This would be way cheaper than the RAW. You can hire a skilled laborer, such as a carpenter, for 2gp a day. Each piece of furniture can take between 6-14 weeks depending on complexity of the piece. This would cost between 84-196gp, instead of 1gp 3sp and 4cp if you were to buy it at an Ikea like store. These being small businesses instead of factory produced warehouse stores versus a mom and pop shop hand-crafting furniture from raw material. Scale is being overlooked here. But I love your pricing for more commonly created items that you don't find listed in the PHB, such as unskilled laborer's work (2cp a day) which you are spot on with Ikea quality. lol. And now I'm thinking of some slave labor crafting cheap furniture under the oppressive thumb of some Great Old One name I'kea. ok this is now canon in my games.
In my games gold is pretty darned rare for most people. A room at the inn costs, like, 3-6 sp for example (depending on the quality). A tankard of beer costs 3-6 cp (again, depending on quality). I treat 1 gp as the rough equivalent of $100 in today’s money. So a skilled laborer earning $200/day makes sense to me, but a table costing between $8,400-$19,600 is ridiculous unless it’s a masterwork table with mother of pearl inlays and stuff like that. But for a regular, functional table…. If a skilled carpenter couldn’t crank out a basic, run of the mill table in less than a day then they’re either very, very old, or they’re bilking their customers. Remember, regular people need to be able to reasonably afford these products too, not just adventurers.
That is just RAW (chart below). But then again they say 50ft of hempen rope weighs 10lbs instead of the irl weight being 3lbs. But going with the 84gp per piece means you have something that will last years and is made of quality material. I have run games ranging from low gold to high gold games, it can be difficult to run a game that allows them to buy gear without worrying about the cost breaking the bank but still have to feel like it's earned. especially with Potions of Healing costing 50gp, or in your economy $500, which makes for a deadly mistake if no one is playing a dedicated healer.
"Skilled Hirelings include anyone hired to perform a service that involves a Proficiency (including weapon, tool, or skill): a Mercenary, Artisan, Scribe, and so on. The pay shown is a minimum; some ExpertHirelings require more pay. Untrained Hirelings are hired for menial work that requires no particular skill and can include laborers, porters, maids, and similar workers."
Right, I’m familiar with it. I have a buddy who would qualify as a “skilled laborer” who can crank out an unstained table, like a picnic table, in a couple hours with power tools, figure double that time with hand tools and an “unskilled” apprentice. That would mean about a half a day’s work, and that’s a table that will last years and years. Even if it took a whole day, that would still only be around 2gp, 2sp for the labor, figure the same for the materials, so we’re still lookin’ at 4.5gp for the table or there abouts.
And to be more accurate, I treat 1gp as $10 circa 1960 money. I find that the pre-automation economy of the late 1950s through early 60s works better as an analog than our current economy and level of inflation. I call it the “beer economy.” A beer in a bar cost approximately ¢30-¢40 in 1960, and I treat 1cp = ¢10 in that economy. It actually works quite well for the most part.
There’s an old D&D accessory book called Stronghold Builders Guidebook by Matt Forbeck and David Noonan published back in 2002. It does not list individual furniture items apart from doors and locks. But it does offer a very nice base building system with rules, pricing, construction times, ect. It uses a system of stonghold spaces and offers prices and example maps. For instance, a Grand House has 7 stronghold spaces. A Basic Dining hall takes up 2 stronghold spaces, costs 2,000gp to construct, and has a prerequisite that the stronghold contains a kitchen. A luxury office or study takes up 1.5 spaces, costs 15,000gp and requires 1 clerk hireling. Theres also advantages for certain rooms such as getting a bonus to a history skill check while using a library stocked with a volume of history books. There’s even rules and prices for staff, guards, magic wards, and all sorts of other cool stuff. A great system versus going through the mundane accounting of picking out a bookshelf.
