Stormbringer redux # 17 - Abstract Weight and Wealth

(NB: Yes yes, I realize I skipped # 17. Things are ready when they are. This isn't work, there are no deadlines thankfully.)

I've circled back to this post after a long pause because it was daunting. But something has clicked in my brain, so I thought I'd churn it out.

Here are my thoughts on Concrete vs Abstract systems of Weight & Wealth. I will go through Original Rules, Concrete Rules & Reasoning, Abstract Rules & Reasoning, and finally define When To Use them and suggest Other Effects.

1 ORIGINAL RULES

Famously, the old Stormbringer rules had nothing about carrying weight. Players were on an honour system.

As for wealth, there was starting wealth based on character background, stretching from Nobles all the way down to peasant Farmers. There was also a catalogue of things to buy, but nothing on living costs, quality of items, etc.

Let's try to connect these things in useful or interesting ways.

2 WHEN TO USE CONCRETE VS ABSTRACT WEIGHT & WEALTH

As noted earlier, I think the implementation of 2 styles of play, Pulp vs Saga, would make gaming more enjoyable. Each of these dictate different rules to help emulate the feel of their source material.

PULP PLAY = CONCRETE RULES, ELRIC!

Pulp is when you want to hack and slash through the Young Kingdoms. In this mode, player characters need to face limits, and thus Concrete Wealth and Weight are natural choices. Just like Moonglum in the Elric books, characters are more concerned with actual coin than abstractions, and thus limiting how much they can carry feeds into this aesthetic. The Elric! game also limits the characters to humans, and so is firmly in this camp.

SAGA PLAY = ABSTRACT RULES, STORMBRINGER

Saga play is when characters strive for higher ideals, fighting for a cause, opposing the gods themselves, even if it means destroying worlds. In this case, stopping to count coins in their purse or bank vault seems counter productive. Although Stormbringer toys with this idea of a higher struggle, especially with its Elan and Agent rules, there are no clear rules underpinning this aesthetic.

3 CONCRETE RULES EXAMPLES

WEIGHT

For weight, you can use the encumbrance rules I proposed (HERE), or something from a Chaosium product. This will make players more wary of the gear they choose and any treasure they pick up.

WEALTH

Likewise, the starting wealth and price lists are useful. However, we could add levels of wealth & living costs to give some connective tissue. Here is my previous stab at it.

SOCIAL RANK                        CURRENCY               REAL WORLD

Melnibonean Imperial               Melnibonean Wheel      500, 000 dollars

Melnibonean Nobles                   Silver Dragon (MA)      500 dollars

YK Royalty                                  Large Gold (LG)          100 dollars

YK Nobles                                   Small Gold (SG)          50 dollars

Clergy                                           Large Silver (LS)          10 dollars

Urbanites (Merchants, Rogues)      Small Silver (SS)          5 dollars

Rural Folk (Hunters, Farmers)      Large Bronze (LB)          1 dollar

Dispossessed (Beggars)                  Small Bronze (SB)          ½ dollar


STARTING WEALTH

Starting wealth could thus be calculated in the currency of the social rank. For example, according to the 4E rules, a Young Kingdom noble would 100 x 1D100 LB, and a Hunter with 1D100 LB. You could either keep this, which seems reasonable, or start all characters with 1D100 X INT of their currency to simplify things.


LIVING COSTS

One staple of pulp fiction is the constant need to go find treasure. Conan gets the rich at the end of a story, and is broke and needs to go adventuring again at the start of the next. Living costs help give this impetus for adventure.

If we make living costs 100 - INT in the requisite coins a month for all characters, this would give them a motivation to adventure and try to accumulate wealth. Small currency means characters live cheaply, large means ostentatiously. Note that even Melniboneans live using gold, because their currency is so rare and a result of exploitation that it can never be spent on mundane things. Instead, it is reinvested in keeping the status quo.

ITEM COSTS

The Stormbringer item price list is very limited, as is Elric! By extrapolating costs based on the currency suggested above, we open up the game to an interpretive economics that enriches the whole experience.

For example, a Riding Horse is listed as 100 LB in Stormbringer. Moving up or down the social ranking, we get very different 

SOCIAL RANK                        CURRENCY               REAL WORLD

Melnibonean Imperial               Melnibonean Wheel      A fine dragon with ornate palanquin

Melnibonean Nobles                   Silver Dragon (MA)      A young dragon with simple saddle

YK Royalty                                  Large Gold (LG)          A trained & intelligent warhorse plus retinue

YK Nobles                                   Small Gold (SG)          A fine, fast steed with a pair of mounted guards

Clergy                                           Large Silver (LS)          A thoroughbred trotter

Urbanites (Merchants, Rogues)      Small Silver (SS)          A gentle city trained mount

Rural Folk (Hunters, Farmers)      Large Bronze (LB)          A rough riding horse

Dispossessed (Beggars)                  Small Bronze (SB)          Broken nag a fortnight from the glue factory

The same range of prices and qualities can be extrapolated for all items on the list through discussion between GM and players.

WEALTH GAP

Note that poorer characters should never be allowed to 'piggy back' off the wealth of others. Pulp worlds are dog eat dog, so any rich Noble character would have to pay poorer characters in their retinue, while poorer characters would be constantly forced to work or adventure to make ends meet.

4 ABSTRACT RULES

WEIGHT

If we want to step away from the bookkeeping to focus on story, we can tie encumbrance to character occupation. First, we can link carryable arms & armor:

Warriors - Any armor and shield, up to 3 weapons (usually one main, a side, and one ranged)

Soft urbanites - One side arm (ie boot dagger or cudgel), with one more when prepared for battle. Can only use soft armor and small shields (target, buckler).

Hardy countryfolk - One side and main weapon (usually bow), plus one extra when prepared for battle. Can use any armor except full plate, and up to medium shields (target to heater).

For other objects, common sense judgments of weather it is light (no penalty), carryable (fills arms and slows movements), or draggable (so heavy can only be dragged slowly with character exhausted afterwards).

WEALTH

Similarly, we can do away with number of coins and simply use the following descriptors for any equipment or services the character uses.

SOCIAL RANK                       CURRENCY                       LUXURY DESCRIPTOR

Melnibonean Imperial               Melnibonean Wheel          Decadent

Melnibonean Nobles                   Silver Dragon (MA)          Opulent

YK Royalty                               Large Gold (LG)                  Magnificent

YK Nobles                                 Small Gold (SG)                  Ornate

Clergy                                           Large Silver (LS)              Distinguished

Urbanites (Merchants, Rogues)      Small Silver (SS)             Clean, proper

Rural Folk (Hunters, Farmers)      Large Bronze (LB)              Rustic, sturdy

Dispossessed (Beggars)                   Small Bronze (SB)          Squalorous, unhealthy

STARTING WEALTH

Here we do away with costs, and simply decide what a character would have based on their Social Rank. In my playtest last year, we had a Melnibonean noble high priest, who started with a mystical yacht made of strange alloys by lost ancient craftsmanship. His companions were various YK folk, such as a Weeping Waste warrior who had arms, armour, a pony, and naught else.

LIVING & ITEM COSTS & ACCESS

Once again, abstraction does away with all price lists, and characters get the item quality they can afford. The Melnibonean high priest would usually have opulent meals in Imrryr, but would have to settle for lower fare while traveling in the Young Kingdoms. The Weeping Waster would be satisfied with rustic food, such as tartar steak seasoned under his saddle and cooked by his horse's bodyheat.

4 OTHER EFFECTS

One other effect of choosing Pulp vs Saga play is whether the Allegiances system should be used. But this is a tale for a different time.