The Midnight Market

[NeoTiamat]

Just so you know, Deepshadow, I am definitely going to steal that idea.

[NeoTiamat]

Hrm... how to keep the atmosphere. Well, the traditional method I use to keep atmosphere is to limit exposure. If the PCs are only visiting the Market every so often, when the DM decides they should visit (for whatever justification you like), it stays more interesting than if they can visit on their own.

Don't they ever try to get back in by asking a raven? Or don't you tell them that part?

What the PCs don't know won't hurt them. (Okay, this is a blatant lie, but still).

The ravens are more to explain how regular merchants and customers come back. It's perfectly possible that if the PCs don't do consistent trading, they just won't be let back very often. Not permanently banned, but maybe recieve an invitation once a month, or something along those lines.

[DeepShadow of FoS]

Just so you know, Deepshadow, I am definitely going to steal that idea.

I consider that high praise!

If it makes any difference to you, the Dread Possibility on this was for the ghouls to be in the service of Merilee Markuza, who makes use of the information in various ways. I've mellowed Merilee IMC of late to play up the distant scholarly angle, via her pseudonym Tempus LaMark, and thus her interest in gathering all manner of rare "data." She finds little tidbits like this useful when corresponding with other scholars: the twins of Neufurchtenburg might be used as part of a biology experiment that requires controls, while the older gnomes of Nova Vaasa might know about certain lost bits of history. Merilee is a consummate information broker, and she prides herself on knowing what information a person needs the most. Originally Merilee herself was in the box, but she has since automated enough of the process to have a ghoul with a set of ledgers run the show.

As my PC's are soon to find out, the ghouls arrange contracts with certain repeat clients, and pay top dollar for information garnered. For example, knowing that a group of Kara's Daughters is currently in Dementlieu, she's prepared to pay up to 5000gp for the exact inventory of the local Order of the Guardians monastery. Such contracts are usually handled through Borcan banknotes rather than currency, of course.

[DeepShadow of FoS]

Other possible regulars of the Midnight Market:

Abu Al Mir (CotN:W)
Lucre (CotN:C)
Emil Bollenbach (CT)
Professor Arcanus (CotN:W)
Vladamir Nobriskov (CotN:W)
Hadron Marquit (GazII, Necropolitan Zombie)
Randall Marks (Fair Folk; Linnorm of Ashmore Park)
Colin Graben (NSGaz)
Merilee Markuza (Darklords)
Andres Duvall (RLMC2)
Morts Qui Dancent (BoS)

I think a random encounter table for the MM would be a good project. Anyone got any other suggestions from among known NPC's? I'll keep editing the list as I think of them.

[Joël of the FoS]

I did some research and planning on the MM too, for a future game. Here's random notes:

The Midnight Market

Many of this stuff is taken from ideas I had, and stuff I borrowed from the Neverwhere RPG (the Floating Market is a good source to enrich the MM).

It was pure madness. Of that there was no doubt at all. It was loud (…) People argued, haggled, shouted, sang.

They hawked and touted their wares, and loudly declaimed the superiority of their merchandise.

Music was playing – a dozen different ways on a score of different instruments, most of the improvised, improved, improbable.

Richard could smell food. All kinds of food (…)

Everybody was buying. Everybody was selling.

---

Anything can be bought or sold at market and the whole place is under truce. No violence is allowed there, all may come and ply their trade. It is also considered bad form to jump people on their way to and from the market.

---

EACH ENTERED STALL/TENT IS MET ONLY ONCE, after disappear in the crowd, unable to find the stall. What if, in the busy market place, you only meet a merchant / stall / tent only once per visit? You can pass by, and find it back, but if you enter a stall, that's it for the night.

When you try to get back to that specific merchant, you can't find him, as you are disoriented. You have to get another invitation to get back to the MM.
Unless, you pay someone as a guide or to find it for you.

---

There is no money in MM (some exceptions), everything is bartered (échangé)

Minor Barter Items - scrap (Worth one minor item). A cotton handkerchief, an antique coin or one made of gold, a broken toy, a dead body belonging to no-one in particular, a half used deodorant, a woollen hat, a piece of hand-crafted jewellery of a non- precious type, a good meal, a few sheets of blank paper, a boring or useless book, a broken watch or toy, a minor favour, rags and sackcloth clothing, the hire of a lesser known Guide or Bravo, per day.