For a DM, the prep work is like Schrödinger’s Cat, it will always simultaneously be too much and not enough. 😒
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
This would be way cheaper than the RAW. You can hire a skilled laborer, such as a carpenter, for 2gp a day. Each piece of furniture can take between 6-14 weeks depending on complexity of the piece. This would cost between 84-196gp, instead of 1gp 3sp and 4cp if you were to buy it at an Ikea like store. These being small businesses instead of factory produced warehouse stores versus a mom and pop shop hand-crafting furniture from raw material. Scale is being overlooked here. But I love your pricing for more commonly created items that you don't find listed in the PHB, such as unskilled laborer's work (2cp a day) which you are spot on with Ikea quality. lol. And now I'm thinking of some slave labor crafting cheap furniture under the oppressive thumb of some Great Old One name I'kea. ok this is now canon in my games.
Lol. I like that.
In my games gold is pretty darned rare for most people. A room at the inn costs, like, 3-6 sp for example (depending on the quality). A tankard of beer costs 3-6 cp (again, depending on quality). I treat 1 gp as the rough equivalent of $100 in today’s money. So a skilled laborer earning $200/day makes sense to me, but a table costing between $8,400-$19,600 is ridiculous unless it’s a masterwork table with mother of pearl inlays and stuff like that. But for a regular, functional table…. If a skilled carpenter couldn’t crank out a basic, run of the mill table in less than a day then they’re either very, very old, or they’re bilking their customers. Remember, regular people need to be able to reasonably afford these products too, not just adventurers.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
That is just RAW (chart below). But then again they say 50ft of hempen rope weighs 10lbs instead of the irl weight being 3lbs. But going with the 84gp per piece means you have something that will last years and is made of quality material. I have run games ranging from low gold to high gold games, it can be difficult to run a game that allows them to buy gear without worrying about the cost breaking the bank but still have to feel like it's earned. especially with Potions of Healing costing 50gp, or in your economy $500, which makes for a deadly mistake if no one is playing a dedicated healer.
"Skilled Hirelings include anyone hired to perform a service that involves a Proficiency (including weapon, tool, or skill): a Mercenary, Artisan, Scribe, and so on. The pay shown is a minimum; some Expert Hirelings require more pay. Untrained Hirelings are hired for menial work that requires no particular skill and can include laborers, porters, maids, and similar workers."
2 sp per day
Right, I’m familiar with it. I have a buddy who would qualify as a “skilled laborer” who can crank out an unstained table, like a picnic table, in a couple hours with power tools, figure double that time with hand tools and an “unskilled” apprentice. That would mean about a half a day’s work, and that’s a table that will last years and years. Even if it took a whole day, that would still only be around 2gp, 2sp for the labor, figure the same for the materials, so we’re still lookin’ at 4.5gp for the table or there abouts.
And to be more accurate, I treat 1gp as $10 circa 1960 money. I find that the pre-automation economy of the late 1950s through early 60s works better as an analog than our current economy and level of inflation. I call it the “beer economy.” A beer in a bar cost approximately ¢30-¢40 in 1960, and I treat 1cp = ¢10 in that economy. It actually works quite well for the most part.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
There’s an old D&D accessory book called Stronghold Builders Guidebook by Matt Forbeck and David Noonan published back in 2002. It does not list individual furniture items apart from doors and locks. But it does offer a very nice base building system with rules, pricing, construction times, ect. It uses a system of stonghold spaces and offers prices and example maps. For instance, a Grand House has 7 stronghold spaces. A Basic Dining hall takes up 2 stronghold spaces, costs 2,000gp to construct, and has a prerequisite that the stronghold contains a kitchen. A luxury office or study takes up 1.5 spaces, costs 15,000gp and requires 1 clerk hireling. Theres also advantages for certain rooms such as getting a bonus to a history skill check while using a library stocked with a volume of history books. There’s even rules and prices for staff, guards, magic wards, and all sorts of other cool stuff. A great system versus going through the mundane accounting of picking out a bookshelf.
K