Goods and services

[Melcar]

Hello...

I have been looking through Arms and Equipment Guide, for the prices of goods and services, but these prices seem to be way off and way too expencive for anny commoner to be able to live. So I was wondering if anyone here know of a comprehensive list or somehow have dealt with the prices in some way as to making the prices more "realistic".

Thanks

[cakellene]

How are the prices unrealistic?

[Stoneback]

You can make up your own price lists.

However

A commoner is assumed to earn 2-3 GP per month; and most of this is in barter or cottage industry-style production. A normal commoner may never, ever have 5 SP to rub together and may not even lay eyes on a gold piece during a particular calendar year. But they may own a cow, make their own shoes, own good farming tools, and so forth.

Commoners define "dirt poor." If the prices seem out of reach, they're probably right.

Commoners just plain think different when it comes to money, too.

Joe the Commoner from the famous solo adventure started with 1 SP and 13 CP, and it was "more money than he had ever held in his hands." Whenever he found gold on his adventures, he would throw it in the bottom of his chest because it was too much trouble to deal with! The one time he found a platinum piece, he thought it was counterfeit because he didn't recognize the metal.

[Melcar]

How are the prices unrealistic?


Durable meats per lbs., ranges from 1 gp to 100 gp... meaning that no commoner would ever buy this.

Also... flour, wheat 3gp/lbs.!
But this makes no sense, when bread are cheaper… So every baker loses a lot of money each time they bake something=?

I think the pricing is way off on a lot of things. I don’t know how much people make in general, but generally it seems that people would be struggling to survive with these insane prices. Especially when PHB says that a day’s labor for an untrained commoner is 1 sp, meaning 3 gold per month/moon. Meaning they just never eat bread, meat, vegetables or cheese... Porridge for them, morning, noon and night made from dirt and wild plants they pick up after a 12 hour shift at the local coal mine.

I think that if all the prices got divided by 3-5 it would represent something where actual commoners could live. What do you guys think about that?

[eggynack]

The arms and equipment guide is a 3.0 book, and the pricing model you're using has been replaced, specifically by the prices listed in the PHB, in the equipment section. So, a pound of flour costs not the 3 GP you indicated, but rather the 2 CP listed on page 112, and a pound of meat costs 6 SP, as listed on page 129. So, yeah, that should solve this issue.

[cakellene]

Like other poster mentioned, commoners would use barter system much more often than hard currency and they would make their own food. Buying things with coin is for the richer classes and adventurers.

[Melcar]

The arms and equipment guide is a 3.0 book, and the pricing model you're using has been replaced, specifically by the prices listed in the PHB, in the equipment section. So, a pound of flour costs not the 3 GP you indicated, but rather the 2 CP listed on page 112, and a pound of meat costs 6 SP, as listed on page 129. So, yeah, that should solve this issue.

The problem is, that PHB does not include a rich list. I know this might not be relevant for 99.9% of all campaigns but is is for ours at this point in time.

So thats why I would like to have a long list of items.. like the one in A&EG

[Stoneback]

What commoner would actually buy flour? Take your threshed wheat to the miller and he'll make the flour for you, and keep a little for himself as payment.

Meats were for holy days.

[Lightlawbliss]

...
Meats were for holy days.

That actually depends on who's land you lived on. According to my collage history book, some lords would let the farmers hunt on their lands and/or kill and collect pests. That would result in significantly more meat then just holy days (assuming your religion wasn't one that has "laws" regarding meat).

[Ravens_cry]

The average English peasant was apparently actually better off than you might think. Not great, but about a $1000 dollars a year adjusted for inflation. That's a lot better off than many of the poorest nations today.

[Realms of Chaos]

If you're doing a game where trading is highly important, maybe look up that silk road supplement thingy. I think I've heard that it's decent for that type of thing. :smallconfused:

[Jergmo]

Maybe those are just the prices that adventurers pay. :smallsmile:

[eggynack]

The problem is, that PHB does not include a rich list. I know this might not be relevant for 99.9% of all campaigns but is is for ours at this point in time.

So thats why I would like to have a long list of items.. like the one in A&EG
I dunno what the exact conversion looks like yet, but were I you, I would likely try to find items in common between 3.0 and 3.5, run a price comparison, and extrapolate the new value of these items you seek. I'm not really sure why there's an issue of realism if you're looking specifically for fancy stuff. Peasants can just buy the normal PHB meat on their normal salary, and survive perfectly well, and this list of expensive stuff is for people who can afford it. I'd still likely extrapolate, because you'd ideally want this stuff to fit as well as possible, but keeping it as is isn't going to cause the mass extinction of commoners as you've implied.

[veti]

What commoner would actually buy flour? Take your threshed wheat to the miller and he'll make the flour for you, and keep a little for himself as payment.

Not every commoner is a farmer. What's the village tailor or innkeeper supposed to eat?

[cakellene]

Not every commoner is a farmer. What's the village tailor or innkeeper supposed to eat?

Those sound more like experts than commoners.

[Mithril Leaf]

http://community.wizards.com/forum/previous-editions-archive/threads/1084091

[AlchemicalMyst]

http://community.wizards.com/forum/previous-editions-archive/threads/1084091
I'm so glad someone just linked an Edymnion post. I can't honestly think of any day I wasn't impressed by his knowledge and advice. Kind of off topic I know, apologies!