Average Barter Items – item utile (Worth four minor items). A good pair of boots, a knife, gloves, a working watch, a working toy, a lamp or torch, semi- precious jewels or average jewellery, an average favour, a slave, leather armour the hire of a renown Guide or Bravo, per day.

Major Barter Items – crafted item (Worth eight minor items). Precious gems or fine jewellery, a sword or axe, a bow or crossbow, a major favour, chainmail or a flak jacket, a musical instrument, a spear or other polearm a minor enchantment or blessing.

High Cost Barter Items - rare (Worth sixteen minor items). A firearm, a cygnet egg, a magical item or spell, a life favour or indentured servitude, a complete suit of modern or plate mail armour, a major enchantment or blessing.

---

Traders are canny folk who know how to fit in with a crowd and to get a good bargain. The Floating Market is their natural place to be and if possible they never miss one. Most traders have a speciality and work all they can to be the best in that field or to find a new niche.

---

1st merchand seen (atmospheric set up)

Femme, petite, long finger nails and silver hair (half-fir)

-A beautiful portrait to grace your abode? If the woman in the painting screams at times, pray, ignore it. It does that sometimes.

-A herbal infusion to cure a persistent cough? Certainly, here is some just in from Sri Raji. Ah, yes... the periodic burping of serpents is a side-effect. It's quite harmless. Just kill the snakes by night fall.

-The skull of an unshriven mass murderer for a magic ritual? Well, it may require placing an order, but something can be arranged.




---

I also used: Beachum’s Emporium file (By: Tami Sammons aka Hadis Deadstalker Uss03) to make a list of things found in the MM shops:

They haven’t got all items on the list, just 2-4 items

1 Alcohol, Beer and Wine – ogre-like, drunk
2 Breads - brags
3 Cheeses – elves
4 Corns - alven
5 Exotics (cacao, coffee, olives, riz) – SriRaji men
6 Flours – Falkovnien “F”
7 Fresh/Dried Fruits - ?
8 Jams, Jellies, Curds, Marmalades - ?
9 Meats – ogres et/ou powrie
10 Milk and Butter - ?
11 Nuts - ?
12 Oils, Powders, Extracts – voir the Green Witch dans encounters
13 Seafood – Sea Touched
14 Spices – Vechorite women “E” (half hidden breast)
15 Vegetables - ?
16 Adventuring Gear - gnomes
17 Animals - ?
18 Clockworks/Other Specialties - firs
19 Common Alchemical Substances - ?
20 Fabric - Shee?
21 Lumber - Dwarves
22 Medical – Tall gauntlike, sinister man, high hat, smoking odor around him (Puppetmaster!)
23 Ore/Minerals - dwarves
24 Skins – Teg / ogres
25 Special orders – infusions et plantes rares - gnomes
26 Weapons, bows - elves
27 Weapons, firearms (caché?) - gnomes
28 Weapons, other - Dementelieuse
29 Clothing - ?
30 Crafts - Musical instruments from Kartakass and Lamordia – wolfwere bard
31 Craft goods – furniture, glassware, ceramic, even perfumes -
32 Toys – barovien
33 Transportation (Ask for designs, market prices and availability – ships, carriages, carts) - darkonese
34 Arts and Books – borcans ou Ghastrian?
35 Hiring opportunities - ?


---

People found there:

I had all types of feys showing there, some under animal disguise

Traders are canny folk who know how to fit in with a crowd and to get a good bargain. The Floating Market is their natural place to be and if possible they never miss one. Most traders have a speciality and work all they can to be the best in that field or to find a new niche.


Many black cats (Midnight cat)


- Spriggan [Fiend Folio]
- Yuki-on-na
- Half-fey
- Bogeyman
- Montarri
- Maekon

Original article:
The Clan Karkar
Grandmother Thorne
Conall
Greysilk
Zerachiel
Jeremy Carter

From Neverwhere:

Bloomsbury
Manning a fruit and flowers cart that can be found almost anywhere at any time in London Below Bloomsbury is a lifesaver, for the right price. While his fruit and flowers are wilting and maggoty at best, and truly rotten at worst, Bloomsbury also carries other things and always seems to have what you need. Alleged to be one of the few people the Marquis actually owes a favour to, Bloomsbury likes to build on that reputation with lies and half-truths. Whether useful or not, he’s expensive. Bloomsbury is a short, greasy, oily stain of a human being. Tousled and ever happy he grins the stumps of his rotting teeth constantly and drinks home-brewed cider from a tin. Bloomsbury is a veteran at barter and practiced at Underside lore and navigation. He has the knack of always knowing what you need.


