The man that ran the food truck was an old codger. He was tough and smart. Had to be, with only his dog as a companion out here in the Wastes. How he kept the truck in running condition and fueled up was a mystery. But the fact he had food, water, along with other goods, and services for sale too was even more amazing.
 
He traded with those at the bazaar outside the city gates. He knew city folk. He also had good relations with the truckers and caravan drivers. He smiled when I came up to him, showing a row of mostly intact teeth. He could smell a sale. “So. Are you here to buy? I take credit chips, barter, trade, and rare coins.”

I noticed his prices fluctuated each visit. But so was the way of barter and trade in the Wastelands. If you live in the Empire controlled city, goods and service are not that big a concern. In the Wastelands though, even food and potable water is hard to come by. Hell, people will kill you out her for things like that.
 
There are farmers, but they are not local to the area. The land is still recovering from the war. The farmers and ranchers are mostly in Imperial controlled “Green Zones” that did not get scorched in the war. Independent family farming and trade still goes on, but unprotected farmers, cowboys, and traders vanish all the time. Bandits, raiders, slavers, and worse hunt the wastes, wilderness, and the scattered green farmlands.

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NOTE: Credit tokens can be given to Wastelanders, by the city government or the ISF for goods and services rendered. The poker chip like currency has the amount that the coin is worth encoded in to it and stamped on the exterior. The coins are rumored to be magitech forged in order to prevent counterfeiting. Some trade in gold and silver coins, if they are accepted. Prewar currency is considered worthless now though (Coins have value depending on the metal).

Goods and Services (See descriptions below)
• Water (potable): A few credits or small trade
• Food:
   o Government food rations: Free* (ISF distributes care packages to Wastelanders at the checkpoint once a month)
   o Rice: A few credits or small trade
   o Bean: A few credits or small trade
   o Bread (Loaf): A few credits or small trade
   o Corn Tortillas: A few credits or small trade
   o Seeds: Low to medium trade
   o Vegetables: Low to medium trade
   o Fruit: Medium to high trade
   o Strawberries, artichoke, and mushrooms: High to very high trade
   o Fish: Low to medium trade
   o Meat, game: A few credits or small trade
   o Eggs: Low to Medium trade
   o Meat, farm (goat, rabbit, chicken): Medium trade
   o Meat, Beef: High trade
   o Milk: Varies
   o Cheese, Low to medium trade
• Alcohol
   o Homebrew: Low to medium trade
   o “Top shelf” and prewar: High to very high trade
• Sugar: High trade
• Salt: Low to Medium
• Spices: Medium to high trade
• Tobacco: Medium to High
• Cigarettes: High or very high if gotten from the city
• Coffee: High to very high (from the city)
• Drugs: Low to very high (with risk from ISF)
• Medicine: (ST approval)
• Medical supplies: (ST approval for all basic supplies)
• Books: Low to high trade (with risk from ISF)
• Candles: Low to medium
• Gasoline: High to very high
• Knives: Medium trade (ST approval for specialty knife)
• Firearms: High to very high
• Ammunition: High to very high (ST approval for specialty ammo)
• Explosives and heavy military weapons: (ST approval only)

Services:
• Food and drink: See above. Expect a possible markup in price.
• Room and board: Low to medium credit or trade.
• Salvage / Forage: Low trade (may raise to med or higher with ST approval)
• Prostitute: Low to medium trade
• Medical care: Varies on injury and caregiver
• Smith: Pay low trade for metal salvage, med to high for work
• Gunsmith: High to very high depending on job
• Transport: Varies (see below)
• Scouting: Depends on ISF mission
• Information: Varies
• Bounty: Depends on ISF
• Slaves: Low to very high

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Water:
“Whiskey is for drinking, water is for fighting.” Old California 1800’s saying.

Potable water is often hard to come by in the Wastelands. Water sources are often contaminated and are even radioactive. Those that have access to clean water often are careful with it. A bottle of clean water will likely cost a few credits to a small trade. It will likely be more expensive during the summer. Untested water sources, including springs, bring risks of waterborne disease and contamination. Access to enough clean water to farm with or sell is likely going to bring you unwanted attention. Someone offering you a free glass of water is a friendly gesture, If you can trust them.

