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<blockquote data-quote="Composer99" data-source="post: 8636611" data-attributes="member: 7030042"><p>Gee, I wonder why people might prefer overland travel for short or medium-haul trade along the Sword Coast?</p><p></p><p>Maybe... oh, let's see... </p><p></p><p>(1) The sea goddess is Umberlee. One can appease Umberlee, but she's capricious and temperamental, and therefore unreliable on that score. You probably have to make offerings to Umberlee plus Waukeen plus one or two other gods before embarking on a long sea journey in order to petition them for protection or appeasement, and you just can't be sure Umberlee will remain appeased. Overland travel takes Umberlee out of the equation. (Also, if Umberlee pitches a fit and sends a storm someone's way, how many other ships will be caught in it despite not having earned her wrath? It's not like she's going to care.)</p><p></p><p>(2) At least when a wyvern attacks your caravan, if you can't see it off with some trusty archers it'll probably make off with one of your pack animals and maybe trash a wagon (or two). By contrast, traveling by sea adds the risk that a monster attack will sink your ship, meaning the entire cargo is lost along with some, most, or all of the crew depending on the circumstances.</p><p></p><p>Those two factors are in addition to all the normal risks of oceangoing nautical travel. So much for <em>safer</em>.</p><p></p><p>Also:</p><p></p><p>(1) Never mind tiny hamlets, there'd be plenty of mid-size towns running between, say, Daggerford and Baldur's Gate that aren't on the map, most of which require overland travel to reach - and that will hold true across the length of the overland road.</p><p></p><p>(2) It's far more likely that the Trade Way is simply an organic outgrowth of a series of north-south roads connecting towns and villages. If you travel one day's worth of trip from Daggerford to the next town south, that town will in turn have a road leading south to the next town, and so on all the way to Baldur's Gate, none of which requires a commitment to massive overland travel between Waterdeep and Baldur's Gate. Over the years, people notice that those road connections by happenstance form a north-south roadway and give it a fancy name.</p><p></p><p>[HR][/HR]</p><p>At any rate, I don't disagree that fantasy game settings don't accurately simulate real-world economics and logistics. But why should they? That's not what they're for. (And the setting offending one's personal sensibilities viz. worldbuilding or verisimilitude is, bluntly put, nowhere near a good enough reason.)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Composer99, post: 8636611, member: 7030042"] Gee, I wonder why people might prefer overland travel for short or medium-haul trade along the Sword Coast? Maybe... oh, let's see... (1) The sea goddess is Umberlee. One can appease Umberlee, but she's capricious and temperamental, and therefore unreliable on that score. You probably have to make offerings to Umberlee plus Waukeen plus one or two other gods before embarking on a long sea journey in order to petition them for protection or appeasement, and you just can't be sure Umberlee will remain appeased. Overland travel takes Umberlee out of the equation. (Also, if Umberlee pitches a fit and sends a storm someone's way, how many other ships will be caught in it despite not having earned her wrath? It's not like she's going to care.) (2) At least when a wyvern attacks your caravan, if you can't see it off with some trusty archers it'll probably make off with one of your pack animals and maybe trash a wagon (or two). By contrast, traveling by sea adds the risk that a monster attack will sink your ship, meaning the entire cargo is lost along with some, most, or all of the crew depending on the circumstances. Those two factors are in addition to all the normal risks of oceangoing nautical travel. So much for [I]safer[/I]. Also: (1) Never mind tiny hamlets, there'd be plenty of mid-size towns running between, say, Daggerford and Baldur's Gate that aren't on the map, most of which require overland travel to reach - and that will hold true across the length of the overland road. (2) It's far more likely that the Trade Way is simply an organic outgrowth of a series of north-south roads connecting towns and villages. If you travel one day's worth of trip from Daggerford to the next town south, that town will in turn have a road leading south to the next town, and so on all the way to Baldur's Gate, none of which requires a commitment to massive overland travel between Waterdeep and Baldur's Gate. Over the years, people notice that those road connections by happenstance form a north-south roadway and give it a fancy name. [HR][/HR] At any rate, I don't disagree that fantasy game settings don't accurately simulate real-world economics and logistics. But why should they? That's not what they're for. (And the setting offending one's personal sensibilities viz. worldbuilding or verisimilitude is, bluntly put, nowhere near a good enough reason.) [/QUOTE]
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