Context: this is a draft appendix from my upcoming title Carved in Stone, which is a setting guide for 7th Century Pictland. It accompanies a wider section on Pictish trade, but is a separate and more nuanced discussion held in the back of the book.
Update 30/11/2024: Added new sections on The One Ring, and Haggling and Bartering.
Most evidence indicates that the Picts used a mixture of gift-giving and bartering to trade, and that they didn’t use a standardised currency, though precious metals like silver were used for large or symbolic transactions.
In Gift Economies, members often seek to ‘pay it forward’, sharing excesses freely rather than incurring debts or needing equal exchanges to be able to trade. However, there is still social and cultural pressure to participate; if no one gives gifts, no one receives gifts.
In Barter Economies, set deals are agreed on and fulfilled. Deals can be immediate exchanges or have delayed terms, and social norms and practices are put in place to make sure they’re honoured.
The Pict’s way of trading is very different to the rules of most roleplaying games, which often use resources like ‘gold pieces’ or ‘credits’ not just to buy and sell equipment, but also to conceptualise value. If we’re trying to roleplay as the Picts, can we do so without using money of any kind?
For many roleplaying games, their main purpose is for the players to go on adventures. Resources like ‘hit points’ and ‘abilities’ broadly summarise a character's capabilities in a way everyone can understand at a glance.
Different games will have more rules for aspects that players enjoy. In Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), players have hundreds of factors to consider when it comes to engaging in fantastical tactical combat; how you distribute your character’s ability points, what class you invest levels into, which spells you can cast, what weapons you equip, where you move to and who you attack, and so on. In this way, D&D is a combat focused game, and it supports its players in indulging in combat encounters.
Similarly, games will have streamlined rules for aspects of play that are relevant, but not an intended core focus of the story. D&D’s economy runs on gold pieces (gp), which has a static value. A battleaxe is inherently worth 10gp — it needs to be, because other rules (like how much loot is in a monster’s lair) are balanced around these values remaining consistent. D&D does not have rules for, say, calculating what proportion of a dragon’s hoard is out-of-circulation currency, or determining how those old coins convert to the standardised gold piece. Nor does it have advice for the legal proceedings in declaring the contents of that hoard to municipal governing powers, nor what tax bracket obtaining such a hoard places the players into, nor how dragon’s keep their hoard’s worth in line with their local governing body’s rate of inflation. In this way, D&D is not a civic-economics focused game and it does not actively support that form of play
The rules we use to abstract trade and barter creates expectations for the players.
Our first example comes from D&D’s Equipment List, which prices up tents, pitons, rations, and all manner of potential things a character might need, including battle-axes. This list sets certain expectations: you can buy a battleaxe; perhaps you might need a battleaxe; it is reasonable for you to want to buy a battleaxe. This makes sense, because a large part of D&D’s ruleset surrounds combat. Importantly, no matter how you feel about it, players can expect to go to a store, spend 10gp, and get a battleaxe.
Let’s compare this to a second game, Blades in the Dark (BITD). Each player has access to a large Item List custom to their character’s class. They also start each adventure with a number of undefined ‘slots’; at any point they can pick things from their item list to place into a slot, as if they had always had that item with them. However, once picked, the decision is permanent (they can’t swap it for a different item until the end of the adventure).
Like D&D’s equipment list, BITD’s item list also sets expectations. It restricts the tools freely available to each player, which in turn encourages their creative use to solve problems. Similar to D&D, the method of obtaining is streamlined in favour of potential use; players can only pick so often, but it’s assumed they can always pick from their list.
Lastly, let’s look at a third example, The One Ring (TOR). In TOR, player characters have War Gear (armaments used to fight) and a small number of Useful Items (limitless supplies of specific tools which grant bonuses when used outside of combat). Characters rarely buy anything, instead starting out with whatever they are entitled to, and replacing damaged war gear or spent useful items in places of safety at no cost to themselves. Importantly, the number of useful items a character starts with for an adventure is decided by their ‘standard of living’ (e.g. poor, frugal, common, prosperous, etc). This status changes through the consequences of their adventures.
Different expectations are set here by TOR. Differing from BITD, the tools a player has access to are more limited and also more regularly replenishable, so emphasis is placed on what players choose to do with them. Unlike D&D, players do not buy specific quantities and preplan, but instead try to relate their self-chosen arsenal to the scene at hand
This leads us back to the Picts. Compared to how most games conceive of the past, things move at a slower pace back in 690 CE. Almost everything that the Picts owned and used was custom made, or part of an existing network of supply.
If a tool isn’t directly brought from a player’s own home or lifestyle, it’s probably borrowed — especially if that player is travelling. And, of course, anything that’s borrowed will be expected to be returned.
If a player wants something entirely new, like a linen shirt, there is no general store they can buy it from. They’ll need to find someone roughly the same size as them that they can make a deal with, or commission one to be made (which could take days or weeks, depending on the circumstances).
Rules exist to facilitate the game’s desired experience. In both D&D and BITD, their rules focus on propelling the players into combat encounters or tricky heists.
