Trade In Fantasy: Preliminaries & Introduction
Preliminaries:
A long time ago, I wrote “Trade In Traveler”. This week (and in the weeks to come) I’m starting a companion piece, “Trade In Fantasy”. Non-Fantasy GMs – I suggest either using the Trade in Traveler rules or updating them using this series as a guide.
Depending on how long winded I get in the 305 sections and subsections (!), this could be part 1 of 6 – or part 1 of 35.
Realistically: 12 major sections, one that should be split across 2 posts and one split across 3, but with two posts with double sections, gives a projection of 13 posts, but I’m not going to compromise the content for the sake of a deadline – I’ll just stop early and pick up where I left off. It will be as long as it is, that’s all I can promise!
And, if all goes according to plan, this will also be made available as a PDF download at the end of it all!

Refer text for credits
Series Title Image Credits:
The series title graphic (and the front cover of the eventual PDF) combines three images:
The Clipper Ship Image is by Brigitte Werner (ArtTower) from Pixabay
Dragon #1 is by Parker_West from Pixabay
First, a completely unrelated announcement
I’ve finally discovered where the setting that turns off those annoying “Subscribe now” pop-ups was hiding and turned it off.
It was indiscriminate, hitting you whether you were already a subscriber or not. And that made it annoying.
Making it doubly annoying was the promise of “access to the full archive” in each pop-up, since Campaign Mastery already gives every reader full access to our full archive.
So it’s gone. I’ve moved it to a block at the bottom of each post, instead – but if it’s still banging on about “full access to the archives”, it will be vanishing from there, as well. I’ll be watching it closely!
While I was in that vicinity, I changed the newsletter announcements to ‘excerpt’ instead of ‘full post’ but I’m not committing to this as a permanent change yet – I want to see just how long an “excerpt” is, first – and changed the email protocol from “do not reply” to “replies will be posted as public comments to the post” – at least on a trial basis. These changes are intended to stimulate and track readership, but if they prove too burdensome, they will revert without notice.
Second, another completely unrelated announcement
I’ve recently become aware that something has removed some of the images and links from some older posts on the site. I’m fixing these as I find them.
My chief suspect is the upgrade to https but it’s not the only potentially guilty party. There’s also the security / anti-spam plugin that was creating the pop-up mentioned above, and also the SEO plug-in that became so annoying that I ended up having to disable it after my maintenance requests went unacknowledged. Both of these are also capable of having had a site-wide impact..
Buy Low, Sell High: Trade In Traveler
A long time ago, I was a player in a Traveler campaign being run by my Pulp Co-GM, Blair. Long story short: it didn’t work as a campaign.
He set us up as a merchant trader but had no interest in letting us trade, because he thought it was / would be boring. Instead, he expected us to take sides in an all-or-nothing political situation degenerating towards a local war without knowing anything about the respective factions, and was quite put out when we did everything we possibly could to avoid doing so.
In the real world, we would at least have known the public faces of the different factions, and what they claimed to espouse. That would have at least permitted the taking of an initial stance, leading to us being increasingly sucked into the politics of the sector, letting us see the sausage being made behind the scenes, maybe discovering that the truth had little-to-nothing to do with the public face of our patron, big climax as the dispute comes to a head and we change sides (or a longer campaign of us subverting our patron) – it would have been a satisfactory campaign, at least.
Without that knowledge, we refused to back ourselves into a corner, and the campaign imploded after 3 or 4 sessions. The GM thought we were being unreasonable, we thought his demands were unreasonable, and that was the end of that.
Except that the claim that trade would have been “boring” nagged at me, until I wrote “Trade In Traveler” specifically to debunk the proposition. It’s since been shared in multiple locations, and downloaded thousands of times (presumably not all by the one person).
Trade In Fantasy is going to be the Big Brother to this 9-page free game supplement. So I thought I would start by once again offering it up for anyone who’s interested in having a copy. Two version are contained within the zip file – one for A4 users and one with Letter-sized pages. Just click on the link provided (the icon to the right) to download it.
Table Of Contents
The mere fact that I was able to discuss “12 major sections” and “305 section” should tell readers that I have a well-developed table of contents for this series. The question is, how and when to present it?
Option 1: Present it now, even though the post in which any given section will appear is still unknown. Effectively, this makes promises; it might encourage people to read the series, but the series might fail to live up to the hype. On top of that, I’m already making changes and inserting additional content, so it would go out-of-date very quickly.
Option 2: Present it in a final post, together with the download link for the compiled PDF. This gives me a completely free hand in terms of full coverage of the subject – I can add and subtract content to my heart’s content. But it does leave readers with no indication of the context of what they are reading. I seriously contemplated this, and was about to commit to it when Option 3 offered a compromise.
Option 3: Include, at the head of each post, a partial table of contents, describing the content of that specific post. This would actually be the last content created for that post, ensuring that it was completely up-to-date at all times, but it would no more constrain that content than option 2. Copy-and-paste would permit compilation at the end of the series for the PDF.
My choice is option 3. Why am I explaining this to you?
First, because it offers insight into the mental processes that I employ, which may be useful to someone out there, sometime.
