A cool product someone should make

[alsih2o]

Gaons thread got me to thinking about how different economic influences could shape different homebrews. For instance, in my homebrew horses are rare and expensive, there are maybe 25 suits of full plate in the whole country and food is cheap and plentiful.

How hard would it be to create a few different price/economic models (expensive horse/cheap armor, expensive metals/cheap mounts and siege engines, cheaper magic and mounts/expensive metal weapons as examples).

All the price info in the books is open content (if am not mistaken) so it should be easy to throw together a PDF of 10-15 different price guides that would greatly influence how a world is run? Seems like it would be very handy, cheap to produce and a big hit with the small audience of worldbuilders.

Publishers, what do you think? Homebrewers, would this be handy for you?

 

[philreed]

While something like this could be done, I think it's just too difficult to create such a product that would suit everyone. As you noted, the price lists are OGC. I'd recommend grabbing the SRD and generating a price list to suit your campaign.

But the idea is worth considering. I'm fairly certain someone would devise price lists as you've suggested.

Are there any good books on merchants/economics? Something along the lines of Dynasties & Demagogues but covering economic factors of campaign worlds.

 

[Maldur]

it could be handy esp if it would detail things like:

Prices in war, or when there is a drought, or a bountifull harvest, or when a dungeon is found, or when a dragon terrorises the neighborhood.

 

[philreed]

it could be handy esp if it would detail things like:

Prices in war, or when there is a drought, or a bountifull harvest, or when a dungeon is found, or when a dragon terrorises the neighborhood.

I don't have the book near me (I guess I could walk to the other room -- I feel lazy right now) but didn't Cityworks (Fantasy Flight Games) include something like this in their urban event templates?

Yeah, we need a book on economics.

 

[alsih2o]

While something like this could be done, I think it's just too difficult to create such a product that would suit everyone. As you noted, the price lists are OGC.
.

Hmm, what a bout a calculation prgram that could be cheaply sold that lets you just input multipliers?

Food X3, mounts X2.5, magic X.7 = some guys homebrew. Seem workable?

PS- Phil- SO noce to see you so active in GenRPG and always listening to/interacting with the "masses". It is one of the great things about ENW, and you seem one of the most interactice-y.

 

[philreed]

Hmm, what a bout a calculation prgram that could be cheaply sold that lets you just input multipliers?

Food X3, mounts X2.5, magic X.7 = some guys homebrew. Seem workable?

That would be cool. Are you thinking of a small program you download and enter the variables into?

I think part of the problem would be the effect that drastic changes to the base assumptions of a campaign's economy would create. For example, assume that horses and other domesticated livestock are rare. Not only would this affect the price of horses but also food and most imports (if the city/town is not by a sea or river). A lack of horses would slow the planting/harvesting of food and make transporting goods to market very difficult.

PS- Phil- SO noce to see you so active in GenRPG and always listening to/interacting with the "masses". It is one of the great things about ENW, and you seem one of the most interactice-y.

Thanks. But hey, you guys shouldn't get to have all of the fun chatting and tossing ideas around!

 

[alsih2o]

That would be cool. Are you thinking of a small program you download and enter the variables into?

Precisely. You cold make it simple with multipliers OR you could make it more complex- Expensive livestock makes more expensive carrots and cabbage.

You could probably pretty easily modify it to have a mountains, desert and floodplain multiplier.

 

[Thanee]

Heh. In our Stargate/Traveler campaign the DM has such a program (for Traveler), which can generate a whole universe with more information than you could ever wish for.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Thanee]

The FR books have some information about trades and such. They list what kind of goods are produced where and traded where to, also the buying power of cities and common goods available there. Quite useful.

Bye
Thanee

 

[diaglo]

to me this sounds awfully similar to the War Machine/ Companion Rules for D&D.