Fantasy Economies

[LazerPointer]

So, working at designing a world here, and I suddenly realized how much the people and politics would take their shape based on what drove the local, regional, and national economies.

So there are some basic commodities like iron, tin, lead, lumber, furs, food, textiles, etc.

When you guys think of some of the worlds you've designed or played in, what economic forces do you picture? Are some of them new or much more important because of the fantasy nature of the world?

Please add to my list of basics, as well.

 

[willpax]

Two real life examples: the spice trade, which spanned Eurasia. Send stuff from warm climates all over. Long distances, exotic locations, lots of profit.

Second example: a "gift network" works well in areas with relatively nomadic inhabitants--most of these people keep their wealth in jewelry, and so you would have slow trade through gifts of bracelets, necklaces, torcs, and so on.

 

[LazerPointer]

A halfling rougue IMC came up with the idea of having the halfling economy function heavily on the barter of small beadwork, much like the native civilizations near the great lakes. Spices-- that's a good idea.

 

[Nifft]

IMC, human kingdoms have their basic staples down. No-one need go hungry, but people will pay more for better, fresher food.

The world is dangerous, so caravans are large and well-protected. The largest cities are linked by Teleportation Circles, which obviate caravans. (For tactical reasons, usually only cities within the same kingdom will be linked with Teleport Circles.)

So, caravans are local affairs. Cities tend to be disproportionately large in terms of population, due to their defensive advantages. Medieval Europe, with a pastoral hamlet every 2-3 miles, is NOT what my campaign world looks like -- anything that weak & tasty would have been eaten looooong ago.

In terms of racial nation-states: elves trade magic, wood & plants to humans; humans trade grain & meat to elves & dwarves; dwarves trade metal & gems to humans. (Elves & dwarves get their metal & wood from human intermediaries, since we all know elves & dwarves don't always get along.) This arrangement puts humans out front, since they're the universal trade-ground. Halflings tend to live in human-controlled lands, while gnomes live in the lands of all the free races.

Magic creates economic conditions that are quite different from real-life. Gems and precious metals -- mithral & adamantine notwithstanding -- become more prescious when they're necessary for spell components. Magic spells, components and items make trade worthwhile even for otherwise self-sufficient communities.

-- N

 

[Bloodstone Press]

It depends on the setting. Some very primitive settings have barely any trade to speak of. They worry most about subsistence and rely on the barter system when trade does occur. On the other hand, in more developed campaign settings I draw out all the trade routes and the many different resources that are traded. One thing to keep in mind is cities. Cities will consume huge amounts of trade from far-flung places. Many cities can not produce enough basic needs in the immediate area to support themselves and must import foods and raw materials just to survive. Also, wealthy people in a city can pay for the rare and exotic trade goods from distant places, encouraging explorers and long-distance traders.

 

[Umbran]

So there are some basic commodities like iron, tin, lead, lumber, furs, food, textiles, etc.

If you are going to differentiate between minerals like iron and tin, you might also want to differentiate between food items - grain, cattle, sheep.

 

[kipling]

I did a rather lengthy campaign in a city where vampires were citizens (in the campaign, the city was built on the source of all magic, and it took a lot of effort to keep a dead body dead; all manner of creatures and monsters lived there, and eventually they all pursued the rights of citizenship.

One of the running subelements was the blood economy; the vampires controlled the bridge spanning the river that bisected the city, and charged a small amount of blood to get across. In return, they controlled their own numbers and actions. It was known among the poor people that if they really needed money they could sell a mug's worth at the bridge so that some wealthier traveller need not get punctured.

Later I introduced inflation, and oh, the havoc that raised.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

Figure out how you want Wall of Iron to work. According to "da r00lz" it creates a solid slab of iron, perfect for city blacksmiths and eliminating iron and steel as commodities.

Personally, I put a timer of 1 day/level on the thing. Another option would be to charge exp for the spell. Or just build your world around it, whatever works.

 

[Aristotle]

Not sure if I am on the same page here or not, but I saw something on the History Channel recently that I found interesting. They were saying that you can often tell what sort of political structure an area has by what resources they offer.

They sited a couple of examples (which I unfortunately forget) of resources that tend to come from areas where the government is frequently overturned or otherwise not run so smoothly. The example I do remember is coffee. They mentioned that coffee take a lot of time (something like 5 years) to mature, so the political structures of areas that produce coffee are generally more stable.

I thought that was an interesting little fact.

 

[Hand of Evil]

When I create a city I try assign 0 / + / - to a list of resourses but these are very broad: Food, Goods, Services. If 0 the city is breaking even if a + the city has an excess and is looking to sale, if a - the city is low on that item and looking to buy.

Oh if you wonder about services, wizards and warriors are too examples.