Trading mechanics

[commentlurker]

For anyone interested, I figured out how ego effects trading. You can find the specifics (in more detail than you're likely to need) here: http://cavesofqud.wikia.com/wiki/Trading_mechanics. The most important take-away for most players is that the lowest attainable levels of ego hurt you substantially more than high levels of ego help you, at least when trading. So 10 ego characters are not a good idea unless you plan on never shopping, but an 18 ego character isn't much worse than a 21 ego character.

If people think it'd be useful, I'll figure out how item modifiers (slender, reinforced, ect) influence prices, and maybe some other nice things like a commerce-per-pound table of early-game items.

[Jaginun]

Nice research! The one thing this game needs more of is community documentation.

[maltman]

This is cool. The mechanical opacity makes everything so mysterious!

[Phillosopherp]

the early game wt to value would be cool to know.

[commentlurker]

the early game wt to value would be cool to know.

Below is a table with early game items up to steel quality (not that I expect players to run into much steel in the early-game). Note that an item's commerce value is NOT how much it sells for - depending on your ego, items should sell for around 25-50% of their commerce value (more if you have ludicrously high ego). How much an item sells for at 16 ego is a more reasonable benchmark of how much your character makes selling it. Please let me know if anything is wrong or if I've missed anything useful.

Item Name	Commerce	Weight	C/W	Drams/pound @ 16 ego
Beaded bracelet	80	1	80	28
Blood-stained neck-ring	80	1	80	28
Compass bracelet	25	1	25	8.75
Steel dagger	20	1	20	7
Steel kukri	20	1	20	7
Steel utility knife	20	1	20	7
Fixit spray	20	1	20	7
Desert kris	15	1	15	5.25
Box of crayons	15	1	15	5.25
Pocketed vest	25	2	12.5	4.38
Worn burnoose	12	1	12	4.2
Iron dagger	10	1	10	3.5
Camel bladder	10	1	10	3.5
Wide-brimmed hat	8	1	8	2.8
Sandals of the river-wives	15	2	7.5	2.63
Steel vinereaper	35	5	7	2.45
Steel short sword	20	3	6.67	1.33
Steel buckler	50	8	6.25	2.19
Black robes	6	1	6	2.1
Steel long sword	30	5	6	2.1
Bronze dagger	5	1	5	1.75
Empty waterskin	5	1	5	1.75
Vinewood sap mask	15	3	5	1.75
Steel war hammer	20	4	5	1.75
Steel battle axe	25	5	5	1.75
Iron long sword	25	5	5	1.75
Issachari sun veil	9	2	4.5	1.58
Steel shield	50	12	4.17	1.46
Quilted shawl	4	1	4	1.4
Steel hammer	20	5	4	1.4
Knollworm skull	20	5	4	1.4
Iron short sword	10	3	3.33	1.17
Bronze short sword	10	3	3.33	1.17
Leather boots	10	3	3.33	1.17
Steel long sword 2h	30	9	3.33	1.17
Staff	12	4	3	1.05
Bronze long sword	15	5	3	1.05
Short bow	15	5	3	1.05
Steel battle axe 2h	25	9	2.78	0.92
Iron long sword 2h	25	9	2.78	0.92
Iron battle axe	13	5	2.6	0.91
Chain gauntlets	25	10	2.5	0.88
Chain boots	25	10	2.5	0.88
Steel war hammer 2h	20	9	2.22	0.78
Bronze long sword 2h	20	9	2.22	0.78
Steel helmet	25	12	2.08	0.73
Witchwood wreath	2	1	2	0.7
Leather moccasins	2	1	2	0.7
Qudzu stem	10	5	2	0.7
Steel boots	29	15	1.93	0.68
Spiked gauntlets	15	8	1.88	0.66
Issachari banner	5	3	1.67	0.58
Leather cap	5	3	1.67	0.58
Boar-skin gloves	5	3	1.67	0.58
Croccasins	5	3	1.67	0.58
Iron mace	10	6	1.67	0.58
Bronze mace	10	6	1.67	0.58
Steel gauntlets	20	12	1.67	0.58
Ring mail	20	15	1.33	0.47
Steel plate mail	75	60	1.25	0.44
Iron buckler	10	9	1.11	0.39
Torch	1	1	1	0.35
Iron vinereaper	5	5	1	0.35
Wooden buckler	5	5	1	0.35
Furs	10	10	1	0.35
Hand axe	3	4	0.75	0.26
Chain mail	25	35	0.71	0.25
Bronze battle axe	3	5	0.6	0.21
Cloth overalls	3	5	0.6	0.21
Club	2	5	0.4	0.14
Leather armor	5	15	0.33	0.12
Bark armor	3	10	0.3	0.11
Studded leather armor	5	20	0.25	0.09
Woven tunic	1	5	0.2	0.07
Cloth robe	1	5	0.2	0.07
Leather apron	1	5	0.2	0.07
Basic toolkit	0.01	1	0.01	0.00

[Phillosopherp]

That's awesome! Thanks for the work. Crazy how armor is just not worth the weight to sell! I would have thought it would be better than this, thanks so much for the work.

[AgingMinotaur]

By the way, bear corpses are interesting in this context. They are heavy, but sell for quite a lot, so are good for quick cash (even if the actual weight/prize ratio is low). If I'm in a position where I'm, say, stashing loot at the surface of Red Rock to get enough to buy a particular item in Joppa, bear corpses are on my list of things to stash.

As always,
Minotauros

edit: I always found this humorous, as there is an old saying in Norway that you must "never sell the hide before the bear is shot".