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Old 08-02-2022, 10:14 AM   #1
Donny Brook
 
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Default Costs in GURPS dollars

Is there a rule of thumb for figuring out what things that are not listed in a rule book should cost in GURPS dollars?

Like, what should furniture cost in a TL6 setting?
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Old 08-02-2022, 10:22 AM   #2
ericthered
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Default Re: Costs in GURPS dollars

For items that are freely available in the modern day you can use 1994 or whatever year it is dollars. year 2000 US dollars are probably the easiest. A good deal of the gurps economy is founded on NOT varying the base prices for different time periods.



There are also a couple of odd gurps resources that can give you prices: mostly notably the Low Tech Companion 3, and Dungeon Fantasy 8. In this case, DF8 page 15 has a small section on furniture.
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Old 08-02-2022, 10:45 AM   #3
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Default Re: Costs in GURPS dollars

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Originally Posted by Donny Brook View Post
Is there a rule of thumb for figuring out what things that are not listed in a rule book should cost in GURPS dollars?

Like, what should furniture cost in a TL6 setting?
GURPS dollars are close to 2004 US dollars. For historical settings in recent centuries, Measuring Worth can calculate the value of money. Scans of mail-order catalogues can be found on-line with a bit of digging and give you period pricing.
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Old 08-02-2022, 10:53 AM   #4
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Default Re: Costs in GURPS dollars

Generally speaking, you can just take whatever the item currently costs - or find how much it cost at some other time, if you're using an old catalogue or whatever - and convert it to 2004 USD, which is roughly where GURPS $ hover around.

At lower TL's, some items should realistically cost more. Roughly speaking, TL 7+ items tend to be of Fine quality at no additional cost, while those of simply Good quality are cheaper than the default (and those of Cheap quality, cheaper still). Absent specific rules (as for weapons), it might be alright to say that, if you're going off of TL 7+ real-world prices, you should double them for campaigns at TL 6 and lower. Find a set of wooden table and chairs that's normally $100 (probably Cheap quality...)? $100 in 2022 is worth roughly $64 in 2004*, so an equivalent table-and-chair set in TL 6 costs around $128. It's hardly perfect, but should give you at least some decent estimates. I typically use this site (on account of it being first in the Google search results) to handle inflation calculations, but undoubtedly you can find others.

*A notable complication is the fact the US - and much of the rest of the world - is currently experiencing record inflation, and not everything is going up in price by anywhere near the same amount. If you can find a price catalogue from early 2020 or earlier, you'll probably get some better estimates.
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Old 08-02-2022, 11:53 AM   #5
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Default Re: Costs in GURPS dollars

Most of the time you don't actually need to figure out a cost in GURPS $. Just figure it out in the setting's local currency. If you're playing in a modern American setting, just find a listing for the item in US dollars. If you're playing a fantasy game, come up with a price in silver pennies, or whatever currency you're using, based on the prices of other local items. Never mind what the generic GURPS $ value is; those are only important when the item is intended to cross between settings or TLs.
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Old 08-02-2022, 12:59 PM   #6
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Default Re: Costs in GURPS dollars

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Originally Posted by Stormcrow View Post
Most of the time you don't actually need to figure out a cost in GURPS $. Just figure it out in the setting's local currency. If you're playing in a modern American setting, just find a listing for the item in US dollars. If you're playing a fantasy game, come up with a price in silver pennies, or whatever currency you're using, based on the prices of other local items. Never mind what the generic GURPS $ value is; those are only important when the item is intended to cross between settings or TLs.
Since various books provide a lot of items listed in GURPS dollars, I use GURPS dollars in almost all my settings.
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Old 08-02-2022, 01:07 PM   #7
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Default Re: Costs in GURPS dollars

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Originally Posted by Stormcrow View Post
Most of the time you don't actually need to figure out a cost in GURPS $. Just figure it out in the setting's local currency. If you're playing in a modern American setting, just find a listing for the item in US dollars. If you're playing a fantasy game, come up with a price in silver pennies, or whatever currency you're using, based on the prices of other local items. Never mind what the generic GURPS $ value is; those are only important when the item is intended to cross between settings or TLs.
That all works fine if you already know what an item should cost in your setting's currency, but I assume anyone asking what an item should cost currently doesn't know how much it should cost, as otherwise they wouldn't ask the question.
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Old 08-02-2022, 01:34 PM   #8
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Default Re: Costs in GURPS dollars

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Originally Posted by Varyon View Post
That all works fine if you already know what an item should cost in your setting's currency, but I assume anyone asking what an item should cost currently doesn't know how much it should cost, as otherwise they wouldn't ask the question.
If someone wants to know how much furniture costs in historical TL6, and they're using historical currency, they can just look up a turn-of-the-20th century catalog for furniture prices. A quick search, for instance, shows me a 1915 Sears Roebuck catalog with rocking chairs going for between 4.75 and 9.85.

If you're using GURPS $ as your setting's currency, you need to take the extra step of converting that to 2004 American dollars.
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Old 08-02-2022, 03:14 PM   #9
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Default Re: Costs in GURPS dollars

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Originally Posted by ericthered View Post
For items that are freely available in the modern day you can use 1994 or whatever year it is dollars. year 2000 US dollars are probably the easiest. A good deal of the gurps economy is founded on NOT varying the base prices for different time periods.
Actually, both Classic and 4e adjust prices depending on the time period.

1934: Dell Publishing releases Famous Funnies, the first comic book for the public – cost: 10 cents. (Cliffhangers)

Ford Model T Truck 1925: $550
Ford Model T 1926: $260
Ford Model A 1927: $450 (Cliffhangers)

"As a general rule, if you want to cross-reference to costs from historical sources, divide the GURPS $ price by 22 to get historical dollar prices, or multiply dollar prices from historical sources by 22 to get GURPS $ values" (GURPS Steampunk 1: Settings and Style pg 27)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Stormcrow View Post
If you're using GURPS $ as your setting's currency, you need to take the extra step of converting that to 2004 American dollars.
This creates loads of problems as income and cost of living are set by TL (Classic Basic Set had something similar but it was more setting dependent)

The classic books are kind of broken with regards to starting wealth. For example, GURPS Greece (TL1) is at a jaw dropping $5,000 while GURPS Cliffhangers (TL6) is a paltry $750.
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Old 08-02-2022, 04:33 PM   #10
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Default Re: Costs in GURPS dollars

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Originally Posted by Donny Brook View Post
Is there a rule of thumb for figuring out what things that are not listed in a rule book should cost in GURPS dollars?
There are online inflation calculators if you want to be precise. This is one:

https://www.in2013dollars.com/

Otherwise:

TL4: GURPS $/33
TL5: GURPS $/20
TL6: GURPS $/10
TL7: GURPS $/5

There are also a number of useful catalogs from TL6-TL7 at Archive.org, which specifically list prices for all sorts of consumer goods. Search for Sears Roebuck or Montgomery Ward.
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