When we engage in historical roleplay, we should consider what experiences we’re aiming to create. Both combat and heists can occur in Pictish stories, but a large part of living as a Pict is being in community. How can we reconcile systems that are designed to skip interacting with your community, while also not having to redesign those systems from the ground up?
It’s unlikely that your roleplaying game of choice will have a variant set of rules for barter-gift economies, and there’s no one-size-fits-all ruleset that we can recommend to overwrite what's in your handbook. Instead, think about these different aspects, and how you could adjust your rules to accommodate them.
As previously discussed, the rules of a roleplaying game will guide players in what they should expect. If you’re going to change the rules, it helps to list out what new expectations you want. The following ideas try to bring social interactions into the spotlight, push players to regularly rely on their communities, and dis-incentivise giving out generic loot. The cumulative goal is to explore a Pictish way of life, one that was highly interdependent.
Instead of preparing for adventures by buying things from a generic equipment list, players can be inspired by their current location. What might players be able to find in a fishing village, compared to a farming town or a mountain fort? Players are encouraged to use any tool at hand by virtue of its presence, so consider what would reasonably be available, and in what sorts of quantities. Finding a way to use these tools will create an immersive and more memorable encounter than picking from the same generic list each time.
In the fishing village of Aberdail, players can easily get a hold of nets, ropes, wicker traps, small boats with rowing oars, live bait and stinking fish guts, alongside more regular homestead tools like frying pans, barrels, blankets, torches and candles, and so on.
Importantly, things like swords, spears, grappling hooks, flammable oil, and bows would be much rarer in a fishing village — there’s no need for them here. Not presenting them as options encourages other forms of problem solving. If such a thing is needed, it could become a key part of the story to find it
Uuid needs a sword for his plan to work. One of the local villagers owns a rusty iron sword, and after tracking them down they explain it has been passed through their mothers’ side for three generations. They claim it’s cursed, and won’t part with it for fear of freeing dark spirits into the world!
Whoever the players are working with will probably want them to succeed, whether it's a village elder, the town guard or a noble’s estate. They’ll want to supply the players with whatever they need (within reason), and may lend them valuable tools or grant them access to exclusive services. The Picts often travelled light, so returning borrowed tools will also keep the players unencumbered, and ready for their next adventure.
Enfret is deeply embroiled in Pictish politics. They’ve been given another mission by a Nobleman of Ce, this time to quietly take out a retired Hound who knows too much about the noble’s past. Enfret has been lent the Noble’s signet ring, and can use it to acquire many different things (for example, poison, for “rats” in the house). However, they must use it slyly; if anyone can link this hit job back to the Nobleman, Enfret is in deep trouble.
When players complete important tasks, think about the significance of a thoughtful gift. A custom piece of clothing, an upgrade for a tool, or something immaterial (like knowledge or future favours) can feel much more satisfying than a hacksilver reward.
Domelch’s party has dealt with a group of Dál Riatan bandits who’d been harassing several villages in Fidach. Domelch took the bandit leader’s iron sword, gave her old wood-axe to the smith for a future favour, and the village elders have spread the word across the region of their heroics. Whenever Domelch stops in at a settlement in Fidach, she and her friends can be sure to find a warm welcome, hearty food and lodgings.
During play, you can swap out ‘pocket cash’ costs for short roleplayed scenes that help players feel more connected with their local community. If the players need a small favour, they should be encouraged to briefly describe who provided that help, how they provided it, and why they provided it (though not necessarily in that order).
Eogan is trying to identify a spirit that is causing mischief in town. He is a lay member of the local Monastery, so looks to his community for help: “I spend the afternoon catching up with Bishop Michael. We chat while I help sweep the rectory after Compline, and while discussing the different signs we’ve found so far he reads to me from a manuscript describing a matching spirit. What do you think I would find from this?”.
How acceptable it is to argue over the value of something changes with context and with culture. For example, in modern day Scotland you might be able to negotiate the price of a taxi ride (“Can you get me to the station - I only have £10 in cash?”), but it would be ridiculous to try and haggle the price of a bus ticket with the driver (because the company sets the price, not the driver).
We can be sure the Picts have their own bartering norms, so this is a good chance for you to imagine your own.
Haggling social norms are usually unspoken. There may be situations where not haggling would be an insult. Inversely, haggling a deal offered in good faith can be equally rude. As a general rule, trying to wring the best value out of close friends and neighbours may pay off in the short term, but it’s a fast way to make yourself unwelcome.
Keep in mind that intimidation is not haggling. Forcing a deal only works so long as you have power. Expect a (likely violent) confrontation once whoever you’re intimidating can get backup.
Bartering doesn’t need to be about just material trade. Players can offer their services (and pay the cost with other abstract resources, like Hit Points lost from labour, or time spent on a task) to balance the scale of a deal they need to make.
Some games already feature abstractions of wealth or resources that suit a bartering playstyle. By thinking of a player’s resources as a collection of odds-and-ends instead of coins, we move the mental image of ‘buying and selling’ closer towards ‘discussing and swapping’.
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