Credits are the Vault’s only official currency. No coins, no barter economy as “legal tender,” no alternate tender—just Credits. They function like arcade tickets: proof you participated, complied, or performed value, redeemable for goods, services, upgrades, and privileges.
Credits are generated and distributed through approved systems:
Work Credits: earned from assigned labor, shifts, contracts, or “civic contribution.”
Compliance Credits: granted for completing Warden requests, reporting anomalies, or following procedures.
Reward Credits: issued for sanctioned competitions (Bastion), recovery work (Dredge Disk), or special achievements.
Confiscation Credits (Rare): sometimes “compensations” given after Wardens seize goods “for safety.”
Credits are account-based, not a pile of coins—think stamped vouchers, punchcards, or an ID-linked credit tally.
They can be represented as:
Credit chits (brass tickets),
Vault-Pass balances (a card/bracelet scan),
Terminal receipts (printed confirmation slips).
Credits can be frozen, audited, revoked, or “reallocated” by Authority under vague safety rules.
Credits are redeemed like prize tickets:
Low-tier redemptions: food upgrades, housing comforts, transit priority, basic gear, repairs, entertainment.
Mid-tier: specialty equipment, blueprints, medical procedures, access permits, restricted maps, workshop time.
High-tier: rare tech, sector transfers, sealed records access, “exceptions,” influence with clerks/wardens.
Important tone rule: Spending Credits should feel like standing at a glowing prize counter—cheerful signage, smiling bots, and faint dread.
Use these loose bands for consistent improv:
1–10 Credits: small convenience, cheap consumable, basic paperwork fee.
11–50 Credits: minor gear, repairs, modest bribes/donations, basic permits.
51–150 Credits: strong equipment, specialty services, important access.
151–400 Credits: premium tech, major upgrades, high-level favors.
401+ Credits: “Director-level” access, elite items, major transfers, story-critical purchases.
Credits should be useful but never solve everything—high-tier rewards usually require both credits and permission/stamps/keys.
Citizens often value Credits obsessively because they are the only sanctioned path to comfort and movement.
In the Dredge Disk and black markets, people still trade, but it’s treated as illegal/unsanctioned and often converted back into Credits through fences.
“Points,” “tickets,” “reward units,” “compliance balance.”
Automatons treat purchases as redemption: “CONGRATULATIONS! You qualify for a higher-quality blanket.”