And second, because I’m using this first post to figure out the format of the series. So, let’s go:
In Today’s Post
0. Introduction
0.1 A Meta-perspective
0.2 Enterprise & Competition
0.2.1 Quality Of Goods
0.2.2 Comparison Matrix0.3 Resources, Investment, & Diversification
0.3.1 Resources = Deep Pockets
0.3.2 Investment: Gambling for Pros
0.3.3 Diversification0.4 Trade Routes
0.5 Reversals Of Fortune
0.6 A Gateway To Adventure
0.6.1 Directly Trade-Related: Wheeling & Dealing
0.6.2 Directly Trade-Related: Rivals & Enemies
0.6.3 Directly Trade-Related: New Markets
0.6.4 Directly Trade-Related: Demand & Marketing
0.6.5 Directly Trade-Related: Costs & Labor
0.6.6 Indirectly Trade-related: Politics At Home (General)
0.6.7 Indirectly Trade-related: Politics At Home (Trade)
0.6.8 Indirectly Trade-related: Politics Abroad
0.6.9 Indirectly Trade-related: Politics En Route
0.6.10 Indirectly Trade-related: Crime
0.6.11 Tangentially Trade Related: From A to B with HandicapsAnd, in future parts:
- Sponsors / Investors vs Entrepreneurs
- Trade Units
- Mode Of Transport
- Land Transport
- Waterborne Transport
- Spoilage
- Personnel
- The Journey
- Arrival
- Journey’s End
- Adventures En Route

Castle Image by Enrique Meseguer (darksouls1) from Pixabay
0. Introduction
Trade has been part of the human experience for millennia.
It carries huge verisimilitude just by existing in the campaign world.
And, just like many people’s first jobs are working at a fast-food franchise or supermarket, or delivering newspapers by bicycle, it makes total sense for a young PC’s first paid employment to be involved in mercantile activities, aka trade.
The number of PCs who have been hired on as Caravan Guards is greater, I sometimes think, than dry leaves in Autumn.
There are those who will tell you that Trade is boring. That’s true, in my opinion, only if the GM does nothing with it.
Some GMs will tell you that the success of a trading venture is irrelevant, and trade is not about profits (or not just about that), and that money is just a way of keeping score. To be sure, once PCs have enough wealth, this is a reasonable assessment – but until then, it’s only partially true, and the percentage of truth starts at zero and only slowly rises to a peak of no more than 80%.
The term “enough” is also subjective and – in the case of PCs – highly irregular. In a world of magic buffs, too much is never enough.
But beyond these limits, beyond the verisimilitude, there is (or should be) a very good reason for using trade as your foundation of a starting point in a campaign.
0.1 A Meta-perspective
From the GMs chair, a Metagame perspective should guide him in the way he approaches and employs trade in his games: as a delivery vehicle that takes the PCs from the place of safety that they usually inhabit to adventure and to the foundation of a campaign.
Amongst many other benefits, this perspective permits a proper appraisal of the degree of realism needed in the supporting game mechanics, encouraging a level of sophistication and abstraction that the GM would probably not aim to achieve without such prompting.
So long as the GM maintains this perspective, Trade in his campaign ceases to be boring, ceases to matter as an end unto itself, and becomes something both more and less: a touchstone and means of delivering the campaign world to the players..
0.2 Enterprise & Competition
Trade naturally connects the participants with the world around them, with the societies and politics and economics, and how everything works. But the GM doesn’t have to hit the players with all of this at once; he can phase things in, one at a time, as they then become relevant. So long as the meta-perspective is maintained, each of these presents (at the very least) an adventure in its own right.
It doesn’t matter if it’s a session 1 or a session 0, participating in trade makes a perfect foundation for characters who are still wet behind the ears.
For example, let’s hire a new party of adventurers to transport a shipment of silver ore to the refinery where it will be transformed into ingots, and then to the city wherein will be found the artisans who work in this precious metal, where a load of foodstuffs, household items, and mining-related commodities can be obtained, ready for the caravan to return to the mines.
This employment is for one round-trip only. It pays 1/2 a gold a day, plus a copper for every ounce of refined silver delivered to the waiting silversmiths, plus a silver for each outright danger faced by the caravan that has been successively overcome en route. In addition, any reasonable expenses incurred along the way will be reimbursed, provided that a verifiable tally can be presented at the end of the journey, bearing the signatures of the merchants and the amounts being claimed. And, to get the expedition underway, your employers is willing to advance you five gold each – enough (when pooled with the advances to the other PCs) to hire a cart and cover your accommodations and food along the way. If the PCs do a good job, they might get hired by the silver miner permanently.
That sounds like a pretty sweet deal, right? It’s also the sort of offer that might be posted on a public noticeboard and other suitable locations, ensuring a wide range of applicants.
This naturally pulls a party of PCs together and welds them into a natural unit. I’d include a couple of NPCs to ensure variety – a fighter, a ranger/scout, and a cleric – but drop the cleric if a PC already covers that skillset.
Throw in hiring a wagon and the mounts to pull it, a wilderness encounter or two, dealing with the people that would be met along the way, perhaps a natural challenge to be overcome, some bandits that can be avoided, and you have everything you need for a simple and easy little adventure that introduces the players to the game world. The pay won’t set the world on fire, but it’s a reasonable rate of pay for a very believable job – a session 0.
