Friday, July 4, 2008

Commodities List part I

At this point, the most useful thing I could provide would be a list of the products I include in my economy. I’ll list off the main heading and its corresponding components…the system is flexible enough that, if at some future point, I want to divide the components and consider them main products, I’m able to do that.

Starting with:

Trade: banking, markets.


This is merely a list of those cities at which products are gathered and sold to the public. All the markets in a particular province are combined for the purpose of exports. For an example, I use Bohemia, which has 8 market references (names are Medieval): Budweis (1), Pardubitz (1), Pilsen (2), Prague (1), Reichenberg (1), Tetschen (1) and Usti (1). Note that Prague was, historically, a cultural and religious center, not a financial one. However, with eight references, the overall kingdom of Bohemia is a substantial trading center.

Ores & Minerals:

Adamantite
Antimony
Bismuth
Cadmium
Chromium
Cobalt
Copper
Gold
Iron
Lead
Manganese
Mercury
Mithril
Molybdenum
Nickel
Platinum
Silver
Tin
Tungsten
Zinc

Abrasives:
emery, pumice
Alum
Arsenic
Stone cutting
Chalk:
chalk, meerschaum, phosphorus
Coal
Granite:
artyk, tufa, basalt, brownstone, granite, porphyry, syenite, sandstone
Guano
Kaolin
Limestone:
dolomite, limestone
Marble: alabaster, marble (varying colors)
Niter
Obsidian
Peat
Salt
Slate
Sulphur
Witherite

Agate
Cat's Eyes
Greenstone
Lapis Lazuli
Moonstone
Mother-of-Pearl
Quartz
Turquoise

Alexandrite
Amber
Amethyst
Coral
Garnet
Jade
Pearls
Spinel

Corundum
Emeralds
Diamonds
Rubies
Sapphires

Gemcutting


That’s pretty self explanatory. There are other gem types, it is only that in the part of the world that I have worked on, these are the gems that I have locations for their production.

Foodstuffs:

Brewing
Caviar
Confectionary:
chocolate, candy, edible bird’s nests, peppermint, treacle
Copra
Milk:
cream, milk, kumiss
Butter: butter, ghee
Cheese: gruyere, gorgonzola, parmesan, ewe’s milk, others
Distilling: arak (date), arrack (coconut), brandywine, cognac, kirschwasser, plum brandy, sake, strega, whiskey, others
Flour: bread, cakes, noodles, oatmeal, yeast
Dried fruit: various fruits, prunes, raisins
Malt
Meat:
beef, lamb, meat, mutton, pork, poultry, eggs, yak’s tail
Dried meat: various meats, bacon, sausage
Dried or smoked fish
Vegetable oils:
lard, castor oil, citronella, coconut oil, cottonseed oil, linseed oil, olive oil, peanut oil, sesame seed oil, soybean oil, sunflower seed oil, tung oil, vegetable oil
Whale or fish oil
Opium
Qat
Snuff
Sugar:
cane sugar, beet sugar, starch
Wine: champagne, vinegar, wine, marsala, asti spumante, beaujolais, others


There are a lot of individual varieties in this category. I like to supply varying examples, particularly the cheeses, liquors and wines. It is a bit annoying, and the players rarely seem to notice, but nevertheless…

Fabrics

Pelts: ermine, fox, lynx, otter, sable, snow leopard, wolf and lesser pelts
Fur Clothing
Spinning, Carding or Fulling
Embroidery
Artwork
General tailoring:
gloves, hats, robes, sacks, shawls, much more…I don’t separate this out until the equipment list

Cotton, raw
Cotton cloth:
flannel, jersey, muslin
Cotton goods

Flax, raw
Linen cloth:
canvas, damask, lace, linen, sailcloth
Linen goods

Rough fibers:
hemp, jute, kapok, kenaf, kendyr, ramie
Rough fiber cloth
Fiber goods
: hemp goods, nets, rope, twine

Silk, raw
Silk cloth:
pongee, satin, pure silk
Silk goods

Wool:
angora, camelhair, karakul, mohair, llamahair, vicunahair, sheep’s wool
Wool cloth: felt, mohair cloth, plush, velvet, wool cloth, serge
Carpets: floor covering, tapestries
Woolen goods: felt hats, ribbon, blankets, tents, more

Skins: bearskin, goatskin, kid leather, leopardskin, tigerskin, sealskin, sheepskin, snakeskin
Hides
Leathercraft:
boots, moroccan leather goods, saddles, sandles, coats, more


Probably the section I hate the very, very most. And do you think characters care that they can buy their particular doublet in wool, velvet, serge, damask or mohair? Don’t count on it.

Wood

Charcoal
Construction, general:
carpentry, water wheels, windmills, looms, presses…represents the general service of construction, not to the wood itself

Mastics: asafoetida, gum arabic, gum benzoin, tragacanth, jelutong, resin

Thatch: baskets, coir, mats, rattan, straw goods, thatch roofing

Musical instruments: cellos, drums, church organs, violins (I consider this the cost for fabrication, so I apply it also to metals, bone, ivory or whatever an instrument can be made from)

Broadleaved woods: acacia, bamboo, beech, birch, blackwood, boxwood, carobwood, chestnut, cinchona, cork, cryptomeria, ebony, eucalyptus, ironwood, lac, laurel, oak, palms, rattan, rosewood, sal, satinwood, tamarisk, teak
Coniferous woods: fir, cedar, cypress, larch, pine, spruce

Farm tools: ploughs, general wooden tools
Wagons: wheels, carriages, carts, wagons
Watercraft: barges, dhows, boats, ships
Carved goods: bonecarving, horncarving, dolls, toys
Furnishings: barrels, buckets, coffins, furniture, veneer, more

Aromatic woods: aloe, camphor, frankincense, mistletoe, myrrh, sandlewood, teak oil, wood oil

Paper: paper, papyrus
Paper Goods: bookbinding, paper fans, manuscripts, paper lanterns, papier-mache, parasols, playing cards


There may be some who dispute the inclusion of paper under wood…my world takes place in 1650, and some technologies had developed wood for paper. I believe that in a world with magic, it would be likely they would have made this step up from parchment…besides, if I were to use parchment from animal skins instead of wood, the cost of spellbooks would be prohibitive.

I have seven other tables: Alchemy, Building Materials, Metals and Metalwork, Crops, Fruits & Vegetables, Livestock and Fish…which I promise I will publish. But this has been tiresome up until now and I think I’ll stop for today.

1 comment:

  1. " And do you think characters care that they can buy their particular doublet in wool, velvet, serge, damask or mohair? Don’t count on it."

    So true, lol!

    I am enjoying your world-building methods after discovering them while researching for my own campaign world.

    ReplyDelete

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