Building a setting for an ordinary 5e campaign in a medieval fantasy setting, with all the usual antics of adventuring and mercenary work. The issue is, I've come up with an economy-based idea that suits the setting I'm making but I'm not sure whether it would help or hinder the campaign itself.
The empire in which the campaign is based is invested in minimizing social mobility and the movement of its subjects between its provinces. As such, they have developed currency in a fashion that is purposefully difficult to possess, in the form of trade bars. Although copper and silver coins are used, the more valuable forms of currency come in the form of silver and gold trade bars. Due to the empire's gold production being limited to a specific region of a specific province, the gold bars mentioned above are rarely used and are a luxury that's found primarily in the coffers of the empire's ruling elite and the caravans of tax collectors.
The exchange rates and weights are as follows: >A copper piece = 0.01gp, a purse of 50 pieces is equivalent to 1lb. >A silver piece = 0.1gp, a purse of 50 pieces is equivalent to 1lb. >A silver trade bar = 10gp, a single bar is 2lb. >A gold trade bar = 250gp, a single bar is 5lb.
In practical in-games terms, this means that for every 5gp a person carries, unless they've got their hands on one of the rare gold bars, they're going to be weighed down by 1lb. Considering that plenty of items that aren't even magical can cost upwards of 100gp, this makes transportation and possession of wealth a rather difficult and awkward affair. This is intentional as the empire is putting a great deal of effort into making travel between provinces difficult for its ordinary subjects. Wealth cannot easily be carried on one's person. An individual needs to either find a safe location to store their wealth, invest it in goods and services or possess means of transporting it, such as a horse-drawn cart.
Continuing this in another post.
Asher Reed
The issue comes from the fact that this is still a game. Despite the fact that this economic system helps convey what sort of world the player characters are living in, I have a feeling that making 5gp = 1lb in most scenarios might make gameplay and inventory management tiresome.
For a setting that will see use in a game rather than a book, does this sort of economy hinder gameplay more than it assists verisimilitude?
Cooper Peterson
That just seems tedious and cumbersome. Why not come up with another idea?
For instance, to purchase property or other large investments requires a certain type of currency (your gold bar). To aquire the bar requires an immediate exchange of coins, more coins than the average peasant would handle in a lifetime, and money lenders are vicious. That way the peasants are limited but not by weight which is a little silly in the first place.
Luis Harris
>>To start, name an interesting monument or holy place in your setting The "bridge to heaven" was once a mountain so tall, it really did penetrate the heavens and led directly to the realm of the heavenly gods. Now it's just an ordinary, albeit high, mountain.
Zachary Allen
bump
Josiah Reyes
>Try to sketch world map >Always ends up being a rip-off of the Mediterranean How the fuck to I make a Mediterranean knock-off without it being obvious?
Logan Nguyen
Have it open at the Red/Arabian Sea instead of the Atlantic.
Brandon Sullivan
The 'world' is a small continent of land, rivers, and lakes. All the cultures of the world live there.
To the west is arid desert, which gets worse the further it goes.
To the east is jungle, which has more dangerous beasts and bigger trees the further it goes.
To the north is ice and snow and mountains, which only get more extreme as it goes.
To the south is ocean dotted with islands, bigger aquatic horrors and endless storms rage the further it goes.
The night sky is the Netherrealm, the place where people go after they die. You can get there when you're alive too, if you trek far enough in the mountains, deserts, jungles, or ocean.
Sound interesting?
Anthony Murphy
What exactly makes it a Med rip-off?
The key attribute of the Med is being a large sea in between several large landmasses. Secondary characteristics are a large number of islands, calm waters and a warm dry climate. You could also include having only two natural connections to other bodies of water, and the Black Sea itself has no other connections.
To differentiate your Middle Sea you could relocate it to other climes. Move it farther north so it is more akin to the Baltic or Hudson Bay than the Aegean. Or perhaps south to the tropics like an more enclosed version of the Carribean or Indonesia.
Or you decide it is a close system and does not drain into an ocean. It might be like the Caspian, formerly a freshwater lake fed by rivers and rain that has become more brackish with time. The larger it is the more water is needed for supply to outpace evaporation so bear that in mind; if you do go big then consider either mammoth river systems on par with the Amazon or an Ice Age setting (or just post) where increased rain in the tropics fed super-lakes.
Or you could take the opposite route and have a Med that was once connected and is now sealed, as will happen in a few million years. It will slowly shrink and become increasingly salty as water evaporates without replacement. Long term it is doomed but few games work on that timescale. Either of these options allows you to put the sea further inland (esp.1) which helps break up the Med silhouette re-other bodies of water.
