A cool product someone should make

[Tetsubo]

One of the problems I have with fantasy ecenomic systems is the gold. There just seems to be way too much of it. I always use a silver based system when I run a campaign. I bump up gold to the normal platinum slot and put in a bronze coin in the normal silver slot. Platinum becomes the coin of massive transactions. I figure your average commoner might well never see a gold coin in his entire life.

 

[Mark Plemmons]

Can you give us more info? I understand that you guys release D&D branded products but don't see the logo on the cover of this book. Does that mean that your economics rules are OGC?

How many page is this book? (Or did I miss that on the product page?)

Sure - I can give you all the info you want.

You're right, though. This does not have the D&D logo, as our official Kingdoms of Kalamar line does. However, it doesn't contain OGC stuff. Or maybe it does. I dunno. My boss is the copyright lawyer, not me. There's nothing there that another company can reprint, unless it's something of WotC's that they already set free, if that's what you mean.

The book is 272 pages, hardcover. Here's the back cover text, which may give you the info you're looking for. There's also two reviews here on EnWorld. One by Joe Kushner, and one I posted for another reviewer.

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Goods and Gear: the Ultimate Adventurer's Guide
by Mark Plemmons and Brian Jelke

Speak Softly… And Carry A 10-Foot Pole

Goods and Gear is loaded with material for Dungeons & Dragons (3.5 Edition), d20, or HackMaster, including:

- In the Marketplace! Read about bartering, marketplace swindles, taxation and trade, as well as item quality and coins of the realm!
- Weaponry! Learn about weapon construction, details and terms. Also includes over 600 ranged and melee weapons, as well as weapon accessories!
- Armor, Shields and Barding! Choose from dozens of armor types, plus armor accessories, shields, helmets and more. See detailed closeups of armor construction! Learn about armor maintenance, monsterhide armor, and more!
- Tools, Gear and Equipment! Discover items for all professions, including academics, adventurers, artisans, healers, merchants, spellcasters and more. Also includes over 60 items specifically for thieves!
- Personal Goods and Services! From cosmetics to grooming to persons for hire and sale, this section covers it all! This section includes details, pricing and statistics for over 100 hirelings and mercenaries, plus information on slaves and companions!
- Musical Instruments! Whether your character is a bard, or simply musically minded, over 80 musical instruments await you here. Each instrument includes pricing and bardic music effects!
- Games and Entertainment! Gambling simulations (both dice and card) allow you to play the games of the medieval fantasy world, while dozens more items await a clever performer's purchase!
- Food and Drink! Along with detailed listings for foodstuffs, this section also includes information on agriculture and husbandry, meals and dining etiquette!
- Concoctions! Learn about alchemical mixtures, herbal remedies, poisons, drugs and more!
- Animals! Here are over 80 domestic and exotic animals, including pricing and other related accessories!
- Clothing! Whether mingling with peasants in the marketplace, seeking an audience with royalty, or outfitting for a cold northern expedition, this section adds a greater level of authenticity to clothing's effects, both on the characters and the world around them.
- Travel and Transportation! Along with details on the dangers of land and water travel, this section lists over 50 land vehicles and aquatic craft, plus information on hired transporation, tolls and tariffs!
- Lodging! Whether you seek sleeping accomodations, rooms for rent or buildings for purchase, this section has it all!

Although usable in any campaign, this book uses the Kingdoms of Kalamar campaign setting as a base for descriptive text and cultural details. In this realistic, dynamic world, complex political alliances mix with marauding bands of humanoids, and medieval technology and culture come face to face with magic and the fantastic. Whatever type of adventure you seek, you can find it here.

This book is intended for use by d20 or D&D players and Dungeon Masters (DMs) and HackMaster players and GameMasters (GMs) alike. To use this book in a Dungeons & Dragons campaign, you need a copy of the D&D Player's Handbook and the Dungeon Master's Guide. To use this book in a HackMaster campaign, you need the HackMaster Player's Handbook and the GameMaster's Guide. More information on the Kingdoms of Kalamar campaign setting can be found in the Kingdoms of Kalamar Campaign Setting Sourcebook, the Kingdoms of Kalamar Player's Guide, or any of our other fine supplements and adventures.

 

[alsih2o]

(tech stuff)

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Goods and Gear: the Ultimate Adventurer's Guide
by Mark Plemmons and Brian Jelke

Speak Softly… And Carry A 10-Foot Pole
(description of mazing sounding book).

Is this hardcover only? Where is it sold?

 

[philreed]

You're right, though. This does not have the D&D logo, as our official Kingdoms of Kalamar line does. However, it doesn't contain OGC stuff. Or maybe it does. I dunno. My boss is the copyright lawyer, not me. There's nothing there that another company can reprint, unless it's something of WotC's that they already set free, if that's what you mean.

Thanks for the info.

 

[alsih2o]

Hmmm, $35. That is steep. More than I payed for the core books actually.

Damn.

 

[philreed]

Hmmm, $35. That is steep. More than I payed for the core books actually.

Damn.

Actually, $35 is a good price for a book of that size. Take a look at some other hardcovers on the market in that price range and I think you'll find that this is a fair price.

 

[alsih2o]

Actually, $35 is a good price for a book of that size. Take a look at some other hardcovers on the market in that price range and I think you'll find that this is a fair price.

No dispute, that is why I own only 3-4 books that aren't core...and 2 of those were given to me.

$35 is too much for me to pay for an "addition".

I am not saying they shouldn't be priced as such, or that it is a bad thing. I am just saying I won't pay it.

Scrooge McClay likes PDF prices.

EDIT: I did just go get 5 of the FFG books with shipping for $32. I am cheap.

 

[Arnwyn]

Maybe your looking in the wrong place.

Nope. I have that book already (and the Minrothad one as well).

 

[fusangite]

Clay, you have made a terrible mistake in raising this just after I had to do a seminar report on late medieval economic theory.

I'm quite a fan of Joe and Suzi Browning's medieval price simulator (not just because I receive a minor credit in their book). However, I'm less of a fan than I was on Tuesday. Here is the problem as I see it:

In D&D, science and natural law work differently than in our world, thus all the spells and ecologically impossible creatures. We know that D&D physics with its elements and falling damage is more Aristotelian than Newtonian. What about D&D economics?

If we look at how the rules are structured, we can see that when it comes to magic items and masterwork items, prices are objective. In real world economics prices are subjective -- price and value are determined solely by what amounts people are willing to buy and sell for. But in D&D, the costs of magic and masterwork items are absolutely fixed. Indeed, the number of experience points a magic item costs is linked to its objective value as described in the DMG. Even if two people agree to exchange the item for a different amount of money, its real value remains what the the DMG says it is.

Therefore, a significant portion, in terms of total value not total volume, of the D&D economy isn't really governed by economic laws as we understand them. Franciscan and Protestant economic theory, from which we inherit modern economics, that states that value resides in the subjects of a transaction (subjective); but Aristotelian economic theory states that value is intrinsic to the object being transacted, irrespective of the characteristics of the sujects (objective).

I'm not sure if anyone has thought through the weird mix of objective and subjective value D&D presents us or how we can get out of it.

 

[alsih2o]

Clay, you have made a terrible mistake in raising this just after I had to do a seminar report on late medieval economic theory.

(buncha coolness).

MORE! MORE!