September 16, 2024: Virtual FOMO?

One fun thing to do in RPGs that have a purchasing element is "limited-time offers" that induce that fear of missing out. For example, the adventurers are in a little shop, and they see a rare or one-of-a-kind magic item (or even not-quite magical items, such as those found in GURPS Fantasy-Tech 1: The Edge of Reality). Do they buy it?

This technique can even come up in more cinematic games. Maybe the spies of a GURPS Action game requisition their equipment, but the place they get them from has a couple of interesting items of unusual tech. The seller has other buyers lined up, but the heroes are here now, so maybe they can work out a deal . . .

Of course, this can crop up in the real world. For example, Warehouse 23 currently has fewer than nine copies each of Munchkin Pathfinder Guest Artist Edition, Flowerspeare pawns for Munchkin Shakespeare, and Munchkin Steampunk Kill-O-Meter sets. So keep that in mind as you're planning whether to pick up that impossible-to-find grappling catapult . . .

-- Steven Marsh