Re: [HoE] Usable Currency

["B.D. Flory" <bflory@frontiernet.net>]

<snip discussion of ravenite's haggling>

I figured something out that takes care of this problem nicely: dispose of
the "generic tradable goods" concept of currency.
	The way I run it, I make all the players spend *all* their money at the
beginning.  Thereafter- unless they're in a settlement large enough to have
its own currency, such as the Iron Oasis- I dispense with money all
together.  All transactions go something like this:

"You want my shotgun? What do you have to trade?"

"I got these nice shiny bullets."

"Sorry, but those bullets are useless to me without a nice shiny pistol. 
I'll give you the shotgun for the pistol *and* the bullets."

"Only if you throw in some of those milrats."

This completely nixes the "rich" posse problem, because there ain't no
money.  The trade goods are only useful if somebody actually *wants* them. 
It's a great stop gap for your problem as well: Ravenite haggling too much?
 Suddenly he runs into a lot of people who don't need anything he has.

Besides, there's the added bonus of discarding the concept of "useless
trade items" in lieu of cash, which I always found unbelievable anyways.

B.D. "useless trade item" Flory