Organic Resource Economy

Thalassa has a water-dominant geology with a scarcity of dry land and metal deposits, but is rich in biological resources. Organic “loot” serves as a resource for building and repairing tools and structures. Some items have a cultural value and some represent survival knowledge. (Think boats lashed together with sinew, armor grown and stitched from thick or hardened hides, etc.. look to The Saga of Ryzom and Kingdom Death: Monster for outside examples.

Resources

Resources worth X gp.

“Resources” represent valuable organic, mineral, or alien materials harvested from creatures, environments, or abandoned sites. These are assumed to be tradeable, preservable, or refinable by coastal settlements, caravans, or specialist buyers.

Examples: Hardened plates of chitin, preserved organs or glands, alchemical oils/resins, bioluminescent tissue, dense bone/cartilage/shell, crystalline growths, mineral nodules.

“The remains yield valuable chitin, oils, and preserved organs worth approximately 1,800 gp to the right buyers.”

Goods

Valuable goods including X gems or art objects (total value Y gp).

Goods are discrete, high-value items that are unusual, refined, or culturally significant. On Europa, these are often biological or technological curios rather than precious stones or sculpture.

Examples: encrusted bioluminescent tissue, preserved organisms, worked ornaments of shell/coral/chitin, tools of unknown origin

Items

Structural Materials

Replaces or supplements meager wood and metal supplies.

Chitin Plates (from crabs, chuul, kraken)
Cartilage (from large fish and leviathans)
Coral and bone (large fish, reefs, some materials extraordinarily hard)
Crystal or salt-glass shells (deep sea creatures in mineral-saturated waters)
Tendon cords (harvested from creatures with extraordinarily strong ligaments)

Functional Organs

Some of these stand in for magic items.

Bladders (ballast, breathing aids)
Light- and electro-sensory organs/receptors (navigation, detection, communication)
Bioluminescent organs/glands (light, signaling, rituals)
Venom glands/sacs (toxins, solvents, medicine)
Neural and psionic tissue (rare, visions, lore, magic powers)

Consumables and Catalysts

Temporary resources that partially replace the default coin economy. Since these items decay, spoil, lose potency, sometimes even mutate, and are often irretrievably consumed; trade is driven by urgency, location (how far away the resource is, which community has the skill to use it), and obligation (reciprocation, distribution).

Oils and fats (fuel, light, waterproofing, medicine)
Salts and crystals (preservation, alchemy, ritual)
Enzymes and slurries (fermentation, corrosion, medicine)
Spores and eggs (food, farm seeding)
Inks and fluids (writing, drawing, tattooing, glyphs)

Examples of Material Sources

Giant Crabs: chitinous plating for shields, armor, hull plating; claws for stoneworking tools; meat and salt for preservation

Merrow and Locathah: traded with for crafted tools, bargained with for access to fishing zones, reefs, breeding grouds. In extreme or taboo cases killed and harvested for muscle fibers, lungs, bladders.

Aboleth: rare resources from a powerful psionic predator; mind-altering substances; neural filaments for psionic or neurolectrical conduction; very dangerous to harvest, to the harvester and possibly nearby civilizations due to retaliation.

The Hunt as an Economic Ritual/Event

Communities regularly train and deploy hunters to venture out and retrieve resources. Cultures and memory revolve around planning and remembering this dangerous and necessary activity, as well as preserving the knowledge of each resources multiple uses and how to make/keep them usable. Dangers and failures include spoilage, contamination, attracting predators/scavengers, and even intercultural retaliation.

Treasure Hordes

Status of Lair	Fraction of Listed Treasure
Ancient tyrant / established ruler	100%
Settled, but cautious	50%
Recent or transient lair	25%-35%
Driven off early or flees	10%-15%

Resource Equivalents

“Coins” Column

Practically fungible harvest materials. Adventurers will bring preservatives and containers to harvest and transport these materials from an expedition: ampoules, skins, presses, phials.

CP: Bulk Stock, Yield, Drift
SP: Trade Stock, Refined Yield, Current
GP: Strategic Stock, Critical Yield, Pressure
PP: Legacy Stock, Prime Yield, Abyssal

Tier I (cp): Common Extracts

Low-grade, bulky, widely available. Value represents the effort of harvesting, preserving, and transporting these materials. Keeps people alive and structures in good repair.

Nutrient slurries, protein gels, algael cakes.
Raw salts, brines, mineral sands.
Fibrous kelp, chitin flakes, shell fragments.
Crude hydrocarbons or biological oils.
Untreated construction-grade coral or bone.

