Gemstones

Why Gems?:

Gems are extremely light weight and small in size compared to other treasures, even coinage. A small sack filled with gems might be worth more than a chest filled with coin. They are also very easy to hide and do not rust, rot, burn, or tarnish. Most intelligent creatures will go to creative length to hide their gems (say at the bottom of a well, or behind a brick in a fire place, or hidden in a vial of acid).

Large Gems:

Big gems are not listed here. There prices are MUCH higher than the levels listed here due to their sheer rarity. Big gems are individual treasures and often have their own names. Much like famous magical treasure they are talked about in rumor (“An emerald the size of me fist!,” “The Emerald Eyes of Set,” “The Ruby Heart of the Lich-Lord” etc.)

Gems as Loot:

To determine what kind of gem one has found roll a d6: 1-3: Common Gem; 4-5:Semi-precious Gems; 6: Fine Jewels, then roll on the appropriate table and price for each gem. Only those who are skilled with jewelry, live a life of splendor, or are knowledgeable about stones know the true value of each gem, but most will be able to tell if they are common, semi-precious, or fine jewels just by a quick glance. Most merchants will be able to tell the true value of a gemstone (or at least know someone who can) and will often try to fleece the less knowledgeable.

It is rare to find gems on a random person on the street, but you may find some hidden in a cache or vault in a home. A poor home might have d6-3 gems, a middle class might have 2d6-6, and a wealthy home might have 3d6-9 gems hidden somewhere, trapped, under lock and key, or some combination of all three.

Cutting:

The values listed below are the uncut values. The cut values of each gem are worth 3x the uncut amount. One can get uncut gems cut by most jewelers for 1x their uncut price (netting you 2x the uncut cost). It takes d4 weeks to cut each gemstone. If you don’t want to wait most jewelers will buy the uncut stones for market rate.

D20 Common, Ornamental, or Low Gems (d10gp)

Roll	Name	Color
1	Jasper	Blue, black to brown
2	Lapis Lazuli	Light or dark blue with yellow flecks
3	Malachite	Striated light and dark green
4	Moonstone	White with pale blue hue
5	Moss Agate	Pink, yellow-white with gray-green moss-like markings
6	Obsidian	Jet black
7	Onyx	Black, white, or bands of both
8	Bloodstone	Dark gray with red flecks
9	Agate	Gray, white, brown, blue, or green circles
10	Azurite	Opaque, mottled deep blue
11	Quartz	Clear, rose, blue, or clear brown
12	Rhodochrosite	Light pink
13	Carnelian	Orange to red-brown
14	Chalcedony	White
15	Chrysoprase	Translucent apple to emerald green
16	Citrine	Pale yellow brown
17	Hematite	Gray-black
18	Iolite	Clear purple
19	Zircon	Clear pale aqua
20	Turquoise	Aqua with darker mottling

D12 Semi-precious or Medium Gems (2d10+2gp)

Roll	Name	Color
1	Amber	Transparent gold
2	Coral	Pink to crimson
3	Pearl	Pure white to golden
4	Tourmaline	Pale green, brown or red
5	Spinel	Red, brown, green, or blue
6	Garnet	Red to violet
7	Tanzanite	Blue to violet crystal
8	Jade	Light to dark green
9	Alexandrite	Dark green
10	Jet	Dark black
11	Peridot	Olive Green
12	Amethyst	Purple crystal

D10 Precious Jewels or Fine Gems (3d10+3gp)

Roll	Name	Color
1	Aquamarine	Pale blue-green
2	Emerald	Brilliant green
3	Topaz	Golden yellow
4	Jacinth	Fiery orange
5	Ruby	Clear to deep crimson red, may have a star highlight
6	Diamond	Clear white, clear blue, or clear yellow
7	Sapphire	Clear to medium blue, may have a star highlight
8	Opal	Pale blue with green and gold mottling
9	Black Pearl	Black
10	White Jade	White with green tint