A world with no money

[Tonguez]

Re: Wealth Mechanic

Wealth Mechanic
Heroic Greece uses an abstract Wealth bonus system adapted from d20 Modern rather than tracking actual wealth. In Heroic Greece, coinage was rare to nonexistent, and a person’s ability to procure goods and services depends on what they could extract from their own estate and what they can induce others to give up, usually through barter or reciprocal gift exchange. In the game, this physical and social capital that a character can draw upon is abstracted as a Wealth Bonus. At higher levels, heroes can expect to receive magical support from their patron god.

bmcdaniel the setting I have actually has lots of paralels with heroic Greece and so this mechanic could work. My biggest concern however is having to go through the whole equipment list and apply Wealth DCs - so how did you achieve that feat?

Originally posted by Eben
Your standing in society is your "Enech" (litt: face) Everybody starts with 1 and depending on your deeds it goes up or down. Negative Enech makes you effectively an outcast. Your Enech probably defines your relationship with your kin and the possibility to fall back on them when you need them.

Yep this is exactly the concept I'm looking for - NOTE get Slaine RPG unfortuunately my FLGS is 2 hours away so any chance of giving me an outline of Enech here please?

Everyone Else
Great ideas all I'd love to see some more ideas developed too

Dr Strangemokey I'd like to here more about your system since that ideal of 'wealth' being determined by what can be given away is something that fits with my setting too - and will hopefully play a big part in the 'influence mechanic'

and Zug-Zug your examples from Lakota economics fit my setting too (also advanced neolithic) especially the stuff about 'drawing' on the clan - which is what I'm aiming for....

 

[Fenes 2]

Fennes, how do you handle character creation? Especially in Shadowrun, where gear is a big component of the game.

PC generation is handled in my Shadowrun campaign by using the standard 3E creation rules and then eyeballing the PC compared to the rest of the group, with the DM and the rest of the group having a say whether or not the actual gear, skills and stats might be inappropriate for the campaign in question.

In the campaign itself important gear is not bought after saving up the money (Since I never say "You get 5000 nuyen for the job", only "You get paid" as the GM), but instead the player asks the GM, who then considers the best and most fun way to deal out the object in question. For a piece of heavy weaponry that might involve a smuggler trip to the african coast, an undercover operation in a weapon plant, a dangerous job for the mob or all three together. Materials for magic rituals might either be restricted to x nuyen worth per week, or demand a run on a mage shop, or a trip to the unspoiled countryside to gather them (and dodge some hostile natives).

That way the GM has more control over the power level of the campaign, and the other players get a new run to participate in instead of a one-man-shopping-trip.

 

[Eben]

Originally posted by Tonguez:
any chance of giving me an outline of Enech here please?

Phew. The basic idea is you can't have more enech than twice your level. For the rest, it's a bit up to the GM what to do with it. I look at it as an extra statistic defining social standing. And helps in ruling who gets the best piece at dinner, ... The rules give guidelines on gaining and loosing enech. These are of course tied in whith the Celtic background, you can creat such a list fit for your own game world. Particularily interesting is that you lose enech if not enough bards have sung about you or have mocked you. Becoming chieftain or king gives you a nice smack, ...
At 0 you're a bit of a pariah among your tribe. If your enech is negative you're an outcast and probably hunted.

Another important currency for your campaign would be craft skills and wilderness lore. In this kind of tech level societies (I have a bit of an anthropological backgroud, so I tend to shy away from the word "primitive." your wealth is defined by your skills.

Near Stonhenge a rather rich indivudual has been excavated. It is commonly believed that this person was one of the very first metalworkers on the island.

Also, remember that treasures in this kind of societies would be rather rare. And if a treasure was found, people would see this as a significant event, possibly with religious implications. You should read "Stonehenge" by Bernard Cornwell. It's about a tribe who finds a treasure of gold and the consequences thereof.

Hope this helps!

 

[bmcdaniel]

Re: Re: Wealth Mechanic

bmcdaniel the setting I have actually has lots of paralels with heroic Greece and so this mechanic could work. My biggest concern however is having to go through the whole equipment list and apply Wealth DCs - so how did you achieve that feat?

Well its a combination of a price list and a somewhat streamlined magic item creation method. Making up Wealth DCs for nonmagical equipment is pretty easy, especially because you can group lots of stuff together rather than having to list every single item.