Candy Street Every indulgence known to man or beast can be gluttonously engaged in on Candy Street. – très achalandé par les feys
This tiny winding passage is thick with every pleasure known to any sense and a few new ones.


l’Abbesse Through a hidden passage you come into a garden overlooked by a dilapidated but serviceable Nunnery. The garden itself is pleasingly aesthetic but is a working garden for fruits, vegetables, chickens and the odd pig in a pen.

The Abbot - tea The head of the Black Friars, the Abbot is an amiable and friendly man. A good man, the Abbot is a polite and ingratiating host with a deep and comforting voice. Given to making little humorous jokes a little at other peoples expense the Abbot is nonetheless wise and knowledgeable in the ways of the Underside. The Abbot is a veteran at making tea and his brew is considered one of the better ones in London Below. He is also a veteran at healing and Underside lore. The Abbot is blind with cataracts though he never lets it get him down.

Acorn Gardens A rusted gate in a high brick wall leads to a small patch of greenery, overgrown with moss, thick with cobwebs and home to seven great oaks that tower into the sky and cut out almost every trace of light leaving only a deep green murk. The acorns gathered here never fail to germinate and grow tall and swift. It is said these are the ancestors of the English oak, which loaned its strength to the navy and the buildings of old.


Lady Adys – exotic food Lady Adys is a brown skinned and dark haired beauty of Sri Raji, who dresses in the manner of English ladies of the Raj. She is unfailingly polite and circumspect, tactful to a fault and she refuses to see anything but the best in people.
She’s also very well practiced at cooking, at least in regard to tea, biscuits and cucumber sandwiches with the crusts cut off. She also makes mean kedgeree and delightful vegetable samosas with homemade brinjal pickle.


Honeysuckle Gardens A beautiful garden of night blooming flowers this quiet spot of refl ection is a favourite of the Velvets who come here to bask in and enjoy the scents after having fed to their satisfaction on the cattle of London Above.


Emelia Lockehart, usually called the Lady of the Gardens, resides here. She is eminently more interested in the botanical gardens than she is in people. Her knowledge of flora and fauna is astounding and her private collection of plants and orchids is almost entirely original.
Friend of Alvens


Laud Street - opium garden; the only provider and purveyor of opium and laudanum, indeed any drug. As a rule it seems Feys in general does not have time for narcotics or their thralls at least not in the harder more soul-destroying capacity. Clients = humans.


Tanner’s End Leather is a much-used commodity in London Below being warm, durable and extremely useful in all manner of ways. Made in the traditional way at Tanner’s End the stink permeates the area for hundreds of yards in all direction. A mixture of the piss, dog shit and chemicals the tanners use to cure and preserve the skins. Those Sewer Folk who seek a better life outside the sewers most often end up apprenticing to a Tanner, as handling crap and the heady stenches do not worry them.



The Cave Painters are a rag-tag group of children, mostly orphans, who rampage painting murals and graffiti on any surface they can apply pigment to. Scruffy and unkempt they make their way by supplementing their vandalism producing art for the market and selling information.
All things bright of colour fascinate Cave Painters


Velvets Five almost identically dressed (sauf si Pinner est là), extremely pale young women walked past him. They wore dresses made of velvet, each dress so dark it was almost black - respectively dark green, dark chocolate, royal blue, dark blood and pure black. Each had black hair, and wore silver jewellery; each was perfectly coiffed, perfectly made up. They moved silently: Richard was aware only of a swish of heavy velvet as they went past, a swish that sounded almost like a sigh. Vampires of heat the Velvets are smooth and cold, seductive creatures who at once fear sunlight and heat and crave it. Unable to bear the sun or the heat of day they walk at night seeking warmth from living bodies to sustain them.

