Forums of the Megaverse®

What commodities (trade goods) have you thought up?

historically the most profitable ones were things that could only be obtained from specific (usually distant) places and nowhere else..
Silk, spices, and porcelain from china
Cotton, spices from India
Ivory, gems, and gold from central africa
etc..

though things like grain, wool, wine, and other common goods were typical cargo's for more local trade, in pretty much any location.

in PFRPG i'd imagine many of the same conditions and cargo's would be present.. plus exotic materials from the setting.

Salt especially would be a common yet very lucrative cargo.. everyone needs it, it requires a lot of work to get in bulk, and the best places to get it are usually well off the beaten path.

Well, there's the real-world standards... food, drink, materials. Livestock takes on another dimension when you can use their PPE for magic, and though I can't think of any that's been introduced, there may be fantasy variants of that, as well (I'm picturing breeding cattle or goats for high PPE).

Beyond that? Ore and wood of special properties. Slaves.

A whole section of how Bizantium does trading with commodities with the rest of the world should appear in the upcoming book.

I think I know what he is after...He has read the stuff I got from DriveThruRPG and the notes I have on a game I had done involving heavy commerce and trade.

Things like, from Fantasy Commodities vol 4: Dragon Peppers, dried, 1 ounce...500 gold coins.
Dragon Peppers: These extremely hot yet flavorful peppers are striped red, green, yellow, and blue. Growing from sturdy vines in piles of dragon’s waste, it is said that the only way that one can retrieve these deliciously hot, highly sought after peppers is to enter a dragon’s lair. Upon successful capture of some dragon peppers, these fruits are allowed to dry, which intensifies their flavor and spiciness, and then are sold as a seasoning on the open marketplace. A single vine may allow a collector to harvest as much as 25lbs of the dried pepper, and there are normally 2 to 8 vines growing in a single dragon’s lair. The retrieval of such peppers is extremely dangerous and risky, for dragons are known to jealously guard all items in their lairs, including peppers that they their own selves happen to have no love for. A successful expedition of dragon peppers, however, is usually enough to set a young, enterprising merchant up with enough wealth to immediately retire in comfort.

Pork bellies?

Seriously though things that are commonly traded long distance in a medieval setting usually meet a few criteria: They are hardy (don't spoil or break on the journey), Are only found/made in one location but have a broad appeal, or Can be found/made anywhere but another location has specialized can make them better/cheaper/faster than you can make them locally, and in addition to these the product must be worth more in another area and this disparity of value is enough for the transporter to turn a profit.

Meet those (or at least that last one and one other) and you have the potential for a valuable trade good.

pblackcrow wrote:I think I know what he is after...He has read the stuff I got from DriveThruRPG and the notes I have on a game I had done involving heavy commerce and trade.

Things like, from Fantasy Commodities vol 4: Dragon Peppers, dried, 1 ounce...500 gold coins.
Dragon Peppers: These extremely hot yet flavorful peppers are striped red, green, yellow, and blue. Growing from sturdy vines in piles of dragon’s waste, it is said that the only way that one can retrieve these deliciously hot, highly sought after peppers is to enter a dragon’s lair. Upon successful capture of some dragon peppers, these fruits are allowed to dry, which intensifies their flavor and spiciness, and then are sold as a seasoning on the open marketplace. A single vine may allow a collector to harvest as much as 25lbs of the dried pepper, and there are normally 2 to 8 vines growing in a single dragon’s lair. The retrieval of such peppers is extremely dangerous and risky, for dragons are known to jealously guard all items in their lairs, including peppers that they their own selves happen to have no love for. A successful expedition of dragon peppers, however, is usually enough to set a young, enterprising merchant up with enough wealth to immediately retire in comfort.

Uh yeah 200K gold!
500 gold an ounce and you could potentially collect 25 lbs worth off one vine. And the potential for multiple vines in one location.

Sure you could die but you could get dysentery and die too!

