How to Build a Fantasy Economy

How to Build a Fantasy Economy

We all depend on the economy. In fact, we—and everything we choose to do and not do—is part of the economy. Fantasy economies are no different.

This video takes a look at a stage of novel development that is often overlooked: building a fantasy economy.

You can also read this content as an article here:

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[aliceh]

I've heard early villages didn't depend on barter UNLESS they didn't know the person at all. They used credit - everyone remembered what they owed and what they were owed. It just wasn't collected until they needed it.
Then the far-off govt's army would come through & need to pay for food & lodging right away, because they wouldn't be there later to collect from. So the govt minted coins to make up for the lack of local credit.
This is only one situation, but it's nice to know of a society that didn't think like we do, as if we couldn't depend on anyone living near or with us.

[garrettf]

Dude, subside is when something decreases, as in "the waters subsided, " or "his anger subsided." The word you're looking for is "subsist." As in "subsistence."

[marktwain]

Excellent argument - all writers need to be aware of this fundamental reality of any world we, or our characters, might live in. Thanks for the insight!

[monlithic]

This is very important for the story I'm writting, since its about a merchant-adventurer who sells anything he finds (i.e. artifacts, weaponry, potions, resources, e.t.c)

[generalmaul]

Man... this is harder than I thought.

I wanted to write a city-state that could rival the larger nations in my world. I had the idea of making them a trade empire. Influencing other countries through their sheer economic dominance. I thought about the idea for about half an hour straight before I realised, "holy fuck I'm too dumb for this shit lmao."

Money is hard.

[KMPLX]

I've read articles from Sowell, but never one of his books. I like economics (Robert Murphy, Ludwig von Mises, etc). Fun stuff... for some anyways.

[newperve]

A renaisance city can't support one fitness instructor? Are you kidding me? Venice had 180, 000 people which means that it had at least 180 in the top 0.1% which is certainly rich enough to afford a fitness instructor. A lot of those people were merchants who ran ships but didn't work on them. The heaviest thing they lift professioally is their paperweight. Their wives are put to even less effort. They can eat large amounts of food and the men might not necessarily have time to eat healthy since like modern executives they can work long hours They will generally want to stay attractive to the opposite sex and not die of heart disease. Because they can afford doctors they will know about the latter. So I figure at least 180 who would be in the market for a fitness instructor. And that's assuming staying fit isn't a ideal in itself, which it would be in Greek-influenced cities. Add to that people who are relatively rich and called back into the military after a few years. They'll want to shed those pounds.

The percentage of the population that needs and can afford a fitness instructor would be less than now, but it could certainly afford one, particularly as they would not need that many clients, hell even one might be Ok if they're rich enough.

[Yarradras]

Foragers actually had a lot of free time, especially when they were living in fertile land and during summer when food was plentiful. Food could not be stored anyway, so why spend all your day foraging more than you need. Foragers were also healthier, taller and lived longer than early sedentary people as they had a more diverse and balanced menu as well were less prone to bad weather or other potential threats as they could change to different food sources or move to a different place. So while they had the time to dig up ore and make steel, they lacked the equipment to do so (and assuming the they had the knowledge/technology for that). But it was probably a forager in his free time that figured out how to agriculture his food.

[bathoryaria]

I really want to write a fantasy that takes place in a industrial setting, but my god it's hard to combine the two.

[casimiriii]

Awesome video, really.
Have to point out, though, serfs could afford meat and did eat meat.

[LordKvasir]

Can these things be applied to a sci-fi world?

[Julathegreat]

I gotta say, I don't like this style of video. I like listening OR not both. Every time I tried to read, I lost some of what you were saying, and vice-versa. As a result, I didn't read most of what was written there.

[alejandrocambraherrera]

Iʼd say the take on what is deemed “economically realistic” is in fact quite Eurocentric: basically something would be realistic if it more or less matches the history of Europe (and, by extension, the West). My two cents for aspiring world builders would be to encourage them to read not only about economics, but also about anthropology. Read about other cultures, the more distant the better. Read about the central planning of the Inca Empire, read about the economy of indigenous peoples around the world, read about the collectivist farms in Zarist Russia. This will give you a lot of material to work with, especially if you are trying to avoid the gazillionth iteration of medieval setting plus anachronistic capitalism plus a bit of magic.

[BelegaerTheGreat]

*(Notes to self)*

D&D {
Feudalist - Empire, Vidar's Kingdom, Halfelves
Early Agriculture - North, Surtr's Clans
Hunter-gatherer - Gnome Tribes, Orcs
Non Historic - Elves, Dwarves,
}

[PP] {
[To create some day]
}

[JimBCameron]

No! Barter did not emerge before money that's well disproven idea.

[SanguineUltima]

Good video, I've been thinking about this a lot for my world.

[gregboi]

2:36 >alleging money started the industrial revolution
wow

[lohdhshs]

I made the elves in my setting socialists lol

[arttuluttinen]

Minor note: serfs could (and did) have meat, although your idea is a common misconception

[DavidMacDowellBlue]

The notion that all peasants had zero access to meat is just false, as is the notion that medieval peasants had access to turnips (which are a New World vegetable, like carrots and potatoes). You are describing a stereotypical European economy, ignoring all sorts of other models such as medieval Japan, or Ancient Egypt, or different periods in Chinese history, or the Incas.