From a business point of view, this is an existing enterprise (the silver mine) looking to create a low-cost limited partnership to provide it with a necessary service. One could reasonably ask why whoever they last used for the purpose can’t do it again, but this adventure plan already furnishes a ready answer – they fell foul of a party of bandits who made off with eight of the twelve ingots of silver (all they could carry) while seriously wounding the driver and killing three guards. In other words, the people who used to provide this service to the mine owner can’t do it any more – though one of them (another NPC) might form the nucleus of the new group, providing it with an experienced voice to lead them through the expedition.
0.2.1 Quality Of Goods
It doesn’t matter what type of goods you’re involved in, sooner or later you will have to deal with rivals. This could be because you are attempting to shove your way into their market, or because they are trying to shoulder their way into yours – that doesn’t much matter.
Before you can evaluate how much trouble you’re in, before you can even evaluate how much they are charging, you need a comparison of perceived relative quality of goods.
This is simply achieved: roll a d6+2 for the perceived quality of the goods being hawked by the PCs. That’s all you need.
The results are relative to the last time this particular test was made – so it doesn’t matter if you were previously producing 8/8 goods, or barely-serviceable 3/8 goods, that’s still a 5.5 on the current measure. If you roll a 6+, your quality is perceived to have gone up, perhaps only by a little, perhaps by a lot. If you roll a 5 or less on your roll, the quality is perceived – rightly or wrongly – to have gone down.
It’s when you compare your rivals’ offering to the same standard that things start to get interesting. They roll a d10 – so there’s room for their product to be seen as better, or worse.
The scale of the difference is also relevant – I think of each plus-or-minus three as being a doubling or halving of relative quality. This is a compromise that permits the expression of a relatively small difference, or an extremely large one.
Once the relative quality is known, it provides critical context for all the other factors.
0.2.2 Comparison Matrix
In particular, it becomes possible to place the rival’s products into a comparison matrix that assesses relative price. This shouldn’t be rolled; the GM should make an informed decision as to this value.
At the same time, no-one wants to get bogged down in minutia, so this value should be abstracted as well, and – for convenience – on the same scale. If you define the PCs product as price 5.5, then you can decide if the rival offering is essentially the same price (5), a little cheaper (4), a lot cheaper (3), half the price (2), ore less than half the price(3) – or you have the same range of options in the other direction.
There are essentially 3 possible evaluations on such a matrix:
1. Price and Quality are roughly the same relative to the PC goods. Both Price and Quality are higher, or are lower, and the amounts are comparable. The newcomers will be competitive within the market.
2. Price is higher but Quality is the same or worse. Expenses mean that the PCs will keep the majority of the trade – unless the NPCs do something underhanded. And the rivals would have known this, going in – so they will have already settled any qualms about using dirty tricks.
3. Quality is higher but Price is the same or cheaper. The PCs are going to lose market share to the newcomers. And then they’ll lose a similar share of what’s left, And then a similar share of what’s left after that. Unless, of course, the PCs resort to dirty tricks. The GM will need to be able to justify the lower costs, no hand-waving. It’s very likely that the NPCs can take a brief profit-reduction to undercut the PCs no matter what they do.
0.3 Resources, Investment, & Diversification
Another critical evaluation is the cash reserves of each side. For how long can they afford to take a loss (that they will eventually recoup if they win the Trade War)?
Reserves bring in three new concepts to be understood – resources, investments, and diversification.
0.3.1 Resources = Deep Pockets
Whatever cash each side have saved up, or can raise by selling assets, equals their resources. We don’t really care how much either side has on hand, in money terms – it’s the relative size of the reserves that determines how effectively they can use them as a weapon, and for how long they can keep it up.
0.3.2 Investment: Gambling for Pros
One side or the other may have sunk some of their resources into investments, buying shares in other businesses or trade opportunities. As with all investments, there’s no such thing as a sure thing, sometimes you’ll win and sometimes you”ll lose. In general, you write off the loses and hope that the wins are substantial enough to give you a net profit at the end of the day.
It can therefore be assumed that any investments that are still operational are earning profits for the investors, income that tops up and replenishes the reserves on an ongoing basis.
There is always a temptation to invest most, if not all, of your profits, because this not only spreads your investment around (reducing the overall risk) but it increases the returns on the investment. But it’s always a bad idea; it means that you don’t have the reserves to be able to cope with unexpected disasters or reverses. Over-investment is referred to as being Leveraged, because you don’t have any Leverage over the situation; the situation has Leverage over you, and you are at its mercy (of which it has zero to none).
0.3.3 Diversification
Diversification means that you have established or are establishing other product lines. This is usually a lot more expensive than external investment, but it comes with some pretty hefty advantages – you get to keep all the profits of the other product lines, instead of only a percentage of them, and have full control over the distribution and pricing (and profitability) of the other product line. In effect, you can use one to subsidize the other, reducing the amount that gets drained from your reserves either completely or in part.
The combination of Resources and Matrix Outcome dictates who will win a trade war if there is no intervention to change the playing field, and how that trade war will proceed.
One major reason for keeping it all as simple as possible is because ‘intervention’ by one side or the other, or (most commonly) both, entails such a wide range of activities that there can be no hard-and-fast rules for assessing its effectiveness. That’s going to be up to the GM to assess, on a case-by-case basis.
0.4 Trade Routes
Buy something, take it to somewhere where it is more valuable, sell it and use the money to (a) cover expenses, and (b) buy something else for trade. In the simplest possible model, the ‘something else’ will be of value back where you bought the first commodity, which creates a trade route with two ‘legs’ side-by-side.
