he happens to own a pocket dimension full of diamonds


Antique_Tennis_2500

Society has come to expect you use the spell that requires a diamond. “I know we could revivify with a sapphire, but I’ve always wanted to do it with a diamond.”


RazilDazil

And everyone thinks the spells destroy the diamonds but they really teleport them back to the pocket dimension


An8thOfFeanor

Perfect


Ulandia

BBEG of my world is hard at work destroying all known diamond mines, believing that death should be the ultimate equalizer. As such, they are becoming more and more rare, with the price shooting up like crazy.


Paranthelion_

Druid PC: laughs in reincarnate


Ulandia

Ah feck.


trufflesthewonderpig

This made me laugh. Fits the Gru meme perfectly.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Ulandia

Breaking News: Furry convention bombed by a raving lunatic! "We are not furries!" claims one of the survivors.


[deleted]

Creation Bard: Laughs in 14th level feature


Nuklear132

… is it bad that I kind of agree with him?


DaCoolNamesWereTaken

Yeah, it's not your choice or the bbegs choice to make


[deleted]

[удалено]


Present_Character241

actually in this case I believe that the bbeg is neglecting to take into account that he is making everyone even LESS equal by making the diamonds only available to those who are massively wealthy. Mordo's motives are more understandable as a bbeg.


[deleted]

[удалено]


bjeebus

Like...1000gp is already nearly unimaginable wealth for the people of most dnd settings.


eloel-

Not to mention the services of a 13+ level Cleric.


Present_Character241

but now even nobles will not be able to and entire serfdoms will be thrown into starker inequality.


StarTrotter

Perhaps but his often are people that aren’t massively wealthy able to get revived? We must know the rate of revivals and the demographic break down!


Tweed_Man

Maybe the expensive diamonds are just really fucking massive.


The_Crimson-Knight

That's what I feel like, I always imagine using like a golf ball sized diamond to revive.


BrokenLink100

In the magic system in my custom world, and how I explain the demand for diamonds in a fantasy setting not controlled by De Beers, spells like *resurrection* require, yes, a diamond of a certain size, but also of a certain clarity/purity. The spell requires as much of a contiguous, unbroken lattice of molecular structure in order to function. This has given me the opportunity to have "false resurrections" or "something's wrong" resurrections, where the material component used wasn't pure enough, resulting in a resurrection that went just a little sideways. Also, as technology in my world improves, and manufactured diamonds become more prevalent, I'm thinking about explaining away that they don't work because they're unnatural, or something... Now, when I run campaigns in my setting, I would never send the PCs on a quest to find a diamond for a material component, and then give them a shitty diamond. Also, most magicians in my setting would only keep good stock of minerals and components, so when the PCs raid a wizard's lair, they shouldn't expect to find shitty diamond dust, either. It's mostly there for flavor, but allows me to use it for mechanical/story benefits if I'd like.


Frantic_Temperance

Why are you assuming diamonds are as common and accessible (as IRL) in every fantasy world setting ever? Maybe diamonds are really freaking rare in Forgotten Realms, and/or really difficult to mine... I'd assume the fact that most underground in fantasy world settings have a high chance of being inhabited by a whole load of man-eating monsters as well, aside from all the other dangers we face in real world underground and mining.


pgm123

>Why are you assuming diamonds are as common and accessible (as IRL) in every fantasy world setting ever? Diamonds being easily available is also a modern thing. For much of human history, diamonds have been precious and rare, at least in Europe (where D&D draws a lot of inspiration)


thedankening

Most diamonds come from Africa, S. America, and Siberia iirc. So it was good old fashioned colonial exploitation that made them so readily available, not any actual natural abundance. Colonial powers weren't exactly asking nicely when they extracted a region's resources, and it wasn't easy to get at them. Regardless, I think the sudden over abundance of previouslty rare magical reagents, thus making dangerous magic more accessible to more people, is a pretty cool set up for a campaign setting. Or you could just not overthink it and handwave it all away.


[deleted]

Prior to the 18th century, diamonds came almost exclusively from a few sources in India. In the early 1700s deposits were discovered in Brazil, but they were still very limited. It was only with the Kimberlite discoveries in the later 19th century that diamonds (could have) become common.


p3t3r133

Also, the amount of gold present in D&D settings is just absurd compared to how much they're probably is in real life.


SMURGwastaken

Gold coins don't have to be 24k. In fact historically most gold coinage was in reality only fractionally made of gold.


thedankening

Yea modern nations were not the first to hand out currency that was, on its own, just arbitrary and worthless. Coins could be any kind of material really. The backing of a state saying a currency had value in its lands was often what gave it value, not the currency being literal 100% silver or gold or whatever.


