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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dannyalcatraz" data-source="post: 6557581" data-attributes="member: 19675">You're making at least 3 assumptions- that the nobles have money, almost nobody else does, and everyone knows who has it, regardless.1) Not all nobles have money.  At least, not in cash.  Typically, they're wealthy in landholdings, buildings, livestock, etc.  Adjusted for inflation, George Washington was far and away the wealthiest president in United States history.  Yet he had to borrow money to relocate to the presidential residence after his first inauguration.So, if the only people you're selling to are nobles, be prepared to take payment in grain.2) feudal-era merchants* were often quite wealthy, some, moreso than the nobles in the lands in which they resided.  This was partly due to the fact that their ability to own land was limited by the laws of the feudal society...which also meant their wealth was more liquid.  This led to societal difficulties, of course, because it is always bad form to upstage "your betters", especially if they have the powers of taxation or even life and death over you.  Whichever leads to...3) ...as a consequence, wealthy merchants often hid the true extent of their financial status as much as possible, a tradition that lives on to this day.  I live in a nice suburb of Dallas, and the church I attend has a congregation of @30k members- roughly equivalent in size to the town in which we live.  We built a new sanctuary some years ago, and the parish borrowed @3.5M to do so.  That debt was paid off in under 3 years.  Not only that, many of its fixtures and furnishings were purchased and donated by single families, including all 3 Steinway pianos, the stained glass windows (at $25k each) and so forth.  Now, I know 1 or 2 families that could donate that kind of money, but I damn sure don't know them all, even after 17 years of being in the parish...and being among those who donated the most.Yes, by definition, Bard has the training to know who is who. But that knowledge is- at best- imperfect.  While he may not stand on the streetcorner shouting "Vorpal Sword for sale, only 75,000gp!  Get it while it is still sharp!", he is probably also not going door-to-door to every merchant and noble.  Instead, he's most likely making it known to people he knows have the ears of the wealthy to pass along that he represents someone willing to sell such an item.  And then, he waits...* and in FRPGs, adventurers</blockquote>

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