Subject: Value System Simulator
From: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1999 19:33:54 EST

Ok, here it is.  I posted this as an idea a long time ago, and 
recently I have decided to develop the idea into its current form.  

Yes, it is granular, and yes, it is supposed to be that way.  It can 
be used as is, or as a guideline for GMs that want to simulate an 
economy.  It isn't perfect, and may require further tweaking for a 
final version (suggestions welcome), or the GM might want to modify 
it to his liking.

Without further ado, here it is.  All the tables are repeated at the
end of the document for easy tabulation.

The first thing that must be determined about any item is how common 
or how widely spread it is.  

If the item is Extremely Rare, multiply the Base Price by 10.  
Extremely Rare classifies very hard to find items, not necessarily 
valuable, but hard to find.  You might be able to special order it 
from a specialty store, or maybe only find it used from a guy in Europe
 and the like.  Items of this classification are typically powerful 
Magic Items in a fantasy campaign, or Military Grade weapons on the 
black market in a more modern campaign, or, even, a '57 Chevy at TL8.  

If the item is Very Rare, multiply the Base Price by 5.  Very Rare 
Items might be able to be found in certain few-and-far-between 
specialty shops.  Some examples of Very Rare items might be a Gold 
Plated Commemorative WWII Colt .45 ACP, Superman #1 comic book, or a 
mint condition 1903 penny.

If the item is Rare, multiply the Base Price by 2.  Rare items are 
found at specialty shops that are common depending on the area-like 
college textbook at a college bookstore, which you only find on 
college campuses.  The item might only be available mail order from a 
hard to find catalogue, or at a rare type of shop.  I would put GURPS 
books in this category depending on the area, in my area (major suburb 
of a major city) we have 1 comic bookstore that sells a limited number 
of GURPS books, and unless something has changed, the Waldenbooks and 
Barnes-and-Nobles, which are quite common, don't carry them.  

If the item is Uncommon, multiply the Base Price by 1.  Uncommon items 
are readily available at the proper merchant.  An item such as chicken 
breast is easy to find-go to your local supermarket-but you are 
unlikely to find it at your drug or convenience store.

If the item is Common, multiply the Base Price by 0.5.  Common items 
are very wide spread, and can be found almost anywhere you go.  You 
may still have to go the appropriate store-like cough medicine at a 
drug store-but any store in the proper category will have the item, 
additionally, local convenience stores might stock the item.  Aspirin 
is a good example.

If the item is Very Common, multiply the Base Price by 0.2.  Very 
Common items are even more wide spread, and can be found anywhere.  
Magazines (any kind, not a particular one) or candy bars.  
Supermarkets, drug stores, convenience all stock candy bars and 
magazines.

If the item is Plentiful, multiply the Base Price by 0.1.  Very few 
items qualify as plentiful, and most Plentiful are either given away, 
or not bought and sold at all.  The only item I can really think of 
that is truly plentiful in the sense I mean would be lawn grass.

Once you have established the availability of the item, you can go to 
the next step-the quality of the item.

While a knife is available at any hardware or knife store, how good is 
it?  

If the item is of Very Poor quality, multiply the Base Price by an 
additional 0.1, cumulative with the availability modifier.  This would 
represent a knife that is not only of bad/weak design to begin with, 
and rusted to boot.  This is largely a matter of judgement, and the GM 
may want to apply damage modifiers, increase malfunction numbers, or 
lower the number at which the weapon or item breaks.  Again, applying 
these penalties is up to the GM; it is much too subjective to put a 
definite penalty.  In the case of livestock, this may represent a sick 
or scrawny/malnourished animal that may not be good to eat, is rabid 
or the like.

If the item is of Poor quality, apply an additional 0.2 multiplier to 
the item.  Again, any modifiers applied to a weapon or gadget are up 
to the GM, but it is of better quality than Very Poor-but not by much.

If the item is of Low quality, apply an additional 0.5 multiplier to 
the item.  This is generally a "cheap" item, generic item (Bran Flakes
with Raisins, GPC Approved) or other non-brand name item.  Some generic
items are required to be identical to brand name versions (like 
medicine), in which case the multiplier represents the discount for 
buying generic rather than any actual decease in quality.  GMs are 
encouraged to use established low quality/cheap modifiers given in 
sourcebooks for items in this category.

If the item is of Fair quality, apply an additional multiplier of 1 
to the item.  This is the general, run-of-the-mill item.  Items listed 
as-is in sourcebooks are of this quality.

