Economy

Coin, banking, shops, selling and the auction house.

Money in Rogue is held in four denominations, kept either in your purse or in a bank account, and moved around through shopkeepers, auctions and player-to-player trade. Coin is weightless in practice, so there is no penalty for carrying a fortune, but there is a monthly tax on what you bank.

Rogue is a roleplaying game, and coin comes from having a place in the world, not from killing things. Hunting and selling what you find will barely keep you in bread. See Earning Coin.

Earning Coin#

These pay little, by design:

Coin#

There are four coins, and everything is ultimately priced in copper.

So ten copper make a silver, ten silver make a gold, and ten gold make a platinum.

money lists every denomination you are carrying with a non-zero amount. wealth gives the fuller picture: total coin, banked coin, quest points and a breakdown by denomination. value lists the carried items in your inventory with their individual worth and a running total. The score display does not show coin.

Banks#

There is one bank, the Golden Jackal Bank, and one account per character. Your balance is the same wherever you present yourself.

Opening an account is free. There is no deposit fee, no withdrawal fee, no minimum balance, no ceiling and no interest. The bank is a safe box and a payment method, not an investment.

An account is separate from a vault. The Pearlvault also stores items, twenty places, opened for you during the Explorer's Guild chapters or bought for a hundred platinum with vault buy at the banker's counter. vault list shows what is stored, vault store <item> puts something in and vault withdraw <number> takes it back out, and those three work wherever you are; only buying the vault needs the banker. Worn, wielded and soulbound items cannot be stored.

Several large purchases draw on your bank automatically, spending carried coin first and taking the shortfall from your balance. Ships, mansions, farms and their running upkeep all work this way.

Most service NPCs keep hours, but the Pearlvault in Aurin is staffed around the clock, so banking is always open there. Fifteen real minutes make one game hour.

Tax#

Banked money is taxed monthly. Tax is charged on net deposits, meaning deposits minus withdrawals over the month, floored at zero, and it is measured in platinum equivalent. Money spent out of the bank on services such as housing is not counted as income.

The standard rate in Aurin is 20 per cent. Deposits of 20,000 platinum or more earn a discount on your effective rate. Unpaid tax accrues as debt and carries forward.

Use tax to see your statement: this month's deposits and withdrawals, your taxable earnings, your effective rate, what is owed and any outstanding debt.

Shops#

Shopkeepers are found across the realms and each deals in a particular kind of stock. Three commands cover everything.

sell all never sells a bag or anything inside one, so an item in a bag is safe from it. It also passes over anything you have set aside with keep <item>, which is marked (kept) in your inventory. A vendor will not take a kept item even when you name it; unkeep <item> lets it be sold again. keep all <item> keeps every one of a thing you carry, such as the bat wings you are saving up for a collector. To sell a bag, empty it and sell it by name.

list shows the shop's stock with the quantity held against each line, sorted by name. Buy by name with buy <item>. Change is returned in the most sensible mix of coins.

Prices#

A shop pays very little for anything you find. value shows what a thing is worth; a shop gives a tiny part of that.

• Buying costs the full list price at Charisma 10, falling to 92 per cent of it at Charisma 50. Below Charisma 10 you pay a premium.
• Selling pays 0.5 per cent of an item's value at Charisma 10, rising to 0.75 per cent at Charisma 50, and never more than 1 gold for any one thing. A trophy fetches a fifth of that. Everything fetches at least a copper.
• A fishmonger pays 0.4 per cent of a fish's listed value at Charisma 10, rising to 0.7 per cent at Charisma 50, with no ceiling, so the rarest catches are worth several platinum.
• A fence pays 2 per cent for stolen goods, which can go nowhere else, up to 5 gold, and the guild takes four parts in ten of that. Anything else fetches a shop's price.

What Cannot Be Sold#

Some items are marked unsellable and shopkeepers will refuse them.

• Loot from trivial kills. If the highest-level attacker out-levelled the victim by 10 levels or more, any set loot from that corpse is flagged as worthless and no coin drops at all.
• Soulbound items, class items such as guild insignia and bardic instruments, and other bound gear.
• Anything worn or wielded. Remove it first.
• Items the shop does not deal in. A weaponsmith will not take your herbs.

Shop Hours#

Shops open and close on the game clock, and a closed shopkeeper is simply not there. Most general shops keep roughly 8 until 18, taverns run from 6 until midnight, and specialists vary. Fifteen real minutes make one game hour, so a full game day passes in six real hours.

Repairs#

Gear condition degrades with use and is restored by a merchant offering repairservice <item>, which costs 1 platinum. Ships are repaired separately with repair at a dock, at 1 platinum for every 5 per cent of missing hull with a minimum of 1, paid from your bank account rather than your purse. See durability for how gear wears out in the first place.

Auctions#

There are three separate auction systems: the auction channel everyone hears, the marketplace, and a merchant's live auction in a room.

