Brian G. asked this question on our Facebook page: "The 'Glory' adventure refers to one of the NPCs as part of the 'red market' dealing in 'red tech.' I can't find an explanation of what that means. Is it just 'black market' dealing in 'illegal tech,' or something more specific?" Since red markets are kind of a sci-fi concept (one for which you won't find a Wikipedia entry), I thought an explanation might be helpful... Thanks to Rob for input on this post.

Sort of. It's a concept that doesn't have a lot of useful real-world referents.

Red markets are basically what black markets turn into when they don't have to hide from governments anymore. The economy that characters in anarchist space are taking part in when they use Guanxi networks to get goods & services tends to be a red market.

In a red market, exchange of goods is mediated & regulated by violence and/or the threat of violence. It's sort of the ultimate buyer beware situation; your only guarantee of a fair exchange is your ability to smite the seller if they screw you over. Black and gray markets basically work