It’s more common to have three or more legs.
Work a trade route in the right direction, make a small fortune. Work it in the wrong direction and you’ll lose your shirt.
Additional complications are possible. Two trade routes can come together just long enough for an exchange of goods between the traders, swapping something you have for something that will be worth more where you are going, while the other party also obtains a cargo that will yield them more profits than if they had kept the original merchandise.
Trade routes work on the premise that transportation is so low-cost that the economic model is all about the “value” of position, at least theoretically. The reality is slightly more complicated.
The value of a cargo is the quantity of goods times the sales price. [V = Q x P(s)].
The net profit to be realized from the sale of a cargo is the Gross Value – transport costs – Purchase price of the cargo. In other words, the process converts money into cargo and then cargo into more money than you started with, by virtue of having moved the commodity in question to it’s point of sale.
If you put those two together, you get
Pnet = Q x (PrSale – [Ct / Q] – PrPurch).
The messy bit in the middle is the transport costs divided by the quantity of goods being transported. In other words, the transport costs are spread evenly (amortized) over each piece of merchandise to be sold.
The reason this is messy is because those transport costs are not so nice and neat to pigeonhole. Some of them will rise with the total volume of the goods, some with the total weight, some with the distance, some with the number of geographic features to be traversed, and some by number of goods being transported. Still others may be be a function of the classification of the type of goods – some (necessary) goods may be taxed at a different rate to other (luxury) goods.
These all have to be correctly factored into the choice of merchandise at the time of (potential) purchase – if we want to be technically accurate.
Me, i couldn’t be bothered with that level of minutia, except in terms of narrative patter. It’s far simpler to make a simple assumption (total costs will be $$$) and simply tally up the costs as they come up. Get to the end of the travel leg, add up all the costs, divide by the number of goods purchased, job done.
In other words, all expenses should be treated as overheads, no matter how they accrue or are determined.
The critical question is always, how many $$$ to assume in advance?
Too many, and you will turn down a potentially lucrative contract / commodity. Too low, and you won’t just fail to turn a profit, you are likely to incur a loss. And it typically takes a trip or two before you can even start to get a reasonable estimate.
0.5 Reversals Of Fortune
In any endeavor, trade-related or not, there will always be setbacks and reverses of fortune. The adventure often comes from trying to overcome those setbacks as cheaply as possible.
If you figure that there’s always going to be something that comes up, the best solution is to bake an allowance for that into your expected transport costs. Should fortune smile upon you, and your overheads be unexpectedly low, your profits will be more than expected; should things not go your way, and these costs be more than expected, it will eat into your profits – but those profits provide a cushion against actually turning a loss.
Most traders will save a reserve to be used to cover individual loss-making trade legs for those occasions when the worst occurs. The law of averages says that the more trips you make, the more closely the vicissitudes of fortune will balance out.
Two things that can turn a trader prematurely gray are social changes and politics.
Social Changes cause a systematic change in the demand for a commodity. And Politics can cause government interference that amounts to the same thing. Because these are systemic changes, they won’t even out over time, they will always persist if they are present at all – and something of this sort is present more often than traders are ever happy or comfortable with.
The canny trader immerses himself in society wherever he goes – not for any entertainment or social status value, but simply to keep his finger on the pulse of his marketplace. And he pays extremely close to the politics, everywhere he goes, even to the point of occasionally getting enmeshed within the grinding gears of the political machinery, simply to ‘grease the wheels’ and keep politics from overwhelming his business.
0.6 A Gateway To Adventure
Remember our Meta-perspective? It was what showed how strongly to abstract the various points of realism above, and it was never so important to the conduct in-game of a trade operation as in the preceding two paragraphs. This overview of trade “in general” is coming to a close – the messy work is all done – but I thought it worth taking the time to list all the activities and subjects that could become gateways to adventure under the general umbrella of “trade” before closing this introductory section out.
0.6.1 Directly Trade-Related: Wheeling & Dealing
Whenever there is a bargain to be struck, there’s the potential for one of the bargainers to throw a wooden shoe into negotiations. “I’ll do more than meet your price, I’ll pay you a small bonus, if you’ll do me one small favor…”
0.6.2 Directly Trade-Related: Rivals & Enemies
Any trade operation is going to attract the attention of rivals, real or potential. And, because they will usually behave predictably, they can be best friends or worst enemies or even both at the same time! Merchants’ guilds provide scope for two rivals to bury the hatchet – at least long enough to jointly tackle some problem that you have in common.
In most such arrangements, there’s an “active partner” and a “passive partner” who does most of the thinking and arranging, the pulling of strings. Their risk is lower, and their rewards potentially greater, because they are the ones pulling the strings and making the decisions, but so long as the active partner also benefits, they have little cause for complaint.
At least initially, the PCs won’t have the social and political connections to be a “passive partner”; they will have to be the “active partner” and have all the hair-raising adventures that result. As soon as some moderate level of competence gets displayed by them, “passive partners” should come sniffing around, offering deals and alliances. Obviously, the PCs will want to make the transition to “passive partner” as quickly as possible – and the only way to do so is to become enmeshed as deeply as possible into the social and political machinery of the campaign world. Even then, it’s not going to happen quickly or easily.
