A few thoughts.
While at first it may seem this is a complete overhaul. It's not meant as
such. It is just an attempt to introduce more variety and competition to
trading.
---------------------------------------
The profit to work ratio seems high.
With a bunch of winged horses you can make 2500 profit
every turn.
---------------------------------------
I like the idea of setting tax rates in cities.
I also like the idea of 30% of the tax money going to the local castle
The rest is spent in enforcement.
An additional command "smuggle" before a buy or sell would
cause the trader to sell/buy for a price with only half the
posted tax rate. (There is always overhead)
All smuggle transactions would occur before normal transaction.
(if issued on the same day)
If someone smuggles in/out, the city report/event log should report something
like "The supply of __________ has dried up" or "The __________ market has
been flooded", depending on a buy or sell. It would not report who the
buyer/seller was.
-----------------------------------------
Instead of generated and limited duration goods I would use a fixed list
of ...hmmm... say 100.
Some of which could be available world wide.
Some of which could be regional (Ex. Camaris only, Ex. South of row [da__])
Some of which could be terrain specific ( Ex. Pearls in port cities,
Ex. Cedar logs in forests )
Some could be collected in the wild. ( May require additional skills)
Ex. Cedar logs
Ex. Exotic Mushrooms
There could be a distance bonus ( Ex. 1 gold for every 3 provinces over 10 to
the nearest known soucre. [regardless
of where the seller came from])
There could be a closeness penalty ( Ex. Price halved for every province less
5 to nearest known soucre. [regardless
of where the seller came from])
( Or just no market, or a fixed small market
Such as 10 units at 1/2 normal price )
Each good would be found buy using "locate rare good".
Each market would be found buy using "find market for rare good".
The number of goods each city would buy would NOT be limited, but the chance
of creating/finding a market would go down with each success. 25%, 20%, 15%...
The amount of a specific good that a city would by would be such as to allow
a 1000 - 2000 profit (vs 2-3 thousand currently )
The total amount of goods each city would buy would be based on the city's
prosperity (Ex. Some base amount + 2*"average sales over last 10 turns" )
and could be reduced by opium,petty theivery,smuggling, etc.
All goods would compete for the same (limited) available gold. On a first come
basis, If two good were offered at the same time, the most under priced one
would sell first. If both are under priced by the same amount they would split
the available money.
A rare good source would cease to exist if not used for 10 turns.
A rare good market would cease to exist if not used for 10 turns.
Both source and market could be re-established.
A .02% (1 in 50) chance each turn that a source is destroyed.
(natural disaster, supply exausted, ... etc. )
A .02% (1 in 50) chance each turn that a market dries up.
(Changing tastes, substitue found, ... etc. )
Neither source or market could be re-established for 10 turns.
A sample of a good must be possesed to establish a market.
For any given city there would be at most 1 market for each good.
Additional private buyers might exist though.
------------------------------------------------------------------
New trade skills might include:
Smuggle (Avoid tax)
Locate source of good ???? (find nearest known source)
Conceal identity of trader ( Change to include a money amount )
Identify seller of good ???? ( find the identity of the most recent
seller of good ????, Must use enough
money to overcome amount spent concealing
identity or attempt to identify fails )
------------------------------------------------------------------
I have cunning plan.....
Baldrick