Guilds, Economics, Ships, Trade by Land and Sea!

[barsoomcore]

What? Talk about our campaigns? Oh, SHARK, you sly dog, you. Do you ever know how to pull us all out of the woodwork.

Okay, MY TURN!

Barsoom does not have a detailed economic system -- it's largely hand-waved. I'm a big believer in doing no work unless I have to and so when the party does get involved in mercantile affairs (which they have on occasion) the details come pouring out of the woodwork.

A large portion of the world is dominated by a set of families known as Las Familias, who collectively possess a monopoly on trade in the great nation of Saijadan, and are actively seeking to expand their area of influence. Their great wealth has made them very powerful -- and very great targets. Our heroes started out as employees of one such Familia -- the del Maraviez. The Familias spend so much effort trying to backstab each other they don't always make the best long-term business decisions -- they're really like more legitimate Mafia families than anything else. But now that the Tyrant's Shade has sent his armies sweeping around the Inner Sea and burned the harbours of Salejo, Las Familias are finding they must put aside their differences in order to fight the menace from the West.

Or sell each other out for a profit. There's always that possibility.

 

[WayneLigon]

For trade, I'll normally look at my map and decide what things are produced where. The big things to look at are the things everyone needs: food, luxury items, clothing.

1. I'll take a copy of my map and make circles, label them things like 'ivory' or 'gold'.

2. Then decide who wants what, and why, and how much they want it.

3. Start to draw lines between a sources and destinations. Rivers are the first thing people will travel along. Then the ocean/coastal. Then land routes.

4. Look for ways to make it easier, or more troublesome. The trade route can't easily go through the X Mountains, because they are infested with orc tribes. Instant adventure background: cities are always willing to pay for skilled swordsmen to escort caravans through there. The local nobles will put up a bounty on orcs: fewer orcs means more travel and trade = more cash in their pockets.

Or there may be an easy trade route. If it's easy, someone will want it for their own, or it can be a corridor of increased prosperity. Cities along this easy trade route will be larger and the people better off. More art and music. Generally more intelligent. They will be more cosmopolitan: they seen other cultures and races more often than other places do.

I look for, or create, synergy. If a city is on an easy trade route AND it's a major source or destination AND it's on a river, etc, etc.. then it's likely to become a major power. It'll be larger. More services will be available. More nobles.

Look for things to draw trade artificially. City X is a major city because it's near both a major iron mine AND a dwarf citidal: crafts from this city are better, and sell for more than other places in the region. It will attract more people to it.

City Y is small, more like a town, because it's near an elven forest. The elves have a long-standing treaty that only so much wood can be taken, or so much land can be farmland. Thus, this city will not grow much. But it may have access to natural medicines and such that other places do not.

 

[Azure Trance]

Bump from Page 2

And MythusMage, I'm waiting ;D

(Love small details like that, personally)

 

[mythusmage]

Nah, I'm gonna save it for Nation Builder.

BTW, three things to consider when determining an item's value are, what it's made of, where it's from, and who made it. For example.

DM: Bob, you have 8 ranks in Appraisal, right?

Bob: Yea. Why do you ask?

DM: In the chest you found you find three daggers, each with a tooled eland leather sheath. When you draw the blades you noticed that it's of Graen Orc steel made from iron from the Bluestone Hills. A closer inspection reveals the mark of the goblin smith, White Scar of the Dancing Heron Clan.

Bob (eyes growing wide): Three of them?!

DM: Let's see, a regular dagger goes for around five ounces in copper coins locally. To a collector you could conceivably get something very close to an ounce in gold coins for each.

Bob (to party wizard): Forget the Wand of Magic Missiles, with the money from these daggers I can buy you two of them, and we're gonna need the space in your pack.

(You'll also note I snuck in some historical and cultural background into the conversation, along with a bit of treasure.)