kigmatzomat
Hero
Hello all,
So has anyone else looked at the cost hirelings vs lifestyle expenses? In 5e I almost never used hirelings but the GM gave us a decrepit estate as a reward. And now I am of the opinion that 5e should be a world constantly on the edge of peasant revolt.
Why?
Income:
Hireling - Skilled:2 gp per day
Hireling - Untrained:2 sp per day
Vs expense
But the unskilled masses., they are in rough shape. Forget inconvenient concepts like children as irrelevant in a TTRPG and just look at single adults who are not skilled workers: they live totally hand-to-mouth. Work for 2sp a day, spend 2sp a day to live in "a sufficient, though probably unpleasant, experience" where "you still have to contend with violence, crime, and disease." Missing a single day's work (2sp/day) puts you at distinct risk of dropping down to "desperate" conditions. I hope the gods have mercy during holy days of rest and provide alms and bread.
I don't know if they intended to recreate the conditions that lead to frequent peasant revolts in Europe during the 17th-18th centuries, but they did a bang up job of it.
So has anyone else looked at the cost hirelings vs lifestyle expenses? In 5e I almost never used hirelings but the GM gave us a decrepit estate as a reward. And now I am of the opinion that 5e should be a world constantly on the edge of peasant revolt.
Why?
Income:
Hireling - Skilled:2 gp per day
Hireling - Untrained:2 sp per day
Vs expense
- Wretched: 0 per day "You live in inhumane conditions. ...sneaking into barns, huddling in old crates, and relying on the good graces of people better off than you. "
- Squalid:1 sp per day "you live in a desperate and often violent environment, in places rife with disease, hunger, and misfortune. You are beneath the notice of most people, and you have few legal protections."
- Poor: 2 sp per day "a sufficient, though probably unpleasant, experience. ... You benefit from some legal protections, but you still have to contend with violence, crime, and disease. People at this lifestyle level tend to be unskilled laborers.."
- Modest: 1 gp per day "You don’t go hungry or thirsty, and your living conditions are clean, if simple. Ordinary people living modest lifestyles include soldiers with families, laborers,"
- Comfortable: 2 gp per day "You associate with merchants, skilled tradespeople, and military officers."
But the unskilled masses., they are in rough shape. Forget inconvenient concepts like children as irrelevant in a TTRPG and just look at single adults who are not skilled workers: they live totally hand-to-mouth. Work for 2sp a day, spend 2sp a day to live in "a sufficient, though probably unpleasant, experience" where "you still have to contend with violence, crime, and disease." Missing a single day's work (2sp/day) puts you at distinct risk of dropping down to "desperate" conditions. I hope the gods have mercy during holy days of rest and provide alms and bread.
I don't know if they intended to recreate the conditions that lead to frequent peasant revolts in Europe during the 17th-18th centuries, but they did a bang up job of it.