Angaros
05-30-2005, 06:57 AM
In my actual play thread I mentioned that I had made an attempt at translating ranges of monetary value into obstacles. Here's the list:
Ob1 : 0d - 20d
Ob2 : 20d - 100d
Ob3 : 100d - 500d
Ob4 : 2£ - 10£
Ob5 : 10£ - 50£
Ob6 : 50£ - 250£
Ob7 : 250£ - 1250£
Ob8 : 1250£ - 5000£ (should be 6250 if following the curve but I like easy numbers)
Ob9 : 5000£ - 25000£
Ob10 : 25000£ +
So what do you get at the various obstacles? These numbers were made for Hârn so I'm gonna refer to the extensive pricelists I have for that setting. The Fief prices might be more accurate and there is a medieval price list at ORB too but prices fluctuated incredibly during the middle ages and I have no intentions of trying to account for guild interventions, price wars, export tariffs and so on.
Monetary value is ofc only the starting point when translating into Ob:s. Avaliability, quality, state of mind of both seller and buyer etc. will affect the final Ob. And I wouldn't recommend doing reverse translations since a Resources test involves so much more than just silver changing hands. As Luke's said: it's a conflict resolution mechanic and looking only at the part where the characters actually pay is like the looking at the goal image of a longer race -- it tells you very little about starting conditions and how the race was won. You just know who won.
*** Ob 1 ***
Using the above list I'd say most everyday purchases for a small household fits in here. Most meat products cost 2-3d per lb, same goes for flour and grain (but per bushel instead of lb). Smaller livestock animals would fit here as well (goats, chickens, sheep) if you buy one or two at a time. If you buy in bulk, use the rules for it.
This is what a poorly paid laborer earns in a month in Hârn. (~20d)
*** Ob 2 ***
Larger livestock like cows and pigs would start at this Ob (if buying one or two). Cheap run of the mill arms like spears, clubs, staves, and shields would start at Ob2 as well. An ounce or two of most spices also fit in.
A complete set of cheap serge clothing from a clothier. Yep that's right. Which is why most peasants make their own clothes.
This is what a weaponcrafter would earn in a month (~100d)
*** Ob 3 ***
Riding horses, work slaves, a pavilion, expensive music instruments. Metal weapons such as fine maces, axes, swords etc. Not as fancy plated leather suit (cuirboulli mixed with ringmail and perhaps some banded mail).
Finer clothing, but not courtly clothing.
*** Ob 4 ***
Most warhorses, a small manorhouse in stone, a mill, small to mid-range urban dwellings, a compass. Small ocean-going vessels (small or early medieval trade ships).
Courtly clothing (lots of fine fur trim, expensive imported materials, silver and gold threading etc.).
A full suit of mail armour. Even a full suit of plated leather could start here depending on how you interpret it. Hârn's ringmail would land somewhere between pl.l. and mail but lands at 3£ for a suit (habergeon, cowl, leggings + mittens).
*** Ob 5 ***
A full suit of plated mail just barely gets up to this level based on it's cost in coin, but considering the item's prestige, difficulty to make etc. I'd say Ob5 is a fair estimate. You could build a pretty large manorhouse with this kind of money. Or a smaller one with a low (6') wall and a few outbuildings (a stable, a kitchen, a barn, maybe even a tiny chapel). Middle-class to fine upper class urban dwellings star here as well. You might even get a garden.
Medium-size ships start here too. The mainstay of the merchant fleets of the early to mid middle ages would be these kinds of ships.
This is also what it costs to have a new heraldic device entered in the royal rolls. Expensive as hell!
*** Ob 6 ***
The smallest of keeps (simple stone towers three stories high) land here. They wouldn't be "true" fortifications, but maybe what a wealthy knight or poor baron might have. The range covers a lot of ground, but a cheap keep ought to land around 200£.
Really large ocean going ships start at Ob6. We're talking 100-150' ship capable with large carrying capacities.
*** Ob 7 ***
Larger keeps, even small castles could fall into this category.
*** Ob 8 ***
Medium-sized castles, or smaller ones with extensive outlying walls, man-made moats, ditches and ramparts.
*** Ob 9 ***
Large castles with thick walls, extensive linear defenses, throwing machines, ballistae, and fine interior (and a separate church of course). Think big like Dover Castle or Krak de Chevaliers.
