I prefer a little bit more bookkeeping but this method reminds me of my Death Heart and my Supply Heart. One element that you might want to take into consideration is that HEARTS can be added over time as loot. Find a pile of coin? Add a SACK to your character sheet! You now have 20 HP worth of coin!
As for how things should cost, maybe use these tables of mine?
When a player is trying to buy something, determine if there is a chance of failure. If there is, then consider the scarcity of the something and its assigned TN before you ask the player to roll a D20.
Scarcity |
TN |
EASY/HARD modifier |
Common |
10 |
The group doesn’t trust you or they have a personal reason to oppose you. |
Uncommon |
12 |
There might be a shortage or the supplier only comes at certain times. |
Rare |
15 |
It requires hard-to-find resources to build or a level of profeciency that is not common. |
Exclusive |
18 |
The group is secretive or it is only handed out to allies. |
On a success, or if there is no chance of failure, the player damages his SACK () with the appropriate amount of Effort:
Importance |
Effort |
Details |
Simple |
D4 (2) |
Unskilled labour, one-note tasks, tip |
Tiring |
D6 (3) |
Day-long repetition, encumbering, special conditions |
Proficiency |
D8 (4) |
Long studies, practice or critical information is not shared around. |
Emotional |
D10 (5) |
It’s been in the family for a very long time or it reminds the owner of an decisive event. |
Large |
D12 (6) |
Building a room, long-range magic spells, mighty bodyguards |
Importance is supposed to mean how essential the something is to the seller. But in trying to consider services as well I think that I may not have made a good column. Feel free to modify it.
I have provided the average effort for each die as services generally have a flat cost. However, in certain situations the players could be made to roll dice to hire NPCs.
Don’t be afraid to make up a pool of dice when building a tower, gathering materials and hiring a horde of workers. Especially when the players have amassed plenty of SACKS for such projects. If the amount rolled is superior to their total SACK HP, then this is the opportunity for a quest!
What do you think?