If the item is of Good quality, apply an additional multiplier of 2 
to the item.  Items in this category are "Fine" quality items in 
sourcebooks.

If the item is of Very Good quality, apply an additional multiplier 
of 5 to the item.  Items in this category are "Very Fine" quality 
items in sourcebooks.

If the item is of Excellent quality, apply an additional multiplier 
of 10 to the item. Items in this category are so fine; they are near 
magical in quality.  Items in this category are either magical, or of 
a lower Tech Level than the one the campaign is at.  How much lower is 
up to the GM, 2-3 Tech Levels lower is suggested.  However, an item of 
lower TL manufactured at a higher one may be incongruous with the 
price, it may seem the item should be much cheaper.  In this case, the 
multiplier represents an item made with expensive or advanced 
materials, such as BPC or other Ultra Tech materials.  As with Very 
Poor and Poor, any bonus modifiers are much too subjective, if any 
bonuses are to be given, it is left to the GM to decide what and how 
much.

Now you are ready for the final step: the demand of the item.

If the item is in Extremely Low demand, just about nobody wants or 
cares about it.  Apply an additional multiplier of 0.1.

If the item is in Very Low demand, few people want or care about the 
item.  Apply an additional multiplier of 0.2.

If the item is in Low demand, people might need the item, which is 
probably the only reason they buy it.  Apply an additional multiplier 
of 0.5.

If the item is in Moderate demand, most people need the item, and 
buy it regularly.  Paper products of all kinds fall into this category.  
Apply an additional multiplier of 1.

If the item is in High demand, people don't necessarily need it, but 
they WANT it.  Most retail items are in this category.  CDs, action 
figures, even books are in this category.

If the item is in Very High demand, many people want it, but probably 
none of them need it.  The item may just be popular all the time, or 
just a fad.  Expensive computers that people only use for word 
processing (like a 450Mhz Pentium II), DVD players, or just very NEW 
items just coming into the market are in this category.  Many, if not 
all items in this category are near-luxury items-lower priced items 
are available, but the item is popular enough that people will pay a 
premium price for a minimal gain in real value or performance.  Apply 
an additional multiplier of 5 to the item.

If the item is in Extremely High demand, people don't need the item 
at all; it is pure whim, luxury or fad.  Some notables are Beanie 
Babies, Lexus cars, or Furbies.  The multiplier does not necessarily 
reflect a manufacture price increase, but an increase in the price at 
the place of sale.  Apply an additional multiplier of 10 to the item.

Additionally, these modifiers can be applied to a Merchant roll, and 
be used as appropriate: find the item, argue the price, etc.  It 
follows the same format-if the item was Extremely Rare, apply the 
Extremely Rare modifier to the Merchant roll, if it is of Good 
quality, apply an additional Good quality merchant roll modifier, 
etc.

Availability:=09=09Modifier to Merchant Roll:
Extremely Rare=09=09=09-4
Very Rare=09=09=09-2
Rare=09=09=09=09-1
Uncommon=09=09 =09 0
Common=09=09=09 =09 1
Very Common=09=09=09 2
Plentiful=09=09=09 4

Quality:=09=09Modifier to Merchant Roll:
Very Poor=09=09=09 4
Poor=09=09=09=09 2
Low=09=09=09=09 1
Fair=09=09=09=09 0
Good=09=09=09=09-1
Very Good=09=09=09-2
Excellent=09=09=09-4

Demand:=09=09=09Modifier to Merchant Roll:
Extremely Low=09=09=09 4
Very Low=09=09=09 2
Low=09=09=09=09 1
Moderate=09=09=09 0
High=09=09=09=09-1
Very High=09=09=09-2
Extremely High=09=09=09-4

Add or subtract each modifier to find the final bonus/penalty to the 
Merchant roll.

Well, that's it.  Let me know what you think.  Here are all the 
tables for easy reference:

Availability:       Multiplier:
Extremely Rare=09=0910
Very Rare=09=095
Rare=09=09=092
Uncommon=09=091
Common=09=09=090.5
Very Common=09=090.2
Plentiful=09=090.1

Quality:=09    Multiplier:
Very Poor=09=090.1
Poor=09=09=090.2
Low=09=09=090.5
Fair=09=09=091
Good=09=09=092
Very Good=09=095
Excellent=09=0910

Demand:=09=09    Multiplier:
Extremely Low=09=090.1
Very Low=09=090.2
Low=09=09=090.5
Moderate=09=091
High=09=09=092
Very High=09=095
Extremely High=09=0910

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