I'm more or less following the suggested adventure seed, which is the dwarves offer the party a 'hefty sum'. Some have suggested they might offer even a castle for it (though one the players may have to reclaim from its current inhabitants) and a deed to the land/trade. Which is an interesting step towards Stronghold play, and I kind of dig it, but I'm not sure I'm ready at the end of session 4 to head that way just yet?I think you should consider 1) the resources available to who they are trying to sell it to and 2) what that group/person would be willing to do to acquire it.
The dwarves might trade for it if the price is fair. But if the players ask for too much how many dwarves vs how many pcs? Would they just take it? If the dwarves do it kind of hints towards it's greater importance while still removing it from the players hands. What is the PC's relationship with the dwarves at that stage?
I'm more or less following the suggested adventure seed, which is the dwarves offer the party a 'hefty sum'. Some have suggested they might offer even a castle for it (though one the players may have to reclaim from its current inhabitants) and a deed to the land/trade. Which is an interesting step towards Stronghold play, and I kind of dig it, but I'm not sure I'm ready at the end of session 4 to head that way just yet?
Considering the Princesses write up, money and lands seem a trivial offering on her part to claim the sacred weapon. But since the economy isn't spelt out very well, it's hard to say what level of wealth she would consider trivial.
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Then again, imagine if they sell the artifact for a few gold coins to some traveling merchant, only to realize at a later date they need it to make a crucial alliance! Imagine the look on their faces when it dawns on them they had the means to form the alliance in their hand and they just sold it. Now you've got a whole new adventure finding that merchant and get the hammer back. Who knows where to find him/her? And to whom has this merchant shown the hammer? Will other forces be out hunting for the same artifact? (Most certainly had it been my campaign!) I'd totally let them sell the hammer just to have the plot hook of having them to retrieve it later...
The party was offered the choice between deed to a castle and lordship over a nearby village (which would require them cleaning out the castle and repairing it though they didn't know this) or 40 gold. They opted for the quick pay out and have been living fairly well off their their coin for awhile. Interestingly, the encumbrance system is this game is so brutal that even though they have the coin, no one has bothered to upgrade to Plate armor or anything and almost everyone is running around in leather or studded leather (only one character has chainmail and they found that on a dead guy and repaired it). So power-wise, the gold hasn't had a huge impact on the game.I'm more or less following the suggested adventure seed, which is the dwarves offer the party a 'hefty sum'. Some have suggested they might offer even a castle for it (though one the players may have to reclaim from its current inhabitants) and a deed to the land/trade. Which is an interesting step towards Stronghold play, and I kind of dig it, but I'm not sure I'm ready at the end of session 4 to head that way just yet?
Considering the Princesses write up, money and lands seem a trivial offering on her part to claim the sacred weapon. But since the economy isn't spelt out very well, it's hard to say what level of wealth she would consider trivial.
Sorry if this is a necropost, but it's a thread that's really food-for-thought for me:
Even at Session 4, it might be worth it. When I consider what NPCs in the FL are willing to offer a priceless item, I ask myself whether they might underbid so as not to show desperation. Given the importance here, land/deeds might be the explicit reward, but the dwarves here might also be offering the implicit reward of extreme gratitude and later aid?
How did this end up playing out for your group?
The party was offered the choice between deed to a castle and lordship over a nearby village (which would require them cleaning out the castle and repairing it though they didn't know this) or 40 gold. They opted for the quick pay out and have been living fairly well off their their coin for awhile. Interestingly, the encumbrance system is this game is so brutal that even though they have the coin, no one has bothered to upgrade to Plate armor or anything and almost everyone is running around in leather or studded leather (only one character has chainmail and they found that on a dead guy and repaired it). So power-wise, the gold hasn't had a huge impact on the game.
They felt too 'low level' to actually hold a castle and wanted to get out and experience more of the world before being tied down. That was their main reason for passing on the stronghold.The party was offered the choice between deed to a castle and lordship over a nearby village (which would require them cleaning out the castle and repairing it though they didn't know this) or 40 gold. They opted for the quick pay out and have been living fairly well off their their coin for awhile. Interestingly, the encumbrance system is this game is so brutal that even though they have the coin, no one has bothered to upgrade to Plate armor or anything and almost everyone is running around in leather or studded leather (only one character has chainmail and they found that on a dead guy and repaired it). So power-wise, the gold hasn't had a huge impact on the game.
I take it they've taken relatively little interest in stronghold-building? Or did they decide to build something safe or more centrally located from scratch? When I was first playing, I was most excited to see my first chunk of real gold not for the equipment, but for bigger and/or more abstract things the party could build with it, so I'm always curious what a party does with money in FL once they're at a level of Encumbrance they're comfortable with.