Dried, Mate, dried!!! All things weigh less when dried.

pblackcrow wrote:Dried, Mate, dried!!! All things weigh less when dried.

True but loss of water might mean its less hardy (more brittle) or less desirable (perfume powder or exotic fruit perhaps?) but 95+% of the time dried goods are the way to go for transport in no-refrigeration no flight eras. That said a "circle of travel" could easily transport rare and perishable goods thousands of miles in an eyeblink negating the need for drying or refrigeration.

The best commodities are the bad and illegal kind. Like drugs, poisons, magic components, and slavery. Those will net you the most profit. I am sure some of the gaints of Nimiro would pay a high price for a large group of gnomes captured from their village. Gnomes are tasty treats

Hey Guys,

Shannon is right, that is more along the lines of what I am looking for. I am looking for things that you've thought up for your games as being goods for trade.

Lukterran wrote:The best commodities are the bad and illegal kind. Like drugs, poisons, magic components, and slavery. Those will net you the most profit. I am sure some of the giants of Nimiro would pay a high price for a large group of gnomes captured from their village. Gnomes are tasty treats

True. Though I can only surmise about the taste of gnome...

The spice must flow

kiralon wrote:The spice must flow

I love the Dune Universe!!! I always had the worlds of Dune as a possible dropping points for portals in Rifts.

Gnomes are yummy tasty treats.
Why their even better the dragon meat.
But when I am in the mood for a treat,
I like to munch on faerie meat.
They're mushy, gushy, gooey, good!
something, something, something...
So if you're even in the mood,
I recommend they be severed
Raw and as shish-kabobs.

You'll have to ask Shannon for the rest of the poem.

glitterboy2098 wrote:historically the most profitable ones were things that could only be obtained from specific (usually distant) places and nowhere else..
Silk, spices, and porcelain from china
Cotton, spices from India
Ivory, gems, and gold from central africa
etc..

though things like grain, wool, wine, and other common goods were typical cargo's for more local trade, in pretty much any location.

in PFRPG i'd imagine many of the same conditions and cargo's would be present.. plus exotic materials from the setting.

Salt especially would be a common yet very lucrative cargo.. everyone needs it, it requires a lot of work to get in bulk, and the best places to get it are usually well off the beaten path.

Salt. Always salt. It can't be found a whole ton of places and it is always vital in a medieval type situation where magic is not common place (it isn't common place, it is rare that a person know magic, let alone would be magnanamous enough to just give away magical casting for free).

You need salt to survive the winter most places (salting meat and pickling vegetables). Don't have it, you don't eat in the winter time.

Salt has historically been an extremely valuable trade good in almost all markets (outside of an actual salt mining town).

The faerie bee (butter bees) honey. (Yes, Shawn, that was when you encountered at the nexus on that island.) 1 oz is worth 2,500 gold.

Faerie bees or butter bees, also called nexus bees are a very rare. Their based in only on one of the nameless islands at the edge of the world and yet they go through out the island chains south of the Floenry Islands via the leylines. They have taken up residences in a pyramid at a nexus. Which could account for the magical way they have developed overtime. Or was that the plague that supposedly whipped out the pyramid builders? They were not killed, but transformed. At any rate, they look like this: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n_XW2Qm2QCQ/T ... 0/b2ee.jpg Stingers do 1d4 per sting. If stung 20 times a saving throw verse poison must be made, then 15 stings at -1, then 10 stings at -2, and lastly every 5 stings at -3. The honey is magical...Healing any wound that it is applied to...when eaten an oz can restore 50 PPE to a mage or 25 ISP to a psychic. Also, it can temporarily boost a mages PPE by 100 and psychic's ISP by 50. It taste sorta like spiced caramel. Can be used in cooking. And if bathed in, it will heal all disease, extending life, regrow limbs, restore to full life to bodies that are dead or undead.