Optional: Many of these items are perishable and should be “spent” quickly.

Tier II (sp): Refined Materials

Processed, stabilized, or specially harvested. Value represents the expertise needed to produce and preserve these materials.

Refined biological/organic minerals.
Medicinal compounds, antiseptics, stimulants.
Conductive salts, piezoelectric organics.
Engine-grade fuels or power gels.
Durable synthetics grown organically.

Optional: Some of these items destabilize over time, losing their value.

Tier III (gp): Rare Biotics

Scarce, difficult to obtain, or morally questionable. Value represents control and influence resulting from possession of these materials.

Rare symbiotic organisms.
High-pressure deep-sea harvest yields.
Memory- or data-storing crystals or living substrates.
Industrial-grade bio-materials and minerals.
Longevity serums and adaptive gene cultures.

Optional: Some of these materials grow or mutate, making them unreliable if not spent immediately.

Tier IV (pp): One-of-a-kind or Legacy Assets

Irreplaceable, ancient, or systemically valuable. This level of materials can change futures, rewrite the past, and even provoke wars.

Endangered or extinct strains of organisms.
Pre-historical artifacts or samples.
Planetary-scale catalysts or control materials.
Self-replicating industrial-grade organisms.
Cultural relics tied to early history or pre-history.

Optional: Many of these materials are likely to attract attention, making it paramount to fence them soon after obtaining them.

Gems

Portable objects whose value comes purely from rarity, provenance, craftsmanship, or symbolism.

Minor Signifiers (~10g)

Common tokens of identity, ornament, or memory.

Decorative (pressure-)shells or coral beads.
Patterned glass objects.
Mass-produced devotional icons.
Low-grade bioluminescent ornaments.
Personal keepsakes (not famed).

Recognized Works (~50g)

Goods whose origins of craftmanship are renowned.

Branded craftwork from a known maker.
Cultured organisms bred for patter or color.
Recorded songs, stories, or simulations with verified authorship (may be stored in memory pearls or coral shards).
Decorative relics recovered from known sites.
Ritual objects used by established cults or guilds.

Esteemed Artifacts (~100g)

Objects tied to early history.
Preserved organisms that can no longer breed or cultivate.
Artifacts recovered from famous wrecks or ruins.
Masterworks from defunct orders or artists.
Ceremonial items once owned by notable figures.

Circulated through auctions, diplomatic gifts, inheritance.

Exceptional Relics (~500g)

Unique living sculptures or engineered species.
Pre-historical cultural artifacts.
Items central to major religions or traditions.
Works believed lost or destroyed.
Objects whose removal is controversial.

Circulated quietly, surreptitiously, and through fences.

“You recover an Exceptional Relic — a preserved bioluminescent organism bred in a lineage that no longer exists.”

Mythic Holdings (~1,000g)

Singular artifacts referenced in multiple traditions.
Cultural keystones whose loss altered a community.
Objects with contested ownership.
Preserved entities considered sentient or sacred.
Items that inspire active disputes or pilgrimage.

Singular Treasures (~5,000g)

The last specimen of a foundational species.
A recovered original charter, covenant, or contract.
A complete, intact pre-historical artifact.
A cultural object believed to anchor an entire tradition.

Art Objects

The more an art object is worth, the more people will ask why you have it rather than how much it is worth.

Crafted Ornaments (~55g)

Pressure-etched shell decanter with a silvered rim.
Hand-carved bone or coral figurine of local significance.
Braided kelp-fiber torque with gold-thread binding.

Personal adornment, modest gifts, markers of taste.

Ceremonial Dress or Cutlery (~105g)

Habitat vestments woven with reflective biothreads.
Velvet rebreather-mask inlaid with cultured crystals.
Silver drinking vessel seeded with lapis-like mineral growth.

Ritual attendance, formal negotiations, identity signaling.

Display Works (~350g)

Large woven current-map tapestry showing historic tides.
Brass pressure-mug with grown-jade inlays marking depth zones.

Decorations of rooms and offices, statements of permanence.

Functional Prestige Objects (~550g)

Silver grooming comb grown with lunar-stone nodules.
Ceremonial blade (steel core) with jet-black deep-sea jewel.

Official ranks and retainers, ritual adornments.

Performance or Devotional Pieces (~700g)

Resonant harp grown from exotic pressure-wood, bone inlaid
Solid aurum cult idol cast for submersion rites (heavy, inert mineral).

Ceremonies, performances, communal memory.

