Ok, so I have one question that’s been bugging me since I first saw DW. Under the Equipment chapter, the Transport category –
“Escort for a day along a monster-infested road – 54 coins”
54 coins.
54. Not 50, not 55, but 54.
Just, please, shed some light on this for me. Why is it 54?
Well, really. Monsters always attack in patterns. It’s either:
13 attacks by small monsters at 4 coins each;
4 attacks at 13 coins each;
2 attacks at 26 coins each;
1 mass assault, 52 coins.
Plus 2 coins extra to cover ammunition and repairs.
Quite simple.
It’s 50. The other 4 is graft. The alternative is hunting down quality mercenaries one by one, and no one wants to spend the time on that over 4 measly coins.
Alternately :
“Oh, it only used to run thirty gov’ner, till that clan of hill ogres started demanding payment to leave roadgoers alone. A darn sight better than trying to fight them off, they’re right dangerous with all that magic gear they’ve got.”
I suspect it might be making a point about how nothing is ever quite simple and convenient – players will be peeved when they actually have to think about the math of their purchases.