Pinner The leader of the Velvets Pinner forsakes her name preferring to dress head to toe in leather. Her hair is scraped back harshly on her head and held in place with wickedly sharp needles and she has a savage and very domineering beauty that some fi nd seductive. Strong and tough of body, graceful in movement and iron willed she rules the Velvets with complete ruthlessness brooking no argument of challenge from any up and coming harpy that might try to seize her position.
She likes to collect moths, freezing them with a touch and adding them to her collection of pinned specimens. She regards all other life in a similar way.


Beak The sardonic, albino fool at Raven’s Court. Beak cuts a pale, gaunt figure in his lace and ivory suit, his clothing as white as his skin. Rather than tomfoolery and antics Beak’s humour comes from his deeply cynical and sarcastic outlook on the world. The slightest glance from his ashen eyes can be enough to instil in those they look upon a deep understanding of Beak’s contemptuous view of them.




Mr Croup & Vandemar (hired killers)
“Croup and Vandemar,” he said, smoothly, “the Old Firm. Obstacles obliterated, nuisances eradicated, bothersome limbs removed and tutelary dentistry.” - An example of Mr Croup’s manner.

Mr Croup is short and plump, a greasy little man with eyes of faded china blue and a fox-like aspect. He is short of temper with too many teeth and sharp, piggy little eyes. He has a fondness for destroying unique and irreplaceable art, particularly T’ang dynasty sculpture.

Mr Croup is extremely verbose, padding every sentence with unneeded complexity. While eloquent he has a tendency to overdo it making him seem comical in an evil, cruel, petty little way. Croup is extremely cunning and his great strength is hidden by his short stature. Hardy and nigh on invulnerable Mr Croup is possessed of a legendary ability with his hands and ‘claws’ and a masterful degree of intimidation, torture and knifework. Mr Croup has the knack of shifting through time and space and can use this ability to teleport short distances with a fading fl ash of shadow.

Mr Vandemar By contrast to Mr Croup, Mr Vandemar is very tall and perpetually hungry with brown eyes that make him look more than a little wolfi sh. Possessed of a lower cunning than Mr Croup Mr Vandemar is enormously strong and extremely tough, as invulnerable as his partner. Mr Vandemar has keen senses especially his sense of smell. Vandemar is vicious and brutal but it is in the childlike fashion of one who likes tearing the wings off insects, just scaled up. Mr Vandemar takes perverse delight in killing and is rather simple and straightforward in his approach, much less sophisticated than Mr Croup, monosyballic and very literal. Of legendary ability with his knife and masterful at kicking and torture he is an equally good tracker and shares Mr Croup’s knack of shifting through space and time but cannot teleport in the same way. Mr Vandemar’s rings are silver, fashioned from Crow skulls. He claims to have made them himself but in fact they were looted from Rook’s corpse and are part of the Ravenscar treasure. Croup and Vandemar


The Green Witch – sells Oils, Powders, Extracts
appears as a wrinkled old woman whose skin appears to be bark and is certainly as tough as bark. Her hair and the highlights of her skin are greenish and her nails long and black. She dresses in sackcloth and her cackle can cut glass. While she has power over all living things she prefers to create thorns and twisted trees, mushrooms and all manner of unpleasant and dark vegetation. Perpetually sneering and condescending she is as brawny as the roots of the trees and as hard as oak, not to mention seemingly immortal.




Marquis de Carabas He wore a (…) trenchcoat, and high black boots, and, beneath his coat, raggedy clothes. His eyes burned white in a dark face. And he grinned white teeth, momentarily, as if at a private joke of his own, and bowed to Richard, and said, “De Carabas, at your service, and you are…?”
The Marquis de Carabas is known and hated across the Underside but is grudgingly and resignedly accepted by most as being the best fi xer in London Below, able to get just about anything done, for a price. That price is invariably a promise, secret or boon that will add to the Marquis’ leverage. He collects favours as other people collect coins or stamps. Utterly irreverent the Marquis borders on the sociopathic while maintaining a humorous manner that helps him still seem human. Moving with catlike grace and always with style the Marquis is confi dent and sure of himself, laid back and debonair whatever situation he is thrust into. Sardonic and sarcastic he is impatient with fools and prone to settling into a sort of smug, self-satisfi ed state like the cat with the cream. Legendary at barter the Marquis has a masterful knowledge of Underside lore and navigation. He always carries a few light trading goods upon him.