For magical items, I was unhappy with the standard system anyway, so I chucked it out. Instead, everybody has enough slots for weapons, armor & shield, an ability enhancement device for each ability, a resistance item, and 2, count'em 2 other miscellaneous items. Powers on the miscellaneous items can stack, and they are treated as "+" items just like weapons and armor. For example, a ring of invisibility would count as a +3 magic item. A ring of invisibility, 5 points of fire resistance and increased your speed by 10 would be a +5 magic item.

Here are the DCs I use:

Weapons and Armor
Weapons
DC0: Club; Greatclub; Quarterstaff; Sling
DC1: Axe, throwing; Dagger; Dart; Halfspear; Handaxe; Hammer, light; Javelin; Sap; Scythe; Sickle; Whip
DC2: Battleaxe; Dagger, punching; Flail, light; Greataxe; Kukri (Egypt)!; Mace, heavy; Mace, light; Net; Shortspear
DC3: Flail, heavy (Egypt)!; Halberd (Mesoptamia/Phoenica)!; Longspear; Morningstar; Pike;
Shortbow; Shortbow, composite (Horse Barbarian)!; Sword, short; Trident (Greece/Phoenicia)!; Warhammer
DC4: Chain, spiked; Lance, heavy; Lance, light!; Longbow; Longbow, composite (Mesoptamia/Horse Barbarian)!
DC5: Khopesh (Egypt)!†; Rapier†; Scimitar (Mesoptamia)!†

Armor
DC1: Padded Armor; Leather Armor
DC2: Hide Armor; Buckler; Small Shield
DC3: Linothrax; Scale Mail; Large Shield
DC4: Breastplate; Hoplon Shield (Greece)!
DC5: Dendra Armor

* Masterwork weapons and armor +1 DC.
! Weapon available only to certain cultures as listed.
† Only available as Masterwork. Wealth DC includes +1 DC due to Masterwork.

Equipment
DC0: Firewood; Walking Staff
DC1: Bags; Torches; Twine
DC2: Blanket; Clay Earthenware; Flint Firemaker; Flute; Hand Tools (Axe, Hammer, Crowbar, Shovel, Adze, Pick, etc.); Hides; Olive Oil; Paints; Preserved Food; Rope, Hemp; Salt; Whetstone; Wine
DC3: Acid; Artisan’s Tools (including Craft tools and Thieves’ tools); Candles; Climber’s Kit; Fishing Net; Grappling Hook; Harp; Hide Boat; Holy Symbol; Ink; Paints; Panpipes; Paper; Rope, Wool; Weaver’s Loom
DC4: Mineral Oil; Glassware; Ink; Papyrus Scroll;

*Masterwork items are +1 DC

Transportation and Animals
DC3: Dog; Hide or Reed Boat
DC4: Goat; Sheep
DC6: Pony (not suitable for riding); Rowboat
DC7: Ox
DC8: Chariot
DC14: Galley

Passage
DC6: Ship’s Passage to Greek City
DC8: Ship’s Passage to Italy, Phoenicia, or Egypt

Durable Magic Items
Durable Magic items must be purchased as a +1 item initially then upgraded for each additional plus (except for ability enhancement items which are purchased as +2 items then upgraded by 2 steps).
In addition to the normal reduction in Accumulated Wealth Bonus from purchasing items, purchase of a durable magic item costs 1 extra Accumulated Wealth Bonus.
<table>
Weapon Misc. Armor or Shield Saving Throws Ability
+1 DC10 DC10 DC9 DC9 -
+1 to +2 DC14 DC14 DC13 DC13 DC12
+2 to +3 DC17 DC17 DC16 DC16 -
+3 to +4 DC20 DC20 DC19 DC19 DC17
+4 to +5 DC23 DC23 DC22 DC22 -
+5 to +6 DC26 DC26 DC25 DC25 DC23
+6 to +7 DC29 DC29 DC28 DC28 -
+7 to +8 DC32 DC32 DC31 DC31 DC27
</table>

 

[Tonguez]

Re: Re: Re: Wealth Mechanic

For magical items, I was unhappy with the standard system anyway, so I chucked it out. Instead, everybody has enough slots for weapons, armor & shield, an ability enhancement device for each ability, a resistance item, and 2, count'em 2 other miscellaneous items. Powers on the miscellaneous items can stack, and they are treated as "+" items just like weapons and armor. For example, a ring of invisibility would count as a +3 magic item. A ring of invisibility, 5 points of fire resistance and increased your speed by 10 would be a +5 magic item.

Here are the DCs I use:

Wow Awesome - I'm going to try this out

Much Thanks bmcdaniel