While trying to spice up the travel portion a bit in a game I was DMing, I rolled on a table I found online for a random encounter. This encounter happened to be combat-based, with a group of goblin bandits. I do this fairly often, and I've seen others do it as well, but it got me thinking. Adventurers get attacked on the road a lot, almost an unreasonable amount. If a wagon carrying supplies got attacked even half as much, it wouldn't be very cost-effective to send it on long journeys. And I'm not trying to poke holes in the lore of other settings, I'm sure they have explanations for it, I was just wondering. How would trade between landlocked kingdoms work in a world so abundant with monsters and threats? 

I liked the idea enough that I'm now trying to create my own setting, where the premise is exactly that. I'm going for a kind of Elden Ring vibe, where you can just chance upon something incredibly deadly at any point. There's going to be ruins and remnants of ancient civilizations that tried to survive, but ultimately couldn't hack it. I am just having trouble trying to work at the broad logistics of a world like this. My first thought was that, instead of vast sprawling kingdoms, the continent would be dotted with small self-sufficient city-states. But I have no ideas beyond that. Any input would be appreciated. 

Well, there would be a lot of options here and I think they could all compile to be very effective at worldbuilding!

First and foremost you have Caravans and Mercenaries. A single wagon making the run between two distant cities will soon become a bouncy castle for goblins, so they will use the strength of numbers to allay most threats. This will likely involve Booking Agents (who will be similar in power to mob bosses and probably as ruthless) who have ties to the Mercenary guilds to protect the caravans. There would likely be a power struggle between the two, as they both need the other but won't admit it (though each city can be different). The Booker will also deal with the Merchant guilds, and then try to get the best price for themselves out of the two - ask the Merchant guilds how many wagons they have for the caravan, and then get a price and offer (how many mercenaries) from the Mercenaries, put that offer back to the merchants (possibly lying), and haggle to get the right protection at the right price. Then the date is set for the caravan and they all leave to cross the world together, like a small army.

The Merchant Guilds will then be looking for people who want to travel with them, and will charge them to do so, in order to make money. This will change the deal, and so the deals might be made per head (EG Mercs say they will supply 2 mercs per wagon at a cost of 3 gold per person, 2 gold per oxen/horse, and 5 gold for the wagon), then the Merchants might charge 20% more for people wishing to join the caravan, who will have no real choice as it's the only safe way to travel.

There would also need to be a Guild of Navigators (something I'm building in my world) who have the task of scouting the roads and leadign the caravan safely around the threats without confrontation. They will likely charge a lot, and will have dealings with bandit kinds and all sorts to pay protection money to keep the road safe for the caravan's passing, which makes the guild look good. Again, this is a relationship where the bandits can hold them hostage for more money, so can work wel lfor political intrigue. Their guild will likely make extensive use of communication magic like sending stones, and of Scrying, and they will likely be versed in sufficient magic to have a familiar to help with scouting.

You can also consider the temptations offered to guildmembers of the guild of navigation - what if the Bandit king offers you half the gold taken for leading a wealthy caravan into a trap?

Then there's private hires - the bookers may arrange a caravan with mercenary guards, but a strongbox being transferred between two banks is likely to have it's own entourage of highly trained soldiers. An emmisary or ambassador might have a contingent of royal guards to ride with them. a party of adventurers will have theor own military capabilities, and might be hired by any of the caravan.

Finally you've got the tagalongs, who might follow such a caravan in the hope of benefiting from it - perhaps they aim to scavenge anything dropped, or to hope that the caravan pushes away the threats long enough for them to pass through the gap. Such desperate souls might form unguarged caravans which follow a day behind the true caravan. They might not always be successful.

Depending on your world, this might include people who seek to tempt the caravanners away - either fey or entertainers, gamblers and pimps are among the sorts who might follow such a caravan. You may also get portable smiths to sharpen weapons and sell overpriced wares. Depending on the nature of the caravan, they might be welcomed into the protection of the caravan, or they might be left outside of it (again, politics!).

Have fun, let us know what you go for!

It would happen the same way it happened IRL. The caravans would hire armed escorts and the governments would attempt to reduce the threats to help bolster trade and their lands’ economies. They would send out hunting/raiding parties to clear the threats and possibly even offer bounties to anyone who could prove they had successfully killed raiders or monsters, usually by collecting scalps or ears or whatever other trophies would be applicable.