Varney Varney looked like a bull, if a bull was to be shaved, dehorned, covered in tattoos and had suffered from complete dental breakdown. Also he snored. - Varney, not the most pleasant of folk. Varney was very unpleasant but quite talented at causing pain. He made his own weapons with practiced skill, stashing them and food in various places about London Below. vicious and stupid thug possessed of unusual strength, pitbull tenacity and toughness.



Victoria is consumed by carnal lust. Dressed in red satin she prowls the Underside when her hunger grows too strong, seeking a consort and using her legendary powers of mind control as well as her masterful curses and potions. Able to bend any will to her own agenda, Victoria is a mature beauty seeming to be in her late thirties. Her body is fi rm and pleasing to the eye and her eyes are captivating, capturing many a man’s soul within them. Those she sleeps with die, their life energy drained to feed her craving for sensation and their souls joining the others trapped within the walls of her bedchamber.

Bogeyman?

Montarri ?

Maekon (DT&DL)


Sahadjleen de Beliviue (NPC created with the image Isabella made (the Sith with a watch in hand). He can tell you the exact moment when you will die. The PCs learn later this information is circulating in the MM ? Who wanted to know that?

[DeepShadow of FoS]

Minor Barter Items - scrap (Worth one minor item). A cotton handkerchief, an antique coin or one made of gold, a broken toy, a dead body belonging to no-one in particular, a half used deodorant, a woollen hat, a piece of hand-crafted jewellery of a non- precious type, a good meal, a few sheets of blank paper, a boring or useless book, a broken watch or toy, a minor favour, rags and sackcloth clothing, the hire of a lesser known Guide or Bravo, per day.

Average Barter Items – item utile (Worth four minor items). A good pair of boots, a knife, gloves, a working watch, a working toy, a lamp or torch, semi- precious jewels or average jewellery, an average favour, a slave, leather armour the hire of a renown Guide or Bravo, per day.

Major Barter Items – crafted item (Worth eight minor items). Precious gems or fine jewellery, a sword or axe, a bow or crossbow, a major favour, chainmail or a flak jacket, a musical instrument, a spear or other polearm a minor enchantment or blessing.

High Cost Barter Items - rare (Worth sixteen minor items). A firearm, a cygnet egg, a magical item or spell, a life favour or indentured servitude, a complete suit of modern or plate mail armour, a major enchantment or blessing.

I see what you are trying for there, but barter economies fall apart with the attempt to codify them this way. I mean, a life of servitude in exchange for sixteen handkerchiefs?

We need to set some econ majors on this. Any in the crowd?

I also used: Beachum’s Emporium file (By: Tami Sammons aka Hadis Deadstalker Uss03) to make a list of things found in the MM shops:

Funny, I like the general concept of Beachum's, but the details get problematic, like the use of a teleportation circle to ship goods between domains, when teleportation only goes to the border. The MM could actually FIX this problem for them...if they could arrange to be on the inside of it, passing goods to each other regularly without having to haggle with everyone else.

Many black cats (Midnight cat)

Cool, I already had an encounter with the Master Cat, be fun to have him hanging out with other fey.

- Yuki-on-na

This one I can certainly see.

- Bogeyman

I dunno. I don't see the bogeymen being inclined to pal around with the other fey. They're so reclusive, and terrified of their secrets getting out, and all that.

- Montarri

Yeah, Red Vardo Traders would be all over the MM. Nice opportunity to have JM meet with PC's on neutral ground. If she wants someone's head, though, it could get back to the Minister....

OTOH, maybe this has already happened, and RVT sends someone else to the MM because Montarri herself has been banned. Then again, would they know right away?

- Maekon

Or others like her....what would they sell?

Sahadjleen de Beliviue (NPC created with the image Isabella made (the Sith with a watch in hand). He can tell you the exact moment when you will die. The PCs learn later this information is circulating in the MM ? Who wanted to know that?

Okay, but what would you tell them if they asked? I can see problems with that.

[NeoTiamat]

I see what you are trying for there, but barter economies fall apart with the attempt to codify them this way. I mean, a life of servitude in exchange for sixteen handkerchiefs?

