Is there a name for this trope or plot?

[ChaosReignsOnSomeSaturday]

It's been done in different mediums and I've always really liked it as a plot idea.
Whole thing is you need object X and person who has X wants object Y, you don't have object Y but someone else does but they want object Z for Y.

From there it cascades out till the MC usually finds someone down the line who'll trade whatever they need to start the whole chain for something they actually have.
There's an episode of Chowder with it, an episode of Deep Space 9 with it, ect.

There's gotta be like a trope or origin point for it but I've for no idea how to look.

 

[Krokodil Overdose]

No idea if there's a formal name, but TVTropes calls it "chain of deals."

 

[RACISM]

This is basically every Monkey Island video game.

 

[Lords Greatsword]

Reminds me of the trade sequences some Zelda games have that eventually reward you with a powerful item or another kind of gift

 

[Caesar]

Reminds me of the trade sequences some Zelda games have that eventually reward you with a powerful item or another kind of gift

I instantly thought of the big goron sword and the weird quest in Links Awakening.

 

[Sparkletor 2.0]

Yeah, I could go around all day trading bullshit with everyone I meet or I could just go get a gun and rob the first guy for what I wanted. Saves a lot of unnecessary steps.

 

[Caesar]

Yeah, I could go around all day trading bullshit with everyone I meet or I could just go get a gun and rob the first guy for what I wanted. Saves a lot of unnecessary steps.

Not all of them respawn if you want to farm resources sadly.

 

[Private Tag Reporter]

In a video game, I'd call that a "trading quest". In a literary plot, I'm not sure. "Straw Millionaire Protocol", maybe?

 

[Just A Fat Round Bird]

I immediately had to think of the fairy tale "Hans im Glück" (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_in_Luck) which is about trading things. Not quite the same but it just came to mind.

 

[We Are The Witches]

Not identical, but the exchanging goods progressively reminds me of the tale of "The milkmaid and her pail", which has similarities with "The broken pot" , from the "Panchatantra" (indian fables from 200 BCE and earlier).

If you know the milkmaid's tale, this is basically the same, and the moral of the fable is tangential, but the story itself involves exchanging goods, increasing their value in each step (until they fuck up).

 

[Latex Catmaid]

In a video game, I'd call that a "trading quest". In a literary plot, I'm not sure. "Straw Millionaire Protocol", maybe?

"Fetch quest" is the right word, but this also fits the shoe I reckon.

 

[giga sapling]

 

[Moths]

One small favour is still one of the worst quests in Runescape