Buying and Selling in Kartharka

Well our band of heroes had an amazing windfall in their first game scoring 28 gold pieces.

A fantastic sum of money in the Winterlands.

In Lair of sword and sorcery once you "buy some arrows" you are assumed to "have enough arrows" for your missions.

Not bothering to track all of these resources means that heroes don't really need to spend a lot of money, which is good because everything is expensive.

Earning a whole gold coin would take a miner weeks of hard labor, and the expense of travelling, living, tools and boarding eat up a portion of that as well.

This means that a gold coin is worth alot.

Lair of Sword and Sorcery does not generally have lists and lists of equipment, detailing prices, availability, weights, and other things.

If a Hero wants to buy something he will generally have to have it made to order. Merchants do not tend to have 30 chairs lying around in stock on the showroom floor.

Merchants tend to trade in raw goods, like metal, cloth, tools, the things you use to make things. 

To get something the hero goes to a craftsmen who will make something for them.

Buying regular Gear

Usually the price for anything will be One gold.

 Want to buy a bronze sword?

(the winterlands are for all intents and purposes a bronze age society)

The price is one gold.

Want to buy a dagger?

The price is one gold.

Want to buy a piece of cloth Armour

The price is one gold.

Then the hero waits for a few days and the item is available.

If the hero is in a rush, or is rude, the price doubles.

If the hero has a good camaraderie score they may get a discount. A +1 is good for a 25% discount, a +2 is good for half price (always round up). It doesn't get any better than half off and the merchants will rarely be willing to trade for "half a gold piece" so it may be a good idea to order a couple of things when getting the discount.

A negative camaraderie will cause problems as well. A -1 will double prices, a -2 will quadruple it. It doesn't get much worse than that but the craftsmen may make them wait up to a week for their items if their camaraderie is worse than -2.

These prices will get them a serviceable sturdy and plain version of the item.

A sword will indeed have a blade and a handle. It will not be pretty but it will work.

The cloth armor will indeed stop a blow But don't ask for it any color but brown and it's going to be one size almost fits all.

When a group of heroes is shopping they may try to elect the one with the highest camaraderie to do the shopping and this will work up to a point.

But if someone is buying Armour or weapons the craftsmen will want to see the person the item is meant for. They need to make measurements, consider the weight and distribution and discuss balance.

This means that the surly and mean fighter is going to have to meet the craftsmen

In this case the hero with the high camaraderie will act as a go between and their combined camaraderie will be used to consider he price.  A +2 and a -2 will cancel out meaning they will pay the normal price.

If the hero with the high camaraderie is known to be part of a group then the craftsmen will automatically consider them to be buying for these less than nice people and will again consider the camaraderie of the group when stating their price rather than just the buyers camaraderie.

Buying special gear

If the heroes have any special requests for their item it will add at least an extra gold to the standard price.

Specifying colors, cuts, special insignia are all considered special requests.

If the hero is asking for something to be completely custom made then the price will skyrocket.

For example if the want a standard sword, 1 gold

Standard molds can be used and their is no customization.

A standard sword with a bronze pommel in the shape of a wolf, 5 gold

A standard mold can be used and the craftsman can make he pommel by hand

A standard sword with an imperial style crosspiece, 10 gold

The craftsman can use a standard mold for the blade but must make a new mould for the pommel

A Hunzar jungle style scimitar with  a Hunzar style pommel and crosspiece, 20 gold

The bronzer will have to make all new molds and will need to consider the balance and mix of metals for this bizarre weapon.

Hiring Help

Hiring some men to travel with you and protect your back is a costly venture.

To hire a standard man whose stats are all zero (except the usual 6 endurance) will cost 1 gold per week.

They will have their own food and camping supplies.

If they are expected to fight more than once per week they may ask for an additional gold piece per fight per week.

The will have one weapon each and 3 pieces of armour.

The hero may buy them additional weapons and armour which they will use during their employment which will be returned when their contract is completed.

Usually these people will be hired in groups. This means that if one of them dies the heroes may not "loot their corpse" the other men in the group will either distribute their belongings or take them to sell and give the proceeds to the dead mans family.

At least they will usually tell the heroes that that is their plan.

To hire anyone with better stats than the average man is a costly process and will often involve hiring from one of the mercenary companies found in Stroh Branoch.