We need to set some econ majors on this. Any in the crowd?

Not an Econ major, but generally such things work out to Supply and Demand. Something about those sixteen handkerchiefs has to be rare enough to be worth a slave.

One of the best ideas I've read for this kind of thing is for the Changeling: The Lost Goblin Markets, where what was really being traded was Glamour, or supernatural energy. All the little tidbits were just abstractions for something different.

It wouldn't work quite so well in D&D, but you can have the odd barter system be a cover for the trading of something actually valuable. Experience points, perhaps, action points if you have them, or just straight out money, albeit cloaked with some sleight of hand.

Or just have the merchants accept cold, hard, cash. Most of the Midnight Market sellers live in the mortal world, after all, and they like their gold and (if not werewolves) silver as much as the next person.

- Maekon

Or others like her....what would they sell?

Services? Musician, bodyguard, escort... or something more ecletic like chaos or madness? I'm sure there's some Fey out there who'd love to hang out with Maekon for a while.

Sahadjleen de Beliviue (NPC created with the image Isabella made (the Sith with a watch in hand). He can tell you the exact moment when you will die. The PCs learn later this information is circulating in the MM ? Who wanted to know that?

Okay, but what would you tell them if they asked? I can see problems with that.

Tell the characters. Don't tell the players. They know you can't see the future, so with luck they'd be amenable to playing things out as though the character has learned something disturbing, and should the PC actually die later, it'll be an 'Aha! I knew it!" moment.

Alternatively, just go to the old fall-back and tell the PCs that the weave of Fate is too tangled about them.

[Joël of the FoS]

Minor Barter Items - scrap (…)
Average Barter Items (…)
Major Barter Items (…)
High Cost Barter Items – (…)

I see what you are trying for there, but barter economies fall apart with the attempt to codify them this way. I mean, a life of servitude in exchange for sixteen handkerchiefs?

Well this is an alien place, and these are feys that do not think like us. There could be trade made on this basis (or similar). The key is just to make sure the players see the place as strange and alien.

And my quote is straight from NW’s RPG, so it surely needs to be adapted to RL’s MM.

But I agree that bigger things (your servitude, your soul, a big knowledge, etc.) would be something else – perhaps lots of gold, a service, etc.

I also used: Beachum’s Emporium file (By: Tami Sammons aka Hadis Deadstalker Uss03) to make a list of things found in the MM shops:

Funny, I like the general concept of Beachum's, but the details get problematic, like the use of a teleportation circle to ship goods between domains, when teleportation only goes to the border. The MM could actually FIX this problem for them...if they could arrange to be on the inside of it, passing goods to each other regularly without having to haggle with everyone else.

Agreed. But what I meant is that I’m just using the list in the article to help managing a list of what is sold there.

- Bogeyman

I dunno. I don't see the bogeymen being inclined to pal around with the other fey. They're so reclusive, and terrified of their secrets getting out, and all that.

- Maekon

Or others like her....what would they sell?

Well they could be there to buy, or just to hang out in the wild and weird, as the PCs are possibly doing in the MM.

For Maekon, indeed, as NT said. But she could also frequent the place just for the thrill.

A bogeyman, why not? Anyone can be there to get / sell something rare. He doesn’t have to have a name tag That could be chilling to meet there a bogeyman, while the players can’t get him because of the MM truce. Perhaps try to watch him to get more info on his motive. But it would be a very rare encounter.

Sahadjleen de Beliviue (NPC created with the image Isabella made (the Sith with a watch in hand). He can tell you the exact moment when you will die. The PCs learn later this information is circulating in the MM ? Who wanted to know that?

Okay, but what would you tell them if they asked? I can see problems with that.

*lol* indeed that can be troublesome. So again as NT said.

Or Sahadjleen could write it on an undecipherable scroll (or put it inside a magical mini chest). So a NPC asking for it has what he needs from the PC while the PC doesn’t know.

For me, the MM is to spook the players by changing all rules.

Joël

[DeepShadow of FoS]

Not an Econ major, but generally such things work out to Supply and Demand. Something about those sixteen handkerchiefs has to be rare enough to be worth a slave.

