The economics of Faerun's Inner Sea - Page 4

tshiggins · 07-19-2008, 09:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by robertsconley

(SNIP)

Most trade that is exploitable by PCs would be the luxury trade. Valuable items in small quantities (hundreds of pounds at best)

Plus by the High Middle Ages (which the Forgotten Realms is definitely in the midst of) there is plenty of Commerical paper including Promissory Notes, Bills of Lading, etc.

This give an excellent example of what goes on.

http://www.columbiagames.com/resourc...notarius.shtml

I successfully used elements of this in my GURPS Campaign particularly Promissory Notes.

(SNIP)

Small, valuable cargo and promissary notes gave my GURPS Harn PCs their first introduction into mercantile trade. It got to the point where, eventually, one of the group's mages would hit the market of every town they visited, and bought up all the notes he could afford. He figured he had a better chance of making it to the place where the note was originally written, than most regular merchants.

He was right, of course, and basically increased his earnings by 20 percent, every time he traveled from one major city to another. He was also pretty annoyed to find out that he couldn't buy promisary notes for one side of Harn while on the other. Travel between the two sides of the island was so dangerous, merchants would accept only silver or goods, not promises. :)

Icelander · 07-20-2008, 04:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ramidel

Honestly, I think Thay is better looked at, not as a quasi-Renaissance kingdom, but as a kingdom undergoing the magical equivalent of an industrial revolution.

Of course they are. Within the next few years, there is a real danger that Thay will outcompete its neighbours. If they invest their earnings wisely, Thay can become so powerful that first Thesk and then perhaps the Vast will inevitably be drawn into their economic sphere and later control.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ramidel

After all, the way the Red Wizards work, an average Wizard can spend his entire life enchanting the same kind of item for years and years, and there are a lot of that kind of one-trick-pony wizards. Thay can sell healing potions and +1 swords till the sky falls, and have enough real wizards to do custom work.

Thayvian wizards, for obvious reasons, are not an important source of healing potions. But as for common household magic (lights that won't go out, plows that replenish the soil, saddles that make training horses easier, spoons that create gruel, etc.), you're certainly right.

I've been trying to think about where the demand for magical items comes from and one thing that stands out is things that increase productivity for rich farmers or craftsmen enough to provide them with a return for their investment. Another thing is scrying or divination tools for rulers and ambitious would-be rulers. And personal defences and security items for all rich people.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ramidel

Question, Ice: What fluff are you using to replace XP costs of magic items?

That's a D&D 3.x Edition mechanic and has no place in any Realms of mine. It wasn't there in AD&D 1e, 2e with or without Player's Option, and it's no part of the Realms fluff or stories. Constitution loss was present and I plan to simulate that with a weakening of the wizard when he uses very powerful spells, whether or not that weakening is permanent.

Crafting awesomely powerful items sometimes requires the caster to invest some part of himself in the process (many artifacts or near-artifacts are items that consumed the soul of their creator), but Red Wizards that work as enchanters do not appear to suffer any negative effects that their otherwisely employed colleagues do not experience.

AstralRunner · 07-20-2008, 07:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Icelander

Crafting awesomely powerful items sometimes requires the caster to invest some part of himself in the process (many artifacts or near-artifacts are items that consumed the soul of their creator), but Red Wizards that work as enchanters do not appear to suffer any negative effects that their otherwisely employed colleagues do not experience.

I've always wondered why "part of himself" has to be some tangible thing instead of the more metaphoric sense that the phrase is usually used in in the real world. Engineers and artists put parts of themselves into major projects all the time, and it doesn't leave them weaker for having done so, except insofar as the extended lack of sleep such projects sometimes entail is weakening.

Hmm, actually, that could work. Maybe the weakening of mages who do huge things is really just the natural consequence of the fatigue, poor nutrition, and lack of exercise that the mages obsessive enough about power to create powerful artifacts usually have.

Icelander · 07-20-2008, 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AstralRunner

I've always wondered why "part of himself" has to be some tangible thing instead of the more metaphoric sense that the phrase is usually used in in the real world. Engineers and artists put parts of themselves into major projects all the time, and it doesn't leave them weaker for having done so, except insofar as the extended lack of sleep such projects sometimes entail is weakening.

Hmm, actually, that could work. Maybe the weakening of mages who do huge things is really just the natural consequence of the fatigue, poor nutrition, and lack of exercise that the mages obsessive enough about power to create powerful artifacts usually have.

Maybe. But that still doesn't alter the fact that some magic is upredictable and dangerous.

Crafting a sword that's sharper and better balanced than other swords might not pose any risk to the mage, but crafting one that steals the lifeforce of victims and imbues the wielder with their energy might very well do so.

AstralRunner · 07-20-2008, 08:26 PM

Well, there's also my other idea that I'm working on: poorly controlled magic is radioactive. The more powerful it is, the harder it is to keep its radioactivity at acceptable levels. If you're really good, you can make powerful magic items that don't glow blue when put under water. If you're not, then maybe you should stick with lesser enchantments for a while longer.

Dwarfolo · 07-21-2008, 01:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Icelander

So, how much demand is there?

According to the ICA (International Colored Gemstones Association) the whole market for colored gemstones during 2007 was about $15 billions.
35% of this amount is covered by Corundum, thus probably 2/3 are sapphires and 1/3 rubies.

Guessing some figures :-P
Given a population of 150M people in Faerun the whole colored gemstones market could be estimated in $321 M, and thus sapphires have a market of $75 M.
If sapphires are sold at $200/carat, the whole market consist of 375K carat.
How large is the Cormyrean share? Guessing again ... 5%? That would be a total of 18/19K carat to deal with.

Some notes:
- In the modern real market sapphires and rubies are used for other purposes beside jewelry (mechanical parts, scratch resistant watch crystals, lasers and optical equipment in general).
- During the last century some synthesis processes were developed, causing a meaningful reduction of the price.
- Modern market price for 1 carat of sapphire (0.2 gr) varies from $200 to $1600.
- Faceting tecniques that allow the production of gemstones under 1 carat in weight are quite recent.

Icelander · 07-21-2008, 09:41 AM

Quote: