Re: [HoE] Observations on bartering

[cmpetro@household.com]

<Snip>
>
>Needless to say, _any_ kind of bartering system slows this whole process
>down to a crawl.  I have no objection to such a system when it enhances
>role-playing, and the occasional, "I need a part for our truck - the only
>thing you want for it is surrounded by Black hats - no problem"
>role-playing/adventure kind of hook is fine.
>
>While some folks (rather stridently) earlier decried a simple cash/value
>system, I'm not sure how else this can function in any reasonable way.
When
>you factor in gluts, shortages, whatever, while this may work for a
>particular item (like in our kevlar discussion earlier), trying to keep
>track of them in an area where the players frequent and purchase/sell
stuff,
>this can be a logistical nightmare.  Or so it seems.
>
>What have other folks found to be the case?  Some folks have triumphed the
>merits of bartering, but how do they handle stuff like the above?  Or am I
>better off using the "cash" system and glossing over the constant
underlying
>fact that the "30" they got in change is actually a Milrat and 10 bullets.
>Which may be worth a lot less in the next town you go to ("Hah, that "30"
>change - it's now worth "20"!") if a bartering system is used.
>
>Does that make sense?  It just seems simpler to treat "cash" as cash for
>almost all practical purposes.  The Marshall has a constant to draw on,
the
>Posse has a constant to rely on, and everyone is (seemingly) happy.

One solution is to give every Item a average cash value (we'll say book
value).  Then, either random( roll al d20 or something)  or not, increase
or deacrease the "value" by + or - 20% to handle a glut or scarcness.  Add
+ or - modifiers to the roll as needed.