Also, I know I’m spamming posts, but it’s the holidays, I’m off of work, and I am prepping for the next month of games. So here we go!
Has anyone found an easier way to handle money? I hate having to consult a table to see how much a longsword costs, and I don’t like making up values as I go. Also, how much money does a player get for rewards? how can I keep the economics straight without creating a huge detailed list?
Player: “Does the smith have any fine daggers?”
GM: “Uhh, yeah, here’s one that doesn’t make noise when used, no matter what it is being used for, and you take +1 to damage.”
Player: “How much?”
GM: “uhh…..(consults table) well a normal dagger is 2 gold, so we’ll say that one is really rare…how about 200 gold?
Player: “Oh, no problem, I got 1000 gold from that last dungeon we did”
How can I make that dagger a significant drain on resources?
HALP!
Every town is BARTERTOWN! They’ll hopefully use more resources to make the cost of the items even out.
“We need horses”
“I need my oat and hay vendors to be more flexible with their princing, hint hint”
Or create an economy that requires a conversion cost of some kind, like gold to gems.
If they answer “No” to the fabulous treasure question, give them 1 Wealth.
When you go to town looking for goods, tell the GM what you want and the GM will tell you if a) the town has that, and b) if you have the Wealth to try and acquire it. Then each player may then spend up to 1 Wealth to add +1 to the roll. On a hit 10+ it costs you no more Wealth than you spent on the roll, on a 7-9 it costs you 1d6 more Wealth.
Abstract but less hassle.
Interesting. I’ve looked at the wealth from Apocalypse world and tremulus….might be the way to go. Thanks Josh Mannon
Items that do things don’t cost money — they cost quests/livelihood/life and limb. The equipment section says as much, somewhere along the way. Id say, rarely let money get involved in the exchange of awesome magic goodies.
Otherwise, honestly? Just print out the equipment costs, or print out one of the handy GM handouts floating around the Internet. You don’t need to worry much about keeping your economy consistent. Figure out the towns wealth (pick one of the options from Town creation), and it has a blurb about what kind f stuff is available for sale.
Distribute the hassle! Let the players suggest a price (as would probably happen) then your NPC can react. If it’s an exclusive magical shop that stocks Daggers of Stealthy Shit, then the owner is probably a crazy haggler or wants something more than money.
“Hey! I’ll give you $100 for this dagger?”
“$100? For an dagger made from the darkness between the stars? It’s worth $1000 and a memory of true love”
“$500, and that’s more than fair”
“Throw in that memory you’re trying so hard to forget, that drunken evening you spent with an ogre, and we have a deal”
“Done!”
N.B. this makes buying stuff a lengthier process. I definitely wouldn’t bother with this outside of magical cool stuff.
Yeah, I guess abstract wealth or barter economy is best way to do it.
It’s the GM’s job to Use up their resources, not the players’. So, if you somehow allowed them to have that much cash on-hand, then let them buy the dagger (or whatever) at an appropriate price. You can always take it (and their excess cash) away from them some time later in the game.
Another way to make the dagger a drain on their resources is to Show a downside to their equipment: They just purchased a stolen dagger, and the former owner is now hot on their trail. What will it cost them to keep it?
Isn’t there a move about getting extraordinary stuff?
Also there is no economy.
And Never feel sorry for spamming the tavern, we are all here to need out on DW
Other thoughts, vis a vis downside of equipment and use up resources:
Poor/Rich steadings with Salvage and Re-sale Tariffs, eating up the coin of heroes who show up waving around their spoils. Attach it to some corrupt townspeople and you’ve got a mini-front ready to go.
You make that dagger a drain on their resources by draining their resources. They want a dagger than can’t break/get lost? They gotta pay more than that chump change.
Actually, what you describe there, is a fairly pimp knife, eh? It doesn’t just deal extra damage (the bonus a halberd gets!) but it’s totally silent no matter what? Campaigns have been started over less.
I know the knife was just there the illustrate your point, but it also illustrates the solution: if the object in question sounds more badass than a small castle, it should cost more than the masonry.
As others pointed out, the cost doesn’t have to be coin alone, but I think your question on making the coin economy feel right is really interesting, because to an extent all RPG’s have this money-creep present.
I’d really like to hear some more answers on how to best/most consistently price items from a strictly coinage perspective.