D&D Economics

[Archade]

Thanks! I was a contributor to the HarnManor rules ...

Harn is far more realistic in that its manor model makes some attempt at population\consumption and crop yields. The supply and demand basis for economy is entirely ignored by D&D. Even in Harn however realism is so much work that it is often hand waved anyway.

I'm not going to get a realitic medieval model -- and I'm not trying to. D&D is far beyond the pale of reality. But I want to make a working model. If I can.

In my game, it takes time to aquire high-value items, and there isn't a 'bank' to exchange coins, gems, and gew-gaws as easily as in some games...

 

[Sigurd]

/rant


I really like harnmanor - Good Job!

 

[skelso]

I've also spent a lot of time thinking about D&D economies and trying to find ways to make it work. I think what you are suggesting sounds like a great start.

I disagree that it's a waste of time to try and develop these sorts of house rules for D&D. For one thing, I think it's fun (probably because I'm a nerd with a math degree), for another it certainly meets a need for some campaigns. I've often had players in my campaigns ask the sort of questions that would be answered by these sorts of house rules. I've always just hashed something out that would let them roll some dice and yield a reasonable amount of income based on what they were doing. However, a consistent system would be much preferred.

I haven't seen the rules in the DMG2, yet. One thing I might point out, though, about farm income not being livable. It probably assumes that the farmer is growing all of his own food and the money he's making from the farm goes entirely for tools, clothing and a few, rare luxuries.

 

[Archade]

Heya!

Actually, the farmer using the DMG2 rules *loses* about 20 gp per month. I'd be happy if he just broke even paying for his living and upkeep.

Another thing I'm adding is the use of Diplomacy to sell goods. After all, if you could unload 50,000 gp of stuff in an hour in town, not only are you putting skilled merchants out of business, you are killing any sense of reasonableness in a medieval environment. To that end ...

DIPLOMACY
Selling Goods: Any character can sell up to 1,000 gp per day in goods. However, a character may use a Diplomacy check to sell more than this in a day. If a character can exceed a DC 15 Diplomacy check, they may sell an extra 1,000 gp per day for every point they exceed 15 by.
If a character is in a rush to sell products, they can attempt a DC 25 Diplomacy check to sell 1,000 gp in an hour. For every point they exceed 25 by, they may sell an extra 1,000 gp in goods.