Couple more questions for the ENWorld crew:
First, there seems to be conflicting messages coming in. I was under the assumption that a dowry was paid _to_ the Duke for his daughter. This was due to the typical nature of daughters moving in with husbands, and then good sons taking care of elderly parents (ie- duke loses his kid so he gets gold to take care of him instead). Some of the posts seem to be implying that the Duke would be paying out cash.
Second, the kingdom is just under 10,000 square miles (we play in very small worlds) and he basically rules a single province. With a population density of 80 (average from what I've read), he is looking at having 200,000 peasants in his quarter of the kingdom. Thus 200,000 peasants at 1 sp/daily is 7,300,000 gp yearly. Taxes at 30% would rake in 2,190,000 gp.
From here I break down and get lost. I would assume that the king would tax him at least 50%, so would it be foolish to assume that his annual income would be approx 1,000,000 gp with which he maintains an army for his lord, roads, cities, guards, and supplies himself with a nice lifestyle?
I believe jgbrowning suggested somewhere between 1/2 and 1/4 years income, but I hardly think it would be possible for anyone to afford such a sum unless they were higher than a duke in station, something I wish to avoid.
I think perhaps 1/4 to 1/2 of a years profits would be more suitable. To that end the Duke would further his own coffers quite well, earning a huge 'bonus' for his future pension plan. I guess my next question would then be how to determine how much profit a duke would generate per annum.
Most wealth came in land holdings and titles, as far as I know, so I doubt much cash was kept on hand. Certainly enough to facilitate daily, albeit rich, life and the occasional mishap. Perhaps 95% of each years taxes would be used and returned in some regard? Bear in mind that this is not at the national level, so there is still the king above this duke. At 95% this would leave 50,000 gp every year to be ferreted away. This seems appropriate when one considers that the DMG listed prices for things like Castles and Huge Castles would then take 10 and 20 years, respectively, to pay off. Considering it realistically took similar amounts to build, it works.
From there one could assign a dowry from 12,500 to 25,000 and it would be extremely meaningful. Amounts in the 1-2 million range are simply too absurd at any level unless it is royal. Else entire kingdoms would have to pull together to see the princess wed.
Any problems forseen? Insights to be given? Qualms to be rendered? Thanks for the help.
A Duke is usually a great landholder in the realm. Depending on how big your kingdom is and how allodial holdings are distributed I'd go with something between 250k-750k. Something roughly 1/4 a year to 1/2 year's income would probably be best.
