The Item Shop turns BLOO from a score into an economy — a reason to keep earning it beyond the number going up. As the GM, you're the one who decides what's actually for sale.
The Three Item Types, Revisited for GMs
- Consumable — used once and gone. Hints, extra Challenge attempts, EP recharges. Design these as small conveniences, not power that trivializes your content.
- Key — unlocks something specific, usually a gated milestone. This is your soft-lock design tool: instead of a hard prerequisite, make a milestone purchasable.
- Reward — a keepsake with no functional effect, just for collecting. Cosmetic items are underrated for player motivation — not everything needs a mechanical purpose.
Pricing With BLOO
Price items relative to how much BLOO a typical player has actually earned by the point they'd realistically want the item — a shop full of things nobody can afford yet reads as broken, not aspirational.
Level-Gating & Secret Items
Items can require a minimum level to appear in the shop at all, and can carry a "secret" badge state — hidden until discovered, which is a good fit for anything meant to feel like an easter egg rather than a storefront listing.
Keys as Soft Puzzle Locks
Because a Key item can gate a milestone the same way a prerequisite does, you can design a moment where players have to earn or buy their way to a Key, then actively use it from their Backpack — a small extra bit of friction and ceremony compared to a milestone that just silently unlocks.
Tuning Your Economy
Watch how fast BLOO accumulates versus how fast the shop drains it. If nobody's buying anything, prices are probably too high relative to earn rate, or the items on offer aren't compelling; if everyone maxes out the shop immediately, consider adding a higher-tier item or two so BLOO stays meaningful later in the Adventure too.