Every such social and political connection, including entering into ‘partnerships’, comes with baggage, in the form of enemies. “The enemy of my ally will treat me as an enemy” is the mildest form of description of the natural development. The PCs may be seen as the weakest link in a long chain by other string-pullers and masterminds, to be molested because its the quickest route to an advantage. Oftentimes, they will be targeted before they even know an enemy exists, let alone who they are and what they want. Sometimes, their ‘allies’ will seek to test them before relying on them too heavily – ‘friendly fire’ burns just as hot as any other kind.
0.6.3 Directly Trade-Related: New Markets
It is often said that a business that is not trying to expand is a business that is stagnating, if not overtly contracting, because rivals will be seeking to expand into your territory.
Opening new markets can be a fraught activity. It immediately earns the enmity of everyone who benefits from the status quo more than they will if the PCs succeed. Some will be openly hostile for this reason; others for loftier reasons of trying to prevent the locality from being ground zero of a trade war.
Overcoming resistance often means greasing the wheels in the form of doing favors for influential people in the hopes that those people will at least remain neutral, if not become supportive. And any of those ‘favors’ can be an adventure unto itself.
0.6.4 Directly Trade-Related: Demand & Marketing
Marketing is the means by which demand for what you are selling is increased, or even created. It rarely comes without a price, and those marketing activities that don’t cost are rarely as effective as those that do. Marketing puts people (read ‘PCs’) at ground zero for getting mixed up in things that otherwise wouldn’t concern them. It therefore creates a direct connection to adventures that would otherwise have no point of connection to the campaign at all.
0.6.5 Directly Trade-Related: Costs & Labor
Anything that affects the costs, or the labor relationships, of doing business are of critical interest to the merchant and his suppliers. Take thirty seconds to appreciate that inter-guild relationships can be just as messy and just as political as any direct engagements with government agencies. Ripple effects are very real, and let he who thinks himself immune cast the first stone (because they will, anyway, so they may as well take the blame).
Another source of fun can be the conflict between the modern values of the players and those of the world inhabited by their characters. For example, the Blacksmith’s Guild might lead its members out ‘on strike’ for an increase in the Guild Pay Scales sufficient that their members can retire a few years before their profession kills them from overwork. They do hot, hard labor, and that’s always prone to heart failures. Sounds utterly reasonable to a modern audience. But the society isn’t geared up to handle anything this disruptive – the issue will be deeply divisive, and allies who the PCs thought they could trust will see their attitudes as a betrayal of principle.
0.6.6 Indirectly Trade-related: Politics At Home (General)
I’ve already expounded on the topic of politics. The PCs will be required to take sides. The fun becomes inevitable when the people whose policies they most want to support are untrustworthy, while those they most want to oppose are at least honest and respectable.
0.6.7 Directly Trade-related: Politics At Home (Trade)
Of course, any politics directly affecting trade also directly affects any PCs involved in trade. And, more than perhaps any other human activity, politics always comes with baggage and fallout.
0.6.8 Indirectly Trade-related: Politics Abroad
It’s not just politics at home, though. If you are planning to sell in a foreign nation (for like, more profit), you are just as prone to being impacted by the politics there as anything else – but, because it’s more distant, it’s that much harder to keep your finger on the pulse. Things that might have easily been headed off, if you had known about them in time, will tend to grow beyond the scope of such intervention by the time you even know about them.
Such political connections often interact in unexpected ways. The head of the local intelligence service (if rumors are to be believed) approaches you because he’s heard that you are going to be operating in Kingdom X. He’s all in favor of that – trade can bind nations together for mutual benefit and make wars less likely. He offers to smooth over a couple of local political problems that might get in the way (and this may be the first that the PCs know of such problems, the implication being that they will be manufactured to get in their way if they don’t accept his offer), and all they have to do in return is make room in their operation for a couple of sons of friends of his. Nothing more.
Right away, the PCs should suspect that these will be spies, reporting directly to the intelligence agency. They can either go along with the proposal or not, but doing so is the lesser of two evils – if the spies don’t get caught. Seeing this as the big danger, they make it clear to the spymaster that if these sons of friends get caught doing anything that the PCs haven’t sanctioned, they will be cut loose immediately. He replies, “that seems prudent. Very well, we have an agreement.”
And for a while, all goes well. All sorts of doors open unexpectedly for the PCs and the trade expedition gets off the ground surprisingly easily. Soon, they are boots on the ground in the capital of Kingdom X, and making all sorts of business connections and selling merchandise quite happily. The ‘sons of friends’ are intelligent and capable and pull their weight. It all looks like working out wonderfully.
And then one of the PCs discovers that they aren’t spies at all – they are assassins, waiting for an opportunity to eliminate a firebrand adviser to the throne who is advocating going to war with their home Kingdom.
Now, what do they do…?
0.6.9 Indirectly Trade-related: Politics En Route
To get to C, you usually have to travel through B. And that means that the politics of B can have their own profound effects on your trade with C. ‘Nuff said.
0.6.10 Indirectly Trade-related: Crime
Wherever you go, there will be crime. How much and of what kinds is often a function of the society that surrounds them. Those criminal elements will inevitably interact with anyone doing business in the vicinity, generally to the detriment of the business-people. Will the PCs pay the devil his (claimed) due? And, if not, how many ‘object lessons’ will they be subjected to?
