[*]Destitute. Less than 100 s.p. owned, 1 c.p. a day earning.
[*]Low. 3000 s.p. owned, 1 s.p. a day earning. Mostly barter, less than 30 s.p. liquid.
[*]Middle. 15000 s.p. owned, 5 s.p. a day earning. About 150 s.p. liquid.
[*]Upper. 90000 s.p. owned, 20 s.p. a day earning. About 1000 s.p. liquid.
[*]Wealthy. 100x Upper, or more.
[/list]
With that as a baseline, how much would stuff cost?
Food costs about what you expect. Armor is mostly reasonably priced. In a typical price list, its weapons that are vastly overpriced. Since 1ed, the cost of adventuring gear has been inflated severely for balance reasons. A peasant may not have reason to buy a weapon and may not be legally able to do so, but all but the most destitute peasants could afford simple weapons if they felt the need.
A day of simple food (vegetables, grains, no meat)?
About 1 c.p., but it would be very simple indeed, basically bread, gruel or oatmeal, and a few lentils for most of the year. That may sound cheap, but keep in mind that the peasant family is probably making collectively 1-2 s.p. a day (not in coin, but in productive work) and that they might be feeding 8-12 'farmhands' (in the form of themselves and their children) in order to do it which drastically cuts into their profit. Not that children are bad. In fact, children are the basis of significant wealth and virtually all your social security. A large family of peasants (say the women has had 18 kids, of which 9 or more are still living) is all things being equal much wealthier than a small family, and a childless family or one with few surviving children (especially few or no surviving boys) is facing disaster because they lack the 'hands' to work much land and they'll have no one to care for them as they get older. If you have enough surviving children, and you have a good work ethic, you'll probably negoiate with your landlord for more land to work. This leads to overall improved societal productivity, which in turns leads to better survival rates. One of the reasons for the 'Dark Ages' was a population crash that led to severe labor shortages. By the Medieval period though, things are looking up, thanks to a combination of better weather, increased population, better technology, and the all important monestary system.
Depends significantly on the quality of the sword. An good sword might take a skilled craftsman a week to make (4-6 days of labor). If you recall, he's going to want 5 s.p. a day profit. As a rule of thumb, 2/3rds of the cost of anything is labor, so 30 s.p. - 45 s.p. A cheap 'mass-produced' sword a peasant mercenary might use however might be made in as little as a day or two, so 8-15 s.p. It won't stand up to hard use and may bend or break, but you can run someone through with one. The price go up almost limitlessly on the high end, not just because the best swords might take a month to make (masterwork quality), and the best smiths command higher wages, but because swords would be considered appropriate art items and could be decorated.
Swords are among the most expensive and difficult weapons to make. Most everything else would be significantly cheaper. Spears would be much more favored by peasants, as you don't need as high quality steel for a good sharp durable point.
Armor? A horse? Miraculous magic?
The general rule for manufactured goods is that if you can figure out how long it takes to make it (and how many people are working concurrently), its pretty easy to estimate the price. A suit of plate mail might involve a craftsman and three assistants (3 s.p. a day) working for a year (200-250 working days), so at least 4200 s.p.and perhaps more.
Livestock prices vary dramatically depending on how good the season has been. If the climate has been good for a few years, they'll be an excess of livestock and good prices. If the climate has been bad, then there is a shortage and prices will go up well above most peoples ability to buy.
Horses are like cars. There are clunkers, used ones, and high performance versions. A horse could go for anywhere from 20 s.p. for a broken down nag to 1600 s.p. on up for a well-trained young fit high quality warhorse or a nobles riding horse or hunting stallion. I'd assume something like 120 s.p. as an average.
Another rule I generally use is that if I can't find a comparitive historical price, and I can't estimate how long it takes to make one, I generally use the conversion 1 s.p. = $50. That's not fully accurate, but its a good guide, especially if you keep in mind that there are few mass produced goods and so use modern handmade or custom made goods as the basis of your pricing. (Don't base your prices on cheap mass market machine made goods!)