Possibly, but that's not my point. My point is that barter economics is different from having a uniform trade good. It eliminates the privileged frame of reference wherein an object has some absolute worth that the price is supposed to approximate. The value of an item fluctuates wildly with the immediate needs of the person.

One of my ancesters went to a market with a jackknife. He traded the knife for a sack of potatoes, the potatoes for a laying hen, the hen for a wheelbarrow, the wheelbarrow for a case of malt whiskey, and then traded individual bottles for various items. By the end of the day he had two oxen pulling a cart full of supplies, and he even got his original knife back!

This type of scenario isn't possible when there is a standard by which everything is valued. We who live in a dollar economy would look back at the above scenario and think it must have been a swindle, but it's not so. The hen's value as a commodity was lower to a farmer who had many laying hens, and she was the weakest of the bunch. Likewise the people carting whiskey were glad to have another wheelbarrow to help them cart their goods, and for only a single case it was a bargain.

One of the best ideas I've read for this kind of thing is for the Changeling: The Lost Goblin Markets, where what was really being traded was Glamour, or supernatural energy. All the little tidbits were just abstractions for something different.

Now that makes some sense. I can see the value system being in the resonance on a particular item: a handkerchief tinged with lust would be sold to one fey, while another would only be interesting in items dripping with grief. You could have goblins sucking out the resonance and then selling the item, apparently unchanged. Maybe the grief-fey would sell an object for the traces of other emotions after all the grief was removed, or lower-caste grief fey would be there to devour the crumbs.

The funny thing about that would be how the value of the items would run so contrary to how humans think. Two fey might swap a cookie for a suit of armor, because they happen to have the same amount of resonance in the flavors they each prefer.

It wouldn't work quite so well in D&D, but you can have the odd barter system be a cover for the trading of something actually valuable. Experience points, perhaps, action points if you have them, or just straight out money, albeit cloaked with some sleight of hand.

Sure, but that's still using an absolute worth. If you can wrap your head around a true barter system, you can get some bizarre trades...and everyone can get rich.

Or just have the merchants accept cold, hard, cash. Most of the Midnight Market sellers live in the mortal world, after all, and they like their gold and (if not werewolves) silver as much as the next person.

Oh, I'd excpect that many of them would accept cash. Especially the greed goblins, because they can suck the avarice off of the money and then still use it!

Tell the characters. Don't tell the players. They know you can't see the future, so with luck they'd be amenable to playing things out as though the character has learned something disturbing, and should the PC actually die later, it'll be an 'Aha! I knew it!" moment.

Alternatively, just go to the old fall-back and tell the PCs that the weave of Fate is too tangled about them.

Sure, but the problem is, people act differently when they know they are about to die. Likewise, the act differently when the know they will live through something. Look at the movie "Big Fish." If the character knows he's not going to die for another twenty years, he may well take more risks.

Here's an alternative: give them a time within the campaign's lifetime, and when it gets close, stop rolling dice. Tell them what happens. By getting a look at the future--and having the luxury of knowing they would live through X and Y, and even Z--they pay the pirce of having the future set in stone!

[Rotipher of the FoS]

I've seen a variant on the "fortelling one's death" scenario that another DM came up with, specifically for role-playing games. Rather than inform you when you're fated to die, the fortune-teller only predicts whether or not you'll die from the next danger you encounter. If the seer says no, you're automatically missed by the next lethal-damage attack against you, or succeed on your next saving throw. If the seer should foretell your imminent death, you instead get hit or fail your save automatically in your next dangerous encounter ... and, if your PC survives anyway, the DM explains that you just barely escaped death because you'd been warned by the seer, making you more alert than you'd otherwise have been.

[NeoTiamat]

I suspect that I wasn't wholly clear on my thesis there, which was how to keep something that looks like a barter economy without actually letting the PCs barter.

Mostly it's that a true barter economy, what you describe, if combined with clever and intelligent PCs, like you obviously have, would be decidedly difficult to keep balanced. It's a purely gameist argument, I grant you, but instituting an actual barter economy, especially one which can deal with as powerful and bizarre magics as the Market does, would require some very fancy footwork by the DM to keep the PCs from acquiring anything game-breaking.

