Getting Money
Everybody has to make a living, even in Britannia. The way to start earning an income is to start trading. Find any small items that might be available (there will be something there, if you look hard enough), and then find a merchant who might need something of that sort. If you try to pick up something that already belongs to one of the non-player characters in town, the game will ask you if you’re sure you want to steal it when you pick it up. Do not try to steal anything unless you have the appropriate thieving skills – you’re unlikely to survive the experience!
Be prepared to spend some time building a nest egg – it’s not easy. Note that shoplifting from local merchants is not the best way to build a nest egg – even if you get away with it, merchants can usually spot a “hot” piece of merchandise appropriated from a fellow tradesman’s display.
You can make some money and train up your combat skills by “bunny bashing” – hunting small creatures like rabbits, birds, pigs and even rats. Be careful not to attack anybody’s pet – that’s a criminal action! When you kill small game, Use your dagger or other bladed weapon on the corpse to take its meat, hide or feathers. Meat can be sold to butchers or tavern keepers, hides and skin to furriers and tanners, and feathers to bowyers.
Remember that because supply and demand is an important part of the virtual economy, shopkeepers will not automatically buy everything you try to sell. Shops can become overstocked with items, and while they will “sell back” overstock at regular intervals, they will not be interested in buying anything that’s currently overstocked. Furthermore, shopkeepers will pay less for items they already have plenty of. One good way to gauge the “market potential” of a shopkeeper is to say “buy” to get a look at the shop’s current inventory. Any items that seem particularly scarce will probably command a premium price, while items that show up in quantity will command a cheap price, or none at all.
If the market for a certain type of wares becomes glutted in one town, the best thing is probably to seek out a better market in another town. If you feel that you’re not yet ready to venture out of town, perhaps a more experienced character could be convinced to act as a “middle man,” paying you for your wares so he can sell them in another town at a profit.