But if the Queen Bee's honey is tapped into and eaten by a woman while pregnant it will cause an unborn child to become aware of things that its mother knows and carry that knowledge with them and boost the IQ of the child. Thus Stewie Griffen could exist in the game.

pblackcrow wrote:The faerie bee (butter bees) honey. (Yes, Shawn, that was when you encountered at the nexus on that island.) 1 oz is worth 2,500 gold.

Faerie bees or butter bees, also called nexus bees are a very rare. Their based in only on one of the nameless islands at the edge of the world and yet they go through out the island chains south of the Floenry Islands via the leylines. They have taken up residences in a pyramid at a nexus. Which could account for the magical way they have developed overtime. Or was that the plague that supposedly whipped out the pyramid builders? They were not killed, but transformed. At any rate, they look like this: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n_XW2Qm2QCQ/T ... 0/b2ee.jpg Stingers do 1d4 per sting. If stung 20 times a saving throw verse poison must be made, then 15 stings at -1, then 10 stings at -2, and lastly every 5 stings at -3. The honey is magical...Healing any wound that it is applied to...when eaten an oz can restore 50 PPE to a mage or 25 ISP to a psychic. Also, it can temporarily boost a mages PPE by 100 and psychic's ISP by 50. It taste sorta like spiced caramel. Can be used in cooking. And if bathed in, it will heal all disease, extending life, regrow limbs, restore to full life to bodies that are dead or undead.

But if the Queen Bee's honey is tapped into and eaten by a woman while pregnant it will cause an unborn child to become aware of things that its mother knows and carry that knowledge with them and boost the IQ of the child. Thus Stewie Griffen could exist in the game.

Or Alia of House Atreides

EDIT: the spice must flow!

azazel1024 wrote:

glitterboy2098 wrote:historically the most profitable ones were things that could only be obtained from specific (usually distant) places and nowhere else..
Silk, spices, and porcelain from china
Cotton, spices from India
Ivory, gems, and gold from central africa
etc..

though things like grain, wool, wine, and other common goods were typical cargo's for more local trade, in pretty much any location.

in PFRPG i'd imagine many of the same conditions and cargo's would be present.. plus exotic materials from the setting.

Salt especially would be a common yet very lucrative cargo.. everyone needs it, it requires a lot of work to get in bulk, and the best places to get it are usually well off the beaten path.

Salt. Always salt. It can't be found a whole ton of places and it is always vital in a medieval type situation where magic is not common place (it isn't common place, it is rare that a person know magic, let alone would be magnanamous enough to just give away magical casting for free).

You need salt to survive the winter most places (salting meat and pickling vegetables). Don't have it, you don't eat in the winter time.

Salt has historically been an extremely valuable trade good in almost all markets (outside of an actual salt mining town).

and salt from the ocean requires either very specific places where it accumulates naturally, or a lot of effort to boil down salt water the right way. the latter is not really cost effective if it is being done for sale, at least prior to industrialization.

Thinyser wrote:Or Alia of House Atreides

EDIT: the spice must flow!

Or the twins.

pblackcrow wrote:The faerie bee (butter bees) honey. (Yes, Shawn, that was when you encountered at the nexus on that island.) 1 oz is worth 2,500 gold.

Faerie bees or butter bees, also called nexus bees are a very rare. Their based in only on one of the nameless islands at the edge of the world and yet they go through out the island chains south of the Floenry Islands via the leylines. They have taken up residences in a pyramid at a nexus. Which could account for the magical way they have developed overtime. Or was that the plague that supposedly whipped out the pyramid builders? They were not killed, but transformed. At any rate, they look like this: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n_XW2Qm2QCQ/T ... 0/b2ee.jpg Stingers do 1d4 per sting. If stung 20 times a saving throw verse poison must be made, then 15 stings at -1, then 10 stings at -2, and lastly every 5 stings at -3. The honey is magical...Healing any wound that it is applied to...when eaten an oz can restore 50 PPE to a mage or 25 ISP to a psychic. Also, it can temporarily boost a mages PPE by 100 and psychic's ISP by 50. It taste sorta like spiced caramel. Can be used in cooking. And if bathed in, it will heal all disease, extending life, regrow limbs, restore to full life to bodies that are dead or undead.

