Removing Barter

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Removing Barter
« on: April 05, 2016, 11:42:33 PM »
So, I'm working on a very lo-fi hack for AW in the Dragon Age RPG setting*, and one of the things about it is, I'm not using barter. My reasoning is, wealth and scarcity don't enter into the source material's gameplay very prominently, and the PCs are not (in this hack) going to be landholders or other such persons that would be concerned with it as a core part of their character.

My question is, does this break anything big?

I know that it removes one way of provoking the PCs to action, and that's a tradeoff I'm willing to make, but I do want to know if there are any other pitfalls that I should be wary of.

*: Which you can look at here if you're interested; I welcome your critiques and questions.

Re: Removing Barter
« Reply #1 on: April 06, 2016, 06:26:18 PM »
My first instinct - and I don't know if this is helpful to you or not - is to replace the function of barter with relationships and fictional positioning.

For instance, to feed yourself you must be a skilled hunter, own a farm, or have a friend or master who feeds you. And the playbooks and the moves set those up as choices.

*

Spwack

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Re: Removing Barter
« Reply #2 on: April 06, 2016, 10:51:18 PM »
Maybe the ultra low-tech society results in difficulty in moving barter around? Like, you might have a small amount of sway in a particular community or location, but once you leave, you become a nobody again.

Re: Removing Barter
« Reply #3 on: April 07, 2016, 12:06:40 AM »
I'm not really looking for a replacement for barter though; it's assumed that your heroic antics and whatnot earn you your keep. If I wanted players to have to worry about that stuff, I'd just use the barter system as-is; it's fine for what it does.

What I'm asking is, does removing that system have any consequences outside of what I've already foreseen?

Re: Removing Barter
« Reply #4 on: April 08, 2016, 12:14:55 PM »
So I slept on it and I realized that I can't really afford to lose this system in its entirety - because you often use gigs or whatever to answer the question, "What are you up to today?"

So I'm sticking with not tracking numeric barter, but I'm going to go with your recommendation, Paul, and retain the idea of gigs and earning-your-keep so that players know what their dudes are doing. Thanks for your advice, both!