The Marketplace

Part of a project rated as a 'Project We Like' on KickStarter and successfully backed by almost 500 people!

This is a follow-on project from and nbsp;Orbis Mundi² which covered the real background of the Medieval period, dealing with all the myriad of details pretty much every role playing game to date gets wrong.

The Marketplace and nbsp;is a massive and nbsp;book covering not just what items were available and what they actually (or were likely) to cost it also covers the economic underpinnings of trade and commerce. This allows a GM to tailor the prices (mainly from the 14th century) for a specific period within the overall range covered (the 11th to the 14th centuries).

For example, the nonsense that every RPG since the original D and amp;D has peddled to the effect that Longbows are somehow worth more than a sword when, historically (depending on the 'sword') the reverse was true ... massively so ... is not followed in the book ... the and nbsp;real cost of a Longbow was and nbsp;not the Bow, but the training needed to make a competent Archer. There are even some suggestions as how to deal with this factor in most games.

The material inside includes chapters on and ndash;

* Markets, Fairs and amp; Shops, covering the difference between Markets and amp; Fairs and their organisation (including Tolls and Rents) as well as information on the differences between Medieval 'Shops' and their modern counterparts (and they are significant).

* Taxes and amp; Trade, which deals with Economic Management (such as it was), Trade and amp; Taxation (by specific country, as much as possible) which deals with Customs duties, Sales Taxes, Sin Taxes and a variety of other creative ways in which Feudal states raised money.

* Bullion and amp; Banks, which covers Money (Barter, Kind or Coin) and only Silver or Gold ... no medieval European states used token coinage (Copper, Bronze etc.) during the period and none used anything other than Gold or Silver; Banking, inlcuding the religious strictures against Usury and the creative way(s) money-men circumvented the rules, and Merchant Banking (Bills of Exchange - ways of paying without moving money physically around), Interest Rates, Annuities and amp; Corrodies (term or life income streams), Moneylenders and amp; Pawnbrokers, Mortgages and Business organisation.

* Marketplace Basics, Boom and amp; Bust cycles, feast and amp; famine cycles, the Availability of Goods and amp; Services (a system for determining such), Inflation and amp; Price Variability.

* Wages and amp; Salaries looks at what it says, covering mainly the 13th-14th centuries (the period for which the best data is available) and Cost of Living estimates (including line item breakdowns).

* Selected Price Series and nbsp;provides price data for selected items for the period, showing how prices rose and fell historically for a wide basket of products.

The next Chapters contain detailed and annotated price lists and descriptions for all the goods and services covered ...

* Alchemists and amp; Alchemy and nbsp;covers all those things that medieval Alchemists were supposed to be able to do ... though mainly the and nbsp;believable ones. No turning Lead into Gold, sadly. Includes an extensive annotated price list.

* and nbsp;The Armoury covers the armour and weapons and nbsp;actually available between the 11th and 14th centuries and their prices (including how they changed over time, where relevant) as well as rules for d20 and Runequest based game systems. No multitude of functionally similar (if not identical) Pole Arms, no Leather Armour (only used by SCA and modern pseudo-Re-enactors).

* and nbsp;Camping Gear - which was and nbsp;never done for and nbsp;pleasure, or not in the way that it might be in modern times. Covers Tents, Camp Furniture and Utensils, Containers and amp; Packs.

* Clothes and amp; Fashion, covering Men's and Women's clothing, the general types of clothing worn and available, the cost of various types of cloths and dyes, and how to put it all together.

* and nbsp;Farms and amp; Farming, tools and equipment for.

* and nbsp;Food, Fast * Otherwise - Eating In (buying food from the Market) vs Eating Out (buying pre-prepared or takeaway ... and, yes, there were Takeaway food joints, at least in the bigger Towns!), types of food available and costs. Rules for Butchering (wild game and all), Foraging, Nutrition and amp; Preservation.

* and nbsp;Hardware and amp; Tools, covering Carpentry, Smithing and Miscellaneous tools.

* and nbsp;Home and amp; Furnishings, covering all types of furniture and household goods for all levels of Household from peasants to the nobility.

* and nbsp;Learning and amp; Letters, covering Books and amp; Scrolls, Booksellers, Scribes and amp; Notaries, Maps. Scribal materials, Legal Documents.

* and nbsp;Lighting and amp; Illumination - the Middle Ages was a and nbsp;lot darker at night or underground than any RPG allows for ... this chapter covers the actual light sources available, how long they provided light for, and what level of light they provided (pretty dismal).

* and nbsp;Travel and amp; Trade, covering Speed of Travel, Technology of Travel, Land Transport (Accommodation, Cargo Costs, Equipment and amp; Gear, Livestock, Maintenance and amp; Upkeep); Sea Transport (Speed, Technology; Building, Buying and amp; Manning a Ship; Cargo and amp; Passage Costs)

The book is rounded out with a and nbsp;Master Price List and Appendices on and nbsp;Church and amp; Religion (price of Masses and Relics) and and nbsp;Manors and amp; Castles (Income of as well as generic costs to construct).

If you think that your favourite FRPG has a background that is the most accurate representation of the Middle Ages since the Middle Ages, then Orbis Mundi is not for you.

If you don and rsquo;t care about historical accuracy in even the slightest respect, then Orbis Mundi is not for you.

If you do care about historical accuracy and much, much, more ...

Then The Marketplace and nbsp;is for you!