Coin of Greed

Coin of Greed
Coin_of_Greed_Item.png

The Coin of Greed is a cursed item created by Garl Glittergold.

Description

The Coin of Greed appears the exact same as any other gold coin.

Curse

The coin has the power to turn the most charitable of people into avaricious fiends if the circumstances are right.
Each day the coin remains in a persons' possession, that person must make a Charisma saving throw against a DC ranging from 8 to 20, depending on how unjust the deal for acquiring the coin was. If the person fails this check they will acquire a "greed point". The effects of greed points are detailed below. If the person spends one day away from the coin, they lose all greed points.

• 1-3 Greed Points: The person must succeed on a DC 20 Wisdom saving throw to willfully get rid of the coin without receiving something of greater value in return.
  
• 4-5 Greed Points: Same as earlier, but this check applies to all belongings worth l0 gp or more.
  
• 6-8 Greed Points: Same as earlier, but the check applies to all belongings worth at least 1 sp.
  
• 9+ Greed Points: Same as earlier, but the check applies to all material wealth. For this check, consuming food counts as getting rid of it.

History

In ancient times, there was a wealthy gnome merchant so greedy he would not give the dirt off his boots for less than three coppers. One night, his grand trade caravan travelled through the depths of the High Forest in search of new ways to exploit their surroundings for coin, when they came upon a dirty old elf, thin and frail like a fallen leaf.

The poor beggar owned naught but a single gold coin which he sought to trade for food. The merchant however, realized that he held all the cards in bargaining with a starving man and haggled and demeaned until the elf had traded the coin for but half a loaf of moldy bread. Days thereafter, the merchant's greed became maddeningly grand, his avarice growing with each passing moment. Soon he was so greedy he could not even part with a single mote of dust, starving to death as consuming food would mean it would no longer be in his possession.

The beggar had been Garl Glittergold, the god of gnomes and trickery, in disguise, who had long watched the merchant with contempt, and had now traded him a cursed coin. The more unfair the deal which grants you the coin, the worse its retaliation will be, amplifying the owner's greed many times over.