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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Loonook" data-source="post: 5888880" data-attributes="member: 1861">I think you're missing the whole crux of my argument.The amount of money made on subsistence crops even at 40 acres is going to just allow these numbers to grow.Your additional swath of land from the Plant Growth spell is going to add 86 GP to your overall yield.  That brings us to 110 GP/farm of yield, not including the fact that all of the additional handling through the year of growth on that enrichment (staking plants, supports, etc). Overall when you include Growth casting, you earn 85 gp on top of everything.Pigs were actually quite common as can be seen through midden heaps in Medieval Europe.  To quote Adamson (p. 30): "In Antiquity and the Middle Ages wild and domestic pigs pigs were found across Europe and eaten by most people except for Jews and Muslims".  The Pig has been a staple of peasant cuisine due to its ease of care (sties and roaming pigs), varied diet (they served as wonderful disposals <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /> ), and general yield in lbs/food intake.  They could also be herded as swine, though these were usually a bit heartier stock and could cause issues of loose boars.To be honest Pigs, then Beef, then Mutton, then Chicken were the stock meats of a Medieval peasant kitchen, while Chicken was common among the aristocracy.  Feast days may see capons (castrated roosters) as the festive meat for the lower classes.  Pigs were a winter meat, while you may also have suckling pigs if the birth yield was too high during season and you couldn't support the whole litter.  Of course you also have a lot of purposes for pig's liver, and the intestines and offal were very common in tripe or pies.  Lard was also very popular for its use in pies and other pastries when available, and served quite well in various simple breads.Cows were valuable as multipurpose animals (though of course you would have to hire a stud bull for barter from a local breeder or have your own useless bull running about) and during birthing season you could choose to sell your bull off or clip him to grow a fatten a steer.  Cows could produce suet, which was common for pastries alongside mutton suet and as a supplement for feed for other animals... You can also turn suet into tallow for candlemaking.  Most of your hard cheeses are going to be made from cow's milk, though certain fresh cheese (also known as farmer's cheese) can be made from cow's milk.Sheep and kids were delights, as they provide wool, milk for soft and fresh cheeses, and suet.  Kid leather is supple and useful for its specific properties in the making of chamois leather.  Sheep can be herded and usually are sent to pasture, but you're paying a shepherd in trade (which would be taken out of your household income) for his work.  'A shepherd who takes our sample farm's sheep into the hills may request a dagger and two homespun blankets, 50 candles, 15 yards of canvas (for making clothes), a common lantern and 24 pints of oil in 3 jugs, 3 empty jugs, 30 pieces of chalk, a set of clay utensils, 2 sewing needles, a waterskin filled with the lady's beer, and a stout quarterstaff.  Roughly around 9 GP, or his total wages for 3 months of tending flocks during the season to take their sheep.  He may gather the same amount from a couple of other farmsteads, and get it as a Trained herder.  He can tend the flock pretty readily, and use a sling to protect the group from feral dogs.Your farms are going to make VERY SMALL amounts of money.  They need a lot of assistance, and a small farm family as I listed of lvl 1 Commoners could make a very decent living for themselves by the time the children reach the age of majority and decide rather they would stay on or marry out.  What I AM trying to say is that the additional 25 GP spent for the extra yield may be better spent on purchasing Masterwork tools in the first few years, hiring additional hands, and working on craft industries after subsistence is reached.  If our Soapmaker, for instance, gains a Masterwork set of Soapmaking tools <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />. Normally she has 4 ranks in the appropriate Craft, a +1 to Int, she makes 5 GP/week.  With her Masterwork tools she make 5.66 gp/week, or 34.66 GP/year additional by taking 10 if she trades for the full price of the item with others.  Why do I think that that smaller amount is more worthwhile?  First it doesn't rely on a Druid so it helps <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />.  Second, it allows for mobile wealth.  That family with the amount of money it makes from its cottage industries could move up in the world by paying for the land they live on.  How did this happen?Cost of a house? 5000GP.Family of 4's earnings (2 Adult Commoners practicing Craft with Masterwork tools (+7) , 2 Sons practicing Craft as journeymen (+3), 2 young children Aiding the adults)/year taking 10?676 + 884 + 104 = 1664 GP/year.Paying off their house at a rate of 6% interest/year of 5000 GP for the standard home... 3.57 years.  1303 Days.The house is theirs... But what about the land?  Figuring that taxes are just handwaved (considered in the 1/2 cost of selling their grain) the family could probably just hire hands to do their labor for them.  Purchasing all the required equipment and materials for porting their own goods to market and providing for their maintenance the farm could earn a couple hundred GP/year, and the family could afford to reinvest their principle wages in heads of cattle or sheep.  As your the journeymen rise to true Smiths (making as much as their parents) they may decide to settle up their own smithies and hire apprentices.  The father opens a full carpenter's workshop, the mother begins as a chandler in the town.  Levels are gained, more skills are gained, they invest further, purchasing their own buildings.Even by my model, with appropriate reinvestment of your cash, a family could easily rise in a generation to a better social status.  They pool their resources and they could even become merchants at a latter generation, becoming Experts instead of commoners.I really don't see your issue with my numbers... They're pretty solid and backed by the economy of D&D showing that the economy does work...Slainte,-Loonook.And the cycle continues.</blockquote>

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