0.6.11 Tangentially Trade Related: From A to B with Handicaps
And all that leaves out the natural challenges of getting a cargo, perhaps a fragile one, from point A to point B. These can be the most straightforward of all adventures, and a welcome anodyne to the politically-enmeshed usual adventures of a trader!
That brings the introduction to a close. In the next part, we start getting into the nitty-gritty of making trade practical in terms of the Meta-perspective, after a brief excursion into questions of business ownership.
And, for the record, I’m on track for 16-17 posts in the series…
- Trade In Fantasy: Preliminaries & Introduction
- Trade In Fantasy Ch. 1: Ownership
- Trade In Fantasy Ch. 2: Trade Units Pt 1
- Trade In Fantasy Ch. 2: Trade Units Pt 2
- Trade In Fantasy Ch. 3: Routine Personnel Pt 1
- Trade In Fantasy Ch. 3: Routine Personnel Pt 2
- Trade In Fantasy Ch. 3: Routine Personnel, Pt 3
- Trade In Fantasy Ch. 3: Routine Personnel, Pt 4
- Trade In Fantasy Ch. 4: Modes Of Transport, Pt 1
- Trade In Fantasy Ch. 4: Modes Of Transport, Pt 2
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October 1st, 2024 at 11:20 pm
SO looking fwd to this. I’ve put a TON of work into my trade system and am happy with it but I’m always looking for refinements. Scarcity equals conflict and a plot hook is always at hand and can usually be tied into the main campaign. FWIW my current design is based on Alexis Smolensk’s over at Tao of D&D.
October 3rd, 2024 at 3:04 am
I hope it lives up to your expectations!
October 6th, 2024 at 6:11 am
“Trade In Fantasy: Preliminaries & Introduction” offers an intriguing start, blending creativity with insightful concepts. It’s a compelling read that draws you into a fascinating world of possibilities!
October 6th, 2024 at 1:16 pm
Thank you, Samiya.
October 12th, 2024 at 8:50 pm
I really enjoyed this introduction to trade in fantasy settings! The concept of incorporating trade and economics adds such depth to world-building and can create interesting dynamics between characters and factions. I’m excited to see how you expand on these ideas in future posts. It’s fascinating to think about how trade can drive conflict, alliances, and even character development. Thanks for sharing your insights!
October 13th, 2024 at 5:20 am
THank you, Elsa! I don’t anticipate there being much world-building content in the series, because that is relatively well-served already, but putting the PCs in the middle of delicate situations, absolutely :) Hope that you enjoyed the second serve on the subject just as much. The series gets to the important stuff starting with the next part, due in a little over a week.
November 16th, 2024 at 4:35 pm
Mike, your introduction to “Trade In Fantasy” is absolutely fascinating! The way you’re blending world-building with the intricacies of trade feels fresh and practical for storytellers. I especially enjoyed how you hinted at the broader implications trade has on cultures and conflicts—it’s such a unique perspective. What inspired you to delve into this topic? ?
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November 18th, 2024 at 1:10 am
Thanks, Sandy. In answer ti your question, literally, it was a passing billboard on the side of a bus. Somehow, that brought to mind a way of abstracting the process of trade to whatever degree desired, which in turn is the centerpiece of the mechanics that I am presenting in the series.
November 16th, 2024 at 7:09 pm
Great introduction to *Trade In Fantasy*! I love how you set the stage for the complex dynamics of trade in a fantasy world. The way you outline the importance of trade units and economic systems in shaping the narrative really piques my interest. It’s clear that this will be a deep dive into how the fantasy economy works, which adds so much richness to the world-building.
What aspect of trade in a fantasy world do you think most influences character interactions and plot development?
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November 18th, 2024 at 12:50 am
Trade is a reflection in miniature of everything going on in the world around it. It provides so many pathways into adventures that it should be a lot more prominent in gaming discussions, offering motivation, stimulation, and connection to the culture being depicted within the game. And, last but not least, it offers a way of interacting with money other than looting and stacking it.
November 19th, 2024 at 4:09 pm
Mike, your introduction to “Trade in Fantasy” is thought-provoking! I love how you’ve laid the groundwork for understanding the economic systems in fantasy worlds—such a crucial yet often overlooked aspect of world-building. How do you approach balancing realism with creativity when designing trade systems?
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November 20th, 2024 at 2:43 am
Any economy that has to take into account the use of magic in various applications has left a large chunk of any available realism sitting in the corner covered in a sheet. Furthermore, any even semi-realistic simulation of such a complex subject is not only sure to leave something important out, it’s going to be unplayably complex and unwieldy. The solution is to have an abstract simulation that feels like it contains all the nuances and mechanics under the skin and never lets the gears show – in other words, it feels realistic without being realistic. At the same time, it has to be a logical progression from the society within which it operates – and that’s tricky when you don’t know what that society is. Until I thought of a way of abstracting cargo sufficiently, I had no intention of writing an article on the subject, let alone an extended and extensive series!
November 19th, 2024 at 4:26 pm
Mike, your introduction to *Trade in Fantasy* really sparks curiosity! The way you explore the complexities of trade systems in fantasy worlds adds a fascinating layer to world-building. I’m especially interested in how you balance fantasy elements with realistic economic principles. Do you have a favorite trade system from a book or game that influenced your approach?
