Streetvendor's Introduction

Before I take my newfound health and apply myself to the bailey hamlet — at last — I've written a new introduction to the proposed Streetvendor's Guide, using language that I developed working on the character generator and the recent facilities pages.  I think overall I'm getting better with explaining things more simply.  This is part one of two; I'll post the remaining introduction tomorrow.  Please note the total absence of any desire to embellish the material.

Introduction

This book sets out to accomplish two goals. First, to provide the most extensive price list possible for every ordinary good or service that a player character might buy in a fantasy role-playing game. Second, to provide detailed characteristics for each thing, including notes for how the nature of such things affect the function it has within a role-playing game.

Our constraints are that the object or service must be non-magical. It must be a thing that actually exists, or did exist, in the real world. And it must be a thing that was in general use no later than the mid-17th century, in keeping with the temporal culture of the FRPG. Hence, things that were invented in 1675, or which in 1640 were so advanced as to never be found in a market place, cannot be included in our list.

The Intended User

This tome wasn’t created for those who are concerned with role-playing for the sake of pretense or the desire to look “cool.” The material contained herein is written for those whose appreciation of role-playing games derives from their desire to know things, and who wish to insert details into their game world meant to increase the “grittiness” of that world.

"Grit” describes a world that’s intended to be substantial and practical in scope, as opposed to an experience that’s cinematic. The information found in these pages seeks to achieve a personal, sensory interaction with those things a character can buy, leading to the ownership of those material things with affection, esteem and even sensory tangibility.

Thus, the objects contribute to the manner in which the game world exists. Just as a hill or a river helps define the setting’s landscape, the etching on a sword, the fabric that makes a shirt, a bit of pottery or the grain in a loaf of bread creates a sense of place and culture. These details stress an essential notion of role-playing’s attraction and potential: that the character I play is a person, with tastes, desires, ideals and blood that rushes through his veins. From that premise, it matters what becomes of my character; it matters what he obtains while he achieves, in a more factual way than merely pretending to be something.

Organisation

The goods included in this tome are organised in two manners. First, raw materials are grouped together according to the form of labour required to bring those things to the game’s market. This includes farming, vegetable-and-fruit growing, specialty crops, stock raising, fishing, woodcutting and mining. Secondly, manufactured items and services provided are listed according to vendor, who acts as liaison between the buyer and the host of artisans, apprentices and professionals whose remarkable skills bring forth equally remarkable materials to buy. The vendor has the best possible access to those persons whom the characters may one day wish to hire, should they imagine someday running their own winery, perfumery or apothecaries’ shop.

There are thousands of objects for sale. Some are far more interesting than others and deserve more space than can possibly be provided. Others are so ineffectual in scope that a few words serves to give an instant impression. In every case, an effort is made to provide the reader with a jumping-off point, should they wish to investigate further into an object’s origin or manufacture.

Accuracy

Sad as it is to say, this is not a document for actually constructing objects or for processing raw materials into manufactured goods. Throughout the work, ratios are applied to explain, for example, how much milk it takes to make cheese, or how much wood or coal is needed to make a pound of wrought iron. When such ratios occur, they are strictly general in scope. They don’t take into account specific recipes, elevation above sea level, the purity of the source material or hundreds of other practical aspects that certainly exist.

The details contained herein are for game purposes. They go as far as we deemed useful for actual play. Room is offered for the individual gamer wishing to go further, increasing an exact detail to its physical limits, if that’s what’s desired. We wish the reader to go there with specifics, if the inclination is there. For ourselves, some restraint was needed as there are so many things here for us to pursue.