Economy, Logistics, and Costs
Readers forgive dragons but not armies that never eat. Work out what things cost, how goods move, and what power costs its users, then keep the numbers consistent.
Prices and wages
Record in an economic system file:
- Currency units and their ratios (
1 crown = 20 marks = 240 pence) - A day's wage for a labourer, a skilled worker, and a soldier
- Prices of a meal, a night's lodging, a horse, a sword, a book, passage on a ship
- Who can afford what: a labourer saves for months to buy a horse
Anchor prices to wages, not to modern money. If the story uses a real
historical economy, record the figures as research notes (see the
research skill).
Supply lines
For any city, army, siege, or expedition the plot depends on, answer:
- What does it eat and drink, and where does that come from?
- How is it carried (ships, wagons, pack animals, porters, portals)?
- How long does the supply take to arrive (use the location
routes)? - What happens when the line is cut, and how long do stores last?
- Who profits, and who controls the choke points?
A cut supply line is a plot engine: it sets a deadline in days.
Magic and technology costs
Every power needs a price the story enforces:
- Cost: what the user spends (energy, blood, years, memory, money, rare materials)
- Limit: what it cannot do at any price
- Recovery: how long before it can be used again
- Side effects: who else pays (the land, bystanders, the future)
- Scarcity: who controls the materials or the training
Record these under ## Rules & Limitations in the system file. When a
scene uses the power, pay the cost on the page, and record lasting effects
in continuity/state.md (character-state or object-state).
Travel speeds by mode
Typical sustained speeds for setting route hours. Adjust for terrain,
weather, load, and rests; these are day averages, not sprints.
| Mode | km/h | Per day | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| On foot, road | 4-5 | 30-35 km | About 8 hours walking |
| On foot, rough terrain | 2-3 | 15-20 km | Hills, forest, snow |
| Army on the march | 2-3 | 15-25 km | Baggage sets the pace |
| Horse, sustained travel | 6-8 | 40-60 km | Horses need rest and fodder |
| Horse relay (post riders) | 15-20 | 150-250 km | Fresh horses at stations |
| Ox cart or wagon | 3 | 15-25 km | Roads only |
| Stagecoach | 8-12 | 80-120 km | Changes horses every 15-20 km |
| River barge, downstream | 5-10 | 50-100 km | Depends on the current |
| River barge, upstream | 2-4 | 20-40 km | Towed or poled |
| Sailing ship | 5-10 | 100-200 km | Depends on wind; sails day and night |
| Galley, rowed | 5-7 | 50-80 km | Crew fatigue |
| Steam train (19th century) | 30-50 | 300-600 km | Timetables and stations |
| Car, modern roads | 60-100 | 600-900 km | Traffic, fuel, rest stops |
Convert with hours = distance in km / km/h and add time for stops. Record
the result on the location's routes so story continuity checks journeys
between dated scenes (see maps-and-routes.md).
After editing economic or magic systems, run story reindex .,
story links ., and story validate ..