One detail you might throw in, is to have cities or watchtowers use some kind of signals like magic flares (or just signal fires), to warn travelers that danger was spotted somewhere nearby.  Caravans and travelers would have just enough warning to hide in the forest, circle the wagons, or maybe make a run for the city gates, in a situation like that.

Another possibility is that this could create some demand (at least in the form of "job board" postings) for rangers, druids, or anyone else that can sense dangerous creatures or scout for threats with minimal risk (via Speak with Animals, Beast Sense, or similar abilities).  In some situations, a skilled guide could be an alternative to hiring a band of mercenaries - less expensive, but less able to protect you if something goes horribly wrong.  

This is strangely reminiscent of my own homebrew - a world where nature somehow pushes back, and whenever civilisation tries to encroach, it ends badly. 

In a world where travel was too dangerous for your garden-variety average traveller, I'd have landtrains. Fortress-sized* wagons pulled by teams mekillot mammoths or triceratopses, or the like. Outriders on crodlu raptors, scouting for anything that might be a danger even to a rediculous-sized cart. Maybe some sort of greek fire flame thrower. 

Point is, I'd basically create a type of caravan that would be able to brave the odds. A class of adventurer-merchant to get the job done. Call them vagrus rogue traders land pirates, or some such. Maybe organise them into clans or merchant houses, make them sort of like nations - they live mostly outside the cities, and the cities need them beyond question, so any given merchant clan can make their own rules, and set their own prices, what with the effect such a world would have on supply/demand. Anything non-local would be prohibitively expensive.

* Relatively small fortresses exist. Still not sure making wagons of such size is realistic - but then this is fantasy, and realism can go grow a third arm or something.

A lot of good ideas here. When you suggested the world build, you immediately made me think of "The 13th Warrior". There is no end to the ideas of bad things that can happen to caravans. Some are monsters, some of humans, some are humans pretending to be monsters. The terrain can be treacherous, disease, and other unknown dangers. This causes most people to move in groups. And due to resources and land, you will never run out of reasons for people to set out for trade, discovery, or conquest. I think to a lot of movies and shows of late that small groups of mercs or rangers setup routes that tend to be the safest, but in essence they become the expert on getting through dangerous areas whether by a secret tunnel, strength in numbers, or superior technology. Sometimes you just need that stuck up, half witted, scruffy looking Nerf Herder to make that Kessel Run in under 12 parsecs....

Stay consistent in your story, and it will make more sense.  

This is one reason why many D&D settings don't make any sense.  If within the "civilized" areas folks get attacked by one variety of monster or another every day to multiple times a day, trade would be your second concern, maybe.  Your first is there would be no food.  Farmers need tame lands to farm.  If the farms get torn up or the farmers get killed, goodbye everyone, don't forget to turn out the lights.  Everyone dies of starvation.

But, assuming each settlement has a reasonable bit of farmland around it that is "safe", then we might get to the trade problem.  One solution is that goods might be teleported from here to there.  It isn't hard to figure after you think about the sort of issue you raise.  A mid level spall caster can create a teleportation circle.  This would be like an airport in modern times.  People coming and going from all sorts of places.  The problem becomes, defending the circle.

For this reason, in my settings, they are careful about making circles, and anyone caught making an unapproved teleportation circle can expect the authorities to come looking for them.  I have one teleportation circle in each Duchy located inside a Monastery somewhat removed from the population centers, just in case.  Each Monastery  has their own Order of Paladins that defend and protect the Circle.  The top nobles approve of folks having access to the circle, so folks just don't come and go.  But when large shipments or valuable shipments have to cover some distance, the cargo is taken to the Circle and sent to another from there.

It is a great thing to think about for your settling.  You can of course handle it any way you like, but making it interesting is part of the fun.

Quote from Ladleboy >>

While trying to spice up the travel portion a bit in a game I was DMing, I rolled on a table I found online for a random encounter. This encounter happened to be combat-based, with a group of goblin bandits. I do this fairly often, and I've seen others do it as well, but it got me thinking. Adventurers get attacked on the road a lot, almost an unreasonable amount. If a wagon carrying supplies got attacked even half as much, it wouldn't be very cost-effective to send it on long journeys. And I'm not trying to poke holes in the lore of other settings, I'm sure they have explanations for it, I was just wondering. How would trade between landlocked kingdoms work in a world so abundant with monsters and threats? 

