[RPM] [Economics] [Fantasy] How much for a Spell? For Energy?

[vicky_molokh]

Greetings, all!

Vaguely exploring the possibility of a fantasy world with Ritual Path Magic in it, I wondered: assuming that magic is known and generally no more feared/disliked than technology of the era (i.e. same as e.g. crop rotation at its TL), how would spells be priced in monetary terms? I know there are Charm rules, but that's not quite the same. I'm interested in such things as buying an effect 'here-and-now', such as bringing a dead body to a mage guild and purchasing a resurrection. Naturally, there's likely to be some time between the moment the spell is requested, and the time it is performed, as mages might need some time to organize a sufficiently large circle of casters and energy providers.

Another consideration is the ability to tap people as willing energy sources, which typically means 3-4 Energy per contributing person at a time. That would likely mean that high-energy spells are possible to buy even with mediocre-skill mages, as long as it's possible to 'bribe' or convince enough people participating in the ritual.

Thanks in advance!

[Ulzgoroth]

I'd really take it from the job side. What standard of living to mages maintain, and what do they have to charge to support that.

Ideally you'd also come at it from the demand side and see what people could possibly be willing to pay for it (or how many people could be willing to pay the price). But that requires a lot more setting details than the supply side.

[GodBeastX]

From an economics standpoint you tend to take the time involved, success rate, and the average income / month for how that person would be paid to decide the cost for the action (+materials if relevant).

Consult the Campaigns Book page 517, it has a table for average pay which you multiply based on wealth levels and such for an individual at each TL, find the one you want and go from there.

Working days are figured by 22 days a month, not 30. So to give you can example:

If mages are paid an average wage in modern day (TL8), $2600, and it takes them 5 days to do the work I wish, and they have 15 skill, I would do this math.

2600 / (22/5) / .9547 (The success rate for 15 skill) = ~619$ for me to pay a mage to do that job.

[Langy]

The cost of a spell should really just be the cost of purchasing a charm.

[Anders]

Less, because charms are more convenient. They can be activated later.

[Langy]

Originally Posted by Asta Kask

Less, because charms are more convenient. They can be activated later.

The charm is more convenient both for the user and the caster; caster can make it at any time, and user can use it at any time. I think the bonuses/penalties cancel out.

[GodBeastX]

Charms are subject to other limitations though, so that has to be factored in. For example, if said mage can only make 3 charms, and it takes 1 hour to make a charm, how do they make money with charms out there without charging 700$ / charm?

[Langy]

Originally Posted by GodBeastX

Charms are subject to other limitations though, so that has to be factored in. For example, if said mage can only make 3 charms, and it takes 1 hour to make a charm, how do they make money with charms out there without charging 700$ / charm?

There's no mage out there who can only make three charms; they can make Thaumatology Skill + Magery charms, which'll definitely be 12+ if they're an actual professional caster.

Also, almost all charms sell for more than $700 each, so that's not a problem.

[Varyon]

I think Langy has the right of it for spell costs.

For the price of energy, a "professional" energy-provider is probably going to be Poor, with average HT and FP 10. That will allow them to supply around 1 energy every 30 minutes (typically in 3 energy chunks). For a typical 8-hour workday, that's 16 energy (18 if they sneak in 2 meals). Such a person is unlikely to be properly employed an entire 8 hours, and does take some risk (a quirk or botch will affect them), so take the daily wage of such a person and divide by 10 to determine cost per energy. At TL4, that works out to around $0.64 per energy. Higher-status people will probably insist on being paid far more if you manage to convince them to supply some energy, however.

[GodBeastX]

Originally Posted by Langy

There's no mage out there who can only make three charms; they can make Thaumatology Skill + Magery charms, which'll definitely be 12+ if they're an actual professional caster.

Also, almost all charms sell for more than $700 each, so that's not a problem.

I threw a random number out there :)