I'm struggling to get trade, buying and selling of loot/materials/salvage/cargo, into my game without the money press that is the T20 speculative cargo system. Here is what I'm going to start testing on my players. There's been a lot of arguement and push back from them (they've had a Golden Midas for a long time thanks to the speculative cargo system in the rule book).
Just for feedback:
The system I've come up with works the way similiar to sneak and spot. The sneaker rolls his skill and that roll becomes the DC of the spotter. The spotter rolls and if they make that DC they spotted the sneaker.
In the system I'm trying to develop the seller rolls his D20 + appropriate skill. The buyer rolls D20 + appropriate skill. The winner of this contested roll moves the price of the product either up or down by 5% per point that they won by.
A 'reasonable' offer is considered any offer from 50% to 150% of the nominal price of the product. Refusal to purchase or sell at a 'reasonable' offer includes penalties that will range from the merchants in question (and all in his guild) refusing to trade with you from now on, or even hostility.
Any offer that is 'unreasonable' would be freely rejectable. This would be any contested die roll in which the winner won by more than 10. Say, you win by 13, that puts the price of the object to 165%. If you push that then it's 'unreasonable' and the buyer can walk away freely.
If you have a system in which either side can walk away freely any time the deal is not utterly in their favor then you've eliminated any chance of failure, any chance of "spending too much" on a buy, any chance of actually being out haggled.
Some times people do pay too much for something. Some times a merchant actually sells something with a greater discount than he would have wanted. But that range tends to be somewhat narrow (say, +/- 50%). In this system I've tried to duplicate that idea.
There will still be modifiers to the roll for demand in an area (for example). Bringing iron to an industrial center will get the seller a bonus on his negotiation roll. Bringing horseshoes to a blacksmithy to sell will get you a negative on your negotiation roll.
Another wrinkle that will be used is that low skill merchants (say, a total modifier of +7) would have a limited amount of product to sell and a limited amount of product/cash with which to buy. Yes, you'll be able to bend that guy over for 150% most times (since Willian is so skilled) but if he's only got 350cp worth of funds/products to barter with, your reward is limited (he's the kobold with kobold rewards).
The rich merchant with 2000cp worth of funds/products to spend on the items you are selling is going to be a more highly skilled negotiator. He's the guy with +20 to his check, the sort of guy who Willian might end up being stuck with a 90% sale. Well, that's what happens when you sell in bulk to rich merchants. They get a better price than the guy who can only afford to buy 1 of the geegaws you are carting around.
This system allows for an important member of the party (Merchant) who peforms a crucial function, but who can occasionally fail to get a mondo deal. Speculative trade would probably be limited to selling to merchants you already know are not as good at negotiation as Willian and selling your wares peicemeal to many of these low end merchants.
If you must unload 2 tons worth of firearms though, you can find the big time gun dealer and sell 'em to him. But... remember, he's a skilled negotiator and is going to be able to get a better price from the party than the schmuck in Klamath.
Just for feedback:
The system I've come up with works the way similiar to sneak and spot. The sneaker rolls his skill and that roll becomes the DC of the spotter. The spotter rolls and if they make that DC they spotted the sneaker.
In the system I'm trying to develop the seller rolls his D20 + appropriate skill. The buyer rolls D20 + appropriate skill. The winner of this contested roll moves the price of the product either up or down by 5% per point that they won by.
A 'reasonable' offer is considered any offer from 50% to 150% of the nominal price of the product. Refusal to purchase or sell at a 'reasonable' offer includes penalties that will range from the merchants in question (and all in his guild) refusing to trade with you from now on, or even hostility.
Any offer that is 'unreasonable' would be freely rejectable. This would be any contested die roll in which the winner won by more than 10. Say, you win by 13, that puts the price of the object to 165%. If you push that then it's 'unreasonable' and the buyer can walk away freely.
If you have a system in which either side can walk away freely any time the deal is not utterly in their favor then you've eliminated any chance of failure, any chance of "spending too much" on a buy, any chance of actually being out haggled.
Some times people do pay too much for something. Some times a merchant actually sells something with a greater discount than he would have wanted. But that range tends to be somewhat narrow (say, +/- 50%). In this system I've tried to duplicate that idea.
There will still be modifiers to the roll for demand in an area (for example). Bringing iron to an industrial center will get the seller a bonus on his negotiation roll. Bringing horseshoes to a blacksmithy to sell will get you a negative on your negotiation roll.
Another wrinkle that will be used is that low skill merchants (say, a total modifier of +7) would have a limited amount of product to sell and a limited amount of product/cash with which to buy. Yes, you'll be able to bend that guy over for 150% most times (since Willian is so skilled) but if he's only got 350cp worth of funds/products to barter with, your reward is limited (he's the kobold with kobold rewards).
The rich merchant with 2000cp worth of funds/products to spend on the items you are selling is going to be a more highly skilled negotiator. He's the guy with +20 to his check, the sort of guy who Willian might end up being stuck with a 90% sale. Well, that's what happens when you sell in bulk to rich merchants. They get a better price than the guy who can only afford to buy 1 of the geegaws you are carting around.
This system allows for an important member of the party (Merchant) who peforms a crucial function, but who can occasionally fail to get a mondo deal. Speculative trade would probably be limited to selling to merchants you already know are not as good at negotiation as Willian and selling your wares peicemeal to many of these low end merchants.
If you must unload 2 tons worth of firearms though, you can find the big time gun dealer and sell 'em to him. But... remember, he's a skilled negotiator and is going to be able to get a better price from the party than the schmuck in Klamath.
