LogFAQs > #964946583

There's a few older RPGs that used to have the mechanic where you could buy different trade goods (like spices, cloth, tea, etc) in different towns, and they'd have different prices in each town. So you sort of learn to take note of which towns sell certain goods cheapest and which buy them for the most, and you start trading.

Those aren't games where the main mechanic of the game is trading, though, just games where it's more of a side activity. And I honestly can't remember which specific games I'm thinking of, because it's been a looong time since I've played any JRPGs.

You can do the same thing in the Fabled Lands gamebooks - they're supposed to be epic fantasy adventures with exploration and combat, but if you really want, you could totally just become a merchant trader and sail from port to port, buying low and selling high, and occasionally fighting pirates or dealing with the occasional ghost ship or mermaids or the like. Then once you're rich, you can just retire and go on adventures. Or just challenge yourself to keep going as long as possible, to see how much money you can make before you start to get bored with the repetitive monotony.


EDIT: I think the earlier Suikoden games have that sort of mechanic. I seem to remember it being in them.