Well, Equity said in that last set of posts that she'd inquired previously about ways to drain our swelling Elanthian bank accounts... so here are some of the suggestions that I wish to make.

First off, give me the option of an armored escort that is willing to make me along the interprovincial routes.

This option is NOT a viable option for traders themselves as it's simply an NPC that is leading the group along the NTR, STR, or overseas. All these guards/guides would do is lead the group along (much as a caravan does when you "tell caravan to lead to <place>") and if a member of their party is attacked by something/someone other than the 13 races, they would engage in combat (unless their master left the room). This would require that their skills be set at a certain point for whatever route they're taking (i.e. must be able to win 1-on-1 against a snowbeast on the STR, but only a reaver on the NTR, a pirate however if they go overseas). Each guide/guard would only be able to lead the person to the specific destination that they are trained to cover. Group discounts available: "order 2 guides for 5 people" "That will require a deposit of 3 gold each, sir." If not everyone goes through with it, then everyone's money is refunded. ::shrugs:: You get the idea.

Other than that, I don't know. What do we spend money on IRL? Food, vehicles, places to live... and doing things...

How about that? "doing things". "going out" but DR-style. Think "combat breeding grounds". :-) In DR itself, if we're fighting a creature, we can't suddenly find ourselves in the next room but still at melee with it, we must retreat first. What if some entrepaneur that was amazingly clever (not to mention strong, courageous, and savy) decided to capture and breed certain critters solely for the purpose of fighting?

I'm thinking that I enter the grounds and see the guy behind the desk, when I ask him about combat, he offers me everything he's got: An empath once each sequence has ended = 5 silver per healing session, administered after "sequence" is complete (each one is completed when either you are dead, or the creatures you're battling are). 1 Battle Sequence = 2.5 gold, 2 Battle Sequences = 5 gold, 3 Battle Sequences = 7 gold, 5 Battle Sequences = 1 Platinum. There will be no choice of difficulty, however prices raise by 10% for every 10 circles beyond 10th (or something like that, essentially, I want a 90th circle character to pay more for it than a 10th circle char because the critters involved will be on par with their own level and it'd take more to breed such critters in the first place, hence the raised cost). The average difficulty of the creatures being hunted will be approx. 1/2 step to 2 steps higher than the current level that the hunter can handle according to stats/skills. The only way they'd get 2 steps higher is if they had a partner hunting with them.

In this system, you'd be able to gain points or lose points depending upon how well you performed, it'd be ranked somewhat along the lines of the new stadium is in the Barbarian's Guild in Crossings. Now, how points are gained, lost, and distributed:

The "sequence" would consist of whatever the GM's deem appropriate, really, but here's the concept: A prototype battle-system where it's an interactive environment. I guess you'd have to add that into the options when initially purchasing the Sequence, where it will be staged (city, wilds, underground, etc). Nonetheless, you'd start with nothing but a base armor (they'll force you to remove all your clothing and put on only their own armor and a single weapon, all of which will be about as good as a Crossing cutlass/broadsword and the full-leather armor from Shard's general store). Each sequence is planned to last approx. 20-30 minutes. You've got specific areas that you must make it through. Say a gate at the end of area 1 is your goal, but the gate is locked. In some cases, you could find the key underneath some object, in others you'd have to battle anywhere from 2-10 (depending on your skill) critters (or critter types for that matter).

No critters will drop anything of value except for items that are required for use in the quest itself. No items will be allowed to remain on the person when they leave the arena/building for the last time that day. However, you will find items that are better than your Crossing broadsword while in the sequence. The combat-style itself would require advancing only if the critter was not advancing upon you, you could maintain melee while it moved rooms, or while you moved rooms. Attacking very shortly after arriving in a new room would give the attacker a bonus. There will be items in the room ("get branch", "pull vine") that you can pick up and make use of if your skill is higher in that weapon class than the weapon class that they gave you to use initially (if you're in the city-scape, you might find a discarded butcher's knife for instance).

I just imagine sliding down a hillside on your butt and leaping up at the bottom of the hill to tackle a rock troll at it's foot, then attempting to choke him with the vine that I just pulled out of the weeds above me... :-)

~ Kwa Cyn

I would be willing to pay well to battle NPC gladiators where there was no risk of immediate death ie no critcal hits but I could still be hurt and bleed. Most people have little time to train combat skills and besided some of us find "hunting" critters to be boring.
The pits the Barbarians have are neat but you gain no exp for combating another character.