Post by tetramorph on Jun 2, 2015 19:32:20 GMT -5
The main source of wealth in classical Christendom, as through much of history and much of the world today, is land and the crops, cattle and livestock it can support. Land is not valued in terms of gold, but gold in terms of land. In some places adventurers will find their gold buys them little for there is simply not enough land or livestock to give the gold any value beyond its gleam!
Thus we assume a manorial or “open field” system for the meeting of basic human needs, physical and social. Each “village” is a manor with a manor house. The land is “controlled,” as in governed by the Lord, but not “owned” in the modern, alienable sense of property “rights.” The peasants who worked the land had their own peasant “rights” of claim on the land based upon their own lineal descent and precedence as a given family associated with a given manor. And the Lord did not have crazy control over the manor, but sat as the head of a manorial court that included any free manorial subjects. They would not all have sat in court at once, but on a rota and perhaps by lot (much like a jury). This then echoes up at every level of scale. Many manors with lords make a county with an earl. Many counties and earls make a duchy with a duke (or a march with a Margrave). Many duchies and marches make a Grand Duchy, a principality or a kingdom with a Grand Duke, Prince or King, respectively. Finally, an Emperor might rule over several kingdoms.
More important than land wealth, however, is the means of exchange of goods. Although markets exist (see descriptions below), far more important to a medieval world would have been what anthropologists now call a “gift economy.” The main form of exchange was that of the giving and receiving of gifts that, in their cycling, generated relationships of fealty, loyalty and camaraderie. Now, in the main, this will be factored into the abstraction of much of the mechanics of the game. But it should be an important part of meaningful role-play and a launch point for adventure hooks, especially at higher levels of play. After the exchange of gifts comes barter in-kind. Only after gift-cycles and barter economics does a market economy come. And that is why although there are mechanics for it, it does not hugely influence the wealth of a character who invests in such things.
There are three classes of markets: fair ground, market place and bazaar. Even the smallest fair grounds will have items available valued up to 10 gp, but they will be limited to their once a week meeting, usually Thursdays. Market places will readily have available items valued up to 100 gp. These will be available on ferial days but not on feast and fast days, e.g., not on Wednesdays, Fridays, Sundays. “Bazaars,” will have most any items of nearly any cost and will be open most any day except Sundays and major feasts and fasts. Magic items, by their very nature are, nevertheless, difficult to obtain in any market.
This campaign retains the 0e gold standard but keeps everything in decimals for ease of play. So ten coppers to one silver, ten silver to one gold. This allows money wealth to be annotated in the modern, decimal way, e.g., two gold pieces, three silver pieces and seven copper pieces can be written “2.37gp.”
Thus we assume a manorial or “open field” system for the meeting of basic human needs, physical and social. Each “village” is a manor with a manor house. The land is “controlled,” as in governed by the Lord, but not “owned” in the modern, alienable sense of property “rights.” The peasants who worked the land had their own peasant “rights” of claim on the land based upon their own lineal descent and precedence as a given family associated with a given manor. And the Lord did not have crazy control over the manor, but sat as the head of a manorial court that included any free manorial subjects. They would not all have sat in court at once, but on a rota and perhaps by lot (much like a jury). This then echoes up at every level of scale. Many manors with lords make a county with an earl. Many counties and earls make a duchy with a duke (or a march with a Margrave). Many duchies and marches make a Grand Duchy, a principality or a kingdom with a Grand Duke, Prince or King, respectively. Finally, an Emperor might rule over several kingdoms.
More important than land wealth, however, is the means of exchange of goods. Although markets exist (see descriptions below), far more important to a medieval world would have been what anthropologists now call a “gift economy.” The main form of exchange was that of the giving and receiving of gifts that, in their cycling, generated relationships of fealty, loyalty and camaraderie. Now, in the main, this will be factored into the abstraction of much of the mechanics of the game. But it should be an important part of meaningful role-play and a launch point for adventure hooks, especially at higher levels of play. After the exchange of gifts comes barter in-kind. Only after gift-cycles and barter economics does a market economy come. And that is why although there are mechanics for it, it does not hugely influence the wealth of a character who invests in such things.
There are three classes of markets: fair ground, market place and bazaar. Even the smallest fair grounds will have items available valued up to 10 gp, but they will be limited to their once a week meeting, usually Thursdays. Market places will readily have available items valued up to 100 gp. These will be available on ferial days but not on feast and fast days, e.g., not on Wednesdays, Fridays, Sundays. “Bazaars,” will have most any items of nearly any cost and will be open most any day except Sundays and major feasts and fasts. Magic items, by their very nature are, nevertheless, difficult to obtain in any market.
This campaign retains the 0e gold standard but keeps everything in decimals for ease of play. So ten coppers to one silver, ten silver to one gold. This allows money wealth to be annotated in the modern, decimal way, e.g., two gold pieces, three silver pieces and seven copper pieces can be written “2.37gp.”