STAGE · Your first town
Banks
Draft — Draft: checked against the game source, not yet read through end to endAvailable from the startDeposit gold, move money with a letter of credit, and understand the shared online account before borrowing.
This page is further along your path. Read ahead if you’re curious; you can return when you reach this stage.
Your account
Use any bank branch to deposit or withdraw. Offline, accounts are regional. Online, all branches use one Empire account, and gold already held in regional accounts folds into it when you join. Loan records and due dates stay tied to the region where they were taken. A default there blocks new borrowing at every branch; the Empire can collect what is owed from the shared account and other regional deposits.
Deposits draw from your purse first, then from a wagon later if needed. A withdrawal can be refused if you lack the balance or cannot carry the coins. Gold has weight, so a large withdrawal can burden you even when the account can cover it.
Letters of credit
A letter of credit carries a stated face value without coin weight. The bank charges 1% above that value when issuing it, and the minimum is 100 gold. You can use eligible letters to pay for purchases, fines and market later transactions. Deposit a letter to turn its full face value back into account gold; the bank deposits all letters you carry together.
Loans
Online loans use the Empire's shared cap: up to 1,000 gold per character level. You can hold only one active loan across the Empire, and a default or an existing loan standing prevents another. Interest of 10% is added when the loan is made, so early repayment does not remove it. The term is one game year. If a loan becomes overdue, the bank takes what it can from the account before the remainder defaults.
Common mistakes
Withdrawing your whole balance before a trip. Carried coins have weight and face the online death penalty; a death costs one tenth of the gold you carry, while bank gold and letters of credit are untouched. Withdraw only what you will spend.
Borrowing up to the full 1,000 gold per character level without a repayment plan. The 10% interest is added when the loan is made, so early repayment does not remove it, and a default blocks new borrowing empire-wide.
Next
Sources & checked facts
src/systems/banking.js:EMPIRE_ACCOUNT_REGION,foldEmpireAccounts,withdrawGold,withdrawLetter,calculateMaxBankLoan,borrowLoan,settleOverdueLoansrc/systems/inventory.js:GOLD_PIECE_WEIGHT_KG, letter-of-credit itemsrc/systems/roleplayRealism/rrRealism.js:rrLoanMaxPerLevelsrc/systems/online/onlineLane.js: Roleplay & Realism loan setting onlineResearch:
handbook/research/T1.md(banks)