Symbolic Instruments (~1,050g)

Aurum crest-comb with garnet bio-sensor.
Aurum-tolium pressure seal used in formal documentation.
Emollium ritual dagger with mollusk-grown rubinum pommel.

Identity Artifacts (~1,400g)

Adaptive eyepatch with sapphium/lunestone synthetic eye.
Heat-reactive opalium pendant on fine aurum chain.
Preserved pre-historical masterpiece (visual or sonic, recorded on memory substrate).

Regalia (~1,750g)

Embroidered mantle of sea-silk and moss-velvet, studded with lunestones.
Sapphium pendant keyed to a specific genetic lineage.

Personal Masterworks (~2,500g)

Heavily embroidered, jewel-set glove worn during ritual oaths.
Bejeweled anklet tuned to local air- or water-pressure harmonics.
Gold music box playing a historically significant composition.

Noble Insignia (~3,500g)

Golden circlet with aquamarines grown at various depths.
Necklace of small pink pearls cultured across generations.

Sovereign Regalia (~5,000g)

Jeweled aurum crown adapted for pressurized environments.
Jeweled Eleminium signet ring encoding authority and access.

Foundational Symbols (~7,000g)

Aurum-and-rubinium ring tied to the founding of a major hamlet.
Aurum ceremonial cup set with emerilum, used in binding rites.

Mundane

Alchemical Items (Bio-Chemical, Pressure-Adapted)

Volatile Bloom Flask: A ceramic or shell flask containing an oxygen-rich gel and reactive spores. Shatters on impact, igniting into a clinging, burning bloom even in damp or low-oxygen environments. (1d4 flasks)

Corrosive Digestate: A stabilized digestive secretion harvested from deep-sea organisms. Rapidly breaks down metal, stone, and organic matter alike. (2d4 flasks)

Silt Charges: Compressed mineral dust and spore clouds that explode into a choking, light-blocking haze, mimicking sudden seabed disturbances. (1d4 sticks)

Consecrated Brine: Water taken from ritually maintained depths, infused with sanctified salts and microbial cultures hostile to profane or corrupted life. (1d4 flasks)

Adaptive Serum: A tailored injection or drinkable gel containing neutralizing enzymes and live cultures that rapidly adapt to venoms and biohazards. (1d4 doses)

Coldlight Rod: A sealed bioluminescent column grown from engineered coral tissue. Emits steady, shadowless light without heat or fuel.

Adhesive Spawn Sack: A pressure-sensitive membrane filled with fast-growing binding organisms. On rupture, they expand, harden, and entangle anything nearby. (1d4 bags)

Concussion Nodules: Dense mineral growths with trapped gas pockets. When shattered, they release a violent pressure wave and resonant crack. (1d4 stones)

Armor (Layered, Grown, or Pressure-Forged)

Flexweave Mesh: Interlinked metal or ceramic rings embedded in synthetic fiber — flexible, corrosion-resistant, and pressure-tolerant.

Reinforced Hide Suit: Treated marine hide with embedded ceramic studs grown rather than riveted.

Pressure Plate Cuirass: A single contoured plate of alloy or dense coral composite designed to disperse impact and pressure shock.

Segmented Plating Harness: Overlapping bands of hardened material mounted on a flexible underlayer.

Composite Shell Armor: Heavy segmented plating with articulated joints and buoyancy compensation.

Total Environment Carapace: Fully enclosed articulated armor, sealed and reinforced, often used by deep-dive enforcers or ceremonial guards.

Voidwood: Pressure-grown timber analog: lightweight, incredibly strong, and naturally resistant to rot and corrosion.

Shields (Impact & Pressure Deflectors)

Forearm Deflector: Compact reinforced disk, often convex, designed to glance blows and pressure bursts.

Voidwood Guard: Lightweight shield grown from layered voidwood plates.

Alloy Guard: Thin metal composite shield with resonance-damping backing.

Reinforced Voidwood Barrier: Thicker layered construction, buoyant and durable.

Impact Barrier: Dense alloy shield built to absorb direct force.

Tuned Barrier: Carefully balanced and dampened to minimize shock transfer.

Weapons (No Magic, Just Craft)

Habitat-Standard Weapon: Knives, batons, spears, or cutters optimized for confined spaces and variable gravity.

Specialized Tool-Weapon: Hybrid designs adapted from industrial or survival tools.

Compressed-Launch Weapon: Projectile weapons using gas, springs, or bioelastic tension rather than gunpowder.

