Value of a Boon

[Blake Sterling Jr.]

I have a question to the players of the Vampire Sphere.

What do you value a boon at?

Reading and re-reading the V20 companion boils down to "Depends on your city" so I'm turning to the city to see their thoughts.

I play a gambler, who owns a lot of currently underground casinos in the area. So far I've only once in game opened a game to boons. More because I wanted to see how it would go and I really see truly high stakes poker to be along this lines...

In the game we were playing for Trivial Boons, at 10 chips value.

I bought one of the winners boon off of them for $1000.

The simple way in my mind would price boons at:

Trivial = 5 white chips or 1 red
Minor = 15 white chips or 3 red or 1 red and 1 blue
Major = 45 white chips or 9 red or 1 red and 4 blue

A X3 factor for each level.

Next problem is to figure out how to do payouts. I assume when you cash out the first boons you buy back are your own. Then it's a matter of random or maybe offering larger sums for one boon over another.

I like throwing this idea out to all of you since any who isn't brand knew to the city will know my character and might even taken part in this at one point or another.

Please remember to be polite with your replies, I don't mind feedback but please be constructive with it. My only aim is to make the game interesting and fun.

[The Mouth]

All boons should be recorded on 3x5 cards and signed by debtor. These debts can be traded without notice to the debtor to other parties, unless that is a condition of the boon contract. Base status of the boon is that the bearer of the boon is not to be harmed physically by the debtor, and those that violate this proscription may find their creditors (and the Prince) taking a long hard look at their value to society.

I thought we were using the following boon categories for simplicity:

Minor - Small expenditures of time and resources.
Major - Large expenditures - things that take a night or a week of downtime.
Blood - Anything that puts the creditor at personal risk of life, limb, or Final Death, likewise if the debtor is in a similar position and seeking aid.

Exchange: Totally arbitrary. Is a Blood Boon over a 1 status neonate worth as much as a minor from the Prince? More like two or three Blood Boons. That is going to be an in game developed economy, but trading needs to occur for the setting to function a bit smoother.

NPC Boons: Talk to staff.

Boons are a contract. People with greater status will likely determine what the contract terms are.

That is boons as I understand them. Of course my understanding is incomplete as it is largely a 'soft system'.

[Blake Sterling Jr.]

Ben,

This is a link to the current Boon information on this site.

www.emeraldcitychronicles.com/#!prestation/c1hf0

[The Mouth]

I knew they got rid of one, turns out Blood was it.

I don't really see the point of 'Trivial' boons though, beyond being such a slight form of debt that the conditionals applied are what the actual goals are for the Elders.

- Ben

[Magic Rob]

Trivial boons are largely a tool of high status fellows. Boons inherently don't have a dollar value or a monetary equivalent. They are IOUs from various personalities. The value of an IOU is entirely related to what the fellow whose name is on the deed *can* do.

Theoretically this is largely a function of Status. However, Boons and their worth predate the Camarilla by such a measure that vampires can't really recall a time before they existed. Therefore, it is perfectly reasonable to have boons owed to / from independent clans (and theoretically Sabbat, though calling in such debts or making it known to hold the enemy so close is dangerous at best).

Again, it's a 'what can you do for me' that determines the weight of a boon. A powerful gangrel elder who has scorned politics (and therefore has a low status) might have his boons worth less than say, a Ventrue neonate who is the childe of the Prince (and therefore of high standing), even though these two peoples offer vastly different support to their debts.

A good rule of thumb is that if all of the boons are equal, say a Major boon in this case, the boons that are of higher 'worth' to bidders are of those from higher status individuals. Even if the boon isn't worth a great deal from the high status fellow you have the token for, somewhere in that lineage is someone worth a damn who will make sure that his progeny makes good.

Ultimately, all commerce is based on supply / demand. The worth of a thing is what the purchaser will pay for it. It's reasonable for someone to view boons of having different worth even if they are of the same level of boon. We, as staff, will not be writing a matrix for this. We are not going to write math to the effect of 'Status + boon level = Boon value'. That's not a mechanic that we want to enforce or create.

Players are free to determine what you want to pay to what you want to receive, and the value of the opponent's currency (boons). You can always pay someone with boons you hold over someone else, as a reminder. If you hold a boon over the Prince of New York, and someone turns up their nose at accepting your boon, offer that one...