Market Class and Equipment Availability
One concept from ACKS II that I really likes is the Market Class – each settlement is classified as one of six market classes, depending on the population. Market class defines how many goods of different price categories can be bought or sold at this market, among some other things. This is something like the GP Limit for settlements from D&D 3.0, but expanded and perfected. In GURPS, there are some rules for equipment availability in GURPS Dungeon Fantasy Setting: Caverntown (you wouldn’t think to look for them there, would you?), but they are quite barebones and not generic. Surprisingly, GURPS City Stats has nothing about it. Thus, it is time to adapt the ACKS rules. To be honest, there’s barely any adaptation needed, and I really hope I’m not stretching the limits of fair use.
Use the following table to find a settlement’s market class.
Market Class by Settlement Population
|
Settlement
Population |
Market Class |
|
100,000 or more |
Class I |
|
25,000-99,999 |
Class II |
|
8,750-24,999 |
Class III |
|
3,000-8,749 |
Class IV |
|
1,250-2,999 |
Class V |
|
Less than 1,250 |
Class VI |
Equipment Availability by Market Class
|
Price |
Class I |
Class II |
Class III |
Class IV |
Class V |
Class VI |
|
$100 or less |
2,750 |
700 |
475 |
100 |
35 |
15 |
|
$101-$1,000 |
300 |
70 |
35 |
10 |
3 |
1 |
|
$1,001-$10,000 |
20 |
5 |
2 |
1 |
8- on 3d |
6- on 3d |
|
$10,001-$100,000 |
7 |
2 |
1 |
8- on 3d |
6- on 3d |
5- on 3d |
|
$100,001-$1,000,000 |
2 |
1 |
8- on 3d |
6- on 3d |
5- on 3d |
3 on 3d |
|
$1,000,0001 or more |
8- on 3d |
6- on 3d |
4- on 3d |
3 on 3d |
- |
- |
The Equipment Availability by Market Class table displays the monthly availability of specific equipment units in each market type. Some entries require a 3d roll to determine the chance of a single unit being available in a given month. The numbers listed represent the quantity of each specific item, not the total number of items within a particular price range. For example, a Class IV market might have 10 broadswords, 10 crossbows, and 10 of every other item priced between $101 and $1,000. Bundled items, such as sets of 20 arrows, are counted as a single item in the table. The availability values are per party, reflecting the merchants the adventurers are familiar with and trade with. Larger parties of 12 or more adventurers who spend 8 hours shopping can purchase double the listed amounts. If the campaign involves multiple adventuring parties, the total monthly availability across all parties is capped at ten times the table's values.
Adventurers can sell well-maintained equipment in the market, subject to the same availability limits as purchases. Selling beyond these limits is possible but requires engaging in mercantile activities (rules for which will be detailed later). Poor-quality or scavenged equipment will fetch lower prices.
Importing Equipment
If the desired equipment is unavailable
locally, adventurers can pay a merchant to import it from a larger
market—either a local hub (+1 market class) or a regional hub (+2 market
class). Importing offers access to a greater quantity of items, with the number
available determined by the size of the source market. However, imported items
are not immediately accessible: shipments from a local hub arrive in 2d days,
while those from a regional hub take 2d weeks. On a roll of 12, the shipment is
lost or stolen and never arrives. Additionally, adventurers can commission the
construction of custom items.
I really like this. It kinda reminds me a little of something I put together for characters wanting to buy grimoires. I'm probably going to make a few alterations before putting it in my games, though: 1. Rather than dollar amounts, I would set the different tiers as percentages of average campaign starting wealth. So, "$100 or less" would translate into "up to 10% starting wealth." That would go a long way to making this mechanic universal in application. 2. I would add a mechanic whereby a character could make a Merchant roll to improve the Market Class by one step for one specific item the party is looking for. This would be good to reflect instances of "I know a guy," backroom deals, and coincidentally cancelled orders that were placed for someone else. Perhaps give the Merchant roll a penalty based on the value of the item sought, and a bonus if you are willing to pay a hefty markup (e.g., +1 for CF +0.5, +2 for CF +1, +3 for CF +2, etc.).
ReplyDeleteMy system for grimoires involved assigning each spell class a target number on 3d based on how useful that college would be to social functioning. So, Healing spells have a high number, Necromancy a very low number, etc. Then modify that target number based on the required Magery of the spell being sought after, whether the spell is a combat spell or not, etc. It resulted in some good numbers and worked well the one time I had an opportunity to use it.
Some good ideas!
DeleteWasn't part of the purpose of ACKSII to re-issue the game under another license than the OGL (Creative Commons, maybe)? And these rules are already available under the OGL anyway from their publication in ACKS. In that case, "Fair Use" is more or less irrelevant, since you're already licensed to use and adapt the rule in question, though strictly you should include a copy of the OGL (if, for example, you were publishing it more formally than a blog post) if going from the ACKS iteration. The main point of the OGL was to avoid people having to worry about using game information in other contexts (such as happened with Mayfair back in the '80s-'90s when T$R was famously litigious), despite Ha$bro trying to creatively reinterpret it recently.
ReplyDeleteDo you use GURPS prices for equipment or ACKS?
ReplyDeleteGURPS prices
DeleteInterestingly, all the ACKS trade categories, some of the rules, the weights, descriptions and prices were lifted right out of the TSR D&D BECMI Gazetteers - Republic of Darokin & Minrothad Guilds. Some of the prices were changed of course, not not too many.
ReplyDelete