The Agricultural Foundation
Every country—and indeed every individual—must operate within some form of economy, formal or informal. In the pre-modern world, economie were built almost exclusively on agriculture. The core principle was simple: Land equals Wealth. A dependence on farming meant that extended drought could easily destroy a country, as seen in historical cases like the Harappa civilization in India or the Anasazi in the American Southwest. Survival was always one failed crop away.To move beyond the instability of agriculture, civilizations added auxiliary economies, with trade being one of the most reliable. Trade by water was famously profitable for the ancient Greeks and medieval powers like Venice, as water transportation was usually cheaper than land transport. However, land-based trade, often involving pack animals hauling metals or textiles, was valuable too, particularly in the ancient Near East. The mechanism is simple: you sell a good you make cheaply to someone who can't, and they pay you with a good they make cheaply that you can't. (For more on the mechanics of this, see my previous article, "The Cost of Trade.")
Industry also existed before the modern era, though usually as "cottage industry"—production within people’s homes. For instance, ancient Assyrian textiles were traded for goods like metals from Anatolia. While this method worked, it lacked uniformity; mass production eventually replaced it because interchangeable goods, like replacement parts for guns, are vital for large, reliable economies.
Extracting Wealth
Some economies are built not on cultivation or exchange, but on extraction. Mining of precious metals was critical to prosperity in certain regions; Athens relied on a silver mine that famously resisted Spartan control, and Muslim Arabs mined significant amounts of silver in the Middle East, with their coins turning up across Scandinavia via trade. Even non-precious metals like tin, necessary for bronze, could become highly valuable resources.Further outside the bounds of conventional commerce, raiding and warfare themselves could be organized economic activities. Raiding for loot, especially for domestic herd animals, was common enough to necessitate massive defensive projects. Monumental barriers like the Great Wall of China and Hadrian’s Wall were erected as much to prevent raiders from taking their animal loot back home as they were to bar invading armies. Even in Republican Rome, warfare was an economic boon, with non-professional soldiers contributing loot and valuable prisoners of war to the state economy. You can read more about defensive structures in "Putting up Walls."
Unique and Magical Economic Drivers
For fantasy settings, new economic possibilities arise, particularly at the Mature stage of the Four Stages of Magic (discussed in a multi-part series, found in Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3). In such a world, the mass-production of standardized, non-unique magic items could become a great trade commodity, fundamentally altering the value of traditional goods. Furthermore, small, nearly-unique economies can emerge from cultural or religious needs. The Oracle of Delphi, for instance, drew vast amounts of wealth from pilgrims seeking consultation.What remains absent from most fantasy RPG settings is the service economy—a sector focused on providing services instead of producing goods. In ancient and medieval Europe, there was no insurance, no stock market, few true banks, no financial advisers, and few lawyers. Modern economies are primarily service-based. Designing a fantasy world where a common service economy—with concepts like legal entities that protect personal assets—is prevalent would create an unusually unique and highly structured RPG setting indeed.
By incorporating just a few non-agricultural elements—be it strategic resource extraction, vital trade routes, or the economic weight of a powerful magical industry—a worldbuilder can elevate their setting from a generic medieval backdrop to a complex, believable engine of prosperity and conflict. Considering these economic drivers ensures that the history, politics, and daily lives of your NPCs are logically consistent and plenty of adventures for your players to explore.
Your Turn: What economies do you favor in your campaigns? Any that are unique?
