I have a Ranger who wants to spend his downtime hunting, butchering, and sell the animal meat and hide at the market. 

I came across the Trade Goods section in Players how much, which I assume, living, livestock cost is shown.  So that got me to wondering how much-butchered meat would cost or sell for.  Initially, I was thinking to take half the amount the livestock cost but then a single cow selling 10gp alive would be 5gp and that seems like a lot of gold when you compare it to lifestyle expenses. 

So I was looking for advice or any suggestions of resources that I could use for selling such items.

Note: I looked at DMGuild and did not come across anything specific. 

Do you know how much meat is on a whole adult cow?  That's what a noble would buy to feed a small party.  You could easily get 5gp out of a cow if you sell it piece-meal for coppers and silvers here and there to like twenty-thirty people who want a few pounds here and there.

Quote from Metamongoose >>

Do you know how much meat is on a whole adult cow?  That's what a noble would buy to feed a small party.  You could easily get 5gp out of a cow if you sell it piece-meal for coppers and silvers here and there to like twenty-thirty people who want a few pounds here and there.

I see your point.  I'm just trying to understand the D&D economy so it would not be unrealistic to sell it at half the living rate for just the meat?

It wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility if market forces were fair and there weren't other vendors undercutting the player.

EDIT: And not to knock the D&D economy, which is notoriously weird, but ranchers couldn't make a living if they had to spend 10gp to raise a cow only to sell it off for 5gp.  Generally in order to make a profit, one has to sell things for more than it costs to raise or craft those things. Granted, the "buy for half" mentality is based on the idea of wandering adventurers trying to sell looted goods to merchants who then need to turn a profit by selling those goods at retail price. 

Quote from Metamongoose >>

It wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility if market forces were fair and there weren't other vendors undercutting the player.

EDIT: And not to knock the D&D economy, which is notoriously weird, but ranchers couldn't make a living if they had to spend 10gp to raise a cow only to sell it off for 5gp.  Generally in order to make a profit, one has to sell things for more than it costs to raise or craft those things. Granted, the "buy for half" mentality is based on the idea of wandering adventurers trying to sell looted goods to merchants who then need to turn a profit by selling those goods at retail price. 

 The Ranger is coming into Waterdeep to sell so maybe he could pull in a better price in the larger city with the meat and hide.  

You could have them roll 1d10 or 2d6 or something like that... Roll a 10 they had a good day/week at the market. Roll a 1, people just weren’t looking for meat...

just another option.

edit: the number rolled would be the amount of gold they’d get, realized I didn’t specify that. But use whatever amount of dice seems reasonable to you.

Quote from BKThomson >>

I see your point.  I'm just trying to understand the D&D economy so it would not be unrealistic to sell it at half the living rate for just the meat?

Don't. There is no economy in this game.

Use the downtime rules for this situation. The character is practicing a profession, which will allow them to maintain a modest lifestyle without spending money.

Quote from Greenstone_Walker >>

Quote from BKThomson >>

I see your point.  I'm just trying to understand the D&D economy so it would not be unrealistic to sell it at half the living rate for just the meat?

Don't. There is no economy in this game.

Use the downtime rules for this situation. The character is practicing a profession, which will allow them to maintain a modest lifestyle without spending money.

 

Yeah, I agree the economy is rather fluid and I try to overthink what could be reasonable but still wanted the opinion of the hive-mind.

The ranger wanted to do some hunting and try to make money during the characters' one-month downtime because he lost his longbow in the last game so he needs the coin to buy the wares.  He's going to live outside the city of Waterdeep by the forest to allow his preferred terrain bonus to find animals like deer to hunt.  Originally I was going to have him do the Work downtime item in Xanathar's but since he wants to make some extra money and he gave me his ideal setup I said I'd look into what was possible hence the reason I was asking my original question.

If he wants to actually earn money, he should do some sort of adventure to hunt or trap a rare, valuable creature.  Catching large numbers of rabbits or deer isn't really something that should be able to bring in large amounts of money: there's a limit on just how much he can catch and bring to the market every day, and it's probably not an entire cow's worth.  Also, it would rapidly depopulate the game from an area, which is not a terribly rangery thing to do.

In that case, you could even just hand wave the whole thing. Just say, you make enough to support yourself and buy yourself a new bow. Over a month, that would be about 12.5 gp/week, which actually seems high. Considering he doesn't have a bow, his hunting won't be terribly efficient -- trying to trap a deer is pretty difficult, from what I understand. Then he'll need to actually spend time butchering it, taking it to town (is his str high enough to carry it, or is he going to be dragging it?), finding a buyer, and that's just for one deer (pre-refrigeration, he can't store up several days worth and then just make one trip). To me, giving him the bow is generous, but reasonable. If you want to be very nice, say he can have an extra 1d6 GP at the end.

Quote from Xalthu >>

In that case, you could even just hand wave the whole thing. Just say, you make enough to support yourself and buy yourself a new bow. Over a month, that would be about 12.5 gp/week, which actually seems high. Considering he doesn't have a bow, his hunting won't be terribly efficient -- trying to trap a deer is pretty difficult, from what I understand. Then he'll need to actually spend time butchering it, taking it to town (is his str high enough to carry it, or is he going to be dragging it?), finding a buyer, and that's just for one deer (pre-refrigeration, he can't store up several days worth and then just make one trip). To me, giving him the bow is generous, but reasonable. If you want to be very nice, say he can have an extra 1d6 GP at the end.

