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xmaxx
Acolyte
France
39 Posts |
 Posted - 22 Jan 2015 : 16:00:19
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As some cities authorize slavery (like Melvaunt), I was wondering how much would cost a slave...
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Gary Dallison
Great Reader
United Kingdom
6353 Posts |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36779 Posts |
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Gary Dallison
Great Reader
United Kingdom
6353 Posts |
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combatmedic
Senior Scribe
USA
428 Posts |
Posted - 22 Jan 2015 : 23:52:13
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quote:
Originally posted by xmaxx
As some cities authorize slavery (like Melvaunt), I was wondering how much would cost a slave...
Well...
What's the supply to demand ratio?
How many slaves are on the market? How many buyers?
You can, and I would argue that you should, break it down further by the skills and traits of the slaves in question.
And where are these slaves coming from, anyway? Are the captives of war?
Are they people bred as slaves, who have never been free?
In FR is magic involved in the process of capturing or conditioning, training, selling, and so on? The cost of spells may need to be factored into slave prices, in that case.
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YMMV= Your Mileage May Vary. I'm putting it here so I don't have to type it in every other post. :) |
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SaMoCon
Senior Scribe
USA
403 Posts |
Posted - 23 Jan 2015 : 03:12:27
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quote:
Originally posted by combatmedic
What's the supply to demand ratio?
How many slaves are on the market? How many buyers?
You can, and I would argue that you should, break it down further by the skills and traits of the slaves in question.
And where are these slaves coming from, anyway? Are the captives of war?
Are they people bred as slaves, who have never been free?
I can't quote you any sources for this information as what I've encountered are sparse references at best to there being slavery in the Realms but not wide-spread. You have asked quite a number of questions that requires in-depth answers which may not be forthcoming from the books about a subject that is taboo in many societies. Xnella Moonblade-Thann found an answer in FRCS 3.0 pg87 though there is no detail for variability and little to back the price as anything more than an arbitrary number. I wouldn't be surprised if several of our sages are uncomfortable with trying to answer this and may forgo doing so instead of stepping into a social minefield.
What is the value of a slave? That does depend on whose buying and for what purpose just as much as who the slave is and what that slave can do. I am not (cannot) giving concrete numbers because I would have to pick a region and fabricate a trade from a few words. If you already have a game then you already have an economy you know (even if it is the vanilla D20 core rules economy) to improvise your own pricing. I just want to give you a few considerations.
All slaves have a cost as they must be maintained for the length they are with their buyers. Food, medicine, shelter, transportation, security, training, oversight - these are all not just investments in money but also time by the seller. The practice of enslaving locals or from the surrounding region is a recipe for disaster as empathy can bring rescuers and the ability to go home and blend in makes the chances of a successful escape much higher than for a foreigner of a different people from a far-away land. Whether slaves are captured, bred, or otherwise the result is a laundry list of expenses aside from the actual value of a slave.
Skills are only as valuable as the buyer sees profit from them. Sages are as useful as the uneducated in mines, on farms, digging ditches, hauling cargo, or carrying water. Displaying skills is good cause to be challenged and singled out for torment (not unlike bullying in schools but with far more dire consequences). Only those with money in particular craft-based businesses would seek profitable skills in slaves. After that, skilled slaves are a measure of monetary excess as both nobility and rich would have such as status symbols - musicians, teachers for their offspring, artisans, and so on... A caveat to that is the knowledge that the opulent are a rare demographic in the Realms and the skilled merchants are unlikely to be larger than family businesses.
The length of time that can reasonably be expected of the slave to put forth good work is best gauged in age, overall health, suitability for the work to be performed, and (where applicable) length of contract which should form the basis of pricing. That length of time may be multiplied by the cost of local labor to create the baseline price - i.e. an average human teenage boy can swing a pickaxe for 30 years before dropping so by core D20 rules is worth 1sp/day x 365 days x 30 years = 1095 gp. Broken or compliant slaves can command better prices because they are easier to handle while willful or forced slaves will only be taken by those who are desperate for workers or who have experience breaking the will of such slaves (a much smaller pool of potential buyers reducing demand and prices). Legality changes the pricing often with laws banning the practice actually driving up prices.
Slavery takes different forms from the brutality of being treated as less than sentient property to an agreement for temporary indentured servitude in lieu of a debt owed. Dowries, bride-prices, and arranged marriages are overlooked forms of slave trade as parents sell off their less economically-viable daughters with differing attributes for valuation from those described above as bloodline, perceived fertility, and beauty come to the foreground. Criminal prisoners can be bought for services to be worked off until the "victim" has been properly compensated whether through legal channels or private agreement (i.e., a dine-&-dash restaurant customer washing dishes to pay for his meal instead of being turned over to the local constabulary). Sex-slavery is lucrative in population centers with as little as one-man pimps up to organizational corrupted authorities buying and selling people for power & profit. Each of these places a different value on the slaves as their roles change according to the desires of the buyers.
With those thoughts in mind, one has to consider the merchants who engage in this trade. Are they well versed in the practice and have a history of trading with an established infrastructure to realize steady profit? Is this a supplemental form of income or is it the source of their livelihoods where every gold coin counts? What are the prospects of selling their slave for a profit in the locality versus simply moving the slave to a better market? How much has the slave already cost and will continue to accrue a deficit for the seller in food, shelter, and miscellaneous expenses? Would the merchant use the slave to offset those costs and for how long? For example, a long-time slave trader knows the most valuable markets for each slave and will price the slave for those markets regardless of locality but with a possible discount for the cost of transporting the slave to those markets (I consider it the room to haggle if dropping the price). A traveling healer who was given a slave as payment for his work may just be looking for reimbursement of his actual expenses in trying to sell that slave.
I know all I've done is muddy the water but hopefully I've given you some thoughts on devising pricing for your own game using the economy you have set up with your own players. Answering the value of slavery will lead you to where and how they come to be slaves. That's my two cents. |
Make the best use of the system that's there, then modify the mechanics that don't allow you to have the fun you are looking for. |
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Xnella Moonblade-Thann
Learned Scribe
USA
234 Posts |
Posted - 29 Jan 2015 : 12:00:44
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| I have a whole word document (or two, or three, or six dozen; I often have multiple notes of stuff in different documents) on slavery and prisoner notes. I can try to format the parts for the prices from different sources/editions of D&D/similar RPGs, as well as samples of slave/prisoner life (type of labor demanded, what to expect of slavery in different areas, etc.) if you'd like. Might take me a day or two to get all the notes organized...they are scattered. |
"Sweet water and light laughter until next we meet." - traditional elven farewell
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Slave price
