Slavery in the Forgotten Realms

[kalos72]

Anyone have any suggestions on areas/cities/governments that are big on slavery in FR?

My group has a thing against slavers and I want to try and work it into their Neverwinter plot line...

They also mentioned buying slaves and giving them homes and such...

I thought Amn was big on slaves but couldn't found anything quick...alot of Underdark cities I would assume are too.

Thanks!

[Honest Tiefling]

Thay and Calimshan immediately come to mind, but are a bit far. Luskan, much closer to Neverwinter might traffic in slaves. I'm pretty sure it is also an enemy of Neverwinter.

Otherwise, illegal trafficking up and down the coast might be a possibility. Followers of Bane and other evil gods might set up small temples or fortresses and those things don't build themselves!

[Kuulvheysoon]

Slavery is also widely practiced in Mulhorand, but it's notable that there the slaves receive better treatment.

Mind you, this is because they are church property and others just 'rent' them, but still...

[Bullet06320]

thay is known for slaves
skullport has a slave market
zhentil keep wouldn't be against it I would think

[Gwendol]

Mostly Thay and Calimshan. Duergar and Drow practice slavery and trade with (in?) them.

[Know(Nothing)]

Applies to any setting really, but any easily obscured/inaccessible mining operation that is heavily guarded might be utilizing slave labor. Finding the places where slaves are used can easily lead to where they were purchased, as well as what governments and businesses were aware of their use.

Could make for an awesome climb up the ladder of power, finding out that an alderman or leader of some sort in a major city was keeping slave labor hidden so long as a particular mine or group of slavers used the city as their main or only customer.

[Brookshw]

Did the Zhentilar (possibly misspelled) get reworked in this edition? Slavery used to be something for them as well.

[kalos72]

Cool, thanks guys.

I need to try and find out how much a slave costs actually...

Adding into the through process, The Commoner Handbook. How much will a "smart" slave cost?

One that I can then offer to train as a optimized commoner or even just a level one wizard to change the population to a more
magically oriented" one.

I love that concept...

[Brookshw]

Cool, thanks guys.

I need to try and find out how much a slave costs actually...

Adding into the through process, The Commoner Handbook. How much will a "smart" slave cost?

One that I can then offer to train as a optimized commoner or even just a level one wizard to change the population to a more
magically oriented" one.

I love that concept...

I believe Lords of Madness has rules for that.

[Perseus]

Nothing really to add that helps but you gave me a good idea for a Lawful Good character who owns a slave.

It starts with the slave saying (before he is a slave) "Whoever looses has to be the other person's slave for a year" ...

Might try to pull this as a Paladin... Hmmm

Thanks!

[Bullet06320]

I would generally think a to a paladin slavery = evil
but I geuss it would depend on the society the paladin is from, especially if limited slavery is a form of punishment, instead of jail sentience, criminals are sentenced to x number of years of slavery for crimes convicted of.

[unseenmage]

If I'm remembering my Underdark book properly pretty much every race underground enslaves one another. And those who don't are either hidden or constantly under siege by the races that do.

Illithids find slaves to be delicious. Especially in the brain and thoughts region.
I'm not sure where their primary Underdark city is in relation to the area you're asking about though. Sorry.

Just when in doubt, delve down. Trouble won't be hard to find from there.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by unseenmage
If I'm remembering my Underdark book properly pretty much every race underground enslaves one another. And those who don't are either hidden or constantly under siege by the races that do.

Yup, and the drow in particular are sitting atop an entire seething hierarchy of slaves and overseers.

Also, as mentioned earlier, Skullport almost certainly has a commerce in slaves--this is directly beneath Waterdeep, and all sorts of things are tolerated there.


Originally Posted by Know(Nothing)
Applies to any setting really, but any easily obscured/inaccessible mining operation that is heavily guarded might be utilizing slave labor.

As well as any other enterprise in a remote area, or captives aboard a galley or other ship.

Also, many nonhuman races would probably keep a small number of slaves as well, and even remote human communities might trade in them as well. Serfs and indentured servants can also be slaves in all but name, so that's another possibility.

[kalos72]

Good stuff all, thanks. :)

The group already has a Spelljammer connection so Illithids are an easy jump.

So the group was thinking along these lines...

Find a dealer, buy all of the slaves and then kill the slave traders as they return to get more slaves.

One question I had though, would all the slaves feel grateful for being bought? I mean some might think that because they group keep buying more...more keep get taken to fill the need.

