Info Search - cost of Elemental Kernels

Discussion on playing Earthdawn. Experiences, stories, and questions related to being a player.
User avatar
Mataxes
Posts:745
Joined:Sat Nov 26, 2016 10:39 pm
Location:The Great Library
Contact:
Info Search - cost of Elemental Kernels

Post by Mataxes » Sun Jan 08, 2017 2:17 am

I've been looking, but I can't find what I'm looking for. It may not exist, but... well, I ask you devoted fans.

Was there ever a place in the first edition books where the cost/value of kernels of True Elements was given? I know there's a table that first appeared in the Player's Compendium from ED Classic (which appeared again in the ED3 Player's Companion). But I can't recall now whether the values there were just made up, or extrapolated from a comment in one of the ED1 books... because I've looked in all the likely places, and haven't found anything.

I'm thinking it might be a bit of detail provided as part of a discussion about the cost of ammunition for fire cannon (since they use elemental air and fire). But even looking in the ship rules for the ED1 Companion, Serpent River, and Crystal Raiders, I'm still coming up blank.

So... a little help?
Josh Harrison - josh@fasagames.com
Earthdawn Developer, Forum Admin

Personal Website: www.loremerchant.com

Tattered Rags
Posts:374
Joined:Mon Nov 28, 2016 12:04 am

Re: Info Search - cost of Elemental Kernels

Post by Tattered Rags » Sun Jan 08, 2017 2:44 am

I've lost all my 1E books ( :cry: ), and I hadn't looked at them for years prior to that, but I could have sworn Arcane Mysteries had that.

Probably wrong, considering how long it's been, but I hope it helps.
Last edited by Tattered Rags on Sun Jan 08, 2017 3:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
Adventure I'm running:
Under the Stars

Adventure GM post-mortem:
Under the Stars Postmortem

Lys
Posts:177
Joined:Sun Dec 11, 2016 4:00 am

Re: Info Search - cost of Elemental Kernels

Post by Lys » Sun Jan 08, 2017 2:54 am

The worth of an elemental kernel is obviously derived from the cost of the corresponding elemental coin, being between 1/20th and 1/10th of the value. Here's a chart demonstrating the fact:

Element | Value of Coin | Value of Kernel
Air | 1000 | 50-100
Earth | 100 | 5-10
Fire | 1000 | 50-100
Water | 100 | 5-10
Wood | N/A | 25-50
Orichalc | 10 000 | 500-1000

You can see that in every case the low value of the kernel is 1/20th the value of the coin, and the high value 1/10th the value of the coin. This was likely chosen because the rest of the monetary system is decimal. 1 orichalcum coin is 10 air/fire coins, 100 earth/water coins, 1000 gold coins, 10 000 silver coins, and 100 000 copper coins. So a kernel is worth one tenth the coin at the most, and half that at the least. The one exception is Wood, which has no corresponding coin, but given that Wood is roughly between air/fire and earth/water in rarity, you can see that the worth of the kernels is also exactly between the two as well.

User avatar
Mataxes
Posts:745
Joined:Sat Nov 26, 2016 10:39 pm
Location:The Great Library
Contact:

Re: Info Search - cost of Elemental Kernels

Post by Mataxes » Sun Jan 08, 2017 3:16 am

Yes, Lys. I can see the relationship between the kernel costs and the value of elemental coins.

What I don't know (or rather, don't remember from back when I worked on the EDC books) is whether those figures were just made up for that chart, or whether they were derived from something in ED1. Because that chart is not anywhere in a first edition book (that I have been able to find), and I haven't been able to find a reference to a cost of something that could be used to derive those values.
Josh Harrison - josh@fasagames.com
Earthdawn Developer, Forum Admin

Personal Website: www.loremerchant.com

User avatar
The Undying
Posts:696
Joined:Sun Nov 27, 2016 11:25 pm

Re: Info Search - cost of Elemental Kernels

Post by The Undying » Sun Jan 08, 2017 6:50 am

Results from my quick glance:

- BUYING kernels doesn't seem to be a thing in ED1, as far as I can tell. Core Rules and Companion have nothing. "Magic: A Manual of Mystic Secrets" gives us gathering and weaving difficulties.

- ED2 Companion, however, includes prices as "Common Magic Items:"

Air: 80
Earth: 80
Fire: 100 - 150
Water: 100
Wood: 200

Don't ask me what the rhyme or reason was. :D

User avatar
The Undying
Posts:696
Joined:Sun Nov 27, 2016 11:25 pm

Re: Info Search - cost of Elemental Kernels

Post by The Undying » Sun Jan 08, 2017 7:27 am

For the sake of Rags's sanity, I also glanced through "Arcane Mysteries," and no love. I'd say his memory would be spot on, though, if this were to exist somewhere in ED1: this is where all the magic items realistically for sale in the then-universe are tallied, whether in the Core Rules, the Companion, or "Arcane Mysteries," and no kernels. So, unless it's lurking in some random source book (of which there are plenty), I'm guessing no love.

User avatar
etherial
Posts:964
Joined:Sun Nov 27, 2016 11:04 pm
Location:Berlin, Massachusetts
Contact:

Re: Info Search - cost of Elemental Kernels

Post by etherial » Sun Jan 08, 2017 11:29 am

Mataxes, has FASA Games supplied their lead developer with OCR'd copies of the ED1 pdfs? You should be able to search them for the word "kernel".

Tattered Rags
Posts:374
Joined:Mon Nov 28, 2016 12:04 am

Re: Info Search - cost of Elemental Kernels

Post by Tattered Rags » Sun Jan 08, 2017 1:14 pm

The Undying wrote:For the sake of Rags's sanity, I also glanced through "Arcane Mysteries," and no love. I'd say his memory would be spot on, though, if this were to exist somewhere in ED1: this is where all the magic items realistically for sale in the then-universe are tallied, whether in the Core Rules, the Companion, or "Arcane Mysteries," and no kernels. So, unless it's lurking in some random source book (of which there are plenty), I'm guessing no love.
Thanks. And darn.
Adventure I'm running:
Under the Stars

Adventure GM post-mortem:
Under the Stars Postmortem

User avatar
Mataxes
Posts:745
Joined:Sat Nov 26, 2016 10:39 pm
Location:The Great Library
Contact:

Re: Info Search - cost of Elemental Kernels

Post by Mataxes » Sun Jan 08, 2017 2:55 pm

etherial wrote:Mataxes, has FASA Games supplied their lead developer with OCR'd copies of the ED1 pdfs? You should be able to search them for the word "kernel".
Yes. I have them all. It was just late and I was being kind of lazy
Josh Harrison - josh@fasagames.com
Earthdawn Developer, Forum Admin

Personal Website: www.loremerchant.com

Lys
Posts:177
Joined:Sun Dec 11, 2016 4:00 am

Re: Info Search - cost of Elemental Kernels

Post by Lys » Sun Jan 08, 2017 5:38 pm

It continues to be my hunch that the prices are simply derived from the fact that the rest of the monetary system is decimal. That coins are worth more than kernels in the first place is probably a combination of coins having multiple kernels (this is implied but not explicitly stated), and that coins are stable forms of the true element, able to be manipulated and stored without the need for orichalcum tools and containers. It's possible there was some other rationale, but i doubt it given this one seems straightforward enough.

Post Reply