How to use the rpg coin converter and party split
- Enter the number of platinum, gold, electrum, silver and copper coins you hold.
- Enter the number of party members who will share the treasure.
- Open the advanced options if your game uses other exchange rates, and set them. The defaults are examples in the style of a popular fantasy game.
- Read the total, the fewest coins that make it, the size of each share and what stays in the party fund.
Formula
Value in copper = pp x P + gp x G + ep x E + sp x S + cp, using your rates (examples: S = 10, G = 100, E = 50, P = 1000)
Each share = floor(total copper / members); the remainder = total - share x members stays in the fund
Fewest coins: take as many of the largest coin as fit, then the next, down to copper
Electrum is skipped in the breakdown unless you turn it on
Everything is done in whole copper, so there are no rounding errors. Rates must make electrum worth a whole number of copper.
Splitting a haul four ways
A party finds 2 platinum, 157 gold, 43 silver and 211 copper. At 10 copper to a silver, 10 silver to a gold and 10 gold to a platinum, that is 18,341 copper, or 183.41 gold, and the fewest coins are 18 platinum, 3 gold, 4 silver and 1 copper. Shared among 4, each gets 4,585 copper, which is 4 platinum, 5 gold, 8 silver and 5 copper, and 1 copper is left over for the party fund.
With 10 gold, 7 electrum, 3 silver and 9 copper split three ways at the same rates and electrum worth 50 copper, the total is 1,389 copper and each share is 463 copper: 4 gold, 1 electrum, 1 silver and 3 copper, with nothing left. At 100 copper to a silver and 20 silver to a gold, 5 gold and 40 silver is 14,000 copper, and five players each get 1 gold and 8 silver.
Setting the rates for your game
Different games price coins differently, and some tables change them for their own world. The advanced options let you set how many copper make a silver, how many silver make a gold, how many electrum make a gold and how many gold make a platinum. If your game has no electrum, leave the amount at 0 and the breakdown skips it.
The rates here are only examples. If gold in your game is worth 20 silver, set it so. Because the totals are done in copper, changing a rate changes every figure consistently, and the table at the bottom shows what each coin is worth.
Fair splits
A split in whole coins nearly always leaves a few copper. The page keeps them in the party fund rather than splitting them in an uneven way, and it tells you exactly what remains. If your table prefers to let the remainder go to a person, add it to one share by hand.
To plan the odds of a roll or an encounter, see the dice probability calculator and the dice pool success probability calculator. For comparing the value of rewards, the expected value calculator averages chances and payoffs.
Assumptions and limits
- Coin counts are whole numbers; shares are in whole copper.
- Rates are whole numbers that you can change. The defaults are examples, not rules of any one game.
- Electrum, when its rate does not divide a gold evenly into whole copper, is rejected with an explanation.
- The total must stay below about nine quadrillion copper so that the arithmetic is exact.
Frequently asked questions
How do I split coins among a party?
Convert everything to the smallest coin, divide by the number of members, and turn each share back into the fewest coins. The page does all three steps.
Where does the remainder go?
To the party fund, shown as its own line. You can also give it to one person.
Can I use my own exchange rates?
Yes. Open the advanced options and set the number of copper in a silver, silver in a gold, electrum in a gold and gold in a platinum.
Why is electrum not in my coin breakdown?
It is skipped by default because many tables never use it. Turn on the option to include it.