Remember the end result is hopefully commoners with high starting attributes that can be used to repopulate a city with loyal expert citizens.

[AstralFire]

I think "you bought us, that means that you've helped prop up an industry with blood money" is the sort of insight which requires distance from the immediate terribleness of slavery, either from time or from being not-the-victim. It's a "bigger picture" sort of problem.

[Rogue Shadows]

AHA! And THIS is why I bought Conan d20!

...no it isn't. Still, there's rules for the buying and selling of slaves. Hang on, let me dig it up...

Okay, here we go.

These range in price from a handful of gold pieces for a surly, dangerous savage to 300 gold pieces for a beautiful, educated, high-class female kidnapped to order. Any slave bought to order costs double the standard price but the buyer can specify details such as nationality, hair and eye colour and physique.

Slavery is not much practised in the Hyborian nations, though the serfs and peasants of these supposedly civilised lands are virtually enslaved by their feudal overlords. Shem, Zamora and the lands beyond them practise slavery openly and without compunction, keeping their slaves cowed with regular beatings.

The Hyrkanians are particularly keen to capture slaves, though at present the slave markets of Turan are glutted with produce, so successful have the Hyrkanian slavers been. In Turan, assume all slave prices are 1/10 of normal.

Slave, female, beautiful - 60 gp
Slave, female, common - 30 gp
Slave, female, high-born, educated, beautiful - 150 gp
Slave, male, rebellious savage - 5 gp
Slave, male, work-shy criminal - 8 gp
Slave, male, hardworking and submissive - 15 gp

(For the record, the Conan RPG actually used silver instead of gold for all prices, but then, players received much less money. I've upped the prices a bit by just straight converting everything into gold to better reflect the typical D&D economy).

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by kalos72
One question I had though, would all the slaves feel grateful for being bought?

Most likely they would need some time to be convinced they were actually free. Once they accept that--and once they're sure it's not a trick, or that they're not being subjugated in some other way--I'd say gratitude would be a natural human reaction.

That said, whether or not they would feel grateful enough to devote themselves to a completely new realm is another question entirely. Slaves are all from somewhere, and most of them would be dreaming of getting back to their homes. You might have a few whose communities were completely destroyed by the slavers--but for those stolen away from home, or sold into slavery for debts or other reasons, I'd say their priority will be to get back home rather than help rebuild someone else's city.

[Honest Tiefling]

One question I had though, would all the slaves feel grateful for being bought? I mean some might think that because they group keep buying more...more keep get taken to fill the need.

I think it would depend on a few factors.
1) Time spent as a slave. Someone born into it will likely, as said already, take some time to adjust. Someone who has been a slave for a few months might pick up a sword and ask where those *******s are.

2) The treatment of the slaves. Mulhorandi has a different system. Banites and Lovitarians are probably better at breaking people then the average scumbag. Skip over this if your group prefers a light-hearted game.

3) How the group treats them. They might be fine being 'bought' if they realize it is the path to freedom, but might be more wary of ulterior motives if your group has an average charisma of 7.

4) Their own beliefs. Some people might be upset that the group gave money to slavers, while others might be more practical or desperate to get away. Of course, the group seems intent on stealing the money back, but it might exchange hands too quickly.

5) The condition of the slaves. Those who are pregnant, elderly, extremely young or sick are probably going to act different. I would assume that they would be more desperate to escape.

6) The make up of the group. If the group says, has a charming cleric of Lathander or Tymora, then the slaves will probably react better (if they believe such, that is) then if they got rescued by Malarites.

[kalos72]

Yeah, I assumed there would need to be a bit of "wait and see" approach...some stay some wander off in the middle of the night or something.

But after spending a few weeks in their own house, with all the food, water, security they could want...things should come around.

They even talked about sending some of the less desirable people home...in a Spelljammer world that might work.

What sort of numbers are we looking at here though? Assume they are looking for specific people...high int for mages or ranger quality folks perhaps? 1 out of every 100 slaves freed?

[Bullet06320]

I would think 2 rolls
1st one to see if they choose to stay or go, I would say 20% would stay, modifiy by how they are treated, the charisma or diplo of your face man would work
2nd one to see if they are usefull to be trained as sumthing other than npc class

1 out of 100 that stays seems like proper odds to me

[kalos72]

I almost forgot the Neogi as a source of slaves too...

[Hanuman]

Did someone say savory?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r96G9NlFo-k