ashwoodThe second channel of the Merchant is vague enough to be seriously abused. This is my attempt to define it further and bring it into line with other avatar channels.
When a merchant finalizes a deal with his second avatar channel, all parties gain a clear understanding of what is happening and have the option of turning down the deal (even if they agreed to it verbally). Bargainers will also get a sense of how the merchant defines terms of contract (loyalty, for example, means different things to different people, the merchant’s definition is the one that applies to the contract)
If you transfer something with a negative value (illness, madness, despair) , it has to be paid for with an equal, positive value (health, sanity, happiness).
You can’t cure a sick person by transferring an illness to someone who is dying or seriously afflicted (their life revolves around managing their illness/injure or they can’t take care of themselves), because they don’t any health to give.
If John Doe has a non-lethal disease like herpes, you can’t cure someone else of herpes by giving John a double dose. You can give John arthritis and lactose intolerance, just keep in mind that after 4 or 5 unpleasant diseases, Mr. Doe starts edging over into the seriously afflicted category.
Charges don’t transfer between adept schools. A fleshworker charge (I stabbed myself in the face with a fork) and videomancer charge (I watched Blue’s Clues this morning) have very different values and therefore aren’t interchangeable. Likewise health and life span can’t be transferred between different species.
Stats purchased with the merchant’s second can’t be raised higher than the donor’s stat (it’s a matter of mystical leverage). If Bob has speed stat of 75 and buys 10% of Steve’s Speed Stat 80, Bob’s Speed only goes up to 80 and Steve’s Speed only drops to 75, the other 3 points simply fail to transfer.
Each purchased skill is a separate item. If you acquire two or more instances of the same skill, your effective skill = highest skill + 1/5 of the second highest skill (round down) + 1/25 of the third highest, etc. (with a max effective skill equal to the governing stat). Avatar skills are a special case and are governed by the rules for purchasing stats.
Stats and health (or illness) can only be contained by a living person. Purchased memories, youth, wound points or skills can be held in inanimate objects, whoever breaks or swallows the object acquires the commodity (provided they are the correct species).
Merchant contracts can’t provide any information that is unknown to the parties involved in the contract. I.E. if you are bound by contract to protect someone’s house, you don’t automatically know it’s on fire, unless someone who took part in the contract knows it’s on fire.
ashwoodThe second channel of the Merchant avatar cannot compel someone to take an action. If a bargainer refuses to follow through with the terms of a contract, at a minimum the wronged party can void the contract and reverse any transfers of immaterial commodities. Smart merchants include a penalty clause for breaking a contract. Thus you can’t make someone a puppet, unable to resist obeying your commands, but if they agree to obey you or die, the contract will give you the ability to instantly kill them if they refuse an order. All parties to a contract will sense if it has been broken, penalties can be invoked immediately or deferred till a later date. Calling in a previously undefined favor always falls under this rule, even if the favor consists of the transfer of immaterial commodities, since the bargainer is basically being asked to give his consent to a new sub-bargain.
The second channel of the Merchant avatar can prevent someone from taking an action. For example, if a bargainer attempts to reveal a secret he is bound by contract to keep, he will momentarily lose his voice if he tries speak it and find he can’t remember how to spell anything while he is trying to write it down.
If a bargainer agrees to transfer a specifically defined immaterial commodity when certain conditions are met, he cannot later withdraw his consent, unless the other party breaks their part of the contract.
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