Re: [DL] Money: How much is too much?

["Dave Haendler" <DHaendl1@swarthmore.edu>]

> I know this is an old problem, and the old answer is "get them to spend
it." But if each time they shoot up some bad guys they get maybe $90 per bad
guy,
> and rooms cost $1 a night, it's hard to get them to spend it fast enough.
And I can't send human bad guys after them without the standard
accoutrements.  (They >haven't gone up against many powerful but cash-poor
monsters yet because I'm easing them into it.)
>
> What can I do?  Or am I worrying too much?

     Here's a few ideas...

     1) Cash-poor bandits. It's possible to create challenging human
adversaries who don't rely on fancy equipment from the Sears catelogue.
People who fight with knives and bare knuckles, martial artists, and Indians
equipped with bows (and perhaps magic) are all perfectly valid, potentially
deadly enemies. Bad guys who rely on traps and subterfuge are another neat
option. Punji-stakes and rolled boulders can be just as effective as a
six-shooter, but your characters won't rack up big bucks turning them in at
the nearest dry goods store.

     2) Low demand. If the posse is in a very rural setting, it's very
likely that the local economy won't be able to absorb everything they want
to sell. If the owner of the general store only sells five or six pistols a
year, he isn't going to want to shell out his last penny buying a huge stock
of handguns. The characters will either have to accept very low prices, have
to accept trade goods instead of money ("Well, I don't have the currency on
hand to buy these Peacemakers off you gents, but I do have some nice beaver
pelts I could give you!"), or spend a lot of time and energy looking for
better deals.

     3) Attention. Doing a brisk business in second-hand goods can
definitely bring the wrong type of attention down on an unsuspecting posse.
They could find themselves in big trouble if they try to sell a horse to a
man who had the exact same horse stolen from him last week. Or perhaps the
next merchant they sell a used rifle to will notice with horror that his
late brother's name is carved into the stock. Furthermore, just having a lot
of money will perk up the ears of every snake-oil salesman, pickpocket,
gambler, and blackmailer they encounter, and might raise a lot of suspicion
amongst "good folks" as well, especially if the area has recently been hit
by crime.

     4) Encumbrance rules. Learn them. Live them. Love them.

                                                                ---Ghoull