D&D General D&D game world economy, wages and modelling the ancent world

[Garthanos]

Completely alien to that? Rules that inadvertently let adventurers make a lot of money without going out and finding treasure hordes. Like, what was it in 3e? Cutting the rungs out of a ladder to sell two 10' poles for a profit?

Since only adventurers buy 10 foot poles you may have to reattach those rungs to sell it to real people who actually want a ladder

 

[Tony Vargas]

Since only adventurers buy 10 foot poles you may have to reattach those rungs to sell it to real people who actually want a ladder

"Is it me, Commoner 2, or are ladders getting narrower these days?"

 

[Garthanos]

I mean, at some point (in the 70s), we want the game to include a big ol' red dragon on a big ol' pile o' gold, like a Brothers Hildebrandt painting of Smaug. It's just, it's Dungeons & DRAGONS, it's gotta come up eventually. So the 'economy' such as it is, is calibrated to that. It also works for plenty of other familiar legends & stories, too. Fabulous treasures aren't exactly alien to the genre.

Beowulf gave the treasure he got from Hrothgar to his king and received a named weapon as a reward for his service it wasn't a purchase exactly AND I suspect it did not leave him destitute.

or more humorously

Yes but did Beowulf kill the dragon because he needed to buy a sandwich and everything was inflated to hell

 

[Garthanos]

The point of that little interlude is to emphasize that it's almost impossible to compare real world prices to game world prices because we hardly trade in the same goods, and mass production skews the quality and sheer volume for many things. You're comparing apples to goldfish.

I think you were because you were comparing ancient world with modern ...

 

[Sacrosanct]

The best and most robust version of wages and economy I've seen was way back in the 1e DMG. It was pretty extensive. A couple times, PCs actually entertained "maybe I should retire and become X, because the wages are pretty decent" lol.

 

[LordEntrails]

I still haven't seen a response to why bother? And as for money is power. Sure, but it's not the only type of power. Magic is also power, and since magic can do things that money (other than to buy magic) can not (i.e. teleport, divination, resurrection, WISH!), magic just might be the more sought after source of power than money.

As for the guard bribe thing. Perhaps morals/integrity/etc are the one things that is more powerful than both money or magic. Perhaps it is only morals et al that prevent that guard from being bribed. Maybe a years worth of wages just isn't enough to lose one's own integrity. Perhaps there are people in the world that no amount of power is worth their own honor. Imagine a world like that...

 

[Tony Vargas]

Yes but did Beowulf kill the dragon because he needed to buy a sandwich and everything was inflated to hell

Of course not, he did it to pay for his money-pit of a castle so he could be a 'lord.'

 

[Greenfield]

Having seen the construction costs in the D&D 3.5 rules, a friend suggested a scene: A castle, solid and secure, with a treasure room holding a single gold coin. The rest of the royal treasury sent to build the defenses.

Money can be used to buy magic. Or loyalty. Or military might. Or land. Or politicians. Or...

Money is power because, like any other kind of power, it can be converted into whatever type of power or resources needed for a situation.

 

[Garthanos]

That is the why of it and why form doesn't matter and unless you set your story in some distorted Alice in Wunderlund having such wealth divergence creates issues which can take many forms too.

Money can be used to buy magic. Or loyalty. Or military might. Or land. Or politicians. Or...

Money is power because, like any other kind of power, it can be converted into whatever type of power or resources needed for a situation.

Exactly

 

[Garthanos]

I still haven't seen a response to why bother?

evidentally you won't get one then.