*** Ob 10 ***
Anything in your dreams. Almost.
Ob1 : 0d - 20d
Ob2 : 20d - 100d
Ob3 : 100d - 500d
Ob4 : 2£ - 10£
Ob5 : 10£ - 50£
Ob6 : 50£ - 250£
Ob7 : 250£ - 1250£
Ob8 : 1250£ - 5000£ (should be 6250 if following the curve but I like easy numbers)
Ob9 : 5000£ - 25000£
Ob10 : 25000£ +
So what do you get at the various obstacles? These numbers were made for Hârn so I'm gonna refer to the extensive pricelists I have for that setting. The Fief prices might be more accurate and there is a medieval price list at ORB too but prices fluctuated incredibly during the middle ages and I have no intentions of trying to account for guild interventions, price wars, export tariffs and so on.
Monetary value is ofc only the starting point when translating into Ob:s. Avaliability, quality, state of mind of both seller and buyer etc. will affect the final Ob. And I wouldn't recommend doing reverse translations since a Resources test involves so much more than just silver changing hands. As Luke's said: it's a conflict resolution mechanic and looking only at the part where the characters actually pay is like the looking at the goal image of a longer race -- it tells you very little about starting conditions and how the race was won. You just know who won.
*** Ob 1 ***
Using the above list I'd say most everyday purchases for a small household fits in here. Most meat products cost 2-3d per lb, same goes for flour and grain (but per bushel instead of lb). Smaller livestock animals would fit here as well (goats, chickens, sheep) if you buy one or two at a time. If you buy in bulk, use the rules for it.
This is what a poorly paid laborer earns in a month in Hârn. (~20d)
*** Ob 2 ***
Larger livestock like cows and pigs would start at this Ob (if buying one or two). Cheap run of the mill arms like spears, clubs, staves, and shields would start at Ob2 as well. An ounce or two of most spices also fit in.
A complete set of cheap serge clothing from a clothier. Yep that's right. Which is why most peasants make their own clothes.
This is what a weaponcrafter would earn in a month (~100d)
*** Ob 3 ***
Riding horses, work slaves, a pavilion, expensive music instruments. Metal weapons such as fine maces, axes, swords etc. Not as fancy plated leather suit (cuirboulli mixed with ringmail and perhaps some banded mail).
Finer clothing, but not courtly clothing.
*** Ob 4 ***
Most warhorses, a small manorhouse in stone, a mill, small to mid-range urban dwellings, a compass. Small ocean-going vessels (small or early medieval trade ships).
Courtly clothing (lots of fine fur trim, expensive imported materials, silver and gold threading etc.).
A full suit of mail armour. Even a full suit of plated leather could start here depending on how you interpret it. Hârn's ringmail would land somewhere between pl.l. and mail but lands at 3£ for a suit (habergeon, cowl, leggings + mittens).
*** Ob 5 ***
A full suit of plated mail just barely gets up to this level based on it's cost in coin, but considering the item's prestige, difficulty to make etc. I'd say Ob5 is a fair estimate. You could build a pretty large manorhouse with this kind of money. Or a smaller one with a low (6') wall and a few outbuildings (a stable, a kitchen, a barn, maybe even a tiny chapel). Middle-class to fine upper class urban dwellings star here as well. You might even get a garden.
Medium-size ships start here too. The mainstay of the merchant fleets of the early to mid middle ages would be these kinds of ships.
This is also what it costs to have a new heraldic device entered in the royal rolls. Expensive as hell!
*** Ob 6 ***
The smallest of keeps (simple stone towers three stories high) land here. They wouldn't be "true" fortifications, but maybe what a wealthy knight or poor baron might have. The range covers a lot of ground, but a cheap keep ought to land around 200£.
Really large ocean going ships start at Ob6. We're talking 100-150' ship capable with large carrying capacities.
*** Ob 7 ***
Larger keeps, even small castles could fall into this category.
*** Ob 8 ***
Medium-sized castles, or smaller ones with extensive outlying walls, man-made moats, ditches and ramparts.
*** Ob 9 ***
Large castles with thick walls, extensive linear defenses, throwing machines, ballistae, and fine interior (and a separate church of course). Think big like Dover Castle or Krak de Chevaliers.
*** Ob 10 ***
Anything in your dreams. Almost.