Post by Arsulon on Mar 12, 2016 18:18:59 GMT -7
Given the ubiquity of slave-labour in Thule's city-states and the thriving trade in same (witness Marg: slavers to the entire savage continent), has anyone given any thought to how much slaves cost? Forgive my Alternity rpg terminology (I convert everything to Alternity) but I thought you could start with the slave-profession's primary attribute, add the pertinent skill level, and multiply the result by 100. For example, if an Atlantean mother wanted to purchase a musical tutor for her son, an entertainer (Diplomat profession) with a Personality of 12, and 4 ranks in Entertainment-musical instrument would cost 160 gp. By the same token, a gladiator with a Strength of 14 and 6 ranks in Melee Weapons-blade, would cost 200 gp. This seems to accord with the Red Chains adventure, in which the pcs are given 200 Margish krakens to buy back Leafstan; obviously they'd never open with the whole 200, making his anticipated market value between 100 and 150 gp.
On the subject of trade commodities in general, with regard to the activities of the jungle trader in particular, wouldn't it be interesting to have a city-state trade index? One usually sees this kind of table in sci-fi rpgs (I'm thinking of the rudimentary charts in Traveller, and the worlds of the Verge indices for the Alternity Stardrive campaign setting). You'd have a vertical column of commodities (e.g. animals, grain, slaves, ore, etc.) and a horizonal column of the city states, the two of which you'd cross-reference to arrive at the buying/selling price per unit. Perhaps you could work up seasonal modifiers? The trader campaign is a venerable feature of sci-fi roleplaying, and could just as easily generate or support fantasy adventures as well.
On the subject of trade commodities in general, with regard to the activities of the jungle trader in particular, wouldn't it be interesting to have a city-state trade index? One usually sees this kind of table in sci-fi rpgs (I'm thinking of the rudimentary charts in Traveller, and the worlds of the Verge indices for the Alternity Stardrive campaign setting). You'd have a vertical column of commodities (e.g. animals, grain, slaves, ore, etc.) and a horizonal column of the city states, the two of which you'd cross-reference to arrive at the buying/selling price per unit. Perhaps you could work up seasonal modifiers? The trader campaign is a venerable feature of sci-fi roleplaying, and could just as easily generate or support fantasy adventures as well.
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