NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="seasong" data-source="post: 379492" data-attributes="member: 5137">This thread rocks!The following is just some work I did a while back for a campaign in which politics and economy mattered more than most. The real-world accuracy is emphatically not guaranteed. It was simply an attempt to make something that looked reasonable and worked reasonably well in the campaign.A typical kingdom will have a population around 22,000. Most of that will be villages and serfs.The Serf<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">$1 is a generic economic unit.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">An hour's cheap manual labor has a net cost of $0.50. This is roughly what a serf makes (although a serf's lord does not actually PAY that amount, that is what the serf gets out of the land, after rent/tax is taken out of his work by the lord). A typical serf works six to twelve hours a day, depending on the season, with most of the "break" in the middle of the day.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A serf actually produces $1 to $2.50 per hour of work, depending on the soil, season and how good a year it is. All of that except $0.50 per hour goes to the serf's lord, and is then dispensed out into the lord's various costs (military, King's taxes, bridge repairs, personal wealth, etc.).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A serf averages about nine hours per day, and produces an average of $4,850 per year, of which he keeps $1,650 (the rest to the lord goeth). Of that $1,650, about $1,450 is "spent" feeding a family of four (a serf, his wife, two children). Any children beyond two must pay for themselves; this usually takes care of itself, as the older children help produce enough to feed themselves and possibly care for their younger siblings. The remaining $200, plus any excess from more productive children, goes into cloth, seeds, special occasions, equipment repairs and so on.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">In all, a family of serfs puts about $3,400 + $50 per child past the second into the economy in the form of payment to their lord, purchased textiles, equipment, seeds, festivities and so on. The average serf family has three "extra" children.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">An "average" kingdom will have about 14,000 serfs.</li> </ul>The Middle Class<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The middle class thrive on the expenditures of the aristocracy, who need more than the simple productions of serfs. The middle class produce all the finer things in life, as well as many other specialized professional products such as stone masonry and weapons. Serfs also represent part of the middle class income, but not a large part.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Any specialized production skill is worth at least $1 per hour. Less than that, and a serf's less skilled life becomes comparatively appealing. Highly skilled crafts, such as weapon working or magic, are worth at least $5 per hour, or the kingdom will suffer a deficit in the craft. The less common the ability, the more these base values increase. Trade between kingdoms usually benefits because one kingdom has something "very common" like $5/hour metalsmiths and the other one has something "very common" like $5/hour textile makers.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A craftsman will typically spend four to eight hours per day at his craft, depending on the season and personal need. Over the course of a year, a craftsman should make $2,200 per $1/hour (highly skilled crafts will tend to make a net of $11,000 or more per year).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A craftsman normally lives at a higher costing lifestyle than a serf. They typically live in towns, eat better food (and may not even cook themselves), wear better clothers (and replace it more often) and so on. A family of four will normally cost about $1,800 per year at the lowest, poorest level and $8,000 per year at the more extravagent levels. A little of the excess goes into savings; the rest usually goes back into taxes.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">An average kingdom will have about 2000 craftsmen of various levels, plus their families (usually with one or two children).</li> </ul>The Aristocracy<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The lowest "caste" of non-knight aristocrat rules a comparatively small patch of land, usually covering a three to twenty villages. The poorest lord will have about fifty serf families who produce an average of $3,200 per year (for a total income of $160,000). The wealthiest of the lowest caste will typically take in five times that ($800,000 per year).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">For every five to ten lower lords, there will be a higher lord who takes about 30% to 50% of their income. Average income per year for such an aristocrat will be about $1.2 million.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Above the higher lords, of course, will be the true aristocrat, the King, who will take about 30% to 50% of their income. A typical King might have ten to twenty higher lords, and will take in somewhere around $7.2 million per year.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A good average gross national production for such a kingdom is around $45 million.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Lords have families who do little towards actual production; maintaining these families usually costs a pretty penny.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">About half of a lord's income typically goes to the middle class, to purchase things. Another eighth goes into maintaining the military. And the remainder goes into castles, luxury and family.</li> </ul>The Soldier<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A kingdom of 22,000 will typically have about 2,000 soldiers. With a total national budget of $5 million put into the military (not counting castles), that works out to an expense of about $2,500 spent per year, per soldier, of which a chunk has to be put into arms, room & board, and various bits of general equipment (wagons, horses, etc.).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Feeding a soldier costs about $2.05 per day, or $750 per year. Room and board (other than food) ends up costing about $500 per year.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Miscellaneous expenses usually come out to about $800-900 per year.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The remaining $450 is the amount left for salary, arms and armor.</li> </ul></blockquote>

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