Perage prestige shop for non-house members

[Draugir]

So I understand that the houses has to be the major players of the peerage, and I in no way want that to change. But I do appreciate there also being PCs that is not part of a house, and I feel like there should still be some reasons for non-house members to care about prestige, mechanically.

I propose there to be some shops that trades in prestige instead of gold, but of course you have to be a citizen of the peerage in order to purchase anything.

A standard could be a potion shop, another could be for some basic equipment and of course I also think +1 armor could be considered, but make it much more expensive than they are in the shops of the houses.

Also, maybe a shop where some epic items were available to both members and non-members of houses.

Thoughts?

[Stranger]

There would need to be a mechanism for turning prestige items in without joining a House.

Possibly at the Royal Archive, I suppose...

[Richørd]

I think this'd add a lot to the Peerage Ward.

RP wise the mechanic itself makes sense as so far that, no matter who you are in the Peerage, prestige and your reputation matter. A whole lot. And I think if two men, one of a Great House and one with no titles or big faction allegiance other than the Peerage itself, achieved the same things and performed equally well? It'd definitely either make the Great House look worse off or just boost the reputation of that lone struggler even further, likely resulting in more competition, rivalry and good old FD duellos on the bridge.

Adding a 'prestige shop' brings up one obvious question. Where should one hand the shiny bibs and bobs in? The only viable solution might be the Spinning Groat. It stands at the heart of the Peerage Ward (both figuratively and literally), it is the most neutral ground and has the most traffic of people coming in and out. If you want to become famous and have the word of mouth carry your name around while being a 'neutral' party within the Peerage I imagine you'd want all that to happen in the Spinning Groat. A placeable to hand the items in could be something like a big shelf, where people can leave items to 'show off' what they brought home (yes, even a dirty dinner napkin has value and can earn prestige when it comes straight from the King's dinner table).

Next, what'd a neutral shop offer?
First of all I think all items should be only for non-Retainers that are also citizens of the Peerage, with a clear OUB description. None of the items should be mechanically restricting though, as let's say making them Human-only would be an annoyance if there's ever a change of direction for the Peerage's RP or if someone apped to be a half-elf or half-orc or whatever halfbreed PC who also lives as a registered citizen in the Ward (like a Winespill). The items offered can have lots of variations and the explanations for where they come from can be just as varied. Well meaning philantrophists donating to the Groat, old Peerage outfits and uniforms of forgotten Houses that were lost in time, gladiator battle equipment, perhaps even a nod at earlier versions of Retainer uniforms such as an old Nephezar helmet (the one with wings) that wasn't scrapped yet? Perhaps entry to the Flower Club upstairs can be earned through prestige. Or free resting at the Groat for like 10k points, a 'License of Public Aknowledgement' by Drayson Sparrowbroth himself.

Yet balance should be kept in mind. This is a relatively low-fantasy server where numbers aren't bloated. Still, gear offered at this neutral shop should hardly ever be able to match or even top the veteran equipment of the Great Houses. And if it does then only so at a higher Prestige Points prices.