Economics

Economics

If you were looking for Economics Skill, see Economics Skill.

Each game world has its own economic situation. But money, in some form or another, is important in almost every setting.

Money is anything you can exchange for what you want. It varies from one game world to the next. In a high-tech world, everything might be done by credit card. In a low-tech world, gold and silver may be king.

For the sake of convenience, GURPS prefixes all prices with a dollar sign – $ – in all settings. The GM is welcome to translate this to credits, copper farthings, Martian foomphra, or whatever he feels is appropriate to the game world; see Tech Level and Starting Wealth.

In a low-tech world, jewelry is also money. It might not have a set value imprinted on it, but it is small and portable, and easily traded for coins or bartered directly for needed goods. In fact, many societies exist largely by barter – which can be a test of the players' ingenuity.

Moving Money Between Worlds

If the PCs move between game worlds (see Travel Between Game Worlds), they will naturally want to take some cash along. But what is "legal tender" in one world might be worthless in another. There are two principles for the GM to remember here:

1. Money in a new world isn't "legal tender"; it's a commodity. If you bring medieval gold coins to the 21st century, they will sell as curios – or as gold, for perhaps $400 a troy ounce. If you take American paper money to the 10th century, it will be worthless. So, rather than money, take along a few plastic hard-hats and maybe an MP3 player. ("What am I bid for this miraculous orchestra in a box?")
2. A cross-world trading operation can get very rich very quickly. If a GM allows cross-world travel, it is up to him to preserve balance by limiting the quantity or type of goods that traders can move between worlds. A suggested limit: only what the travelers can carry on their persons – and trips should not be frequent.

Bankrolls and Possessions

List the money a character has on his person on his character sheet, just like his other possessions. If a lot of transactions are taking place, it might be wise to record money on a separate sheet of paper to avoid erasing a hole in the character sheet!

List the money a character does not carry with him separately, along with its location. The GM may arrange floods, bank robberies, tax increases, and other entertainments to deprive the PCs of their savings – or at least make them work to get their money back. The same is true of all other possessions the heroes do not carry with them.

Buying and Selling

Players can buy and sell among themselves at whatever prices they can agree on. For outside transactions, the GM (or Adversary) should roleplay a merchant dealing in the needed goods or services. Most transactions do not require a reaction roll. Only make a reaction roll if the situation is in some way unusual. For instance, if the adventurers are new in town and have been swaggering around in armor and acting strangely, roll to see if the merchants will have anything to do with them!

In general, the GM should set prices reasonably, following the laws of supply and demand. Camels are valuable near the desert, worthless in the jungle. After a great battle, used armor might be on sale at scrap-metal prices. And so on.

The Merchant skill will help the PCs get good deals.

Gold and Silver

A traditional assumption of fantasy games (and many fantasy novels) is that gold and silver are heavy, and inconvenient to carry around for purchases. If you are the GM, this is true only if you want it to be true.

Historically, gold and silver were very valuable – and many goods were cheap. For an authentic medieval English (14th-century) economy, treat the $ as a "farthing": a copper coin about an inch across. A silver penny is worth $4 and is less than half an inch across; 250 such coins ($1,000) weigh one pound. If silver and gold trade at 20 to 1 (a reasonable ratio for much of history), a pound of gold is worth $20,000! A man could carry a king's ransom in his backpack.

On the other hand, a GM who wants wealth to be less portable might assume that the $ is a one-ounce silver coin, like a silver dollar. A one-ounce gold piece would then be worth $20. At that rate, 12 coins (troy weight) would weigh a pound; a pound of gold would be worth only $240. In such a world, precious gems are the only way to carry a large amount of wealth in a small package, and caravans loaded with gold might actually exist!

Equipment and Supplies

The GM should give the players a list of standard equipment and supplies, and their "normal" costs. The items and prices on the list will vary from game world to game world.

