What Can I Buy In Town?

I just wrapped up going through the various equipment lists and picking out what is as basic gear and what is a special order. I was going to go by broad categories, but as I looked through them, there was a lot that didn't quite fit, so that meant pouring over lists of gear. Good times. In the end, I did get the catalogs I need. What's on them, you ask? Well, that's a bit much to just list out here (and would be really boring to read), so I'm going skip that. Instead, I'll talk a little bit about purchasing gear in Alnwich.

Buying Gear

Alnwich isn't some Podunk, but but it isn't huge, either. With a population of around 2,500 people, everybody knows everyone in town by sight, if not by name, and word travels fast. The people there don't really go on adventures, since merely surviving is so difficult, but their primary industry is venturing into the Wilderlands for pelts and furs. What all of this means is that available goods are typical of a village that subsists on farming and fishing, but also has a lot of cold-weather camping and survival gear available.

Players who want to buy goods will have to roll 3d against a preset number, modified by Alnwich's current Search modifier. At start of play with a population of ~2,500 people, that modifier will be -1, but hopefully that will change as the game progresses. The base target numbers will also shift, but that will be market-driven, not size-driven.

On a success, a suitable item is ready for purchase right now. On a failure, it can be specially ordered. Special orders must take 1d+1 weeks to arrive, cost 20% extra, and must be paid for up front. On a critical failure, double the time it takes to arrive and increase cost by 100% instead of just 20%.

Basic Goods: 15 or less.

Basic Concoctions: Always.

Special Orders: Never.

Special Concoctions: Never.

Basic Weapons: 15 or less; subtract 10% of Cost Factor from this roll.

Basic Armor: 9 or less; subtract 10% of Cost Factor from this roll.

Order Magic Items: Never.

As GM, I will reserve the right to arbitrarily decide some items are simply not available ever. These will all be items I have not explicitly included on my lists of gear and will be addressed on a case by case basis. If an item is simply not available, the player can certainly try again in 1d+1 weeks, but that doesn't mean my answer will change.

New Characters

Now that I've addressed how existing characters can get gear, what about new ones? I don't want to be a dick and make people roll to get their hands on stuff at character generation, so I'll just make everything on my lists available, excluding magic items, weapons, armor, etc. If you want to buy a balanced, very fine, ornate +3, orchicalm, two-handed sword, go for it. You're paying for it somehow, anyway. Maybe you don't have armor, or maybe you just spent a lot of points on cash. Either way, I'm not going to say no at this point.

Now once play begins, you have to roll and all of the rules kick in. So really, players are probably encouraged to buy big ticket items during creation so they don't have issues getting them later. Of course, since they can always special order anything, that might not be a huge concern. Personally, I'd recommend players gear up for suitability over buying that superduper shiny MacGuffin they really, really really want. The money will come, if you live long enough.

Evolving Alnwich

The last thing I want to mention is that I don't intend for Alnwich to be a static place. Its population will change based on what the players do. Its economy will evolve as they haul back and spend loot locally. And I'm going to need rules for all of this. I'm currently looking into how Adventure Conqueror King does settlements for inspiration, and I'll try to write up a proper length bit on that when I work out what I'm going to do. In the meantime, I'm still looking for ideas, inspiration, and suggestions.