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November 20th, 2024 at 2:46 am
Thanks, Glenn. Trade is such a rarely-mentioned event in Fantasy RPGs that there is no source or reference material; that’s one of the things that the series aims to correct. I’m drawing a lot of inspiration from a couple of books that deal with the subject and a lot of personal experience. If I were to point to any other source it would be the dividend system in the 18xx board games, but even that association is very loose.
November 20th, 2024 at 3:39 pm
Mike, I really enjoyed this introduction! It’s a captivating start that blends fantasy with the strategic elements of trading, which is such a unique perspective. I’m curious—what inspired you to connect these two worlds, and how do you see the fantasy elements shaping the way readers approach trading?
November 21st, 2024 at 3:12 am
I saw a way to depict trading in a sufficiently abstract manner as to dispose of most of the complaints that would prevent it from being more widespread as a plot foundation in a fantasy game. The fantasy elements are all about capabilities – creatures with greater-than-human strength, for example, or using magic to enhance crop performance. There would also be some additional market demands to satisfy that would not appear in the real world, though it could be argued that these would replace / supplement superstition-based purchasing.
November 21st, 2024 at 5:44 pm
Mike, this *Trade In Fantasy: Preliminaries & Introduction* is such an intriguing start! The concept of blending fantasy with trading strategies is unique and thought-provoking. I’m excited to see where this exploration leads. What inspired you to combine fantasy elements with the world of trading in the first place?
November 24th, 2024 at 4:10 am
Thanks Diane. I have already answered your question in response to another comment, so I’ll refer you to that answer.
November 22nd, 2024 at 6:16 am
The number of PCs who have been hired on as Caravan Guards is greater, I sometimes think, than dry leaves in Autumn. There are those who will tell you that Trade is boring. That’s true, in my opinion, only if the GM does nothing with it. Some GMs will tell you that the success of a trading venture is irrelevant, and trade is not about profits or not just about that, and that money is just a way of keeping score. To be sure, once PCs have enough wealth. The scale of the difference is also relevant – I think of each plus-or-minus three as being a doubling or halving of relative quality. This is a compromise that permits the expression of a relatively small difference, or an extremely large one.
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November 24th, 2024 at 4:09 am
Have to agree with you about the Caravan Guards, Paul, but there’s a good reason for that – it’s one of the easiest ways to show the world off to the PCs in relative safety. Trade can be boring if there is excessive focus on minutia. One of the goals of this series is to abstract the process enough that this is avoided, but in a way in which the GM can call up the details if they are plot-relevant. To a large extent, that can be viewed as making the profits not worth caring about, and the money just a way of keeping score! Ultimately, Trade in Fantasy RPGs should be just a plot device that enables the GM to engage the PCs in an adventure. This is so far removed from the approach commonly employed by GMs when PCs engage in Trade which is to think of them as Corporate CEOs who stay safe behind the front lines and do nothing BUT count the profits that they aren’t even distantly related.
November 26th, 2024 at 3:48 pm
Your introduction to *Trade In Fantasy* really piqued my interest! I love how you set the stage with the preliminaries, giving readers a solid foundation to dive into the world you’re building. The way you’ve woven fantasy elements with real-world themes sounds like it’s going to be a captivating read. What inspired you to explore this particular blend of fantasy and reality in your story?
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November 27th, 2024 at 3:40 am
Thank you, Marylin. I have already answered your question in response to a similar enquiry, so I refer you to that answer.
December 1st, 2024 at 3:15 pm
This introduction to “Trade In Fantasy” has me intrigued! I love how you set the stage for a deeper dive into the world of fantasy trading. The idea of blending fantasy elements with strategy sounds really exciting. How do you envision the balance between imagination and strategy evolving as the story unfolds?
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December 1st, 2024 at 6:48 pm
I really insightful question, Elizabeth. Imagination will always dominate strategy, in my opinion, at least within limits. The (trading) strategy is either going to be one of the PCs’ devising or a strategy by an NPC to get the better of someone. In the latter case, the GM totally controls the outcome, so his imagination and intended plotline is clearly dominant, and those are both drawn from his imagination. In the former case, things get more interesting; the GM has total control over the world events, so he can dictate any outcome that he wants, so long as he can sell the plausibility to the players. However, if he arbitrarily confounds their trade strategy, he risks losing them as players, so he has a finer line to walk. He has multiple options, of course, and can nuance them to a fine degree. But the most important thing is still the collective plotline being created by the participants, i.e. getting the players to engage their characters in adventures; so the critical decision is how far to downplay the trading strategy. He could choose simply to report, “It works almost flawlessly, but doesn’t yield the massive profits you were hoping for because…” That last word is emphasized for a reason: it’s the most important word in the entire statement. It connects the PCs directly to the game world, embeds the narrative into the main plotline by connecting the outcome of something the players chose to do with the situation within the game workd at that time, and at the same time, gives the players some reward for their attention to game-world detail, while setting all of the above into the background against which actual adventures are set. That’s a lot of result for such a simple statement! And, once again, its the Imagination that is trumping strategy, dominating the outcome, while still conceding the validity of the strategy.
December 7th, 2024 at 12:33 am
Your post on *Trade in Fantasy: Preliminaries & Introduction* was such an intriguing read! The idea of exploring how trade functions within fantasy worlds adds a unique layer to storytelling. Which fantasy world or book do you think handles the concept of trade most creatively or realistically?
