[UA] Disinterest is for Sissies (was UA LARP)

[James O'Rance]

Royal Minister of Stuff <yokeltania at yahoo.com> said:

 >>>I told my narrators that they should actively accept bribes (with the 
stipulation that anything a player offered was a valid bribe)<<<

For the purpose of giving game currency some actual value I've run a game 
where you were forced to bribe GMs just to get their attention. Once you 
explain to players how the system works, there'sno problem.

Games where currency doesn't have some innate value suffer either from 
radical inflation (600% was quoted as the rate in one game I know of) or a 
break-down into a barter economy. Why buy objects and props with money when 
you can just exchange the stuff for something useful?

Multiple forms of currency in one game is also a risky proposition. I played 
in a freeform where there were three types of currency; just by being 
disparaging, I helped an early devaluation of one currency that quickly made 
it worthless. Nobody wanted the stuff, even though it was theoretically more 
valuable than the gold bars I was trading.

Money *has* to have some place in a UA game, so considering what actual use 
it has is important. The capitalist system can break down rather easily in 
the context of a live game, so currency needs to be more than just a medium 
of exchange.

Cheers,

James O’Rance
“Divine being creates petting zoo. It gets out of hand.”
- The Bible (summarised by John W. Mangrum)

http://www.geocities.com/dragon-dreamer/




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