Distinct wealth system FTW.

Otherwise a Traveller Free Trader campaign would not make any sense.

Quote from: jeff37923;567505Distinct wealth system FTW.

Otherwise a Traveller Free Trader campaign would not make any sense.

While I normally would endorse an abstract system, since I am running Stars Without Number with distinct wealth I'd have to agree something would be lost.

I just hand wave all the personal income, loans and other abuses by saying the players have already tried and expended every trick in the book prior to the start of the game and that's what netted them their current possessions. From that point onward no financial institution of import wants to deal with them in anything other than cold digital cash. It's a little harsh and reductive, but it keeps the space opera moving.

Quote from: RPGPundit;566961That's what I did with my Albion campaign.  At the level up to and including the high-end merchant class, people are still dealing in pounds and shillings.  But if you become a major landholder (that is, a titled noble of some kind), you have a whole set of new mechanics (attributes for your house) that include "wealth" points, where each single point of wealth is something that could translate into about 200 Pounds, though it doesn't actually mean that someone will necessarily have that floating around in cash, rather it represents the value of their properties, crops, taxation, etc.

That's similar to what I did for my Vinland campaign, except that mine went for all social levels.  The Icelanders basically had no cash economy to speak of.  There were no minted coins, though they might rarely cut pieces of silver for an equivalent.  If you were not a landowner, then you were still a member of a homestead and you had status and resources within that homestead that defined your wealth level.  

Even in times when there were minted coins, though, I still find the idea of a universal D&D-like price list (i.e. 75 gold pieces for a horse, 30 gold pieces for a long sword) to be a weird anachronism.  Prices weren't fixed, and many things were sold mainly by connections even if cash was exchanged.  That's why I prefer an abstract wealth system for medieval or ancient games.

I used to be solidly in the "distinct" camp, on this question.  However, I've come to like the abstract system presented in the BRP gold book, for some games.  A good example is the BRP Rome book.  I doubt I'd ever go that abstract for D&D, because my D&D games use acquisition of wealth as a goal and XP award.  But for games where counting coins just isn't that important I've opened up to abstract systems.

I do not like abstract wealth systems. I have yet to see one that is worthwhile compared to just tracking actual units of currency.

Abstract systems work well enough for some genres, like most supers and horror games.

But a game in which wealth is a significant reward, like D&D or Traveller, I'd miss counting pennies.

Quote from: RPGPundit;567476The players of those minor nobles were pretty surprised by the fact that they had little money, and on top of that were "not expected" to engage in some of the things (like commerce) that would allow characters of lower social class to be richer than they were.  It took some explaining for them to get that in fact this was a pretty common phenomenon of the times.  After a while, they figured out that what untitled sons of the nobility did get to do was a shitload of mooching; getting stuff from dear old dad, hanging out for free at other noble's castles, and if they were lucky being able to gain offices, often unpaid, that would nevertheless give them priviliges and the opportunity to make money (especially if they're crooked).

There is a kernel of a useful supplement in this. I read a lot of history and know what you are talking about.  But until you wrote this,  it didn't occur to me how to apply this to gaming.

I like this, it understandable by the modern gamer yet reflect accurately what went on during that time. You should write a whole supplement like this on the different social classes and organizations.

Quote from: estar;567564There is a kernel of a useful supplement in this. I read a lot of history and know what you are talking about.  But until you wrote this,  it didn't occur to me how to apply this to gaming.

I like this, it understandable by the modern gamer yet reflect accurately what went on during that time. You should write a whole supplement like this on the different social classes and organizations.

If he were going to go into just the various nuances of the common European aristocratic social systems it would be a huge book.

Quote from: Panzerkraken;567569If he were going to go into just the various nuances of the common European aristocratic social systems it would be a huge book.

Indeed, I'd find it kind of a daunting task, and beyond my immediate capacities; its the kind of thing that would take a lot of research.  Also, I don't know how useful it would ultimately be, there's diminishing returns in this kind of culturewank when used in actual play.  Having a background as an historian, I probably have more of it in my games than a lot of people, but I try to make a strict kind of limit to just how far I go, the limit being nothing that becomes needlessly confusing or dull for the players ("needless" being with no really significant return in terms of play experience).

RPGPundit

Quote from: RPGPundit;567787Indeed, I'd find it kind of a daunting task, and beyond my immediate capacities; its the kind of thing that would take a lot of research.  Also, I don't know how useful it would ultimately be, there's diminishing returns in this kind of culturewank when used in actual play.  Having a background as an historian, I probably have more of it in my games than a lot of people, but I try to make a strict kind of limit to just how far I go, the limit being nothing that becomes needlessly confusing or dull for the players ("needless" being with no really significant return in terms of play experience).

RPGPundit

Honestly a high level flyby on a few cultural models (feudalism, imperialism, maybe something else) and another on a few examples of each would go a long damn way. Not suggesting that you in particular should do this, but the modern world in fantasy drag can get old.

EDIT: Alternately, just picking one culture/era, sticking it in a game, and including the relevant info is also good.

A high-level flyby would probably be too general to be of any meaningful use; I would think.  Though maybe I'm overestimating how much people know about the subject already.

RPGPundit