Food:
“May the odds be ever in your favor!” The hunger games

Food is hard to come by in the Wastelands. Food is hunted, raised, grown, foraged for, bought, traded, or received through government care packages.
Care package: People who want a care package have to come to the city to get their ration from the government. You just have to sign forms. The ISF might also have some questions for you while your there…

Rice: Grown in the wet clay of Sacramento Valley, it is one of the few food staples that can be afforded with a small trade or a few credits at hand.

Bean: Nutritious and it stores well, beans have become highly prized and usually a bit more expensive then rice.

Bread: Wheat and grain still make it to market. Along with rice and beans, bread is a food staple in the Wastelands. A loaf of bread often costs a few credits or a small trade. Corn made tortillas are often used as well and are a bit cheaper then bread.

Fruit and vegetables: Almost as highly prized as meat. There are still fruit trees, maybe an orchard or vegetable field here and there. The fruit the birds and worms don’t get are highly prized at market and can go from a low to medium trade. An orange is the best way to avoid scurvy after all. Family vegetable gardens can mean the difference between surviving the winter, if you can find the seeds and clean water. Strawberries, artichoke, and mushrooms are specially grown to the south on ISF guarded farms to the south. NOTE: Wild mushrooms are even more dangerous to pick after the war due to a number of environmental factors.

Seeds: Speaking of seeds, they are less hard to find now then shortly following, but still come at a price. Depending on type, quality, and quantity, seeds can go from low to high trade. Sunflower and pumpkin seeds are usually used as snacks and to stave off hunger during trips. Farmers often come into the city for a new batch of seed and fertilizer for the spring.

Fish: More abundant and less mutated in the decades following the war, fish are making a comeback in the nearby rivers and Pacific Ocean. Fresh and dried varieties make it to the market. Usually, fish go for a small trade or a few credits. Salmon spawning season is highly anticipated. But actions by the Mer can change that overnight, including attacking fishing boats or raiding coastal communities.

Meat:
“Meat is back on the menu boys!” Orc from Lord of the Rings

Game meat: Wild fauna took some heavy hits during the war. From habitat destruction to over hunting when food supply chains became disrupted. But wildlife is starting to flourish again with the wilderness slowly returning to the Wastelands. Hunters and trappers make a living off of their kill. What they don’t eat, they often offer as trade. However, it is risky business to be an outdoorsman with the shifters (and other things) also hunting in those same wild areas. A hunter will likely make a small to medium trade for fresh game. Venison jerky is often used for trips.

Farm and ranch grown meat: Harder to come by. Rabbit, chicken, dog, and goat meat are the most common now and usually make for a medium trade. Eggs go for a few credits or small trade. Cattle are still raised on outflung ranches. In the Wastelands, beef is rare and comes at a high price or trade. Hence beef is considered a “rich man’s meat,” now and cattle are often shipped from ranch land to Imperial controlled locations on guarded trucks and ships to sell to the cities. NOTE: Some meat sources are questionable and come with additional health risks in the Wastelands. Whether it’s diseased ground squirrel, mutated beasts, or even human. Pork is not the only white meat available on the markets. Blood; whether it be animal, human, and other is often used, traded, or sold to Wastelanders. Some of it ends up in the city purchased by vampires with specific tastes.

Milk: There a handful of dairy farms up in Oregon. Fresh milk is hard to come by outside of a farm. Young parents are often desperate to find sources of milk and often seek goat milk or try to buy from the city. Cheese can be stored and shipped more easily and can be traded at a low to medium trade.

Alcohol: People will always find a way to get drunk. Barely and grain alcohol from the valleys, wine from the Napa vineyards, sake from the Sacramento valley, even tequila from Mexican agave far to the south. Used for drinking, antiseptics, generators, and more drinking. Alcohol is highly sought after and trades well. If the stuff you buy or trade for doesn’t make you blind, you lucked out. You might even be able to relax and forget about your ills for a bit. Depending on the type and quality, alcohol can go from a low-to-medium trade. Alcohol from Imperial sources or even pre-war vintages discovered can get you a high trade. Good luck though on getting a hold of the top shelf booze in the Wastes.

