RPG Maker Forums

So it's been a while since I talked here. Been busy writing. So here's a gameplay idea.

The Magus are a race of highly religious and very hostile druidic warriors. These men and women are creatures of cold who live without need for heat; inhabiting a beautiful frozen wonderland world as the superior intelligent race. But this society, while rich in culture and magic technolgy, are still basically in the dark ages for government and physical technology.

They have no common coin. To comminucate trade, they rely on simple barter. You give something, you get something. Help each other out to get by on this frigid world. As a religious society that values its honors and virtues, this is mostly successful and there has been little need to enforce a standard currency since.

In game, the player collects a number of different resources and entertaining comodities through various means. Things like leathers and organic material from monsters, minerals and metals harvested from the environment, and trinkets that are found randomly.

When purchasing something, say for example a weapon, the player is given a choice when purchasing that item as to how to barter for it (using an event shop of some sort). So for said weapon as example, the craftsman who made it may want either 5 Leathers, 4 Salts, or a Flawless Ice Crystal. If the player has either one of these, then they can make a choice on what to trade for the weapon to complete the transaction.

Usually, each major merchant will want the same set of four or five items for trade (you can talk to them about their needs and interests, making the 'talk to shopowner' thing a bit more useful for an rpg), so it's predictable as to what you need to prepare to get items from a certain person. And even if you lack certain items, most places have bazaars and markets with which to trade loot for loot. Also, treasures like crystals, strange items, and trinkets (like the Flawless Ice Crystal example) fall under a general goods category, and usually a person has at least one treasure that they will like and take trades for. So overall, it's not impossible to get what you need just because the monsters you've been fighting or places you've been going don't drop the stuff you want.

It's a bit slower than just standard rpg shopping, but I want to risk a slower gameplay idea and try to add a little complexity to a trade system; try to do something where the player has to think about how they spend things and how they gather money rather than just zipping through it as per usual. Rather than spending any one currency for something, you spend the actual treasure and loot you pick up in barter, and you have to manage and balance how you use and trade them.

What do you think about an idea like this? Would it be interesting, or far too cumbersome? Any feedback or suggestions would be of use. Thanks for reading.