The Bourse of Vadashar by Cliff Dunn is a role playing game supplement published by ZealZaddy for use with Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. As such, it is covered by the Open Game License and some parts are considered to be Open Game Content as a result.
The supplement is available as an 18 page Pay What You Want PDF from DriveThruRPG. One page is the front cover, one the front matter, one the Contents and one the Open Game License.
The first two pages of content are taken up by some links to Free City of Vadashar material, a sidebar, Welcome to the Free City of Vadashar, that is duplicated from other supplements and gives background and history of the city, and some details on using the Bourse in a non-Vadashar or a Vadashar campaign.
The Bourse of Vadashar starts with Trade Goods in a Fantasy Game or, “This Little Dwarf Went to Market”. This section explains that trade goods are items that are valuable enough to be transported distances to be sold, and need to be able to survive the trip. Lightweight and scarce goods are best; if a good is already available at the destination, the good is not going to sell well. Trade goods are divided into two different types; specific and commodity-based. Examples of how different types of the same general item can be worth different prices are given.
Buy for a Gold Piece, Sell for Two: The Bourse of Vadashar explains that Vadashar’s Bourse, or trade exchange, was established centuries ago as a place for the region’s commodities and goods to be traded. It has a building, but most trades are done in the taverns and coffee shops. There are no laws to enforce any arrangements, but written deals are rarely broken. The Bourse is a self-governing entity and its current Proctor employs a neighbourhood gang to deal with problems and enforce order.
The View from the Bourse explains that there are about thirty other buildings in the area. An overview is given of a hostel, a notary, a tavern, the gang employed by the Proctor and the agent he employs when subtlety is required. Stats are given for various NPCs and gang members.
Adventure Hooks finally has three different hooks. One is dealing with a haunted mine, another with an assassination that could involve the characters with the, exceedingly ruthless, Guild and Company of Drapers, and the final one looks at how trade, commerce and natural resources become more important should character be awarded a land grant.
The Bourse of Vadashar in Review
The PDF is well bookmarked with major and minor sections linked. The Contents is to a similar level of depth and is hyperlinked. Navigation is good. The text maintains a two-column format and appeared to be free of errors. There are a number of stock colour illustrations, up to full page in size. Presentation is good.
It should be relatively easy to use this supplement with other settings; a major fantasy trading city could well have an institution like the Bourse and there aren’t that many specific references to make it too difficult to adapt. The handful of NPCs and locations described add more adventure hooks than those at the end, and of course places where money is washing around will also have people willing to hire adventurers for jobs all along the legality spectrum. The Bourse of Vadashar is a decent little supplement and it can be found by clicking here.
Leave a Reply