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.
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u/Souperplex Paladin Nov 13 '21
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.