just thinking, why is it that in most RPG''s, money is acquired by the slaying of enemies? This is not very realistic... considering that I didn''t know that werewolves carried their purses on them. There should be some other way for the player to get his gold, even if it is still dependant on the # of creatures he kills. For instance, in earthbound the player is still paid for killing monsters, but not directly. He is paid by his father, not by finding $ on his slain victims. Hm, if we work together on this, I''m sure we can find a reasonable solution. Happy programming!

On perfect solution is to just award monster parts, and have a shop in towns that would purchase these parts. You only need the money in towns anyways.

Another idea is of course to be payed by some benefactor.

Or, you can hide purposeless items around, like gold nuggets, or priceless artifacts, and sell them.

Oh, and then there Bounty Hunting. Sorta related to collecting monster parts, but designating a specific monster or person to catch or kill, and that having a large payout. Real life Bail-Bond agents do make a percentage commission.

And on a side note, some creatues do carry money. For example, go leave something shiny in a park and if you have crows as part of your local ecologies, you''ll see one show up to claim it.

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considering that I didn''t know that werewolves carried their purses on them.

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Sure they do. I mean, they''re normal people during the day, right? Unless they burst through all their clothes during transformation it''s reasonable to assume they still have their possessions.

Anyway, I think the system works ok. I think it''s more interesting if the players have a day job, but the killing for cash system is adequate if you do it right. For example, killing goblins, creatures with a degree of civilization, albeit a crude one, would carry gold a prized posessions. However if you were to kill a bear and find gold on it...well, that''s just silly. However, you could kill the bear and sell its meat and hide. Depending on your skinning and butchery skills, you could make some decent cash this way. Perhaps certain magical creatures could have magical components harvested from them, perhaps a crystal growing out of their skulls or something (use your imagination). To maintain realism, there should be creatures with nothing of value on them. Perhaps trolls (who wants a troll skin...eww). However they would still yeild good exp so there''s still a reason to hunt them.

Hope this helps!

When you find yourself in the company of a halfling and an ill-tempered Dragon, remember, you do not have to outrun the Dragon...

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For example, killing goblins, creatures with a degree of civilization, albeit a crude one, would carry gold a prized posessions. However if you were to kill a bear and find gold on it...well, that''s just silly.

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Unless the bear had just eaten a goblin........

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Original post by Inmate2993
On perfect solution is to just award monster parts, and have a shop in towns that would purchase these parts. You only need the money in towns anyways.

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while that definitely fits the fiction better it adds a whole new annoying layer to the game. parts = money but you need money to buy things so you first have to sell the parts. the selling of parts adds no gameplay, and in fact just makes the process annoying. the reason for having monsters drop gold is that it cuts out the annoying selling the parts gameplay thus increasing the fun and efficiency of the gameplay.

the only monster part droppings that i''ve ever found useful were the ones in neverwinter nights which i remember you could sell but also hold on to in order to combine them into magical items later on. like fire beetle heart + something else = one time use fireball scroll-like thing. So something like that would be needed to have the whole monsters dropping parts actually ADD gameplay while adding to the fiction.

-me

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Original post by Palidine

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Original post by Inmate2993
On perfect solution is to just award monster parts, and have a shop in towns that would purchase these parts. You only need the money in towns anyways.

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while that definitely fits the fiction better it adds a whole new annoying layer to the game. parts = money but you need money to buy things so you first have to sell the parts. the selling of parts adds no gameplay, and in fact just makes the process annoying. the reason for having monsters drop gold is that it cuts out the annoying selling the parts gameplay thus increasing the fun and efficiency of the gameplay.

the only monster part droppings that i''ve ever found useful were the ones in neverwinter nights which i remember you could sell but also hold on to in order to combine them into magical items later on. like fire beetle heart + something else = one time use fireball scroll-like thing. So something like that would be needed to have the whole monsters dropping parts actually ADD gameplay while adding to the fiction.

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I think I meant to say "perfectly acceptable solution". Brainfart.

Anyways, you make a valid point, it just adds a layer of annoyance, but of course, that could be easily fixed by having the humus shop have a menu option that says EXCHANGE ALL. Then its just a slight detour.

To change thoughts, what about a cashless RPG? Not that the RPG depends on object trading and bartering, but the government that would otherwise coin the currency is a totalitarian and communal. The player is assigned equipment and items based on performance, which would be tallied. It probably makes it a bit more like progress quest, but consider the story possibilities.

That may also be a way to ditch exp systems. You don''t gain a level, you just get noticed by the government and are allowed access to the Level 4 equipment.

It''s really convenient, regardles of feasibility issues, for monsters to award cash to their murderers. I once tried to make a living in Fallout selling radscorpion tails. No good. They''re too heavy, and they aren''t worth all that much. Maybe if you could collect things like fairy wings or wolf fangs, it would be easier to haul a bag of them around, but if you do that, why not just make it a barter system, and use a little bit of cash the way Fallout uses bottlecaps, to even out a close trade?

Or just write an excuse for monsters being pinatas filled with gold. I read a story once where a guy hunted fierce, armored, ostrich-like birds because they filled their gizzards with gold instead of pebbles. They were very dangerous, but worth a bundle. Have monsters eat gold, and then you get cash from them. I dunno.

Yes, then you also have an excuse for raiding their fecese depositorites.

MY thoughts are thus. Monsters really shouldn''t be carrying gold it makes no sense. Sure you could come up with an explination such as the monsters are mutated animals and when they die their bodies turn into gold dust, or some other excuse. Then there is harvesting issue which is what I prefer but it always leaves me wondering if the alchemesist buys monster parts for use in his experiments why can''t I? I suppose there could be a monster hunters guild that pays you a fee for keeping the monster population in check, but that also makes me want to be able to wipe out whole species of monsters.

Speaking of money, that leads me to another thought that occourded to me while watching CSI, money has weight. For instance $10,000,000 wieghts over 250 pounds. So how come money doesn''t wieght anything in rpgs and takes up no space? I would think carrying a few million gold coins around in your pocket would slow you down a little.

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"Fate and Destiny only give you the opportunity the rest you have to do on your own."
Current Design project: Ambitions Slave

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Original post by Chokki
just thinking, why is it that in most RPG''s, money is acquired by the slaying of enemies? This is not very realistic...

considering that I didn''t know that werewolves carried their purses on them.

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Ya see, that''s why I like futuristic games. "Werewolf kill confirmed. Thank you for using Bounty.net. $2500 has been deposited to your account."


Consider that there''s a convenience factor at work here, too. Even if you could bring back proof of monsters you''ve killed, you''d have make one more trip to whatever facility in the game that cashes you out, in addition to the other shops and stores you want to visit.

Morrowind pretty much eliminates this. I like that you can get things like pelts from furry animals, ash salts from zombies, etc., and use these as alchemical components. It sort of short circuits part of the buying process (restorative items). Otherwise, you mostly have selling weapons and armor you receive from humanoid baddies, which can be very heavy but lucrative if you after the right guys (Daedric weapons yeild 32k!). In the beginning, though, you''re stuck with raiding treasure chests, which is fine.

Because the bulk of monsters in Morrowind carry nothing of value, the only real point in killing them is either to defend yourself or to increase your skills.



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Just waiting for the mothership...