commoners

[redwing]

Using medieval demographics made easy (http://www.io.com/~sjohn/demog.htm and http://www.rpglibrary.org/utils/meddemog/), I am able to calculate how many villages a kingdom contains, and how many of each profession a city has. However, I have a couple of questions concerning this:

Besides the breakdown of professions (which makes up maybe only 10% of the listed population) what does everyone else in the city do? What is the percentage of children, elderly, infirm, household servants, and hirelings in a city? What do peasants do to support themselves and their families?

How would a high magic world on the verge of an industrial revolution change this? I'm assuming there would be A LOT less villages and more cities, but what would be the ratio? Assuming the calculator is correct, for there to be one small city there are 4 towns and 47 villages. Would those numbers be altered? With an advance in communication and transport technology, how far would the nearest farms have to be to the city to support it?

 

[genshou]

Look in the D&D DMG for a table that generates random communities. There's a ridiculously high percentage of communities that are larger cities, with no smaller towns to grow crops for them. If you have a setting with magic that mimics many of man's agricultural advances in the Industrial Revolution, this would be possible. The biggest issues are availability of machinery or equivalent that can expedite various farming procedures, and ability to transport the food (with appropriate food safety). While we're waiting for some other Enworlders to respond, start thinking about what kinds of magic and/or technology is available to assist in these kinds of things, and imagine how far food could reasonably travel into the cities.

Your question about the other 90% of lower-class individuals surprised me. They're all farming, of course. In a medieval kingdom they didn't have tractors or refrigerators, so they all had to grow their own crops for the most part, and it wasn't a very reliable or efficient food source compared to the modern day.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe is insanely invaluable for all such questions.

 

[genshou]

Knew that was coming shortly.

 

[Nyaricus]

the RPG library link is broken.

The other article is really neat though. Thanks for the heads-up man

 

[Tonguez]

I tend to assume that the City populations listed in the DMG include a number of small hamlets which support and surround the city (this also allows me to have PCs travel out to neighbouring hamlets but still be part of the 'urban' setting)

Things to think about

1. Does the presence of rampaging monsters make the tendency towards large walled settlements (ie cities) more prevalent in a DnD world?

2. Druids can help crops grow which means better yeilds and thus more leisure time for peasants - what do peasants do in their spare time? (some might use it to gain literacy)

3. The Urban working class (ie peasants) can not farm and in a pre-industrial setting become a problem. Does this mean that beggars and theives are rife? What 'industry' might develop to divert them? Is War more common (so urban poor can become military) - it would certainly explain the preponderance of High Level City Guards

 

[Buttercup]

3. The Urban working class (ie peasants) can not farm and in a pre-industrial setting become a problem. Does this mean that beggars and theives are rife? What 'industry' might develop to divert them? Is War more common (so urban poor can become military) - it would certainly explain the preponderance of High Level City Guards

Washerwomen
Rag pickers
Rat catchers
Night Soil collectors
Push cart vendors who offer goods such as:

cockles and mussels alive alive-o
fruit in season
hot cross buns
ribbons
charms & talismans
snake oil​

or services such as:

knife sharpening
scissors grinding
rug beating
tree pruning
chimney sweeping
bleeding​

But beggars & thieves probably would be rampant, yes. And don't forget the gangs of street urchins.

 

[kigmatzomat]

I'll expand on Buttercup's list

food merchant (butcher, dairyman, fish monger, vegetables etc)
Coal/wood sellers: wagons that travel the city selling bundles of wood/coal for heating
tanners
rope/net weavers
cloth weavers & dyers
fine metal smith (copper, silver, gold, etc)
glass blowers
furniture makers
wicker weaver
potters
well cleaners
coopers
boatwrights
rat catcher
teamster: lots of things need hauling and not everyone has their own wagon
alchemist
herbalist
stables
hay/straw seller
brewers
innkeeps
tailors

Then there are the government jobs
tax collectors
clerks
judges
city councilmen
guardsmen
Street sweepers: move the animal dung out of the road to the ditches or sewer drains
Lamp lighters/oilers
Road repair (much more manual effort)


General labor: pretty much every craftsman and merchant will need 1-3 apprentices or grunts to pick up heavy things, work bellows, hold things steady, stir vats, sort/inventory, etc. Apprentices are cheaper in some ways but they are ultimately competition so in a city that is no longer growing, apprentice slots are rare. Commoner laborers will be used wherever possible.

So most of a city's population will likey be low level commoners who are good at picking up, putting down, and grabbing onto things. Especially since most cities are cross-roads or junctions of roads and rivers. Lots of cargo shifting between vehicles, plenty of vehicles to break down, draft animals needing feed, caravans requiring supplies, and merchants & teamsters getting back to civilization after weeks on the road with a pocket full of coin.