tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post7520091113092531661..comments2023-10-14T03:58:59.333-06:00Comments on The Tao of D&D: BankingAlexis Smolenskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-57489821410384739532013-03-02T06:21:19.000-07:002013-03-02T06:21:19.000-07:00Instead of using a bank, I created one. It is now ...Instead of using a bank, I created one. It is now 250 years into the future in game, and I control an immeasurable amount of wealth. <br />Nobody in the party, with the exception of the DM, knows about it. <br /><br />dramorakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01528904864058604336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-55619415461682488112011-07-20T17:53:01.433-06:002011-07-20T17:53:01.433-06:00My game world has early versions of banks, insura...My game world has early versions of banks, insurance and paper currency but its never been something thats come up. <br /><br />I tend assume PC's are high functioning sociopaths, outlaws or sometimes religious fanatics of all stripes anyway and as more than average casual killers they basically have no place in society nor do they want one.<br /><br /> Resurrection too is mostly impossible so they live hard and die quick. <br /><br />Real wealth is in magic power or land anyway and those are harder to buy.<br /><br />Also as this is a dangerous world (fully 1/3 of people die by violence) its also mostly low trust. <br /><br />Basic exchanges with strangers if guarded (anyone might be a shape changer) are fine, simple magic exists to test gold and such but more complex financial instruments or investments or insurance is while technically understood and available in a few places are just not something people want.<br /><br />Being an S&S world its also hard to keep money for long. Many people will kill for a GP and life is cheap.<br /><br />That being said, banking and real estate can be great fun with the right sort of players5stonegameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10694550968360550229noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-53517464668326506012011-07-15T11:15:03.822-06:002011-07-15T11:15:03.822-06:00kelvin,
You could probably mitigate the 'big ...kelvin,<br /><br />You could probably mitigate the 'big box of gold' issue by having the gold actually kept in a cell hundreds or thousands of miles away, in an undisclosed location, maintained by a 9th level mage with <i>teleport</i> and a <i>crystal ball</i>, who could ascertain how much gold needed to be sent on a particular day and then do so ... and not do so if the bank is being held hostage for the gold to arrive.Alexis Smolenskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-72792653197256240582011-07-15T01:14:11.160-06:002011-07-15T01:14:11.160-06:00If you load the debt at the other end -- yes, we&#...If you load the debt at the other end -- yes, we'll <i>raise</i> your comrade, but it'll cost 6000gp, so you'd best go and get it -- players don't seem to mind, and it even serves as a spur to adventure, so there is something odd going on there.<br /><br />My players are quite happy with banks in the game, but then they tend to see them as big boxes of gold waiting to be robbed, so they're probably not the best exemplars.thekelvingreenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01928260185408072124noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-76627555916719438312011-07-14T19:42:13.677-06:002011-07-14T19:42:13.677-06:00I think it's in The Jewel-Hinged Jaw: Samuel D...I think it's in <i>The Jewel-Hinged Jaw</i>: Samuel Delany has written a fascinating argument about how traditional sword-and-sorcery fantasy happens at the interface between a barter and a cash economy.<br /><br />And although he didn't read Delany, Charles Stross's <i>Merchants' War</i> is largely fantasy set at the interface between a cash and a credit economy--which is basically what's happening with the Renaissance-shading-into-Early-Modern (Neal Stephenson's _Baroque Cycle_ is playing in this space too).<br /><br />There's a lot you can do with both macro- and micro-economics in D&D (although unearthed hoards are pretty destabilizing once you're taking it seriously). I guess given what you've written you didn't need me to tell you that, did you?<br /><br />Anyway, things open up a lot when you don't need to cart precious metals or jewels from place to place, when you can cart a note (and some mechanism of attestation of trust, which is to say belief, which is to say credit) from place to place.<br /><br />AdamAdam Thorntonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06368676086759298705noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-26999539607467677112011-07-14T16:44:38.815-06:002011-07-14T16:44:38.815-06:00If I had more gas about the wonderful world of fin...If I had more gas about the wonderful world of finance, I'd write about it. Given that I have no need of it - clearly - I'm not looking for ideas myself.<br /><br />Anything ideas to do with banks, Carl, are probably available at your local bank. They provide dozens of brochures, any one of which could probably be hammered into a medieval/renaissance framework (and adventure, if it comes to that). I don't know about Romans, though ... but flexible is flexible.Alexis Smolenskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-42662198604064628772011-07-14T16:11:30.670-06:002011-07-14T16:11:30.670-06:00My players sought out a bank as soon as they had t...My players sought out a bank as soon as they had two denarii to rub together. They've sought to invest their money and re-purpose their loot almost from the moment they started getting it.<br /><br />They haven't tried borrowing yet. In addtion, they have an attorney (advocate), bankers (yes, multiple bankers), a business manager, and a promoter in the case of the gladiator who has his own attorney, business manager and banker.<br /><br />For my players, banking is very much a part of the fantasy experience.<br /><br />I'm a little sorry your players haven't taken more advantage of banks and banking over the years. I was hoping to learn some clever new stuff to introduce into my game. :-)Original_Carlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03521777462227997158noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-25132722831533236512011-07-14T12:41:52.327-06:002011-07-14T12:41:52.327-06:00Interesting! I've had my current players very ...Interesting! I've had my current players very rapidly decide to put their cash with a moneylender/protobank, because they didn't want to be carrying around large chests full of coin everywhere they went. (Plus the town guards levying taxes on their cash every time they would be entering the town made them dubious about keeping it with them.)Allandaroshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01046079318999891967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-18227591493026059882011-07-14T12:17:00.088-06:002011-07-14T12:17:00.088-06:00Here's one thing I've seen that made playe...Here's one thing I've seen that made players put some money up in a bank: http://fastermonkeycage.wordpress.com/2011/01/20/excerpt-from-the-referees-guide-to-lesserton-brinkley%E2%80%99s-assurety-trust/Erichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07649420272387984400noreply@blogger.com