Markets
 

Just something I was working on, this is a guide to what PC's might find a various market places

Looks good. What about stationery? PCs do need to write things down. Also maps?

Never though of that thanks, maps are covered under the intelligence services, but I think now I should add it in.

I am also going to add Poultry under food as I can see people selling chickens, ducks, pigions in cages

I would add the following to the fuel (black market)

Diesel fuel (well refined)
Jet fuel - which could be Jet A or Jet A-1 (in Europe) or Jet B for cold weather use
Also the different military variants including JP-4. JP-5 and JP-8

Also you could have diesel available in the regular market as diesel (crudely refined) as per the Med Campaign module

Yes adding diesel fuel, both well refined and crudely refined is a good ideal, maybe coal too, but in the games vehicle rules Avgas is the only fuel used for aircraft so don't see the need to add any jet fuels

the game is in error on avgas - you cant use aviation gas for jets and you cant use jet fuel for planes that run on aviation gas

and the military vehicles run on the JP-8 as well - thus jet fuel would be even more of a "treasure" because of its dual application

can add more realism to the market - "If its Jet Fuel you want then you won't find it here. I have heard of someone who does but you would have to go all the way to XXXXXX to get it. And it won't be cheap" - and bingo instant adventure - also adds a little Waterworld flavor to trading at a market as well - i.e. the bucket of dirt he brought to trade that was worth everything they had -

and who might want to go after the characters wondering if they have more stashed on them

I like this. I think it would be useful.

A couple of suggestions for services

Mercenaries.
Soldiers cut off from their units (whether unintentionally or not) could use the market as a place to hire themselves out as guns for hire, e.g. to merchants organising a convoy. Could be a way of introducing a new pc into a campaign

Labour force
A local strongman might have gangs of workers whose services he is willing to hire out for whatever reason, e.g. manual labour, and uses the market to try and find prospective customers. Could be legit or not.

I really like those additions - a market would be a perfect place to find people like that - if they aren't there directly there could be an "agent" who can direct you to them - for a fee of course

I presume these are more of a town market (by population) as opposed to the possibilities of a larger city, such as Warsaw.

Some additions and comments:

Food

• Dried Fruit (raisins, apricots, dates, cranberries, dates, prunes, pineapple, apples, peaches - varies by region and transportation links)
• Fresh Fruit (limited by season and type)
• Butter; limited fresh dairy if nearby
• Flour (various types of milled grain)
• Unmilled grain
• Hard biscuit/hardtack/twice-baked bread (bread that keeps) (Lembas, if you're really lucky ;-)
• Poultry (probably live for transport; they keep better; they may offer to butcher fresh for you); or if the farm is close and/or ice is available, already dead and plucked. Anything much bigger probably goes through a butcher

Tools

Duct Tape!

[B]Booths 16-20 - Electronics[B]

man-powered generators, hand-sized to bicycle-sized

Stall 20-25

I would make this clothing; then split clothing into civvy & military. Uniform will matter less than function, and military stuff is usually made for hard use.

Clothing

• fancy (few in larger markets),
• rugged use/mix with military
• hot weather
• cold weather (coats, sweaters, gloves, hats, scarves, etc)
• mixes by size (adult 70-75%, Children 25-30%)

Shoes and Boots

• Split into pre-war and new-made
• Boot (and gear) repair (in stall; larger towns may have separate cobblers)

This is an example of where a larger shop may have a booth in the market to push business to the shop.

("My Uncle Pavel can put a new sole on that, with some hobnails in a snap! Be good as new! His shop is just a few meters up Neu Blau Strasse, that way!")

Gear:

• Belting/Webbing
• Pouches of many sizes
• Packs will be combo of civvy & military
• other non-weapon equipment (camp stoves, knives, etc)

Stalls 31-35

• Bedding - blankets, sleeping bags, sheets
• Pots & pans - split into "modern" (salvaged) vs new (cast-iron); booth may be linked to nearby blacksmith.
• Knives and other small metal tools (scissors, tweezers, flatiron etc. ditto link to blacksmith
• Cloth (new cloth or bolts of pre-war material ready to be turned into clothing at need)
• Furniture - split into "modern" (salvaged) vs new; booth likely linked to larger shop/workspace; may just be factor with drawings and directions to shop
• Book seller/trader
• Cleaning products (personal or otherwise; may be the same thing) - rags, soaps (cake and powdered), rare modern cleansers or paper towels

Brokers

I assume most of the booths for services just have a service broker, not the laborers or mercenaries sitting behind the counter, or even the direct employer. Which means that the arrangement may take some time to engineer...

Some of the booths may offer deals on larger quantities than would be brought to a daily or weekly market (like enough flour or potatoes to fill a couple small rooms)

Uncle Ted

"Why did you not say you are a friend of Rick's? For friends of Rick, we have a small discount. Did I say 1200 francs? Perhaps, 200 francs?" - Casablanca, MGM 1944

I envisaged more of a set up where the Service Providers (or their middle men) were just hanging around the market rather than occupying a specific stall / booth. For example:

“You need some men to work in your factory / coal mine? Go see that guy over there, the one in the black jacket standing next to (insert whatever stall name you fancy here) smoking a cigarette. Tell him what you need and he’ll take care of it.”

The prostitutes are more likely to be wandering about the market, probably approaching individuals / small groups with offers of *ahem* service. They’re likely to know a lot of people so in addition to their normal line of work could be useful contacts, trading titbits of information for food / cigarettes etc. For example

“See that guy over there with the black jacket smoking a cigarette standing next to (insert whatever stall name you fancy here)? You want to be careful around him. He provides work gangs for the factories but he’s in tight with (insert name of local strongman here). Cross him and you might find yourself down one of the mines. For good.”

Services
 

On a cruise to the Caribbean, my wife and I experienced lots of folk both in stalls or standing on the streetside hawking their wares or services ("Braid your hair, mister?" To my wife: "Look, Pretty Lady, I made this last night just for you!").
At one port we were not-quite-swarmed by men and boys offering to give us an economical tour of the port. Newcomers to the town/market might receive such a enthusiastic welcome.
And I would give extra points for Scrounging or even Interrogation as a discount when bartering. Possibly skill level in a particular area--Animal Husbandry, Gunsmith, Mechanic, etc--could be brought to bear as presenting convincing evidence of issues with the items for sale, allowing a chance of price reduction accordingly.