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Vapourware Interesting currency in a cRPG?

wishbonetail

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Rubles in STALKER.
 
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I'd like to see a CRPG use gold for XP like in some TTRPGs. You level-up by going to a trainer and/or facilities to hone your abilities--this costs gold proportionate to the upgrade. It helps money retain its value, and brings some real choice to the tired trope of quest resolution where you have a suboptimal path that gives you gold and another that gives you XP.

I played on a NWN persistent world with hardcore PnP rules that did this, and it was great. You had to eat, drink, use components for many spells, resting didn't return you to full health, resting was restricted, etc. Having to bank gold for the level-up competed with what you could buy, and really kept that "scrappy adventurer" vibe going for a long time. Players were constantly out trying to make coin, and it really kept things from stagnating or peaking.
 
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In Path of Exile the only currencies are crafting materials. But the ultimate currency is your time that you are wasting on this soul-draining popamole.

Calling PoE currencies crafting materials is too kind. Those are more akin to casino tokens used for crafting. Novel way of having a skinner box design, very addictive and soul crashing.
 

JarlFrank

I like Thief THIS much
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Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
Not RPG, but I think the Metro games use ammo for currency.

An action roguelike called Colt Canyon also does that, you have 5 types of ammo (light, heavy, shotgun, arrow, dynamite) and it's used as a currency to buy items from traders. When you find a trader selling a gun you really want but he wants you to pay with the ammo type you've used all game long so you don't have enough... grrr!
 

Comte_II

Guest
Ultima 7 part 2 Serpent isle had 4 different currencies. Each town had its own currency plus gold coins could also be used to exchange for various currencies.
 

Late Bloomer

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In Fallout, bottle caps are used as a currency. They are also used to secure the contents of various drinks throughout the USA.
 
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In Diablo 2 and Guild Wars 1, there was gold, but it wasn't valuable enough, so it wasn't really used by the playerbase. Instead, the unofficial currency became an easily transported item with utility (Stones of Jordan for D2, which were small in the grid inventory, or Globs of Ectoplasm for GW1 which could be stacked).
 

Nortar

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Pathfinder: Wrath
"Life is the Emperor's currency. Spend it well."
I don't know enough about WH40K lore, but it seems there's more to that line than just overdose of pathos.

I heard somewhere (probably from Arch) that Grey Knight bolters are loaded with blessed ammunition.
And the ritual of blessing 1 round takes a life sacrifice of a righteous man, so every shot is payed by a life.
 

flabbyjack

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Try The Void, where color is your currency, HP, armor, attack, experience points, resources, ...

It wasn't in a RPG that I can recall, but how about segmented metal rods, and you can break off a portion of the rod to create a certain denomination. For example, if the rod was segmented into 10 sections, you could pay 1/10, 2/10, 5/10, etc portions of a rod, for purposes of change.

The rods could be made out of useful materials like tin, copper, iron, silver, and gold, which are useful and valuable materials in their own right. You could make a sword out of currency, for instance.

Small metal chits work similarly. And that is a common trope in RPGs and in literature.

Half-penny, anyone?

Didn't most of human civilization have useful coinage materials that could be used instead of just hoarded? The tight manipulation of coinage metal content also leads to a variety of interesting situations throughout history. Sic - forgery plots, kings recalling and re-minting coinage to value/devalue it, and more.

Don't forget leprechaun gold magic.

 
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koyota

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Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Codex+ Now Streaming!
Strange Journey uses an demon currency that's easily converted to energy. I thought this was a good excuse for why you need money to get stuff from the expedition you're in charge of.

If we are going there, It`s almost a trope of JRPGs to have Jobs classes that use your Currency to attack Enemies:
https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Gil_Toss

I suppose it makes sense, by the end of these games in your small pouch, you are wondering around with massive black hole inducing numbers of metal coins.
 

Baron Dupek

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Batteries in Space Hack
Quite annoying when you play ranged build. You either waste medkits as melee build or batteries since there's so many mobs... hope you love breaking barrels in hack'n'slash games because you need that when you play ranged.
 

Agesilaus

Antiquity Studio
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Grab the Codex by the pussy Codex USB, 2014 Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
Ultima 7 part 2 Serpent isle had 4 different currencies. Each town had its own currency plus gold coins could also be used to exchange for various currencies.

Came here to post this. I also loved the spell that let you create enormous piles of counterfeit money.
 

Beggar

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New Tomb Raider - use xp to to get skill that gives you xp gain bonus
 

coldcrow

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Ultima 7 part 2 Serpent isle had 4 different currencies. Each town had its own currency plus gold coins could also be used to exchange for various currencies.
Which is only a hassle as it forces you to convert and loses any significance once you get the spellbook and create coin.
 

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