I might be reading this incorrectly, but it seems that if you want to have any cash dice you need to be physically carrying the coins, gems, or whatever, which is obvious, but problematic when it comes to characters who are either too flush (which is rare) or hoarder characters (of which I have one). Obviously, you could store your cash at your house if you have one and are in your home town, or leave it with somebody you trust (fool!), but I was throwing around another idea.
In the town phase, for Lifestyle +1, you can do some banking. Banking allows you to deposit or withdraw money, and in return you are given a deposit slip. You can take this deposit slip to any reputable banker and it will be honored–but be careful nothing happens to it . . .
Maybe I’m Doing It Wrong, but I’d totally allow players to Circle up a moneylender-type fellow who would hold onto their coin (and only coin!), essentially acting like a bank. They’d have to Circle him up each time they wanted some of their funds, of course, and only while in his town. He’s certainly not going to extend them credit, but I have to imagine in a Bustling Metropolis there’d be someone willing to store coin acquired by questionable means from men and women of ill repute (so that he could lend it to others, at interest).
They haven’t bothered, though, because they’ve never been so flush with cash. The Thief is wearing some valuables, though, as a kind of emergency stash on her person!
There’s an interaction with Resources here that becomes a little unclear - that attribute is sort of like “money in the bank”, and I’m not sure this works well in conjunction with it. Better for them to spend their money and get their checks to improve Resources, I think.
I bet there are plenty of individuals willing to take a loan from an adventurer and would promise to pay it back with interest. It’s not a bank but it fulfils the same function.
If you have a reliable institution with a foothold in at least two towns, like two branches of a wealthy family or two temples of an organized religion, you could have a kind of letters of credit: give your coin to temple A, receive a letter of credit, travel across the dangerous wilderness to temple B, present the letter and get coin back (minus a small fee).
The Knights Templar invented this in the 12th century for the sake of pilgrims travelling to the holy land. It’s a kind of traveller’s cheque, and probably the only form of banking I can imagine working in the world of Torchbearer. Of course, as others pointed out, you have Resources instead of a bank account, but if you need to move improbably large amounts of cash from here to there, this might work.
It assumes some evolved civic infrastructure, but it could certainly work. In my games, players tend to take their loot to moneylenders and exchange them for gems, which are easier to carry. Some, especially dwarves, then turn those gems into jewelry that can be worn around the neck or on the hands.
For reals, though, I would totally let folk in the know get letters of credit from a church via circles and, fingers crossed, be able to circle someone up in another church who will honour the letter properly. Heck, loans aren’t entirely out of the question either, but the security on them would be entertaining to come up with.
A tip; earrings, gold rings braided into your hair, various more-or-less intimate piercings. There are ways to carry treasure around that doesn’t use a slot - let your body be your bank!
Ah, I don’t know … I think this is exactly what Resources is for, at least in part. It seems to me you can have either hard, tangible treasure, jewelry, and coins, which go into the inventory, even if it is just a letter of credit; or you can have intangible, fictionally pliable Resource points.
The inventory gives you slots for wearing jewelry on two hands, around your neck and in your hair/on your head (head worn). For me, stuff that does not show up in the inventory is covered by Resources. I mean, when you make a Resources test in some backwater village where nobody knows you or is willing to lend you a groat, you have to pay with something, right? I imagine adventurers pulling off their rings, cutting off gold buttons from their jerkin, taking that ruby stud out from their earlobe – all part of Resources, invisible to the inventory. (In addition they probably pawn non-essential stuff from their skill kits).
I’m sure this is where a part of those Resource points go when you increase your rating. It’s like the tool kit for your skills – once it’s covered by Resources, there’s no need for it to show up in your inventory any longer. (Of course Resources also includes promises, your ability to wheedle small loans out of people, friends covering for you etc.)
I like this idea, too. I get the points about Resources, but it still stings to leave cash dice on the table in service of the meta-game. Do you have them exchange their cash for gems in town for Lifestyle +1?
It generally takes a while for the characters to build up their Resources to a point where storing spare cash becomes a problem. You don’t want it in your pack taking up precious space!
I like the idea of exchanging cash for gems. It addresses the space problem without totally removing it like the banking might.
Thor, what’s the exchange rate for cash to gems and back? I feel like based on the market rules, you’d end up losing a lot of cash. Or do you do a straight value conversion for cash to gems? Or is losing cash part of the idea?
Selling Salvage or Kit only applies to gear. I’d do it this way: Moneychangers change coins into gems as a service. Increase lifestyle maintenance by 1 for each 3D of coins changed into gems.
