NTME - Update

Before moving on, let's recap.

One of the things I like about blogging is that it is possible to write out and examine the creation process as it is ongoing ... so if some of what I write now doesn't quite fit with what I wrote last week, it is because I am moving forward in the process.

Proposed:  we can translate the measures in Civilization IV, or C4, into D&D.

Population:

The city population in C4 progresses as 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.  I propose that this could be translated into binary as 1, 11, 111, 1111, etc. ... and that these binary numbers translated into a 10 based system would progress as 1, 3, 7, 15, etc., for use in multiplying the population.  We know instinctively that a size 13 city in C4 is not merely 13 times the size of the village it starts as - the math here is simply designed to reflect that.

The base population of a village is 500 people.  Thus, the size of a town's population would progress as 500, 1500, 3500, 7500, etc.

There would still be tiles, as per C4, and the number of these that could be worked would be equal to the standard C4 city growth - that is, a village of size (1) in C4, with 500 people, could work 1 tile as well as the village itself.  A village of size (2), with 1,500 people, could work 2 tiles.  and so on.

Food:

To feed people, using again the 1947 estimate regarding the feeding of people during the Berlin Airlift of 1700 calories per day per person, we estimate that 500 people would require 100 million calories (its a bit more, but round numbers are too convenient).  This is written as 100m.

Thus, a village with 1,500 people requires 300m calories.  A town with 3,500 people requires 700m calories.  And so on.

A 'food' in C4 is therefore set to be equal to 100m calories.  A tile which produces 2 food in the C4 system is again viewed as producing 11 in binary numbers, 3 in ten-based numbers, and therefore 300m calories.

Two different tiles that each produce 1 food would together produce 200m calories.  Each tile is calculated in binary numbers individually, and then added together.  An unimproved grassland therefore produces 300m calories; an unimproved flood plain, 700m calories.

The number of surplus calories available to a village therefore increases the population at the following rate:  a total surplus of food equal to 100m will increase the center's size one degree over a period of 33 years (33 divided by total food surplus/100m).  This is exactly as true with a center whose initial population is 10,000 as it is of a center whose population is 500.  Nevermind that this would cause a large city to starve - this happens in C4 also.

Time:

All improvements, increases and so on are measured in years ... thus even the smallest improvement requires at least one year to implement.

Coin:

The actual number of g.p. in D&D as represented by 'coins' in C4 is entirely a matter of the DM's discretion.  However, if strict D&D is to be played, then the value of each C4 coin is estimated to be 2,500 g.p.

Coins, like food, progress according to the binary number structure already described.  Thus, 2 coins from a given tile would equal 7,500 g.p.

All coins are perceived to be moving through the economy more than once - specifically, the velocity of money in the village is given as 3.  This means that if the center's economy includes 10,000 g.p., then total GNP (simplistic!) would be rated as 30,000 g.p.  It is further concluded that one third of this would filter into the hands of the three levels of society: the noble class, the middle class and the serf class.  Each level of society would therefore have the entire center's coin to play with.

Players gaining coin from the system do not spend that coin as per rules to be found in C4, but instead as per rules to be found in D&D - except (and this is a change) where rules in D&D are lacking in describing how town improvements ought to be priced and therefore paid.

Hammers:

The number of hammers are treated as static numbers and not as binary equivalents.  Therefore, 1 hammer in C4 = 1 hammer in D&D.  Since that which is built with hammers is also static, in that the cost of an obelisk does not increase due to the size of center in which the obelisk is built, the cost of an obelisk (or any other town improvement) is a flat rate.  Obviously, larger centers have access to more hammers and therefore build town improvements faster.

Town improvements cannot be built without hammers.  Coin cannot stand in as a replacement for hammers.  Hammers represent labor and material resources, so if they don't exist, there is nothing for the coin to buy.

Town improvements require coin IN ADDITION TO the number of hammers.  Therefore, while it requires a set number of hammers to create a town improvement, it will also require a set amount of coin.  The amount of coin per improvement in this system has yet to be calculated.

Town improvements have similar effects to centers as they have in the game of C4.  This effect needs to be determined on an item-by-item basis, as well as the amount of coin required, and I shall endeavor to do so at a later time.

Going Forward:

I think this covers the highlights.  If anything considerable is missing from the above, please let me know.  I shall move on from here in the next post.