I spent several years painstakingly researching 14th century English prices, for everything from roast sparrows to warhorses.

It turned my players into tomb robbers slaughtering goblins for their shitty swords and pathetic spears, because a handful of pennies kept them alive for another week.

Now I'm picturing all the surviving goblins going out to their cars to discover that the passenger windows have been broken and their stereos stolen.

Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;1007790I spent several years painstakingly researching 14th century English prices, for everything from roast sparrows to warhorses.

It turned my players into tomb robbers slaughtering goblins for their shitty swords and pathetic spears, because a handful of pennies kept them alive for another week.

The fear of this is what keeps me from pursuing more realistic prices.  I know me.  It wouldn't take much to send me down that road.

Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;1007790I spent several years painstakingly researching 14th century English prices, for everything from roast sparrows to warhorses.

It turned my players into tomb robbers slaughtering goblins for their shitty swords and pathetic spears, because a handful of pennies kept them alive for another week.

You still have that price list by any chance?

Classic Hollywood westerns were not actually documentaries of what it was like to live in the frontier west.

For the same reasons, I don't really care if the price of 50' of rope is historically accurate in my D&D game.

Quote from: EOTB;1007812Classic Hollywood westerns were not actually documentaries of what it was like to live in the frontier west.

They're not? I swear every time I enter a general store anywhere west of the Mississippi, some hooligan makes fun of me for purchasing 'Sody pop,' and after the inevitable showdown I have to ride off into the sunset to reinforce that the civilized world is no place for the violence (and raw sexuality, which threatens my friends Joe and Marian's fidelity) inherent in my manliness.

I've never understood why people think prices in a D&D fantasy world would be anything like historical medieval prices.

I mean, for one, magic would make the economy vastly different, even if the implications of spells are not always realized (for instance, the real world, supposed zombies have been used for cheap labor, so why wouldn't it be in worlds where zombies actually existed?) . Fantasy worlds also tend to be sparsely populated with a lot of wilderness, while most of medieval europe was settled, with forests only being preserved for hunting purposes (at least in England which is what people always seem to think of Medieval Europe).  You also have several races that mine metal at rates probably not possible until the modern era.

I mean it's okay to criticize a D&D economy. But at the same time it should never be criticized for not mimicking history, because that would be even worse.

Quote from: JeremyR;1007815I've never understood why people think prices in a D&D fantasy world would be anything like historical medieval prices.

It's going to be entirely personal where people want to draw the fantasy verisimilitude line. Castles, of all things, make virtually no sense (at least looking like real world castles do) once your world has a certain critical mass of flying creatures. Do you get rid of castles from your medieval fantasy milieu?

But, in the end, I agree. D&D prices should be what works best for the kind of D&D gaming you intend to do, no more, no less.

Quote from: estar;1007745My thoughts exactly. The longsword is about right when converted to silver pieces. But all the less expensive items are wildly off. Likely it due to bias of the primary sources that Gygax and Arneson read. Researchers tend to talk about the "sexy" stuff like Plate Armor and broadswords rather than how much a pot of red dye cost or better yet 50' of hemp rope.

If you really want a fun and surprising price, instead of red dye take a pot of blue paint. Ultramarine Blue (the name means "blue from beyond the sea") was made from lapis lazuli sourced from particular mines in Afghanistan. It was literally more valuable than gold! The reason the Virgin Mary is traditionally depicted in a blue robe is that the ultramarine paint used was the most expensive pigment available to the artists, who chose that colour to honour her.

Red dye cam from several sources, such as red madder, so not so expensive.

I sincerely doubt Dave or Gary did ANY research on prices, and priced things in a way that worked for the game.

The famous "Extractibus Ex Rectum Tuum" research method.

Quote from: Willie the Duck;1007818It's going to be entirely personal where people want to draw the fantasy verisimilitude line. Castles, of all things, make virtually no sense (at least looking like real world castles do) once your world has a certain critical mass of flying creatures. Do you get rid of castles from your medieval fantasy milieu?

Our castles had repeating ballistae (a real thing) in quad mounts on the turret tops...

Quote from: CRKrueger;1007807You still have that price list by any chance?

Somewhere in the depths of my storage compartment, yes.  It was too fucking much work to throw away.

.... that goes in my book, doesn't it...

.... or in a separate PDF like Pundy's "weekly specials."  Sell it for two bucks... hmmm......

I have come to realize that adherance to genre conventions is more important to me in many games than strict historical accuracy. This is especially the case in games like D&D where heroes can easilly find more wealth than they can carry away. The costs of weapons and armour matter because they are significant resources for PCs, the cost of a mug of ale or loaf of bread is not generally significant.

Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;1007826Our castles had repeating ballistae (a real thing) in quad mounts on the turret tops...

The Keep in Keep on the Borderlands is topped with 6 ballistia and 4 catapults. + archers and crossbowmen.

I have always though spells like "Passwall" and "Rock to Mud" were a bigger threat to castles than flying creatures.