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TalesMUD

Merchants & Economy

Merchants & Economy

Section titled “Merchants & Economy”

Merchants are NPCs with the merchant trait, allowing players to buy and sell items. The merchant system supports per-item pricing, stock limits, and automatic restock.

Creating a Merchant

Section titled “Creating a Merchant”

Add the merchantTrait to any NPC:

{
  "name": "Bramwick",
  "description": "A stout merchant with a calculating smile and ink-stained fingers.",
  "merchantTrait": {
    "inventory": [
      {
        "templateId": "ITM0012",
        "name": "Weak Health Potion",
        "stock": 10,
        "maxStock": 10,
        "price": 8,
        "restockTime": 3600
      },
      {
        "templateId": "ITM0001",
        "name": "Dusty Torch",
        "stock": 20,
        "maxStock": 20,
        "price": 2,
        "restockTime": 1800
      }
    ]
  }
}

Merchant Inventory Fields

Section titled “Merchant Inventory Fields”
FieldDescription
templateIdItem template ID to sell
nameDisplay name in the shop listing
stockCurrent stock count
maxStockMaximum stock (for restock)
priceBuy price in gold
restockTimeSeconds until stock is replenished

Player Commands

Section titled “Player Commands”
talk [merchant]     — Start conversation (shows merchant option)
list                — Show merchant's inventory with prices
buy [item]          — Buy an item from the merchant
sell [item]         — Sell an item to the merchant
value [item]        — Check how much the merchant will pay

Pricing

Section titled “Pricing”

The buy price is set per-item in the merchant inventory.

The sell price (what the merchant pays) is typically a percentage of item.basePrice. The exact sell multiplier is configured server-side.

Restock

Section titled “Restock”

Stock replenishes automatically after restockTime seconds since the last purchase depleted the stock. maxStock is the stock level restocked to.

A restockTime of 0 means infinite stock (useful for basic supplies like potions).

Currency

Section titled “Currency”

TalesMUD uses a gold-based economy. Characters have a gold field tracking their currency.

Example currency items:

  • ITM0006 — Copper Bits (stackable, max 999)
  • ITM0015 — Silver Mark (stackable, max 999)

These are collectible items used as currency drops, separate from the character’s gold balance.

Next Steps

Section titled “Next Steps”