I've been thinking of having one of my guys start one up, mostly as a source of income and of informants/spies throughout the local region, and to justify followers and what they do for him.  One one level I would love to get into the minutiae and nitty gritty detail of it, but I don't feel like creating an economic system based on trade.  The lazy way is just state that x invested gives x rate of return per year.  That just seems too boring.  Magical Medieval Society gives a basic economic system for a medieval world based on an agrarian farming/village system. Is there a comparable supplement out there which would do the same for a medieval trading company?

Quote from: Joethelawyer;337446I've been thinking of having one of my guys start one up, mostly as a source of income and of informants/spies throughout the local region, and to justify followers and what they do for him.  One one level I would love to get into the minutiae and nitty gritty detail of it, but I don't feel like creating an economic system based on trade.  The lazy way is just state that x invested gives x rate of return per year.  That just seems too boring.  Magical Medieval Society gives a basic economic system for a medieval world based on an agrarian farming/village system. Is there a comparable supplement out there which would do the same for a medieval trading company?

Just to add, I know Magical Medieval Society produces the Silk Road book bu that deals with great overland trade routes, like the old silk road to China.  I was thinking more along the lines of the Italian medieval trading companies, that operated in Europe.

It'd probably be more unpredictable in a fantasy game world than in real life, because fantasy worlds tend to be both richer and more unstable than reality.

Joe, I'm at work right now, but trading Guilds and the affect on the economy is a vital part of my setting.

"To call Celtricia merely a 'medieval setting' would be inelegant.  The Countries of Trabler and the Bright Lands might be best compared to the Dutch Republic as it moved towards its zenith, with the strong local governments and the plutocratic emphasis.  Gunpowder has not been created due to the availability of magic.  This availability eventually created a fairly modern approach to trade, fully backed by insurance, speculation, guilds and even corporations recently. "  -- From the Setting Overview


One thing I will say is to figure out the level of tech, communication, and travel, and to establish the trade patterns here.  Figure if you want to have racial, cultural, or religious advanategs/disavantages based in history these people only trade with these people, these people have exclusive rights with this item, etc).  Determine the standard of living and the levels of wealth.

I'd love to go into it more when there is more time.
Igbar capital of Trabler  This link is to a primary play area where the trading guilds and their influence ( as well as other factions) can be felt pretty strongly.  Look down to the area on the merchant guilds especially.

Also, worth of wealth is a good example of data that might help flesh out the workings of a guild and what a local economy will provide for.  

Again, these are just a localized example, but if it helps, all good, and if not, then I tried.

This netbook of businesses and investments has been lurking on my hard drive for a couple of years.  I don't know how economically accurate it is, though.

God.  Damn.  VBulletin.  Attachment.  Process.

Fuck it.  There's still an active link.

None that's very accurate as far as I've seen. You could use the one in the Darokin gazeteer, which is basically a ripoff of Traveller.

Anyways, there's a couple of things to remember here:
1- this was pre-capitalism, really. Most people who ran trading companies made enough to get by, but the whole thing about conditions being set up for ever-increasing profit was not really normal, and there were various barriers to that sort of thing happening easily.
Remember that cities had rules about who could trade inside its walls, and for what. Guilds had their areas of authority, in some places companies or individuals had their monopolies over a certain trade (gaining a monopoly DID tend to be a good way to get rich). So generally speaking, there was a shitload of rigamarole to make it really hard to turn any kind of meaningful profit beyond the cost of living.

2. There was a social stigma attached to merchants. First, you were engaging in trade, which was not seen as a noble profession. Forget hobnobbing with the upper classes. It doesn't matter how much money you make, to a Lord you're just another peasant, and worse than normal because you engage in something dishonorable (not quite as dishonorable as loans with interest, but far more dishonorable than honest work on the land).
Second, you are the first to be suspected of any wrongdoings or bringing any wrongdoings if you come from an outside area. People who travel around are seen as weird and shifty characters.

RPGPundit

Quote from: RPGPundit;338612None that's very accurate as far as I've seen. You could use the one in the Darokin gazeteer, which is basically a ripoff of Traveller.

Anyways, there's a couple of things to remember here:
1- this was pre-capitalism, really. Most people who ran trading companies made enough to get by, but the whole thing about conditions being set up for ever-increasing profit was not really normal, and there were various barriers to that sort of thing happening easily.
Remember that cities had rules about who could trade inside its walls, and for what. Guilds had their areas of authority, in some places companies or individuals had their monopolies over a certain trade (gaining a monopoly DID tend to be a good way to get rich). So generally speaking, there was a shitload of rigamarole to make it really hard to turn any kind of meaningful profit beyond the cost of living.

2. There was a social stigma attached to merchants. First, you were engaging in trade, which was not seen as a noble profession. Forget hobnobbing with the upper classes. It doesn't matter how much money you make, to a Lord you're just another peasant, and worse than normal because you engage in something dishonorable (not quite as dishonorable as loans with interest, but far more dishonorable than honest work on the land).
Second, you are the first to be suspected of any wrongdoings or bringing any wrongdoings if you come from an outside area. People who travel around are seen as weird and shifty characters.

RPGPundit

There was also the Minrothad Guilds.

But are you talking specifically about the socioeconomic parameters of "all D&D"? because there's plenty of sliders for trade that you could use, from realistic economies of the middle ages--all the way to "Ticket to Ride" style minigames. It doesn't all have to be quasi medieval, especially if things like magic are involved.. I was looking at Dark Sun lately where not only do they mess with the coinage system (no metal, so coins are made of ceramics), they have to re-value things like tools and even water (sold by the Tun). Hollow World has a different economic system depending on what area you are travelling through.

Yeah. My impression was that the OP was asking in the context of "authentic medieval" stuff. Not fantasy, which as you say can be just about anything, and defaults not to "medieval" but to "real world modern capitalism in a fantasy world".

And yes, Minrothad Guilds was for seafaring trade, Darokin for land-caravans. Both were basically the same mechanics, both ripped off Traveller liberally.

RPGPundit