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December 7th, 2024 at 4:34 am
Although some people don’t like it for this very reason, I greatly enjoyed the focus on Trade in Raymond E Feist’s “Rise Of A Merchant Prince”. It is by far the most comprehensive work on the subject, and one that was consciously in mind while writing the Ownership chapter.
December 11th, 2024 at 4:07 pm
“Really intriguing start to *Trade In Fantasy*! I love how you set the stage by exploring the concept of fantasy in such a thought-provoking way. It’s got me curious to see how the rest of the piece develops. What made you decide to tackle this theme in particular?”
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December 12th, 2024 at 5:18 am
Glad you enjoyed it, Henry, and hope that the rest of the series is living up to expectations. If you check the other comments, you’ll find that I’ve already answered your question.
December 18th, 2024 at 5:36 pm
This article on “Trade In Fantasy: Preliminaries & Introduction” is a great way to kick off the discussion! It sets the stage for what promises to be an exciting exploration of the fantasy world, especially with the idea of “trade” as a central theme. I love how it teases the complexities and nuances of a fantasy setting, which could lead to some really interesting world-building. I’m curious, though, how do you think trade and economics will influence the development of characters and plot in this fantasy universe?
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December 19th, 2024 at 3:24 am
Thanks, Denny. At first, I don’t think there will be very much impact at all. Over time, though, if players anticipate their characters being around long enough, they will start to design them with potential Trade capabilities already in place. This will diversify them somewhat, diluting slightly the focus on what the characters generally contribute to adventures, so they will become slightly less effective. It will be minor, with the bulk of the change being conceptual and not mechanical. But it will result in the PC engaging with the society around them more intently, and with secondary objectives in mind, and that can only help bind the campaign together in the long run.
December 18th, 2024 at 6:40 pm
What an intriguing introduction! I love how you set the stage for what promises to be a deep dive into the world of fantasy trading. The concept is fresh and exciting, and I’m already curious about how you’ll explore the dynamics between fantasy and reality. It’s a unique approach that blends imagination with real-world implications. What inspired you to explore this topic, and how do you think it can shift our perspective on both fantasy and commerce?
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December 19th, 2024 at 3:35 am
Thank you, David. I’ve already answered the first part of your question in response to other comments, so I’ll refer you to those. How do I think it can shift our perspective on both fantasy and commerce? Well, fantasy first: the integration of an economic model, even one as simplified as what I am proposing, with the society around the characters has to make the game world feel more substantial and significant to their lives. So the fantasy becomes more grounded in a basis of reality. At the same time, however, fantasy lets characters do things that simply aren’t possible in the real world, so that mundane reality grows a little more fantastic over time, too, and ultimately provides a contrast that heightens the fantastic elements of fantasy that are often taken for granted by jaded players. Little things can suddenly matter. Consider, for example, a simple “Make it rain” spell and the impact it would have on agriculture – or “rain rain go away”, the opposite side of the coin. Even extremely limited weather control boosts crops (in the longer term) by 10-25%, minimum, and that makes for significantly greater economic prosperity and wealth in the long term. The effects on commerce are harder to quantify because this is an activity that resides in the real world; but by signposting how much of an impact traditional modes of thought and assumptions have on the way commerce is conducted, I think it can lay the ground for future technological developments being more readily accepted and integrated. I can’t be more specific without knowing what those future technologies are actually going to be.
December 21st, 2024 at 4:51 pm
**”Trade in Fantasy: Preliminaries & Introduction”** sets the stage for an intriguing exploration of the intersection between economic systems and imaginative worlds. This concept delves into how trade, commerce, and resource exchange are depicted in fantasy settings, often mirroring or reimagining real-world economic principles. By analyzing these elements, the discussion opens up new perspectives on how fantastical economies shape narratives and enrich world-building. A must-read for fans of fantasy literature and economic theory alike!
December 21st, 2024 at 6:57 pm
“Trade In Fantasy: Preliminaries & Introduction” introduces the concept of trade in fantasy settings, exploring how fantasy elements intersect with economic systems and trading mechanisms. It delves into the basics of how trade operates in fantasy worlds, setting the stage for deeper discussions on the implications of such systems. The content emphasizes the importance of understanding trade dynamics to enrich storytelling in fantasy genres.
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December 22nd, 2024 at 2:38 pm
**Trade In Fantasy: Preliminaries & Introduction**
Fantasiehandel combineert creativiteit en strategie, waarbij deelnemers fictieve items of werelden verhandelen. Kies een thema, stel duidelijke regels op, en creëer unieke objecten om een dynamische en boeiende ervaring te bieden.
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December 24th, 2024 at 3:03 pm
In the world of fantasy literature, trade often serves as a backdrop to the development of societies, economies, and cultures. It is a key element in shaping the relationships between kingdoms, cities, and various factions. The concept of trade in fantasy settings goes beyond simple commerce; it can be a tool for political maneuvering, character development, and plot advancement.
The preliminaries of trade in fantasy involve understanding the unique resources, currencies, and goods that exist within these fictional worlds. Whether it’s magical artifacts, rare minerals, enchanted creatures, or even knowledge, the items exchanged can have far-reaching consequences on the story. Trade routes, the control of resources, and the strategic importance of certain goods can lead to alliances, conflicts, and the rise and fall of empires.
January 8th, 2025 at 4:55 pm
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January 16th, 2025 at 7:31 pm
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