Sugar: the demand for sugar far surpasses the supply in the Wastelands. Humans need a certain amount of sugar to survive and is used for a number of things. It is often used as a trade item in itself, as it is worth as much or more than gold and silver coins now. They say there are one or maybe even two sugar beets factories still pumping out sugar down in Salinas Valley, but who controls them now? Honey and hard candies also work much the same way for trade. All such sweets are often looked at as luxury items, and thus considered to be expensive or a high trade item. Forget about chocolate, as it can only be obtained from the city.

Salt and spices: Salt is often traded by Mer and coastal communities and goes for low to medium trade due to its day-to-day importance. Spices are harder to come by and are highly sought after. Some can be grown in gardens while others are obtained from the city. Spices range from low to medium trade.
Tobacco: A few farmers grow enough food to also grow a little bit of tobacco on the side. What is not used is put up for sale or a low to medium trade. For Imperial produced cigarettes and other tobacco product, it can go for a high trade.
Coffee: Hopefully you can get some from the city, but it will likely cost you. They have to ship it from South America. Some wild ginseng root is making its way down from the Oregon wilderness, but it’s a rare occurrence and come with a high trade or number of credits.

Drugs: Marijuana and opium are the most common in the Wasteland. Marijuana grows well in the local wilderness. Opium poppy can actually grow fairly well in the Wastelands, as its essentially a weed. Don’t get fooled with people selling you Orange California Poppies. It’s not the same thing.
Most manufacture drugs are hard to come by. The chemicals needed for making more refined drugs is usually heavily controlled by the ISF. Some figure out a way though. For the most part, as long as it stays out in the Wastelands, its fine. ISF will even tolerate the street gangs making small trades and dealing drugs, as long as it doesn’t get out of hand. When it does, ISF tend to take a hardline on both the dealers and any possible Wasteland cultivators. Its not unheard of for ISF firebombing a drug farm or facility in the middle of the night or to execute drug dealers on the street to send a message. Drugs trade from low to high depending on type, but come with escalating risks.

Medicine and Antbotics: Usually has to be gotten from the city as supplies in the Wasteland mostly dried up years ago.

Medical supplies: Even sterile bandages are hard to come by in the Wastes but can be made. Advance medical supplies will likely come from the city or found during a story / mission.

Books: Books in the Wasteland are rare. But you might be able to trade for a book not found in the government approved library or book stand reading list. Books are needed to learn how to do recipes, conduct, specific tasks, or repair items. While a Bible from an abandoned hotel nightstand might get you a good trade. It might also get you into hot water if you are caught with it by the ISF.  The ISF have been known to crucify suspected “religious extremists”.
Candles: One of the most common forms of light and can even be used as emergency heating in a pinch. More common now, then following the war, candles are primarily made by animal fat. They are a low to medium trade item in itself.

Gasoline:
"Gas! Petrol! Guzzolene!" Mad Max

Gasoline and alcohol (see above) run most of the generators and few vehicles still running in the wasteland. Wind and solar energy were still new technology when the war started. Fuel is carefully rationed by those that have it, as one does not know when and if more can be purchased. Choices between keeping your generator running or filling your truck is a tough choice… if you are lucky enough to have both. During the war, many of the oil fields and refineries burned around the world. Rumor has it there are some wild cat oil field operations down in the Black Hills of California, that still produce gas and oil for sale. The magictech vehicles the city uses, needs some lubricants, but do not require carbon-based fuel to run anymore. So gas does not come from the city. Kerosine and LPG bottles are often purchased from city sources for heating, cooking, and lighting though. Often a life saver in the winter. But if LPG starts becoming misused, the ISF could cut the vital supplies off, hurting those who rely on them.

Knives: A good knife is essential for survival in the Wastelands. Knives are easy to carry, versatile, don’t require ammunition or batteries, and act as a good trade item. A good knife can be used for a medium to high trade. Some people trade knives as barter. (NOTE: Some prewar specialty knives require ST approval or are a possible loot item.) Kitchen knives and shanks can be found or made, but are less usable and trade for less.

