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Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Viking Equipment II: The Non-Lethal Stuff




The comment on my last post from Ogotai made me think I might be doing part of the heavy lifting for his impending "Saga Heroes" campaign, but I don't really care since I'll be playing in it and I like Viking stuff anyway. I am not going to do a bibliography here or anything, but I'd like to point out that I am using other game books as sources for my prices- I didn't just make this stuff up myself and I don't know that they are accurate at all, but they do seem reflective of the Viking Age distribution of items. I have AD&D 2nd Edition HR 1 Vikings Campaign Sourcebook, GURPS Vikings, Runequest Vikings, Runequest II Vikings and Rolemaster Vikings that I have been using as inspirational reading while I cobble together the campaign, the simplified money and prices are mostly from GURPS although I have extrapolated prices for some items not present in the GURPS Vikings book, from the AD&D book particularly, by comparing the listed prices of similar items when available, or translating the prices from one system to the other directly when an item appears in one book but not the other and the price makes sense, or just making an educated guess when it doesn't. So, thanks Steve Jackson Games and Graeme Davis for doing the heavy lifting for me and making my D&D game run a little smoother; I am using a modified version of your stuff here without your permission, so I hope you all don't mind. You guys seem pretty cool, so I figure it'll be OK.



Clothing-

Breeches, Wool 5 SP
Breeches, Linen 8 SP
Breeches, Leather 15 SP
Boots 80 SP
Shoes 40 SP
Tunic, Wool 5 SP
Tunic, Brocade 20+ SP
Cloak, Wool 8 SP
Cloak, Fine Cloth 20+ SP
Cloak, Fur 100+ SP
Undershirt, Linen 5 SP
Underdress, Linen 7 SP
Dress, Linen 12 SP
Dress, Fine Cloth 25+ Sp
Hat, Wool 2 SP
Hat, Leather 4 SP
Silk Jacket 1,600+ SP

Food, Provisions, and Lodging-

Snack 1 SP
Meal, Average 2 SP
Beer, Barrel (25 Gallons) 50 SP
Wine, Keg (4 Gallons) 100+ SP
Mead, Keg (4 Gallons) 100 SP
Figs (per pound) 160 SP
Raisins (per pound) 160 SP
Salted Herring (per 100) 6 SP
Lodging (per night)* 1 SP

*Ordinarily the Norse code of hospitality makes this free, but in a larger settlement you might find yourself having to pay for a room.

Livestock-

Dog 10 SP
Dog, Hunting 170 SP
Dog, Guard 250 SP
Dog, War 200 SP
Heifer 200 SP
Milking Cow 250 SP
Ox or Bull 1,500 SP
Horse, Riding 1,200 SP
Hawk 100+ SP
Ewe 100 SP
Ram 250 SP
Goat 150 SP
Sow 200 SP
Boar 400 SP

Miscellaneous Equipment-

Chess Set 30 SP
Hnefetafl Set 25 SP
Silver Arm Ring 50+/- SP
Gold Arm Ring 200+/- SP
Brooch, etc. 50+ SP
Bone or Antler Comb 1 SP
Small Knife 1 SP
Small Casket (6"x9") 5 SP
Sea Chest (2-3 cubic foot capacity) 15 SP
Door Lock 5 SP
Bone Skates 2 SP
Bearing Dial 1 SP
Cauldron and Tripod 20 SP

Transport-

Ox Cart 1,600 SP
Horse Sleigh 2,400 SP
Faering (Boat, 20') 800 SP
Sexaering (Fishing Boat, 40') 1,600 SP
Knarr, Small (Cargo Ship, 50') 10,000 SP
Knarr, Large (Cargo Ship, 75') 16,000 SP
Longship, Small (Warship, 60') 16,000 SP
Longship, Large (Warship, 75') 24,000 SP
Drakkar (Warship, 100') 240,000 SP



That's about all for today. My sister is still in the hospital, going on three weeks now. She was home for a little over a day last week before she had to be rushed back due to complications for an emergency surgery. So that is kind of a bummer, but she seems to be doing OK now and they are planning on transferring her to a better hospital in NYC as soon as she's good enough to go.

6 comments:

  1. Sorry to hear about your sister, hope things improve for her. The Nordic stuff is pretty cool. Always loved the Scandinavian legends since school, Greek stuff just didn't hit the same spot. Apart from Ray Harryhausen's films of course!

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  2. My best for your sister of course.

    I know we talked about this over the phone, just throwing it on here so your community can see it too:

    I admire your efforts to determine somewhat accurate prices, and while I didn't study the prices I scanned the list reasonably well and feel you've done a good job. That said, like we agreed, the most important function of an equipment list (besides indicating scarcity of certain goods) is to make your game function. As historians we sometimes fall into the trap of accuracy (not that you have here) to the detriment of what's good for the game.

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  3. I just looked at this and realized that it lost all of the lovely formatting I spent so much time on in the price list. Bummer. I am going to guess it did the same thing in yesterday's post too.

    I could never decide if I was a bigger fan of Norse mythology because I came to it later in life or because it really is just that much cooler than Greco-Roman mythology, but I think we can agree that Harryhausen's films are awesome!

    The more I think on it, the more I think the game designers must have had some reference for the prices of items in the Viking Age, although I'll be damned if I can find it, because their price lists agree with each other more than they diverge. They especially agree on big ticket items and diverge more often on smaller stuff like combs, knives and pots. They really agree, from system to system, on the prices of ships.

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    Replies
    1. or the subsequent games just copied from the first...

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    2. I considered that possibility, but it seemed rather cynical; additionally they would have all had to work out their various monetary systems and convert like I did, granted they'd only be doing it for one, but it seems like a lot of work.

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  4. Occam's razor really - what seems simpler, them all finding the same source material that you are unable to locate and deriving these quite similar prices independently or converting a previously existing list to their money system... (yes I'm a cynic) (but like I've said, it makes my expectations easy to exceed...lol)

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