A world without shops

[Ravilah]

I'm currently running a homebrew setting on the Isalnd of Avalon (where King Arthur has now taken up residence and established a new Camelot). The players are now far, far from Camelot and deep in the heart of faery country, where they will stay for the vast majority of the game.
My quandary came the other day when I rolled on the treasure table, and it suddenly occured to me that outside of "civilization" (ie Camelot) there is no such thing as coin currency. There are no stores or shops out here in the lands of the fey (well...no conventional stores or shops). So what kind of treasure do I give to my players (I've been sticking with gems and art items for now)? How do they spend it? Where can they purchase items, rather than acquire them randomly through looting monsters?
I have several thoughts of my own already, but you guys and gals are always a wellspring of intriguing new ideas.

Thanks,
R

 

[Evilhalfling]

With fey It seem like an exchange of gifts is in order - but perhaps wildly out of scale - A nights lodging, and food plus common supplies for a single copper coin, or a 500 gp fancy dress.

Non hositile nobles may trade away a magic weapon for a kiss, or a horse that vanishes (i.e. mount spell) for a magic item. Keep 2 ledgers and make sure they balance. Caprice without screwing your players should be the objective.

Or hold a goblin Fair - all manner of strange creatures selling strange wares,
at a crossroad, combat expressly forbidden, with heavy curses as a consequence.

 

[jstater]

If you can slip the party some faerie fruit at the goblin fair, you'll really put the fear of the fey into them.

 

[Nifft]

Even a place without shops may have coin, especially if soldiers of an urbanized civilization were ever there. Remember that coins were simply a "standardization" of size and shape for precious metals -- the metals were valuable before being stamped, and the coins will have value as precious metal even if you're out of the minting civilization's area. Some ancient gold Roman coins might be in order, or something else -- just describe every coin so that your players know they've got 2 Gold Legions, 17 Bronze Gryphons, 5 Large Gold Gallows-Trees and 51 heavily worn Green Copper Medusae, not just X gp and Y cp.

Make sure your players know that the coins may have different values in different areas.

Then, barter, even if you're using coins. This also gives NPCs a good reason to ask the PCs where they're headed -- "Oh, you're going up by Blahford? Well, there's a Century of Raman Noodlemen stationed there, and they've made the whole town perform all business in their blasted Brass Pentagon. Too heavy by half fer what it buys. Right pain to carry, I tell ye. I'd be happy to be rid of some o' that coin, for the right price, o' course!"

... and knowing where the PCs are heading is often nice information to sell to other NPCs... (... and likewise, you can use the coins that the PCs find on the bodies of their foes as clues to the foe's employer. A spy might have eighteen different types of coinage, so he could pretend to be sponsored by many different sources.)

-- N

 

[Tonguez]

My Hawaiki game has an ecenomy based on ritual gift-exchange and in order to manage it I adapted the Wealth system of D20 modern. Now the 'Influence' score (Level + Cha mod) measures the 'influence' which a PC can exert on others to call in favours including requests for items.
So using this system you PCs can get food and lodgings with the village chieftain by succeeding on an Influence roll

The other way of course is having minor NPC encounters and then letting the PC choose the treasure they get for an encounter fom an 'approved list'
eg
"Thats me cat Mogsey stuck up in the tree - if ya saves him then I'll let ya choose whatever ya like from me pantry"

 

[jeffh]

I wacky-parsed the thread title as "A world without sloths".

I'll be going now.