tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post1853155296868369615..comments2023-10-14T03:58:59.333-06:00Comments on The Tao of D&D: Fallow IVAlexis Smolenskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-48196700111440829732015-06-25T13:30:35.222-06:002015-06-25T13:30:35.222-06:00Well, there's randomness of course - but virtu...Well, there's randomness of course - but virtually every resource is determined by topography and climate. Most hard metals turn up in mountains and rare metals in old worn rock like the Canadian Shield, Scandinavia or the Russian Tunguska, building stone too; fish by the sea, meat where there's plenty of grass for livestock, whale oil in the north, valuable woods at the equator and so on.<br /><br />It's a simple matter of equating a part of your fantasy world to a part of the real world, looking it up on wikipedia and seeing what is economically important there.<br /><br />Then tweaking that to add fantasy elements, mixing and matching regions, deciding what you WANT to be important and then building on the few basic details you've picked in a logical way.<br /><br />For example, why did the creation of simple handicrafts like shoes, lamps and clothing become so popular for manufacture by Connecticut in the 1700s? Because the many, many small Connecticut rivers were very easy to dam and transform into ready-made waterwheel-driven mills. And how did that affect imports of those goods into England? It greatly diffused the British market and made shoes cheaper. And how did England attempt to deal with that problem? It attempted to impose tariffs on goods made in the American colonies.<br /><br />And what happened then?<br /><br />It isn't important what goods you pick. What is important is understanding how the presence of those goods CHANGES the viewpoints, goals and culture of the makers of those goods. You can't do that if you don't first understand what happens to an area once it becomes a center for gold mining, whaling or ranching.<br /><br />Alexis Smolenskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-1056187286296311312015-06-25T13:01:27.381-06:002015-06-25T13:01:27.381-06:00While you leave the choice of resources open, do y...While you leave the choice of resources open, do you have any suggestions on making a good choice? I remember your economy video featured a few decisions based on geographical features (gold concentrated around rivers, for instance).<br />There would be choices which are geographically appropriate, and within those there might be choices which are more enticing to the players then others.<br />I would imagine, given your research on economies and resources, you'd probably have a pretty good sense of what are some common luxuries of all sorts of settlements.Timhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03496502173819113887noreply@blogger.com