Economic Simulators
As far as I know, it's the only one in d20.
Unfortunately, I'm broke. Which means I've another eight days before I can get it. After all the hard(ly) work I've done on enhancements, would a comp be possible?
Anyhow, here's a little bit on pricing.
One consideration when pricing an item many people tend to overlook is the price of real estate. The more land costs in an area, the more things will cost. Rents are higher, taxes are higher, basic maintenance and food are higher. This all means prices charged have to be higher to cover expenses. So that $12.00 sword you got in that small town is likely to be a $20.00 sword in the big metropolis.
Transportation costs add to the price as well. A trading center with access to well maintained roads and large water ways will have lower prices than a burg with one road that gets shut down during the rainy season.
Then you have places that specialize in the production or manufacture of an item. You want a deal on a one pound steak, you go to cattle country. You want a great deal on elf made arrows, you visit the elves.
At the same time, there are unusual situations. In the 18th century a Russian mining settlement east of the Urals got cut off for a few years by bad weather, washed out roads, and the like. They kept on mining, platinum. It got to the point they had no place to put the platinum bars, so the camp commander ordered the platimun be used to mint coins. Since they had so much platinum they used it to mint kopecks, the Russian equivalent of our penny.
Scenario: The party goes to town and sells off some old jewelry they'd found for $1,000. Weeks later while visiting the big city they find a single piece from that horde going for $10,000. How do you think they're going to feel?
And there you have some tidbits from the mind of the one and only Mythusmage. Use wisely.
We discuss the differences between the medieval economic system and what we're familiar with now. And we also provide mechanics to allow GMs to create a more realistic economic world for their games.
