IOU (debt)

Basic Information

An IOU is usually an informal document acknowledging debt.

Once formalised, this tends to evolve into a letter of credit and thence to banknotes.

See Also

• News: Californians are sinking themselves
• News: California Won't Accept Its Own IOUs

Sources

Bibliography

1. Wikipedia entry

Game and Story Use

• If one or more of the player characters need to pay off an IOU, it can serve as a great source of motivation for seeking out adventures - especially adventures with slightly dubious ethics.
  • A character might even start out with such a debt at character creation as a disadvantage.
• On the other hand, perhaps the PCs have been given an IOU, and now want to collect - but the person who issued it is nowhere to be found. Finding him becomes a new adventure.
  • Someone else could also give an IOU given to him as a payment for other services to the PCs. The debt owed might then be significantly higher than it would be appropriate for "normal" pay for this service - as there is some risk involved in cashing the IOU in.