costs of roads?
- Thread starter Zaknafein
- Start date
Kamard
First Post
depends on how nice a road it is.
generally, a road is the sort of thing you make your soldiers build, because a good road is the kind of thing your soldiers need more than your peasants. And when you want soldiers to build something, you hand them a shovel and say
"build me a road"
its not really a matter of cost.
generally, a road is the sort of thing you make your soldiers build, because a good road is the kind of thing your soldiers need more than your peasants. And when you want soldiers to build something, you hand them a shovel and say
"build me a road"
its not really a matter of cost.
3 types of movement...
Vendui,
I understand that but I have leadership and have 100 odd 1st level followers and own a city myself but am tring to build a road through shrubbs... in the DMG & PHB there is 3 types of movement categories: road, highway, and trackless.... I am going for just a road... I need about 170 miles of it...
and even if you tell the soldiers to take shovel and start digging... many of them dont have masonry skills... and even if they did you still need some sort of raw material costs... and then some to make it a bit nicer... its not just a make-shift dirt trail but an organized path for caravans and such to pass threw....
-in honor zaknafein
Vendui,
I understand that but I have leadership and have 100 odd 1st level followers and own a city myself but am tring to build a road through shrubbs... in the DMG & PHB there is 3 types of movement categories: road, highway, and trackless.... I am going for just a road... I need about 170 miles of it...
and even if you tell the soldiers to take shovel and start digging... many of them dont have masonry skills... and even if they did you still need some sort of raw material costs... and then some to make it a bit nicer... its not just a make-shift dirt trail but an organized path for caravans and such to pass threw....
-in honor zaknafein
Jaxom
First Post
You could hire some mages and have them use spells to make the road. Page 149 of the DMG says NPC Spellcasting 10gp per spell level plus other costs depending on spell requirements. Move Earth is a 6th level spell and depending how long the road is would determine how many spells are needed. Then get large boulders sent in, cast Stone Shape, a 5th level spell, on them.
The above is just an idea, it sounds like it would be expensive to do. But it definitely could help determine a price it would take to do it magically and adjust how you see fit to have it done with manual labor.
The above is just an idea, it sounds like it would be expensive to do. But it definitely could help determine a price it would take to do it magically and adjust how you see fit to have it done with manual labor.
mkletch
First Post
Re: 3 types of movement...
IIRC, roadbuilding was one of the standard peacetime responsibilities of the Roman army. They had engineers that guided the work, but the unskilled (in masonry at any rate) soldiers did it all. If you have a 3rd level or so follow slot open, grab an expert with Profession (engineering) and you'll be in good shape. The soldiers also procure the materials from a quarry you 'obtain' or create. That would apply to road or highway; the highway would simply take longer.
-Fletch!
Zaknafein said:
IIRC, roadbuilding was one of the standard peacetime responsibilities of the Roman army. They had engineers that guided the work, but the unskilled (in masonry at any rate) soldiers did it all. If you have a 3rd level or so follow slot open, grab an expert with Profession (engineering) and you'll be in good shape. The soldiers also procure the materials from a quarry you 'obtain' or create. That would apply to road or highway; the highway would simply take longer.
-Fletch!
GuardianLurker
Adventurer
Roads are very expensive, if you're going for the fully paved option, no matter what time period you're in.
You can figure cost as roughly :
Stone, 1' thick, 20' wide, 10' high * 2/3 (or 1/2 if you can use conscript labor like legionaires).
Multiply by 500 for a mile (a slight discount).
Half the total construction time.
This will give you a paved and graded all-weather road, with simple milestone/direction markers, and small footbridges (less than 10' long).
If you go the spell route, your materials cost will be (essentially) free, but your time is going to go up by a few orders of magnitude.
Gravel will be significantly cheaper, but will require yearly/seasonly maintenance. It may turn to mud after long (or hard rains).
Hard-packed dirt (the norm) is essentially free, and will be formed by peasants as part of their routines. It turns to mud (deep mud) after any rain.
You can figure cost as roughly :
Stone, 1' thick, 20' wide, 10' high * 2/3 (or 1/2 if you can use conscript labor like legionaires).
Multiply by 500 for a mile (a slight discount).
Half the total construction time.
This will give you a paved and graded all-weather road, with simple milestone/direction markers, and small footbridges (less than 10' long).
If you go the spell route, your materials cost will be (essentially) free, but your time is going to go up by a few orders of magnitude.
Gravel will be significantly cheaper, but will require yearly/seasonly maintenance. It may turn to mud after long (or hard rains).
Hard-packed dirt (the norm) is essentially free, and will be formed by peasants as part of their routines. It turns to mud (deep mud) after any rain.
the Jester
Legend
Well, no matter what the initial expense is, a large part of the road's expense will be maintaining it. Rain and weather washes it out; travelers cause potholes to form; etc. Even today, with modern materials, every road has sections that are constantly in need of repair.
But roads are worth it. They're a lot of what made the Roman Empire work so well for so long, and roads (and railroads) are a lot of what allowed the USA to become the dominant power today. All the materials, food, oil, etc. that has to be moved around would travel much slower without a good interstate highway (again, or railroad) system.
But roads are worth it. They're a lot of what made the Roman Empire work so well for so long, and roads (and railroads) are a lot of what allowed the USA to become the dominant power today. All the materials, food, oil, etc. that has to be moved around would travel much slower without a good interstate highway (again, or railroad) system.
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