I've decided I want to incorporate some appropriate currency into the game to provide my players with additional incentives and ability to equip themselves for missions. To this end I have devised the Administratum Exchange Certificate (AXC, or 'Ax in the common parlance), which can assist players in obtaining gear and services. There are two kinds of AXC...

Fungible AXC ('Fax in common use): These are essentially 'bearer bonds' that entitle the holder to exchange them with Administratum agencies for their equivalent value of resources. Though they are most commonly used within standard channels of the Imperial bureaucracy they can also be traded with those who recognize their value. They come in 4 denominations - Green, Blue, Gold and Nova. In typical play the PC must state they are using a Fungible AXC before attempting to obtain something using their Influence. The denomination then dictates what happens with that test based on the availability being sought.

1. Plentiful: Green (Inf), Blue (2xInf), Gold (Unlim), Nova (Unlim)
2. Common: Green (Auto), Blue (Inf), Gold (500), Nova (Unlim)
3. Average: Green (2xReroll), Blue (Auto), Gold (4xInf), Nova (Unlim)
4. Scarce: Green (Reroll), Blue (2xReroll), Gold (Inf), Nova (500)
5. Rare: Green (-), Blue (Reroll), Gold (Auto), Nova (Inf)
6. Very Rare: Green (-), Blue (-), Gold (2xReroll), Nova (Auto)
7. Extremely Rare: Green (-), Blue (-), Gold (Reroll), Nova (2xReroll)
8. Near Unique: Green (-), Blue (-), Gold (-), Nova (Reroll)

(-) = No Effect, (Auto) = Automatically succeed the Inf Test, (Inf) = Automatically obtain a number of items up to the PC's Influence Score, (2xInf or 4xInf) = Automatically obtain up to a number of items equal to 2 or 4 times the PC's Influence Score, (500) = automatically obtain up to 500 items, (Reroll) = reroll a failed Inf Test, (2xReroll) = get two rerolls on a failed Inf Test, if one or both succeed then the initial test is passed.

Example: Tetra declares she'll use a Green Fungible AXC to obtain a Scarce Availability item and rolls her Influence test. She fails the test but due to the Green 'Fax gets a reroll. She then declares she'll use a Gold 'Fax to obtain a Very Rare item and makes makes an Influence test. Again she fails but she gets TWO rerolls to try again for the same item. Finally she uses a Blue 'Fax to obtain an Average item, which she automatically receives.

Requisition AXC ('Rax in common use): These are a type of pre-established purchase order which can be fulfilled for the bearer to receive a specific bill of goods as ordered by the approving authority issuing it. These types of AXCs do not require an Inf roll, but are restricted to a set of pre-determined goods. A 'Rax will typically have the following information assigned to it...

1. Issuer - the providing agency can be as broad as any Administratum logistics entity in the Imperium to as narrow as a specific window at a specific shipping hub on a specific planet. Especially with a broad Issuer classifier there is a chance the bill of goods may not be on hand. In this case the Issuer would attempt to obtain the items & services using their own Influence capabilities, though whether this succeeds and how long it takes can be quite variable.
2. Bill of Goods - Items which are given to the bearer of the 'Rax when remitted. In some cases items on the Bill of Goods may have a chance to not be available, have odd substitutions, etc as the GM wants to play it.
3. Proviso - the 'Rax may have conditions associated with it before it can be honored. This may be as simple as a counter signature, the presentation of a credential, redemption by a given date or anything else the GM wants to add. Provisos also determine whether the item is permanently assigned or needs to be returned at some point (and if so, when, in what condition and penalties for failure to comply).

In general a 'Rax is a more complicated item to trade outside the Adminstratum depending on what circumstances of the Issuer, Bill of Goods and Provisos.

Example: Tetra receives a 'Rax from her Inquisitor which includes several pieces of equipment that could be useful in her upcoming mission. However the Issuer is located in a sector of the hive currently experiencing a block war and it has a Proviso that the Sniper Rifle included will be returned to a Imperial Guard regiment that is shipping out for off world in less than a week.

Any thoughts?

Interesting idea, but not one I'll be using with my group. We prefer to spend as much time as possible investigating cultists and don't find inventory management very interesting, so we'll stick with the Influence system.

By the way, we've been playing since the start of the Beta and Influence works just fine for us. The one thing that's a little odd is burning Influence to acquire items -- this may have changed in the final version but in the beta you lost the same amount of Influence regardless of the item's rarity. This happened so infrequently that we didn't bother house-ruling it (basically only when the psyker lost his hearing to a bolt round and his arm to a lasgun and needed replacements ASAP), but it is something to keep in mind.

Have you tried using Influence for a while to see how you like it? My group was skeptical at first, but they adjusted pretty quickly and now don't want to return to a currency system.

I've used the Influence system quite a bit in RT and normally stick with it. However my players like to have some wealth incentives they can use when needed.

Having gone over the Requisition system a bit more, I'm considering simply making 'Faxes into items with a fixed Availability that can be used for Trading to get the roll bonuses.

Having gone over the Requisition system a bit more, I'm considering simply making 'Faxes into items with a fixed Availability that can be used for Trading to get the roll bonuses.

I like that idea, and perhaps I'll use something like that in my game.

Another possibility is to have a single kind of "credit notes" that can each be used as a Fate Point when making acquisition tests. A single note would either give you a reroll on a test, give you a +10 bonus on a test before rolling, or add 1 DoS to a successful test. This is the simplest but least in-depth option.

Also, it is a good idea to set limits on when and where these notes can be used. Most respectable merchants on developed planets might accept them, but a feral world weaponsmith or underhive arms dealer wouldn't value such pieces of paper.

Absolutely with the limits CiW. As a GM you can limit what the players get as far as 'Axes and what's available with them. When used outside the Administratum, on 'the street' as it were, direct barter would be a good RP opportunity.

Another possibility is to have a single kind of "credit notes" that can each be used as a Fate Point when making acquisition tests. A single note would either give you a reroll on a test, give you a +10 bonus on a test before rolling, or add 1 DoS to a successful test. This is the simplest but least in-depth option.

This is what we've done, and it works pretty great.

Absolutely with the limits CiW. As a GM you can limit what the players get as far as 'Axes and what's available with them. When used outside the Administratum, on 'the street' as it were, direct barter would be a good RP opportunity.

Another possibility is to have a single kind of "credit notes" that can each be used as a Fate Point when making acquisition tests. A single note would either give you a reroll on a test, give you a +10 bonus on a test before rolling, or add 1 DoS to a successful test. This is the simplest but least in-depth option.

This is what we've done, and it works pretty great.

That sounds good, too!