 That is a pretty reasonable point of view.  I'm just making it too complicated, aren't I?

 I read something recently and put my own twist on it.

When folk are excited/passionate/obsessed/extremely interested in a thing, they tend to overwork, overthink, and overcomplicate it. Not everything is akin to landing a rover on mars. Calculus and immense precision isn't needed for all things. In essence -

Don't always try and land a rover on mars.

Well, if the ranger's "hunting" to replace their bow, I'm assuming they're either trapping small animals or maybe going melee against bears.  I just don't think deer are going to hang around for your ranger to do them in with their sword or ax.  

Narrative solution, no math.  Ranger notices a certain color of brown or silver fur is in fashion this month among the wealthy;  and the ranger knows just the ideal creature to trap for it.  Ranger works out a deal with a luxury furrier, and gets enough to earn a bow and maybe the furrier through in a quality garment of the fur as tip, which also becomes the ranger's signature mark of apparel. 

Dont attack the bovines.

While I understand that the Ranger wants to do something they are good at in their downtime to make some extra money, I think they are underselling themselves. They are an Adventurer, a well sought out resource! 

Here is an excerpt from the SCAG on Waterdeep: 

Waterdeep’s shops and merchants offer goods of every sort from every corner of Toril, and even the rarest of items can be procured, given sufficient coin and patience. Adventurers lacking one or the other can very easily find all manner of employment, from simple escorting of caravans, to guarding nobility, to investigating a ruin or rumor of monsters anywhere in the North. 

Now, if you plan on running hunting encounters(sounds kinda like Adventuring) as Downtime Work for money, you could just as well do the above "employment" options in a similar fashion. They are not directly related(necessarily) to the Campaign progression.

Quote from Wtfdndad >>

While I understand that the Ranger wants to do something they are good at in their downtime to make some extra money, I think they are underselling themselves. They are an Adventurer, a well sought out resource! 

Here is an excerpt from the SCAG on Waterdeep: 

Waterdeep’s shops and merchants offer goods of every sort from every corner of Toril, and even the rarest of items can be procured, given sufficient coin and patience. Adventurers lacking one or the other can very easily find all manner of employment, from simple escorting of caravans, to guarding nobility, to investigating a ruin or rumor of monsters anywhere in the North. 

Now, if you plan on running hunting encounters(sounds kinda like Adventuring) as Downtime Work for money, you could just as well do the above "employment" options in a similar fashion. They are not directly related(necessarily) to the Campaign progression.

Since I wrote the post the Ranger has a list of things he wants to do in Waterdeep over the month-long downtime. I think I will from Xanathar's Guide I'm going to slot his hunting expedition as the Work downtime option and then let him buy the other goods as needed.  I'm running into a more complicated downtime that the Ranger wants and I need to pull it back a bit because downtime, to me, seems to be more of a 5-minute montage tool between adventures. Of course I could be wrong.

Quote from I_Love_Tarrasques >>

Dont attack the bovines.

 I was an example since cows are listed in PHB under Trade Goods to get an idea of price points.  The Ranger would like to hunt deer.

Quote from MidnightPlat >>

Well, if the ranger's "hunting" to replace their bow, I'm assuming they're either trapping small animals or maybe going melee against bears.  I just don't think deer are going to hang around for your ranger to do them in with their sword or ax.  

Narrative solution, no math.  Ranger notices a certain color of brown or silver fur is in fashion this month among the wealthy;  and the ranger knows just the ideal creature to trap for it.  Ranger works out a deal with a luxury furrier, and gets enough to earn a bow and maybe the furrier through in a quality garment of the fur as tip, which also becomes the ranger's signature mark of apparel. 

 

It's a one-month downtime and the lack of bow has come up and he plans on borrowing a bow from one of the party members until he has enough coin to buy his own.   I'm trying to compact the downtime per player to about 5 minutes so I've been working with everyone to get their downtime played before our next session.  The ranger has just developed a more involved downtime which is fine as it give more 'life' to his time in the city of Waterdeep. 

Quote from Jacked_Goblin >>

 I read something recently and put my own twist on it.

 

When folk are excited/passionate/obsessed/extremely interested in a thing, they tend to overwork, overthink, and overcomplicate it. Not everything is akin to landing a rover on mars. Calculus and immense precision isn't needed for all things. In essence -

Don't always try and land a rover on mars.

 

 

 Dang.  That is good.  Thank you for sharing.  

I like the effort of fleshing out this story rather than hand-waiving it all away. It adds flavor and depth to the character and Waterdeep. Now that doesn't mean every effort to obtain 50go needs to be fleshed out.

As for the details ... A cow can be a source of milk, a beast of burden, and at the end a delicious hamburger and a large piece of leather. I'd say the cow is worth more than 10go to the owner, but at the he can be sold for 10gp as a "salvage value" and the price of the hide pays the butcher for his efforts.The

Deer are smaller than cows. 5gp sounds like a fair price by comparison.