The players will want to buy things that aren't on the list. The GM should allow any reasonable purchase – as he defines "reasonable" – setting prices by comparison with things on the list. Real-world catalogs can be useful here!

For more information, see Equipment.

Making Your Own Goods

Adventurers with appropriate skills may want to save money by making their own equipment. Use the following guidelines in this situation.

Starting equipment always costs "list price," even if the PC could have made it himself. Assume that buying materials and taking time out to make the item had the same impact on the PC's starting wealth as if he had bought the item.

Building equipment in play is legal...if the GM is willing to go along with it. Some things to consider:

1. What raw materials are needed, and how much will they cost? "Parts cost" is usually around 20% finished item cost.
2. How long will it take? PCs who build equipment between adventures can't earn income or learn skills during that time. PCs who build equipment during adventures are out of the action.
3. What skills are required, and what happens on a failure or critical failure? As a rule, failure just ruins the raw materials. Critical failure produces equipment that fails catastrophically when used!

It would take several books to list all possible items, raw materials, building times, and skills – so this must be left up to the GM.

Loot, and Disposing of It

Many adventures are overt quests for treasure. Many aren’t. Nevertheless, it is customary to let the heroes find something of value if they successfully complete an adventure. If nothing else, this lets them buy their supplies for the next adventure . . . The classic fantasy adventure sends successful adventurers home with chests of gold and jewels. Very convenient! If you are writing a more realistic adventure, invent more inter- esting forms of treasure.

Let's say the party was hired to guard a caravan. They drove off the bandits that attacked the caravan, tracked them to their lair, wiped them out, and took their loot. Now, assuming the heroes have enough pack animals, it will be a simple matter to take the goods into town. Locate a merchant (using Area Knowledge – or Streetwise, if necessary). Make the best sales approach possible. The GM makes a reaction roll for the merchant. If he's interested in the goods, he makes an offer, which the players can accept or reject. Simple.

But it doesn't have to be that simple. Identifying treasure, and turning it into cash, can be a major part of the challenge! Some possibilities:

• The treasure is not portable. How will they get it home?
• The treasure is not recognizable as such without a skill roll – or looks like treasure to the unskilled observer, but is really junk!
• The treasure is valuable only to certain collectors or specialists. Getting it to a buyer might be an adventure in itself.
• The treasure is illegal or immoral, making it risky to trade.
• The treasure is perishable or dangerous, and requires special handling.
• Somebody else is hunting the treasure.
• The treasure is not goods, but information – a clue to the real loot, or a major plot hook toward the overall campaign goal.

In spite of your best planning, the players will occasionally find "loot" you had not anticipated. For instance, the slavers had the PCs trapped in iron cages...and when they escape, they take the cages with them to sell for scrap. This is when you improvise. If you have no clear idea what the goods are worth, just make the story interesting. If you want the party to have money, then there's a demand for scrap iron in the next village. If not, nobody is interested. Simple.

Controlling Inflation

The GM should be careful not to let the PCs get too rich too soon. Rather than drive up prices, make expensive things (ships, noble titles, etc.) available, and give the heroes opportunities to invest in interesting long-term, high-risk ventures (e.g., bankrolling an inventor). Alternatively, arrange an occasional catastrophe to keep the PCs broke – or simply an adventure where no amount of money can replace brains.

In a high-tech world, there is no limit to the advantages you can buy with money. In a low-tech environment, once you have one good suit of armor, one fine weapon, and a couple of fine horses, there's not much else you can buy to enhance personal prowess. But you can hire an army...

Finally, be realistic about the value of loot. Armor, combat vehicles, and similar military materials are likely to be damaged after a fight – the PCs will be lucky to get 1/3 "retail value" if they drag this kind of hardware into town. (A very realistic GM will assess the PCs maintenance costs for repairing their own vehicles, weapons, armor, etc., too.)

See Also

• Cost of Living
• Jobs
• Hirelings
• Slaves
• Wealth and Status