I would call it at a 100 gems per pound unless you specifically state it is a certain size (like the eyes of the Player Handbook Idol). Gems are weighed in carats and the problem is that the value per carat varies between gem types. Harnmaster is the only Fantasy RPG I know of that gives that information. Even armed with such information I feel it strays over the line of too realistic of a rule. Harnmaster rates each gem type with a price factor and then multiplies it by the weight in carats squared. Note that a carat is 2 grams. 227 carats in a pound (I rounded up).
A 100 per pound is a nice average that reflect gem's compact value at a somewhat accurate weight without having to go through a lot of bookkeeping. For those 1,000 gp, 5,000 gp gems just make up a weight from 1/4 to 1 pound.
4 comments:
Ages ago, when I DM'd, I didn't worry about the weight of Gems. I guess it would matter if a player had accumulated so many that it was logically an encumbrance issue but damn, that is a lot of loot! LOL!
GURPS also gives gems by carat weight in Dungeon Fantasy 8. And in GURPS Magic, for that matter, for powerstone sizes. But yeah, if you have a 100 gems weight might actually start to matter. ;)
I, and "Slick Rick" are currently working this out, among many other things for the Encumbrance & Equipment book we are writing over at Gamers & Grognards. We've been weighing things up and coming up with a rough sizing chart that is easy to use for encumbrance. Gems are something I was recently working on.
I think it's probably pretty uncommon for people to have enough gems to matter weight-wise. I like using a stone-weight system, in which 1k coins = 1 stone. 10k GP value in gems = 1 stone. Ignore remainders (so 1,300 GP weighs 1 stone). It's pretty easy to count up the thousands place of your money and see how much it weighs.
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