Economics

 

Mythmaster is set in a pre-industrial, fantasy setting, not unlike an idealized version of our Middle Ages or Renaissance. In such societies, goods require significant effort to produce, and even supplying for the basic needs of the population is a constant challenge.

Such societies tend to function using Manorial and/or Feudal structures, frequently organized under nation-states, empires, or as collections of city-states. Politically and economically, these societies are command hierarchies that concentrate power, wealth and the control of resources into the hands of a small nobility. Most of the population are poor and live on the edge of subsistence, though centralized, strong government can provide protection from hostile forces, and can also develop beneficial infrastructre that has the effect of improving society as a whole.

Over time, these kinds of socio-economic structures can enable the steady, if slow, development toward more liberal systems. The emergence of commercial organizations such as guilds and companies alter the power dynamic, and mercantilism; which benefits the nobility at first, can lead to the rapid expansion of a middle-class, who slowly seize economic power from the nobles and transform the poltical order.

Getting Ahead

In Mythmaster, different characters will come from different socio-economic backgrounds, and will have different backstories. Some may start with an important position in an Organization, with many responsibilities, and may be looking for an exciting diversion from their everyday lives. Others may have struggled for years to find their way, and a life of adventurer - while dangerous - at least offers an opportunity.

Perhaps your character will start with status and power, and enough cash to outfit a battalion, and you are seeking adventure for its own sake. More likely, though, is that you will come from the nearer the bottom of the social ladder, and adventuring is a way to make a name for yourself, to build your fortune and to define your own future.

Whatever your character's dreams and aspirations are, a great deal of the challenges you will face have a material element to them. You need to eat, and your horse will need to eat to. You'll need clothes and probably weapons and armour. In a world where even simple rope needs to be woven by hand from grass or hair, everything is expensive, and adventuring is nothing if not hard on your gear.