The Auction Channel#

The auction channel is heard across the whole realm. Things are put up at the Auction House, east off Tidegold Row in Aurin, and one lot at a time is called to every player wherever they stand. Anyone may sell there and anyone may bid from anywhere; the coin changes hands by itself, and the goods wait behind the auctioneer's counter until their owner collects them.

Prices may be written as 5000, 5,000, 5k, 2.5k or 50 gold. Up to five lots wait in line, and each player may have one lot up or waiting at a time. Worn, wielded and kept things, bags with something in them, and anything that cannot be sold or let go of cannot be auctioned. A waiting lot can be withdrawn at any time; a lot on the block only until the first bid.

A bid must be backed by coin in your account at the Golden Jackal Bank; coin in your purse does not count. The first bid must be at least the opening price and every later bid must beat the highest by at least 5 per cent. Your bid is taken from the bank and held, and goes straight back if someone outbids you. You cannot bid on your own lot, or on one put up by another character on your account. With no merchant's auction in the room, bid <amount> bids on the channel as well.

A new lot is called going once after 45 seconds without a bid, and every bid gives everyone another 20 seconds before the call. Going twice follows 10 seconds after going once, and the hammer 10 seconds after that. The auction house keeps 10 per cent of the price and pays the rest into the seller's bank; an unsold lot costs nothing. The prize waits for the winner at the Auction House, as does a lot that did not sell or was withdrawn. Coin owed to a player who has logged out is paid within moments of their next login. If the realm restarts while a lot is being called, the lot waits at the Auction House for its seller and the bid goes back to its bidder.

The Marketplace#

The marketplace runs in the background, whether or not you are logged in. Anyone may browse and bid; listing an item is a merchant's trade.

Lots run for 24 hours by default, with a floor of 5 minutes and a ceiling of 3 days. A bid placed in the final 60 seconds extends the lot by another 60 seconds, up to 600 seconds of total extension, so a lot cannot be sniped at the bell.

Coin is not held in escrow while you bid. Your ability to pay is checked when you bid and charged when you win, so keep the money available. Winners have 7 days to claim; a lot that fails to sell returns to the seller, who has 14 days.

Bids can be retracted, but no more than 3 times in a real week, and never in the final 5 minutes of a lot. Failing to claim counts as a no-show, and 3 no-shows bar you from bidding.

You cannot bid on your own listing.

Several formats exist. An English auction is the familiar ascending sale. A Dutch auction starts high and falls. A sealed auction hides the bids. A Vickrey auction is sealed and the winner pays the second-highest bid rather than their own. A buy-it-now lot sells instantly to the first bid matching the asking price. A reserve lot does not sell below its floor.

A listed item is held in escrow as a full serialisation and rebuilt exactly as it was when the winner claims it, enchantments, sockets and all. A listing that cannot be serialised is refused and your goods stay in hand.

Listing is done through merchant trade skills. listitem puts your own goods up at a 5 per cent commission, hostauction sells on behalf of another player at 8 per cent, and consign takes goods on a three-day buy-it-now at 10 per cent. A merchant who hosts their own lot pays no commission.

Live Auctions#

A merchant with the auctioneer skill can run a live outcry auction in a room. The auctioneer opens a lot at a price, calls it, and takes bids from the floor with bid <amount>. Bids may be written plainly, with commas, or in a named coin, so 10000, 10,000 and 500 gold are all accepted.

The first bid must at least match the opening price; after that every bid must beat the current one. The auctioneer calls going once and going twice at 5 second intervals, and any fresh bid resets the call. When the hammer falls the item goes straight to the winner and the full price goes to the auctioneer, with no commission taken.

Only one live auction runs in a room at a time. If the auctioneer leaves, the lot is cancelled and the goods returned. Live auctions do not survive a reboot, and bound or undroppable items cannot be put up.

Other Ways to Move Money#

• Player shops. A merchant can raise a stall with buildshop, stock it, and set prices. Buyers use the ordinary list and buy. The merchant must remain in the room; wander off for about fifteen seconds and the stall dismantles itself.
• Loans. A merchant can extend a loan at an agreed interest rate, repayable within 30 days. The borrower settles up with repay <contract> [amount].
• Tithing. tithe <amount> to <religion> gives to a faith, in copper, with a minimum of 1.
• Giving. Coin can be handed to another player face to face. Gathered resources move through trade instead, described in gathering.

Money Sinks#

The largest purchases in the game, for reference on what you are saving towards.

Mansions and farms carry ongoing upkeep, and unpaid upkeep accrues as debt. A mansion left in debt for 30 days is flagged for foreclosure. See housing for what you get for the money.

Advancing a level costs experience only. It does not cost coin.

Related#

• Gathering
• Crafting
• Durability
• Housing
• Progression
• Quests