There are many aspects of fantasy world building that I have explored over the last forty years.
One of the ones I see done badly time and again in books, films, and games, is Agriculture.
That does not sound very heroic you might think, but if you don’t get the foundations right, then it makes it harder for players to become immersed in your world.
I frequently see or read about magnificent cities, described down to the last detail, but when you look at the maps, as soon as you ride out of their gates there is nothing, just a road, until you reach the next town or village.
A city of ten, twenty or fifty thousand inhabitants needs a huge amount of food, timber, fuel, and other organic materials to thrive.
In the modern world, with intensive agricultural practices, it takes roughly half an acre to feed one adult for one year. In medieval times we are talking about one and a half to two acres. Allow for a little magic or good land, and we could reasonably say one acre will produce enough vegetables, fruit and meat like chickens, rabbits, or swine, to feed one adult for one year.
So, your city of ten thousand needs at least ten thousand acres of good arable land under a mixed farming system, which is roughly sixteen square miles. However, many fantasy cities are not built in places that are as productive and medieval England or France. You may have to double this for cities in colder or hotter climes.
You also need other meat animals such as lamb, beef and game which take a lot more land, so add another sixteen square miles.
Farm animals also produce leather, wool, bone, horn, eggs, and dairy products, all of which are very important to the medieval economy.
Something we have not yet looked at is the importance of wine and beer to a medieval city. These days we drink these for pleasure. Back then weak wine, mead and beer were often produced to create a source of clean liquids to drink. Well and river water was often not ‘fresh’ and could be full of parasites. Fermentation removed most of these.
Grain and vines take up a lot of land, so let’s say another ten square miles for a constant supply. Mead comes from honey, but every farmer will have hives.
So, we are up to about forty-two square miles under agriculture to supply a city of ten thousand, but we have forgotten somebody… Oh yes, the agricultural workers themselves.
Farming in medieval times was incredibly labour intensive, indeed over two thirds of the population worked the land. Thus, our city of ten thousand is going to need another twenty-thousand people supplying it. This has just trebled the land requirement to about one hundred and twenty square miles. All of which must be within one or two day’s travel to the city to deliver fresh produce.
If all the land around a city can be devoted to farming (i.e., pesky geography does not get in the way), we are talking a radius of about seven miles around our city of ten thousand souls must be worked.
Allowing for a little geography this city is probably surrounded by farms out to at least ten miles from its gates.
Timber
This is needed for building, tools, transport, crafts, and fuel, so let’s say five square miles per year. This includes cut timber and coppicing. On a thirty-year growth cycle, we are talking woods to the sum of one hundred and fifty square miles.
Timber though, does not go off, so it can be hauled in from further afield.
Everything I have described above is based on a small city just producing food and drink for itself. What if it wants to export products to other regions? We are talking about crafted items as well as converted materials such as leather, wool, and timber.
Ever wondered why medieval cities are often thirty to forty miles apart? This is your answer.
So how does this affect roleplaying games?
- The wealthier the city, the more likely there is going to be gold to hire adventurers.
- Threats to a city’s agricultural base are more important to its rulers than almost anything else. Famine is a constant worry and can lead to violent regime change. So, monsters that are preying on farmers is a real concern.
- It defines what the adventurers will see as they approach a city, and much of the activity they will witness within it.
- Wars are fought for access to such resources.
- Cities and towns are founded and survive in a landscape developed to support them. That fabled city of fifty thousand souls, high in the mountains, better have some pretty impressive magic to support it, or an incredibly well-developed trading system.
- Transport. In medieval times most roads were a seasonal thing. Hauling heavy wagons across muddy tracks in winter is a nightmare. Most successful medieval cities were founded on navigable rivers. This allowed for good local transport as well as an import/export route.
- Granaries. Without some system of mass food storage, no city will last the winter. So, these exist and are as well guarded as the Baron’s treasury
Commerce
The main difference between dark ages and medieval cultures was commerce. Now, there had always been trade right back into prehistory. This was mostly in small amounts of materials and goods that you could load onto mules or boats. So, we are talking valuable or rare items.
During the early empires in the middle east, and around the Mediterranean, there was the development of commerce and an entire commercial class – the merchants. People who produced nothing of value themselves but who were able to buy, move and sell across a wide common area.
In the Middle Ages this really came of age. For example, in London you could buy Chinese silk, Indian spices and gems, Damascene steel, Venetian glass, furs from the high Arctic and Russia, French and Italian wine, African gems and hardwoods, Arabian spices, and amber from the Baltic. Venetian merchants travelled the Silk Road, Portuguese and English sailors were exploring the coasts of Africa and India.
Italian and Jewish bankers were funding all this activity and providing the credit that made the civilised world turn. The fate of Princes often depended not on silver coin, but the credit they could get from the likes of the Medici’s.
So, when you are building your fantasy world, consider where the trade routes and hubs are. Who is producing what and how far is it going? Even mundane products could be the lifeblood of a country’s economy. For example, in the 13th century, England’s wealth depended mostly on its wool exports. The money it raised paid for two hundred years of war between the English and French crowns, and a few crusades besides.
Conclusion
I have no problem with heroic fantasy that glosses over much of this, and in a game, it is just background. However, it doesn’t take much work to flesh this out and help you build your setting.
As hinted above it can also be used to build adventures around. For example:
- It is the deep mid-winter, and something is slaying the Granary guards and making off with sacks of grain. The Baron/Mercantile Council/Temple of Pelor hire the party to find out what is happening, who is responsible and deal with them before the population begins to panic.
- The Druids who usually come down from their grove in the spring to bless the planting are late. What has happened to them? Messengers sent to find out have not returned.
- A band of brigands/bugbears/whatever is preying on the caravans that take the Town’s main export to the coast.
- A magical blight is attacking the vineyards. Who is causing this and why?
These sorts of adventures improve the characters’ reputation in their campaigning area. They become heroes to the people and considered useful allies to the rich and powerful. Far more so than just dragging another dead troll into the marketplace, or tomb-robbing.
Dead Simple Roleplaying 