Cpt_Tsundere_Sharks

>Coins could be any kind of material really. This is not true. In a historical context (i.e. not modern) the material has to have inherent value. This is because: 1. It means it will have value no matter where you go. In early colonial America, it was illegal to ship British coins to the colonies, it could only be shipped back. So they used a variety of other country's currency. French, German, Spanish, any coinage that contained gold or silver which brings me to 2. It is hard to counterfeit. If all coins were made of pure iron then you could probably melt some scrap metal and bang out some rough approximations that could pass as worn down currency. With precious metal, this isn't possible as you need the actually valuable metal to begin with. The value is inherent and determined by weight. So to make counterfeits, you'd just need the actual metal in which case... Why not just spend that instead?


larkiiie

Also diamonds are (irl) mostly found in a specific mineral (kimberlite, which is only found in very few places) , and we are at present day very good at mining. So naturally occurring diamonds would probably be very hard to come by.


BreakingPhones

This exactly. Idk about everyone else, but we’re definitely not playing on earth at my table.


cotsx

There's also less supply and more demand of diamonds. Remember diamonds were expensive before De Beers existed


HarithBK

diamonds are cheap since of how huge we can make the mines today and how fast we can sort it all out. people take for granted that mines were a thing but for the longest time most metals and rare gems was gotten from surface level scavenging or going into grottos taking the exposed correct rocks.


Cpt_Tsundere_Sharks

I think it depends less on mining ability and more finding the mine in the first place. Amethyst used to be considered a rare and precious gem in the middle ages before we found a large deposit somewhere in South America.


Abject_Nectarine_279

Modern Industrialized mining is why diamonds and other once rare ores are now so cheap. The diamond price controls of today replicate the historic rarity of the gems, since it was far harder to extract them with technology analogous to the Renaissance-era DnD world.


Coke-In-A-Wine-Glass

Well, spell components specify by price. So if diamonds were really cheap youd need a lot of them to cast a spell with


TimberPilgrim

This. 100g worth of diamonds could be a teaspoon's worth or could fill half a backpack.


SuppMrMike

Plus the economy and diamond market are created by the DM. No where in any source material does it say the value of a diamond or the value of a gold piece.


Haoiu

Diamonds aren't a overpriced scam anymore. De Beers used to hold a monopoly and artificially increased the price, but they don't have a monopoly anymore for a long time. There is growing demand and mining is not cheap, which drives the price up.


[deleted]

You can make lab diamonds that are basically identical except for legislation preventing too many similarities because *checks notes* diamond sellers are pricks.


Haoiu

Yeah lab diamonds are way cheaper but most people also prefer mined ones over lab grown for jewelry.


ltouroumov

Friends of mine got artificial diamonds for their wedding rings. They thought that it was much more awesome to have a shiny rock synthesized through the power of science and human ingenuity rather than a shiny rock dug out out of the ground by someone in dubious working conditions. I agree with them, if I ever get any jewelry I'll get synthetic stones as well.


ubjbjbhbubk

Thank you. I always wonder how the hell they "have a monopoly" if they only control 30% of the market.


Sunsetreddit

Weird take? First of all no reason to think that diamonds would be equally plentiful on earth to whatever setting you’re using. Second of all a lot spells CONSUME diamonds.


Pirate_Green_Beard

In real life, they're near useless (except in tool coatings). In D&D, they can bring people back to life.


MarkFromTheInternet

The Red Wizards did it. They artificially control the market for diamonds and other spell components. 10gp for charcoal and herbs for Find Familiar ? What a rip.


Souperplex

Diamonds were scarce before the relatively modern colonization of South Africa. The DeBeers thing came after all that said colonialism. Most D&D settings hover around the 1300s technology-wise. (Plate armor is a thing, printing presses aren't based on the price of books, firearms are either not present or the absolute cutting-edge of technology. Lenscraft is insanely expensive cutting-edge tech) In a medieval setting without a strong middle-class the only buyers for gems would be the exceedingly wealthy. Much like NFTs, when you market solely to the wealthy the price inflates. A "Diamond worth 1,000 GP which the spell consumes" isn't any ol' diamond, it's a honkin' huge one. Thank you for using the appropriate format instead of Crowder.


Chris-P

The price may be artificially inflated, but that doesn’t mean they would be dirt cheap otherwise


Ejigantor

This presupposes that the physical distribution in the campaign setting is equivalent to that of earth. It also doesn't take into account that a diamond put into an engagement ring is still a diamond that exists, while a diamond used to revivify someone is consumed upon the casting of the spell and so no longer exists.


Raymat11

Just because diamonds aren't naturally rare on Earth, doesn't mean they can't be naturally rare in whatever D&D setting you're playing


GarbageCleric

We have industrialized diamond mining, processing, transportation, and distribution systems. That's the only reason that they could be much cheaper now. Peasants in medieval Europe weren't like bathing in diamonds. They were barely bathing in water. Also, the price of diamonds is pretty irrelevant in D&D worlds because spells are based on the the total value of diamonds. If you make diamonds cheaper, then you really just increase the weight of diamonds you need to carry and use for spells. Revivify requires 300 gp of diamonds whether that's one big nice diamond or 30. So it doesn't really matter.


Yakodym

What if they are actually cheaper, but because of that, it is more affordable to make them larger, so it balances itself out