Obviously, the answer changes depending on what the soul did in life, but I'm looking for your ideas on how much a fairly typical soul (in a gem or some such) or larvae costs in gold coins. Perhaps the cost varies based on HD the soul had in life modified by how evil, lawful, chaotic, or good it was as well. Baisically I'm looking for numbers.
How Much do you Reckon a Soul or Larvae is worth?
Fri, 2007-11-16 14:17
#1
How Much do you Reckon a Soul or Larvae is worth?
Fri, 2007-11-16 16:22
#3
How Much do you Reckon a Soul or Larvae is worth?
This is something that I've wondered about myself. A few months back I made the PCs gather up some unscrupulous items for an employer, and I've always gotten the feeling that that night hag really, really overcharged them for the larva.
My guess though is that Larva-souls generally cost less than Stored souls (Gems, phylacteries, soul-stuff, whatever) due to being less easily handled and stored. Generic souls of low quality or unknown origin are probably less expensive than higher power souls or souls of specific known individuals. Specific desired qualities would also raise the price.
There also seems to be some value attached to the alignment of a soul, but I'd say that varies from use to use. In pure currency value among the lower planes, an unsullied holy soul would probably have a higher value, but the soul of a serial killer might be valued simply for the sheer depravity of the individual.
Modifiers are pretty easy to figure out, but it's the base value that I've never been completely sure of
Fri, 2007-11-16 16:52
#4
How Much do you Reckon a Soul or Larvae is worth?
What does FC2 say about the rewards exactly?
Yeah, same, problem with finding the base cost.
Fri, 2007-11-16 20:26
#5
How Much do you Reckon a Soul or Larvae is worth?
Adding to this, what about hiring zombies from the Dusties?
Fri, 2007-11-16 21:01
#6
How Much do you Reckon a Soul or Larvae is worth?
this is not official, but i think they're worth about a buck two eighty.
Fri, 2007-11-16 21:36
#7
How Much do you Reckon a Soul or Larvae is worth?
FC2 says that the typical monetary reward for a Pact Certain is 60% of the subject's current wealth — the idea being that the devils will pay more for someone who's rich and powerful than someone who's just a dirt poor peasant. If you don't have any wealth, then you're probably desperate enough to take whatever they'll give you.
You can also get XP (600 for 1st-3rd level characters, plus another 600 for each level after 3rd), bonus feats, an ability score increase, or skill bonuses. Such rewards make it much harder to repent afterwards, since you can't just give them up like you can physical wealth.
Fri, 2007-11-16 22:13
#8
How Much do you Reckon a Soul or Larvae is worth?
For souls in gems, etc. I've arbitrarily decided on HD squared x 250gp plus a gem worth 5 x the creature's HD. This can be reused or sold after the soul is used.
Larvae might be HD squared x 50gp but since they are traded in bulk and rarely for gold, this point seems moot.
Sat, 2007-11-17 02:04
#9
How Much do you Reckon a Soul or Larvae is worth?
Whatever the fiend in question is willing to pay for it.
One might also ask whether one soul is intrinsically worth more than any other to a fiend, and why.
Personally I am partial to the idea that, for fiends who use souls in magic item creation and the like, a soul with particular qualities (i.e. the soul of a famous traitor or a legendary thief) will produce much better results in the finished product than others (the soul of a low-grade thug).
Wed, 2007-11-21 12:41
#10
Souls, Larvae, and BOVD
According to the Book of Vile Darkness, a soul in a receptacle (i.e a gem) is worth 200 Gp, while a Larva is worth 250 Gp... this info is found on the page that gives prices for "vile" material components for spells (don't have it in front of me, but you should find the page without too much trouble...) I assume that the price for a soul in a gem does not take into account the value of the gem itself (so total price would be soul + gem; more expensive gems raising the price, naturally!) Of course, if the soul is used right away, the original owner could presumably get his empty gem back... I believe that the book Lords of Madness gives prices for slaves....
Fiendish Codex II has a table of rewards that baatezu give in exchange for signing a Faustian contract. As for the larvae, I don't know how much they'd pay per head, but I'd expect fiends to purchase them from the night hags by the herd and pay in either magic items or the services of fiendish minions.