RangerWickett
Legend
I'm interested in scrapping the existing artificial economy of D&D 4e and putting in something that approximates how an actual world with magic and such would value things. Anyone want to help out? I don't need perfect detail, just some good guidelines.
For instance, I'm house ruling down monsters so they only add 1/2 level to all their attacks and defenses, instead of full level. This gets them in line with PCs, and completely eliminates the need for:
(As for the damage difference now that you don't have magic gear or higher stats, I'm letting PCs add their 1/2 level modifier to damage rolls too.)
All magic flaming swords, for instance, will just do some fire damage and have some fire tricks. You won't have to worry about whether your flaming sword is marginally sharper than a different flaming sword.
Now that it is no longer necessary to trade up from +1 swords to +2 swords and so on, I think it will be easier to have the rest of the world have reasonable costs. Magic swords might provide interesting options, but they generally won't be numerically superior in a way that skews the math balance of the game.
I mean, in the real world, a typical AK-47 might cost $500, whereas a +1 weapon costs 360 gp in D&D. I'm no gun nut, but I can't imagine a mercenary spending a million dollars (the equivalent of a +6 weapon) to buy a "really nifty AK-47," no matter how good it is.
So, what are some of the main pillars of a fantasy economy? Since it's sort of the mental baseline, let's assume a pseudo-medieval setting, with a mostly farm-based culture, and most of the wealth clustered in the hands of a few.
How much wealth does a typical peasant have? How much does his labor cost? What kind of stuff does he use that money to buy?
What about a middle class merchant, who probably lives in a city as opposed to in the country? How much wealth does he have? What does he spend it on, and how much does that cost?
How much wealth does the mayor of a small town have? The mayor of a city? Leader of a county (what, Duke? Lord? Baron?)? How about a king?
And where in this scale should we find your typical soldier? A talented officer? A respected knight? The general of an army? What about a famous entertainer (bard), a revered philosopher (cleric), the leader of a gang of thieves (rogue), the dean of an academy (wizard)?
If we can establish these baselines, it will be pretty easy to guestimate how much it should cost when the PCs come up with their crazy plans. I would like to use a silver standard, since my understanding is that actual gold was pretty rare except for the wealthy. Low level heroes should probably be scraping by, spending their copper and silver like normal people.
For instance, I'm house ruling down monsters so they only add 1/2 level to all their attacks and defenses, instead of full level. This gets them in line with PCs, and completely eliminates the need for:
- Magic enhancement bonuses
- Weapon and Implement Expertise feats
- Stat adjustments as you level
(As for the damage difference now that you don't have magic gear or higher stats, I'm letting PCs add their 1/2 level modifier to damage rolls too.)
All magic flaming swords, for instance, will just do some fire damage and have some fire tricks. You won't have to worry about whether your flaming sword is marginally sharper than a different flaming sword.
Now that it is no longer necessary to trade up from +1 swords to +2 swords and so on, I think it will be easier to have the rest of the world have reasonable costs. Magic swords might provide interesting options, but they generally won't be numerically superior in a way that skews the math balance of the game.
I mean, in the real world, a typical AK-47 might cost $500, whereas a +1 weapon costs 360 gp in D&D. I'm no gun nut, but I can't imagine a mercenary spending a million dollars (the equivalent of a +6 weapon) to buy a "really nifty AK-47," no matter how good it is.
So, what are some of the main pillars of a fantasy economy? Since it's sort of the mental baseline, let's assume a pseudo-medieval setting, with a mostly farm-based culture, and most of the wealth clustered in the hands of a few.
How much wealth does a typical peasant have? How much does his labor cost? What kind of stuff does he use that money to buy?
What about a middle class merchant, who probably lives in a city as opposed to in the country? How much wealth does he have? What does he spend it on, and how much does that cost?
How much wealth does the mayor of a small town have? The mayor of a city? Leader of a county (what, Duke? Lord? Baron?)? How about a king?
And where in this scale should we find your typical soldier? A talented officer? A respected knight? The general of an army? What about a famous entertainer (bard), a revered philosopher (cleric), the leader of a gang of thieves (rogue), the dean of an academy (wizard)?
If we can establish these baselines, it will be pretty easy to guestimate how much it should cost when the PCs come up with their crazy plans. I would like to use a silver standard, since my understanding is that actual gold was pretty rare except for the wealthy. Low level heroes should probably be scraping by, spending their copper and silver like normal people.
