Forgotten Kingdoms Forums

This might warant a new thread if its not a one sentence answer, but how does the FK economy and pricing... work?
The conversation in this thread's made me curious.

In 3.5 there are guidelines for example, how rich a lair should be in coin for the level of creatures found inside as well as pay wages for unskilled laborers i.e. stable hands and for services like stabling your mount. I'll keep away from the cost of magic services as magic always complicates the issue but yeah. In FK is 3 copper still considered the average earning power, per day of an unskilled laborer and if so, what was the thinking of average earning power of the common adventurer versus common services?

Currently, I can see people running out of money if they never go hunting which is unthinkable on the table as one say... Challenge rating 8 creature with a lair has enough loot to live comfortably if not richly for a decade or more.

It is one of those things which is apples and oranges in a lot of ways. There are efficiencies in a table-top game which allow it to run smoothly for about the duration of a couple of two liter bottles of Mountain Dew; similarly there are things here which must demand that players do things or this 24/7 world would become dull.

It would be interesting to see how much coin every NPC in waterdeep put together has vs dungeon lairs like howling peek.

Comparing one of the wealthiest cities on the Sword Coast (or Faerun itself) to a stinking pile of starving goblins may not be the most profitable comparison, whether on the web or the table top.

Honestly, the economy in FK seems haphazardly set and not in a critique sort of way do I say this. It seems like the coded foundation for the value of coins is fairly well designed, but that individual builders put price tags on their various merchants with their own ideas about how things should cost.

Then you have fluff items, like suits from the Gentlemen's Club or wizards robes from the tower in the Keep, that are rather costly but understandably so because they're tailor made (ICly).

This is all observation, so I'm curious to know if there's an overarching code to govern minimum and maximum values for cost.

Harroghty wrote:Comparing one of the wealthiest cities on the Sword Coast (or Faerun itself) to a stinking pile of starving goblins may not be the most profitable comparison, whether on the web or the table top.

And yet.., If, theoretically I went through waterdeep and butchered most of the street faring NPCs and did the same in howling peak, I'd be interested to see how much of a difference in wealth there would be.

This is all written with a bemused smile though, as you said... apples and oranges. I'm fairly sure there are creature dens far more wealthy than Waterdeep in game so this is mostly down to growing curiosity.

Yes, there is a system which assigns worth to objects uniformly.

Is that system open for viewing or easily explained?

I'd enjoy understanding how it prices things sold to merchants.

Even uniformly isn't very realistic. How many different nations constitute the continent of Faerun? How many nations are there on Toril? With different economies, resources, and currencies?

This is one of those areas where I just suspend disbelief.

Well by uniform I assumed he meant there is code used for all items but not all items have to use it as per builder preference / choice. Since there are plenty of places in game with the same object sold at dif rates

Yemin wrote:Well by uniform I assumed he meant there is code used for all items but not all items have to use it as per builder preference / choice. Since there are plenty of places in game with the same object sold at dif rates

Yes, and yes.

http://www.forgottenkingdoms.org/builde ... lshops.php

The code is semi-exposed in the builder help section.

<snippet>

150 50 - This is the profit-buy and profit-sell. This is a markup for characters buying the item from the shop-keeper, in percentage points. The markup is taken from the actual value of the item. 100 is nominal price; 150 is 50% markup, and so on. The 'profit-sell' number is a markdown for players selling the item, in percentage points. 100 is nominal price; 75 is a 25% markdown, and so on. The buying markup should be at least 120, and the selling markdown should be at most 80. Common shops in Forgotten Kingdoms are set to 150 buy and 50 sell.

</snippet>

Each object has a value setting and the shop controls the markup and markdown. While there is a general rule of thumb, clearly over the years there has been some general deviation through different builders (and architects).

Some of that system is base Smaug and some has been modified, it looks like. Diku used a very similar structure, but this is the first time I've seen it work in as complex of a setting as Forgotten Realms.

If I were in charge (I'm not), I'd do away with the base shop system except for basic items. Everything else would be player-driven with the ability to exchange coin for experience, to support a population of players who like to craft/build/trade but don't want to be bothered going out to kill things.

Without having to go out and kill things?.... *shudder*
Kill the infidels!

I don't think I have enough experience with the crafting system here to really say how well that would go with anything like accuracy. But from a year and a bit's worth of observation that would result in a very high demand on crafters vs low production power if they were set as active skills like Brewing and scribing as to passive like armor and weapons crafting perhaps?

Both the D&D economy & FK economy, makes sense to an extent, because the random treasure obtained by killing a single goblin is worth several decades of unskilled labor.

Woror wrote:Both the D&D economy & FK economy, makes sense to an extent, because the random treasure obtained by killing a single goblin is worth several decades of unskilled labor.

Question though ... goblins don't mint coins.

So where do they get them?

There's an entire backstory there that's at least as interesting as this discussion.

Robbing rich.. unprotected merchants on the road. Its why most of my characters can justify looting

As a note. I think the price of some items while reasonable from perhaps an IC provider's point of view, isn't so from an actuall economical point of view as they're too high to actually be bought or thought off as worth while. Some wands, Some potions. Cloaks of full resistance, that sort of thing.

I've seen the afformentioned minor cloaks go for nearly 1000 platinum in shops.

Heh. Try buying anything off of Mers. The boy exceeded the buffer value of the banking system a long time ago.

Acquisitions Unlimited are not at liberty to make public its holdings or assets to any local power of the sword coast as we are a free held company without need for permit to trade or hold land in either full or rent to any such power's domain for the purposes of trade or storage purposes.

We are a specialty and small sized business that specializes exclusively with the adventurers of the realms and thus see little profit in divolging our manner of operation, work force, annual earnings, deficit or profit margins.

further more might I make clear here to you gentlemen and ladies that our newest employee, The elustrious one known sometime as bard but has upgraded to Crash witch in the west, Bearer of LAGful might in the east, should she achieve her god status as the patron of moving waters and fountains shall become this group's prime Sponsor in the higher plains and herald to the Golden haired Waukeen.

* offer not valid in California.
** The above text does not constitute investment advice. As individual situations may vary, consult an authorized investment counselor for advice pertaining to your specific circumstances.

***No relation to Acquisitions Incorporated, there is no need to sue us.