Merchantry Mechanics - OG Myth-Weavers

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World of Farland

A world conquered by evil and ruled by the Lords of Sin; A unique campaign setting designed to be used with all editions of D&D.


Merchantry Mechanics

   
Here is a google doc of what I have compiled for a merchantry mechanic. I was going to try copy/pasting it over, but it would have been far too much of a hassle making the tables and other formatting things work.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...it?usp=sharing

I am still adjusting it here and there (like I still need to add the part about spell gems), but I think it can be applied immediately if anyone wants to use it.

It includes:
- Prices and calculating price changes for buying and selling in different cities
- Vehicle and animal prices and carry abilities
- Specifics about pricing gems
- (coming soon: spell gem pricing, crafting, and use)

If anyone has any ideas on how to improve it, or questions about clarity, please let me know.

I really like the idea of this. I'm working my way through reading it.

Really cool Hamnier. I love it.

I thought of a few suggestions:
Don't you think it would be better to list the spices in a weight based measurement (i.e. pounds)?
Do you want to include more animals (pony, donkey, mule, horse)?
Also I would think merchant guilds would object to monopolies so will quickly catch on to any very large purchases. Otherwise they risk you setting the price much higher once you buy up all the stock of a good.

Great stuff.

Thank you for the suggestions.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Valanduil View Post
Don't you think it would be better to list the spices in a weight based measurement (i.e. pounds)?
I actually have the spices listed in both weight (pounds = lb) and volume (gallons). I changed the format a little to make it more obvious, for you're not the first to point that out (I've been putting this together since just a little longer than I've known about Farland, and was troubleshooting it on another site).

A lot of containers list their volume, so I converted everything to volume to not only allow for more accurate storing/carrying ability, but also to give a general idea of how large/small their load is. A barrel can hold 40 gallons, will it be filled with with 40lb of Saffron, or 400lb of Ginger? Even if you have the money and space to carry it, you might not want to lug that much weight. Or from the other angle, you may be able to carry 400lb of Saffron, but is your wagon big enough to carry the 10 barrels needed to hold the 400 gallons? (I'll probably add a summarized description like this somewhere.)

Naturally a DM could say "this is too much math, if you can carry it, you have room for it", but some DMs and players like to be more realistic than others.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Valanduil View Post
Do you want to include more animals (pony, donkey, mule, horse)?
The pages were a little "off center" which divided the list. I reformatted it to fix the issue.

These are the animals I have listed so far


I would love ideas for more animals. OH! I'll add Wyverns to account for the Lord of Wrath's Wyvern cavalry idea.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Valanduil View Post
Also I would think merchant guilds would object to monopolies so will quickly catch on to any very large purchases. Otherwise they risk you setting the price much higher once you buy up all the stock of a good.
I guess I should add a little explanation to the beggining about why this system would work despite the size of the purchase (limited by only the quantity available to buy in a town, which can be dictated by the DM).

A large purchase would not necessarily lead to a monopoly. And with the guilds in control of the rights to buy and sell goods, you could get arrested for trying to adjust the prices too much on your own. The prices that we determine when we enter a town is what the local guilds have determined to be fair prices. Minor price changes can be haggled out on the indevidual level, and people can buy and sell as much as they want. It's when people try to oppose the guilds that hair begins to fly, and police and military get involved. In this way, guild were the world's first unions, giving (relatively) equal rights to the tradesmen.

Great. That last paragraph should definitely make it in the write-up.

Yeah good ideas. Do you think the rulers of the city would usually have a large stock of most goods as well which will prevent a monopoly too?

It would depend on the city. But it would be largely up to the DM to decide just how much to allow the party to buy. That's a bit too much of a variable to make a realistic mechanic for. Normally, the larger a city, the more it will have, but also the more it can afford to sell as more is likely to come in. However other factors could affect the economy, such as what is considered a normal amount or even an excess of salt in a large city may be considered a shortage for a relatively small town that makes it's living from salting meat.

I suppose this mechanic would work differently for small towns and cities in a general sense. Perhaps what I have writen would only really be for cities, and the DM picks and chooses (or does a DM specific roll) to determine prices for a small town (a town with a salt mine would probably sell the salt for really cheep). But even if the party is extremely into merchantry, very rarely will they bother in small towns since they are probably there for the adventure aspect.

Basically, the DM is responsible for deciding where the buying and selling caps are based on the story. But I'll make a few tweaks to make it easier to make decissions about small towns.

I finally added spell gems and domesticated wyverns to the Merchantry mechanic.

Excellent! I'll check it out soon.





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