I liked the idea enough that I'm now trying to create my own setting, where the premise is exactly that. I'm going for a kind of Elden Ring vibe, where you can just chance upon something incredibly deadly at any point. There's going to be ruins and remnants of ancient civilizations that tried to survive, but ultimately couldn't hack it. I am just having trouble trying to work at the broad logistics of a world like this. My first thought was that, instead of vast sprawling kingdoms, the continent would be dotted with small self-sufficient city-states. But I have no ideas beyond that. Any input would be appreciated. 

 
The city-states would only be able to use the resources in its immediate area, so they’d have to be situated in places where they can get everything they need and be able to reliably defend them. This could lead to a situation where each one appears advance in one way and primitive in another.

And your right about the “cities” being small. I don’t know that upper limit for how big a settlement can get and still be able to support itself for the standard D&D technology level, but for what I’ve gathered 1,000 people is really pushing the limit. Magic can of course boost that number, and I think being near a source of fish would help but don’t quote me on it. The communities would have to be of some size though, or risk inbreeding. I’d imagine that standing armies would be extremely rare, but with the monsters and raiders present most people who could afford it would be expected to train for battle. So a number of reasonable combatants, but few experts that can devout themselves full time to it.

To ease up on the pressure, you could say that the monsters only appear at limited and predictable intervals. Maybe they can’t stand heat and only come out in winter, or they can only enter the world at night under a certain constellation. This would allow for a trading and resource gathering season followed by a time of making the walls and bolting the doors.

If your willing to do some reading try Louis Lamour’s book the Walking Drum. It follows a hero through several cultures with varying trade problems at around 1100 CE. The hero travels from Brittany to Spain then through France, Germany and Eastern Europe to Kiev.Then  down to the Black Sea, to Persia and, at the end nd he is on his way to India. Decent story with great examples of trade, sailing and caravaning in different areas  

Try looking into the historical Silk Road connecting China to the Levant (modern day eastern mediterranean, Israel, Lebanon, Turkey).

The Silk Road was eventually surpassed by fast sailing ships, like clippers etc but that is possibly at the extreme edge of tech you'd want in a fantasy setting. Also, the Earth has no Kraken and the like to mess up ships that come too close ;.)

Quote from MusicScout >>

This is one reason why many D&D settings don't make any sense.  If within the "civilized" areas folks get attacked by one variety of monster or another every day to multiple times a day, trade would be your second concern, maybe.  Your first is there would be no food.  Farmers need tame lands to farm.  If the farms get torn up or the farmers get killed, goodbye everyone, don't forget to turn out the lights.  Everyone dies of starvation.

 I fully agree and have given this some thought for some time. In my opinion the traditional fantasy setting is borne from a line of thinking that originates with the American discovery of the West. Settlers moved west into a sparsely populated wilderness that was only inhabited by nomadic tribes and animals. This is not how exploration of Europe or Asia would have looked like (or indeed how exploration of Africa, India, South America did look like).

IMHO world building (the political part at least) starts with trade, who makes what, who else want it, how do they get it, what obstacles are in the way and how are they overcome/circumvented.

Recently there was a discovery off the coast of Israel that have upended thoughts on what was the effect (on trade) of the Islamic conquest of the Christian Holy lands in the middle ages. It was though that once the "Holy Land" fell to Saladin all trade stopped. Turns out, it did not. Was it trade or was it smuggling? We'll probably never know but really, only the prices, risks and profits are different

There will always be trade. It just might be restricted to high-value goods like luxury products or essential needs that are unevenly distributed like tin. While dangers increase the risk and therefore the cost of trade, there will always be some item with a high enough value-to-weight ratio to make it worth the cost. The more the risk, though, I think the more unusual type or person it takes to be a trader. With high risks of trade, I would think merchants would be highly adventurous, risk-taking sorts. Like an ordinary non-criminal merchant would have a fairly chaotic piratey vibe. They would probably respect the law to the extent that it's inconvenient to get caught, but not be averse to bending the rules for a little better return.