[DeepShadow of FoS]

Other possible regulars of the Midnight Market:

Abu Al Mir (CotN:W)
Lucre (CotN:C)
Emil Bollenbach (CT)
Professor Arcanus (CotN:W)
Vladamir Nobriskov (CotN:W)
Hadron Marquit (GazII, Necropolitan Zombie)
Randall Marks (Fair Folk; Linnorm of Ashmore Park)
Colin Graben (NSGaz)
Merilee Markuza (Darklords)

I think a random encounter table for the MM would be a good project. Anyone got any other suggestions from among known NPC's? I'll keep editing the list as I think of them.

Building on my list, I see special roles for some of these folks in the Market. Merilee I've already linked to the Question Box and her role as a scholar, but I can also see her just kicking back and playing chess with Colin Graben or something. Abu al Mir might stay there all the time, to stay away from Madame Lafontaine. Would that cause a problem, using it as a sanctuary? What would the Minister think of that?

Hadron might be one of the most sought-after folks in the market, because he has access to inside the Shroud. He has easy access to the well-water and glass of the Slain city, both of which have been ascribed special powers. His access to Necropolitan amaranth is not as good, but it's still much better than you'd find anywhere else.

I wonder how these creatures would feel about letting their hair down and taking their most monstrous forms in the MM? Hadron would be a 10' tall horned blue zombie, now that would give people pause....

Matter of fact, I may require that of all MM vendors: they must not hide themselves beneath a mask. Hmmmmmmm.............

[DeepShadow of FoS]

It seems we all have different visions for the MM, which is cool. If I may, I'd like to take this opportunity to explore my vision from the ground up.

To me, the MM is not a domain, but a crossroads-plane in the world of faerie (feywild?) that is accessible from almost anywhere in the demiplane, including closed domains, the ether, the plane of shadow, etc. This fact alone makes it an incredibly powerful resource, and combined with the eternal night and the time distortions, make it ripe for potential abuse. Among other potential abuses:

--it allows near-instant travel and shipping between domains.
--it allows easy access to the rarest commodities.
--it allows age-dependent creatures such as hags and vampires to age at twice their normal rate with respect to the world of men.
--it allows a perpetual sanctuary for creatures of the night.

With such a resource easily available to the creatures of the night, it begs the question whether every creature the PC's face is not taking full advantage of these resources. My attempt to answer this is as follows:

1) The MM was built by and for the forces of commerce as a place of exchange. All other purposes are secondary at best. Nothing comes for free in the market; that's not a guideline, but actually an edict from the Minster himself.

2) The temporal-spatial distortions make it difficult to leave the market any place other than where you entered it. It's possible to pay a guide to take you where you want to go, but those aren't cheap (see 1).

3) The fey rule here; all other creatures are guests. As guests, they are expected to drop all deceptions at the door and enter as the monsters they are.

This handles most of the potential abuses on the above list; anyone trying to freeload off the Market's unusual properties is going to be unwelcome at best. Now I just need to work out the different sections of the Market and the dangers of each--addictive substances, Horror checks, etc--that give the Market a proper balance as a place where even the Legions of the Night have to be circumspect.

[Nathan of the FoS]

Question: is it easy to access? How many of Ravenloft's creatures of the night know about it, and do those who know profit more by keeping their fellows out or letting them in?

Also, with regard to the idea of having the patrons of the Market go unmasked...I am getting an idea for an NPC...probably a murder-fey...who does wear a simple porcelain full-face mask, despite the general prohibition. If asked about it, it responds politely that it would perfectly happy to go unmasked, but the Minister has instructed it to wear one, as it was driving away business.

[NeoTiamat]

One thought, which might help with the whole "why doesn't everyone us it", is that there's always a bigger fish.

If you go with the idea that the Market is so open, so easily accessible to all, then it means that people who use it constantly will have a hard time keeping secrets. There's simply too many nosy supernatural entities roaming around, many of which have mind-reading, empathy, supernatural senses, or just a few centuries worth of practice at reading faces. To the more powerful creatures in the world (Liches in particular come to mind), this loss of privacy can be a terrifying prospect, and one that makes the Market a resource best used sparingly. I mean, yes, you can buy the obscure spell component for your Power Ritual... but buying it discreetly is liable to be much harder.

Any everyone has someone they fear more.