A resource system?

[Vortigern]

I think the presence of banks ( or by another name, Moneychangers etc. ) is perfectly legitimate and indeed //expected// in say Messantia. Now... Pictland is another matter. Some of the cultures of the hyborian age are rather well developed. Some are not. We have talked about that before.

And I agree about the handling of wealth. It is a play style decision really.

 

[bradius]

Here is the system I recently developed for our campaign. It is an attempt to balance the desire of some of the players to get phat loot and others who have less of an interest in money. As this is still in 'playtest' it will be subject to changes. :



Each PC will be noted as being currently in 1 of 5 wealth states:

Destitute
Poor
Comfortable
Rich
Wealthy

This will effect Rep as follows:
D -2
P -1
C 0
R +1
W +2

Bribes:
Remember, you can apply your wealth level as a modifier towards
bribing someone.

OFF STAGE:
In any situation where PC's have downtime in civilization, the
following apply.

HEALING
D: Heal at 1/2 rate
P: Heal at 2/3 rate
C: Heal at normal rate
R: heal at 1.5 x rate
W: Heal at 2x rate.

This includes things like disease, ablity loss, madness, poison...

AQUIRING THINGS
You may wish to aquire mundane, rare or exotic items. Including those
of superior or inferior workmanship (silver weapons are exceedingly
rare in Hyborian age, Akbhitanian weapons are hard to get outside of
the area...potions, spell books...)
D & P: mundane and inferior
C: mundane and average.
R: Rare and possibly superior
W: exotic and superior.

This includes services, not just goods.


THEFT
There is a chance, between adventures, that you will 'loose' stuff.
This really represents theft. I will inventory your items between
adventures. In general, if you are D or P, good chance you'll get
your stuff stolen. Much less likely as you climb the wealth ladder.

FEATS/COMBAT MANUVERS/SPELLS
Normaly, you are only allowed access to the F/CM/S from the main book
(except Oriental Magic) and the Player's Guide. However, if you are Rich or Wealthy, there is
a chance that you will have access to someone who can teach you more
exotic F/CM/S.

RELIGION:
Not fair, but it is in the rules, you gotta pay to pray. If you are D
or P, you do not have access to the blessings of your religion. That
is, you don't have enough to pay the monthly tithe. If you are
comfortable, you only get the first benifit (if more than one listed),
if Rich or Wealthy, you get both (or all three if listed).

CLASSES
You are generaly not allowed to take a level in a class you have no
contact with. e.g.: If you are in a land-locked location, you can't
take pirate. However, if you are rich or wealthy, you can.

TRAVEL
Offstage travel. Whether you own your own transport or not, if you
have the money, you'll get there faster, safer and easier.

EVERYTHING IS RElATIVE. If you are comfortable in a big city, likely
same amount of $ will make you rich in a small town.

INNEVITABLE DECAY
High-Living is still in effect. But will be mechanicaly different.
Downtime will result in your wealth dropping from Wealthy to
Rich...Destitute. However, I will allow a will save to represent PC's
acting responsibly. That is, if made, the character will not go below
Comfortable. Though he'll have to make it again, when appropriate.
And, of course, spending money on any of the above benifits will
result in a faster decay of wealth. Even to below the comfrotable level.

 

[Demetrio]

Actually having a primitive banking system could possibly provide some amusement, when the players roll a rich merchant they find on him a few gee-gaws, some silver coins and promissory notes totalling many hundreds of gold lunas... which of course they can't cash (and if barbarians might not even grasp the significance of anyway).

I don't see a problem with there being a simple credit transfer system in place for gov'ts, wealthy merchants and so forth to use. It would be slightly odd if somewhere like Messantia did not have such. But letting the players access them like one would have cashed a cheque or deposited cash in the 50s (or indeed in any modern time)... no. Not for me.

 

[kintire]

Ancient and medieval banks weren't quite as sophisticated as they are today. They weren't open to just anyone and they tended to deal with either men of title or with the merchant class.

Or with members of the temple that was running the operation. In fact, human nature being what it is, I think you will find that they dealt with people who had lots of wealth!

And Milo isn't going to hand over the money unless he's presented the note by a person of standing (a merchant with credentials or a noble).

Once again, you are aware that Noble is a character class in this game? That PCs can be nobles? That there is no reason to believe that a PC won't BE a merchant with credentials?

Now, nothing stops you having a more flexible banking system in your campaign if you like but it was the case in ancient times and well into the middle ages that large amounts of money had to be invested - either in trade or in property

Sophisiticated banking systems existed in the middle ages: the Templars ran one. We don't know exactly how the ancient ones worked, but we do know that they were important. All that was needed was for an organisation to be widespread. The Templars had houses across Europe and the Middle East, the Mesopotamian temples based in Babylon had a had connections across the region, and the cult of Mitra has a strong presence in every Hyborian realm, and a few others. I see no reason why it couldn't work.

Don't you find your characters having more and better gear than their foes is a bit... well... cheap?

No. And anyway, who says they will? Who are "their foes?" Do all of the PC's enemies have to be skin clad savages as well?

The more I read, the more I become convinced that you have a very specific campaign style: probably involving Queen of the Black Coast/Red Nails style adventure in wildernesses where the PCs and their opponents are all low status outlaws struggling to survive. Well, that's fine. Very Conan. But Hour of the Dragon and Scarlet Citadel are Conan too. Howard has as many superbly equipped nobles clashing on civilised battlefields as he does savages grappling in jungles. You can't just assume that all PCs will be barbarians or scum.

Not that I would mind if my character ended up in dire straits. But to be told, by someone else, what 'I' did to get myself there... rather than having it happen in play. Well... I just think that is vastly presumptive and arrogant on the part of the GM. It is 'my' character. I say what they do. That is the point of having one.

And that is the rub of 'High Living'. It takes control of the character and what they do away from the player and arbitrarily dictates that you 'must' be wastful in some way with your resources. Vastly annoying.

Exactly.

 

[Clovenhoof]

Here is the system I recently developed for our campaign. It is an attempt to balance the desire of some of the players to get phat loot and others who have less of an interest in money.

*snip*

Begging your pardon, but where do these houserules in any way _balance_ anything? Your rules say everything is so much better when your're well off. That may reflect real life, but how does it in any way represent the interests of players who have little interest in money? All you would do with those rules is condition _all_ players to acquire as much wealth as possible. Anyone who doesn't care about getting rich gets screwed five times over by your rules.

"Balance" would mean that P or D characters could do things or get stuff that R or W stuff cannot do or get, or avoid trouble that richer characters have to put up with. You have nothing like that in your draft.

 

[bradius]

Yeah. 'Balance' was a poor choice. As you've observed, it is designed to reflect how things work in reality.

It was put together in response to a player who expressed the opinion that wealth is of little value in Conan.

Though, part of that is probably due to the fact that there have always been a couple of nobles in the party, who've bankrolled the group. Also, they've spent alot of time in the wilderness/uncivilized places, where money isn't too important.

As the party pretty much shares most mundane treasure, even those who don't care all that much for money, will have their needs taken care of. Those who care about money, will have more of a reason to do so, while those who don't can concentrate on other things.