Firearms and ammunition:
Hijacker, “he got a gun.” Hijack Leader, “shit, it ain't loaded. Oh, they never are.” Book of Eli

Guns are hard to come by in the Wastelands. Ammunition even harder and is very expensive. ISF likes its populace unarmed and compliant, so don’t expect to get any guns and ammo from the city. ISF weapons are strictly controlled too and use Magitech. What most people use for weapons in the Wastelands are at least 40+ years old or crudely crafted. Specialized high maintenance weapons, attachments, and specialized ammunition went first during the end of the war. Hunting rifles, shotguns, and pistols are still around as they were common before the war, but are getting more rare by the year. Shotgun and .22 rifle ammunition can be found in small quantities. To a lesser degree, 9mm and .38 caliber pistol can still be found. But these require high trade or credit expenditures to acquire. Gunsmiths still exist and know how to do some crafting reloading. But primer and casings are hard to come by now. Sometimes a gunsmith will trade 10 casings for a bullet. Black powder weapons have even made a comeback, as have bows, as ammunition is easier to craft for both. Careful though, ISF have been known to question or even shoot people with crossbows out in the Wastes, suspecting them to be possible “Van Helsing” types.

(NOTE: For my gun enthusiasts, I hear you whining already... Even an Assault Rifle is going to be rare item and require preapproval. Or loot from a quest or storyline. Add a specialized nightscope on that assault rifle, even more so. The 5.56 and 7.52mm ammunition that such weapons use became rare during the last parts of the war due to both high expenditure rates and when the factories were abandoned or destroyed. Additionally, be aware, ISF also make note of reports of Wastelanders with specialized weapons. “Yeah officer, that sniper guy wearing the keffiyeh was here again last night…”)
Explosives and heavy military weapons: These items are usually rare antiques now. High maintenance items often broke and lack spare parts. Specialized ammo dried up during the last days of the war. ISF and the Imperial Legions tend to also go on sweeps for such weapons in the Wastelands and wilderness. Improvised explosive devices (IED’s) are difficult to make, often require specialized parts, and those with the skillsets to make them are becoming a rare breed. Bombmakers have a nasty tendency to blow themselves up in their own basement labs. Moreover, Shifters in the ISF have an uncanny ability to sniff out where bombs and bombs caches are concealed.

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Services:
Services can range from low to high trade or earn a number of credits.

Food and drink: See above. Expect a possible markup in price.

Room and board: Low to medium credit or trade.

Prostitute: Low to medium trade. Those that can get a high trade for their services usually move to the city to ply their trade of sell themselves off to a good owner. Some are used against their will by pimps and slavers (see below)
Smith: will usually give low trades for scrap metal, medium trades for common items such as knives, and high trades for specialty made items such as swords and crossbows.

Gunsmith: If you can find one, they will charge high credit costs or high trades for their specialty skills. Black powder is items may go for medium. Fixing a 40-100 year old specialty rifle will cost a high trade and may require a quest to find parts.

Transport: Caravan masters and truckers charge low to high fees of credit or trade depending on cargo, weight, distance, and risk. Truckers will charge more than caravans. Still horses cost many to keep up.

Scouts and informants: ISF hires out people to keep an eye on the Wastelands and its inhabitants.

Bounty hunter: Runaway slaves, criminals, insurgents, religious extremists, and others tend to hide in the Wastelands. So the ISF tends to hire specialists to hunt down bounties and get high credit or trade payouts. Still the ISF does not give away any of their own weapons to such dangerous humans. Even if they are kind of on the payroll.

Slaves: Slavers are a heartless lot who hunt the Wastelands and sell their victims to the highest bidder. The slaves are often sold to the city, but not always. As there are those that are looking for humans of their own uses in the Wastes. Slaves can be sold for low to high credit or trade payouts. Males often go for more than females do to ability to do heavy manual labor or for potential guards for vampires. Looks, age, health, personality, and specific features often increase their trade value. On a cautionary note, ISF take a dim view of human slavers operating in the city. Enslavement of a citizen or worse, an attempt to take a supernatural will often be pursued with vengeance.