Tools & Gear (Life Support Adjacent)

Pressure Pack: Sealed carry-pack with internal baffles to protect contents from pressure and moisture.

Pry-Spine: Hardened metal or voidwood lever used for salvage and forced entry.

Focused Glow Lantern: Coldlight source with adjustable shutters and reflective vanes.

Pressure Seals (Simple → Superior): Mechanical or bio-mechanical closures rated for tampering resistance.

Restraint Cuffs: Locking cuffs with pressure-damping and anti-tamper features.

Reflective Plate: Polished metal or crystal tile used for inspection and signaling.

Tensile Filament Line: Braided organic filament with extreme tensile strength and flexibility.

Far-Sight Tube: Precision optical tube sealed for pressure and distortion correction.

Specialist Fabrication Kit: Customized tools for shaping metal, coral, synth, or biotics.

Traversal Rig: Hooks, lines, anchors, and adhesive pads for vertical or zero-g movement.

Identity Kit: Cosmetics, surface modulators, scent masks, and minor prosthetics.

Field Med Pack: Bandages, injectors, stabilizers, and microbial treatments.

Sanctified Emblem: A symbol grown, cast, or etched according to cultic specification.

Flow Chronometer: Measures time via calibrated fluid or particulate flow.

Detail Lens: Precision lens for inspection, analysis, and craftwork.

Resonance Instrument: Pressure-tuned instrument designed for Thalassan acoustics.

Infiltration Kit: Fine picks, probes, tensioners, and micro-tools adapted to pressure seals.

Minor

Medium

Major

Metals & Gems on Thalassa

Metals on Thalassa are rare out of the water, but in the depths of the sea form differently due to the fluid, pressurized environment. Accretions, nodules, and filaments.

Maybe: Bio-alloys, metallic coral

Rubies and sapphires (corundrum): Pressure crystals. Fire-phase. Cold-phase.

Gold -> Sunmetal (sheets).
Electrum -> Phase alloy (rods).
Emeralds -> Green silicate blooms (vent-blooms).
Rubies -> Fire-phase pressure crystals.
Sapphires -> Cold-phase pressure crystals.
Diamonds -> Compression lattice (shards).

Diamonds: Compression lattice.

Pearls: Memory pearls, void pearls, tide pearls, etc..

Maybe: Pressure crystals, noble accretions, vent-grown alloys.

Other Common Valuables

Encoded shells, resonant artifacts, memory substrates.

Table: Art Objects
d%	Value	Average	Examples
01–10	1d10 × 10 gp	55 gp	Etched shell decanter with a silvered rim; hand-carved bone or coral figurine of local significance; braided kelp-fiber torque with gold-thread binding
11–25	3d6 × 10 gp	105 gp	Habitat vestments woven with reflective biothreads; rebreather-mask inlaid with pressure crystals; silver drinking vessel seeded with cold-phase mineral growths
26–40	1d6 × 100 gp	350 gp	Large woven map-tapestry depicting historic tides; sealed brass mug with green silicate inlays
41–50	1d10 × 100 gp	550 gp	Silver grooming tool with tide-metal nodules; ceremonial blade (steel core) with jet-black deep-sea jewel
51–60	2d6 × 100 gp	700 gp	Resonance harp carved from exotic salt-wood with bone inlay; ritual idol cast in solid sunmetal
61–70	3d6 × 100 gp	1,050 gp	Aurum grooming tool with crystallized abyssal eye; Sunmetal-opal bottle seal; ritual dagger made of phase-alloy with red-pearl pommel
71–80	4d6 × 100 gp	1,400 gp	Adaptive eyepatch with cold-phase pressure crystals; fire-phase corundrum pendant with an aurum chain; animated visual masterpiece recorded in memory substrate
81–85	5d6 × 100 gp	1,750 gp	Embroidered mantle of sea-silk and moss-velvet, studded with tide-stones; cold-phase corundrum pendant with an aurum chain
86–90	1d4 × 1,000 gp	2,500 gp	Embroidered and crystal-encrusted ritual glove; multi-colored pearl anklet; sunmetal audio-memory box
91–95	1d6 × 1,000 gp	3,500 gp	Sunmetal circlet with varied-depth aquamarines; necklace of small pink mollusk pearls
96–99	2d4 × 1,000 gp	5,000 gp	Jeweled sunmetal crown; jeweled phase-alloy signet ring
100	2d6 × 1,000 gp	7,000 gp	Sunmetal and fire-phase corundrum ring; sunmetal cup set with green silicate blooms