Nordvorn: Wool vs. Plant Fibre

[martinl]

Something odd from the Village Fantasy RPG section:
Wool is $8/lb and flax (etc.) is $0.1/lb. Woven wool is $10/lb and woven "cloth" (presumably from the plan fibers above it) is $1.

Linen is not *that* inferior to wool, so I'm missing something. What's going on with this?

[(E)]

This was discussed while we were working out the economics and agriculture that is behind Citadel at Nordvörn. The book is for the DFRPG line so a lot of the reasoning behind why such and such is this way or that way must take second place to the action.

The reasons it has a higher price are mainly related to increased demand;
- Wool is the material used for long boat sails.*
- The north of the realm exports wool.
- Wool retains it's insulating properties when wet.
- The wool from the local breeds is of comparatively high quality.

The sheep in question are also of slightly superior breeding, being the equivalent of an 8th century hybridization of Scandinavian breeds and the setting equivalent of Spanish breeds. From memory some of the correspondence between myself and Douglas included "Olaf the Dull took his long boat to Hyberia and returned with several fine Rams" But this is of niche interest so we never considered putting this information in the book.

* Wool harvested in the tradition Nordic manner produces two separate types of fiber which when woven together make for a sail suited for the harsh conditions of the north sea. A process that takes an estimated 10 man years of labour.

[adm]

Surely there is lower quality cheaper wool? It would be exceedingly odd for an entire areas sheep to all be top quality animals.

[(E)]

Originally Posted by adm

Surely there is lower quality cheaper wool? It would be exceedingly odd for an entire areas sheep to all be top quality animals.

Lower quality wool would be about, but the majority of wool and more importantly the majority of wool for trade is "(fine) Wool". Simplifying things for DFRPG means some nuance was lost. Earlier drafts listed some wool as (Fine) in places but this was dropped.

[EDIT]
the economic/production and use model I had tracked 40 or 50 different products most of which weren't of much interest to an adventurer.

[adm]

Originally Posted by (E)

... Simplifying things for DFRPG means some nuance was lost. Earlier drafts listed some wool as (Fine) in places but this was dropped. ...

Ah right DFRPG. That makes sense.

[Anders]

Clearly we need an Essential Wool spell.

[martinl]

Originally Posted by (E)

The reasons it has a higher price are mainly related to increased demand

... snip reasons

But folks are shown still growing flax and selling the fiber. In economic terms, flax is eighty times less valuable. Is it eighty times easier to grow?

I know England had issues for a while where land folks needed to eat was converted to sheep pasture when wool got sufficiently valuable. I'd be expecting similar here.

Is Nordvorn: Deathflock Apocalypse in our future?

[DouglasCole]

Originally Posted by (E)

Lower quality wool would be about, but the majority of wool and more importantly the majority of wool for trade is "(fine) Wool". Simplifying things for DFRPG means some nuance was lost. Earlier drafts listed some wool as (Fine) in places but this was dropped.

[EDIT]
the economic/production and use model I had tracked 40 or 50 different products most of which weren't of much interest to an adventurer.

Just to pile on with (E) here, the original economic factor that was really only of cursory importance was "how much money is the duty to be a noble?"

For a hajarl, that number is $72 million per year. A jarl owes the king $12M per year, a herra $1.8M, and the lowly riddar $270,000. These numbers were based on the well researched economic pyramid found in Adventurer Conqueror King, which has domain and realm building as a core part of adventuring goals.

Working backwards, and recognizing that the "economy" of the Dungeon Fantasy RPG is deliberately and usefully simplified to near-impossibility, (E) set out - and succeeded beyond my expectations - in working from real-world data and information in the Low-Tech books to build village and town economies that supported life and prosperity as well as feeding the duties above.

Which brings us back to wool. We needed something that made for a good trade good, strongly distinguished from a base fiber, to help keep our economy going. Considering that on alibaba right now, good quality cashmere can be 50 times more expensive than linen cloth, we're going to assume that the trade good in question here is the very best wool, and that "cheap" wool in the north is available as fabric at $4 per pound, but isn't a valuable commodity trade good. Also, we can assume that the wool in question is in very high demand, because sails.

If we ever revisit the village generator model for towns in the west and south of Nordlond, we will probably adjust prices accordingly so that each region (of which there are probably five or six) has its own strengths and weaknesses economically, as one would expect for a realm of 100,000 square miles!

dhc

Honestly, given the blunt instrument that is the DFRPG economic model

[(E)]

Originally Posted by martinl

... snip reasons

But folks are shown still growing flax and selling the fiber. In economic terms, flax is eighty times less valuable. Is it eighty times easier to grow?

I know England had issues for a while where land folks needed to eat was converted to sheep pasture when wool got sufficiently valuable. I'd be expecting similar here.

Is Nordvorn: Deathflock Apocalypse in our future?

Adding to what Douglas has mentioned.
As to why there so much flax produced. Linen in its various forms is required by the general population for a multitude of purposes. As such it is grown almost everywhere, with an added margin in case of a poor harvest. In a normal year this margin is surplus to requirements and is hopefully traded. Flax also produces flaxseed as well as fiber, which means in some cases the linen fiber is a byproduct.

So the main reason flax is grown in so many villages is to support their own needs.

[Black Leviathan]

If it helps put the costs in perspective, real world modern Norway has similar prices of wool relative to cottons or linens because the wool is cultural to their climate, it's fashionable in their society. The little difference between the utility of the fibers/fabrics becomes magnified by the demand and ubiquity of the material.