Moneylenders (like Devi from The Name of the Wind) should be an essential part of any rpg.
In fantasy, they can offer the coin to buy important but rare things like artifacts or a resurrection.
In sci-fi, they can help you buy a ship or extra expensive tech.
In cyberpunk, they just help with everything and anything. Loans and debt are a part of the culture.
In all games, moneylenders open the door for debts, favors, resources, hindrances, and opportunities. They let players obtain things normally out of their reach, but there are far-reaching consequences. With a moneylender, the transaction isn’t over right away.
There should be rough levels for moneylenders. The more coin they have to lend, the higher the interest and the greater their resources.
Why might the PCs turn to a moneylender?
- To settle a debt
- To buy a ship or other transportation in a hurry
- To buy a rare but important spell component in a hurry
- To make an investment expected to have a big payoff quickly
What’s the common theme? Being in a hurry. You don’t turn to a moneylender if you have a lot of time or other options. And you don’t become a moneylender if you aren’t willing to break a few heads to collect on your investment.
Moneylending is very much an investment. Moneylenders don’t do it out of the goodness of their hearts (though I suppose that would be an interesting twist), but rather for the favors, goods, or money they get in return.
What do moneylenders get in return? There are a few salacious options off the top of my head:
- Coin
- Souls
- Secrets
- True names
- Rare or illegal items or ingredients
- Services in kind
- A spell cast, no questions asked
- Access to someone or something
Moneylenders have the potential to make any transaction interesting, and you never know when one might call in a debt or favor. Best to keep your nose clean and live within your means, but, well, that wouldn’t be any fun…
I have never like to deal with money, but this article has shown me a new way on how to think about them.
This article about moneylenders is a real eye opener. I usually avoid issue of finance in my games because who wants to deal with issues of bookkeeping. Bookkeeping does not seem like any fun, but using it as a story hook or a bit of foreshadow is a very cool idea. I guess the reason I never used them because they are too close to real life, and you go into RPGs to relax and get away from some of those problems. I am going to have to be a little more open to adding more problems like this.
Good luck! I’m not a fan of too much detailed bookkeeping, but it makes a good plot device and can be hand-waved pretty easily.
I liked this. Great writing covering the topic well.
In my game the chief villains are Trading House Voren, a group of bankers. The players aren’t indebted to them but they have none the less run afoul of them and what has been a real eye opener is the amount of resources people like that can potentially call upon. The heroes have had to deal with assassins who have agreed to go after them in return for Voren wiping out their debt; being black-listed among the adventuring fraturnity thus making finding work difficult; and harassment from local law whose governing bodies owe the bank a few favours.
While it was hard for the characters for a long time it made them taking Voren down all the sweeter for them. Unfortunately now they owe the Temple of Erathis a great deal of gold…
Thanks for the example! House Voren sounds like a formidable opponent. I’m gearing up for a new game starting today, so maybe I’ll borrow that from you. Moneylenders by themselves are dangerous—together they can be deadly.