But if the Queen Bee's honey is tapped into and eaten by a woman while pregnant it will cause an unborn child to become aware of things that its mother knows and carry that knowledge with them and boost the IQ of the child. Thus Stewie Griffen could exist in the game.

Those bees were nasty...They can also teleport on ley lines but the relatively neat part is the queen bee. That is a super hive intelligence that I DO NOT want to mess with! The regular bees are about 4 inches body length ...The queen is 6 or was it 8? Plus the SDC on the "little ones" is 20...thank goodness the HP is just 10. Thankfully Craig's wizard knew cloud of smoke.

azazel1024 wrote:Salt. Always salt. It can't be found a whole ton of places and it is always vital in a medieval type situation where magic is not common place (it isn't common place, it is rare that a person know magic, let alone would be magnanamous enough to just give away magical casting for free).

You need salt to survive the winter most places (salting meat and pickling vegetables). Don't have it, you don't eat in the winter time.

Salt has historically been an extremely valuable trade good in almost all markets (outside of an actual salt mining town).

While I don't disagree that salt is an important trade good--sometimes being traded weight for weight with gold--you seem to be categorically asserting that it is the only viable preservation method. That dog wont hunt.

While it is true that salt was probably the most important preservative in medieval Europe, it certainly wasn't the only one. Other options include drying and the related smoking (the smoke imparting additional anti-microbial properties, as I recall). Fermentation is another. Booze--fermented grains, etc--has always been a popular method of preservation. Some foods, like sauerkraut, self ferment. Meat can even self-ferment under the right conditions; one of the great episodes in experimental anthropology was throwing a bunch of raw meat in a pond and let it float around for a year before eating it. Pickling additional foods in booze, vinegar (if you screwed up making booze), or oils is fun. If you really insist you can use brine. Sugar even has anti-microbial properties and is used to cure foods. Lye can be used during drying somewhat akin to salt. Cheese is also a very popular method of preserving milk. Something as simple as burial can be used, either in a root cellar or direct in-ground in, for example, a storage clamp. One method of preserving meat is to bury it on embers in a fire pit. Also, kimchi anyone?

The primary actions of salt are to speed the drying time (which you don't need salt for) and to act as an anti-microbial agent (which you don't need salt for), so a fallout in the salt trade wouldn't immediately result in everyone suddenly starving. Mild or moderate inconvenience in rural areas. Armies in the field would suffer considerably and cities might see a few riots... but overall far from apocalyptic.

Also, I am under the impression that salt was far more likely to be produced by a method other than mining, which only came to dominate the market after industrialization. Evaporation, either by the sun in salt ponds or a fire in pans, or picking it up off the ground was (far?) more common before then. The brine can come from either the ocean or saline hot springs. If you're pickling with it you don't even need to evaporate much.

Listen guy, I know about salt. If I wanted to harvest it, do you know how I would do it? It is very simple. Take several relatively thin cloths, silk preferably, and put them on hoops to make a mulitilayered sieve. Pore salt water through it.

Once again, I want to know about some original fantasy stuff. Not real world ancient items. Don't make me get my clue by 4 out. LOL Shannon has told me about the thwack smily.

Smokeless, slow burning, firewood. Exactly what it sounds like. 1 10lb log will last 10 hours. Cost: 200 for 50 lbs. Useless for anything else but burning and carving...Cork wood equivalent.

Odder absorbent cookware. Useful when in the GNW. 2,000 per set.

And rest assured, I will talk to Shawn (ShadowHawk).

Whores. Always in demand

The Oh So Amazing Nate wrote:Whores. Always in demand

Not always easy to transport but usually still worth a tidy profit!