Black Desert Online RP Standardized Price List (By Noyel) These are prices in a City (Calpheon, Altinova, etc.) where the good is in new condition, produced within 30 miles by decent roads / less than a week by land travel (Sources and analysis on subsequent pages) Apples, 1 lb. ·················································· 4 silver Oats, 1 lb. ······················································· 11 silver Wages Bread loaf, Fine Wheat, 8 oz. ············· 27 silver Manual Laborers: Chicken, Whole ············································ 12 silver (Lumberjacks, miners, porters etc.) Sausage, Cured Pork, 1 lb. ······················· 21 silver ~150 silver/day Pork, Salted, 1 lb. ········································ 40 silver Generic Laborers: Salted Butter, 1 lb. ······································ 80 silver (Cooks, potters, chandlers, etc.) Ale, 1 gallon ··················································· 47 silver ~200 silver/day Wine, 1 gallon ················································ 319 silver Skilled Laborers: (Carpenters, leatherworkers, masons, etc.) Dress, Linen ··················································· 1,198 silver ~240 silver/day Gown, Furred················································· 3,008 silver Dress, Fine Silk ··································· 9,990 silver Artisans: (Mastersmiths, brewmeisters, chemists, etc.) Buckskin, Tanned, 1 sq. yard ··················· 266 silver ~330-530 silver/day Silk Fabric, 1 sq. yard ································· 2,197 silver Knight Banneret: Ink, 1 oz. ············································· 67 silver ~2,256 silver/day Candle, Tallow, 4 oz. ··························· 8 silver Oil, Whale, 1 gallon (256 lamp hours) ····· 133 silver Knight: ~1,128 silver/day Book, 24 page, leather bound ···················· 2000 silver Horse, Average ···································· 6,660 silver Man-at-arms, squires, and Horse, War······················································ 16.6k silver mounted regulars: 564 silver/day Barrel, Cedar, 15 gal. water-tight ············· 660 silver Donkey Cart, wooden ·································· 2,665 silver Common Soldier/Archer: ~140-280 silver/day Wagon**, Large Plains-crossing Cargo ···· 80k silver Ship**, Ocean-going Merchant Galleon··· 5 mil. silver Barons/Minor Nobles: Sword, Second-hand peasant’s ················· 282 silver ~2-5mil / year Longsword, by a Master Smith, New········ 5,000 silver Total Crown Revenues: Musket, New ·················································· 9,000 silver ~338mil /year Plate Armor, Full Harness ·························· 56.6k silver Farmer (20 acres): Cuirass, Munitions-grade ··························· 8.9k silver ~46,620 silver / year Chair, Quality hand-crafted ······················· 2,066 silver [127 silver / day] Inn Lodging, 1 person avg./day ················ 45 silver Rents, Tiny Cottage, 1 year ························ 2,820 silver Rents, Merchant House (2 storey), 1 year ·· 22.5k silver On Currency: One “silver” is the smallest denomination of currency mentioned in the game. While turning to game mechanics is always tricky, it’s more satisfying to have at least some basis rooted in BDO itself. Some very iconic small silver coins were the English silver penny and the French denier. Based on the Carolingian era concept of the 240ths division of a pound of silver, these coins were probably around 1.3 grams in weight with a diameter of 12mm. These were very small coins, but obviously things start to get pretty crazy when you imagine your character running around with a sack filled with thousands and thousands of coins when they want to buy a nice fur coat. It seems likely that there would be higher denominations of coins, although they’re not mentioned. The smallest gold coins would probably start at around 20 silver pennies, following the medieval English system, with 40 and 80 penny gold coins as well. On Distance and Markets: Prices given are for resale at a city market, where the goods have presumably passed hands from the original maker to a merchant/transporter, who then sells it off to a city retailer to sell to your character. There may be even more steps involved, like farmer-miller-baker that also adds costs before the item gets to the city. For purchases made in a nearby village or local market, the price would be ½ listed. If gotten straight from the source, it would be 1/3rd of the listed price. These are approximate values and represent what a connected merchant/transporter would probably be paying out of pocket at the source. Goods exported to a distant city that would require a caravan or oversea travel would likely be twice as expensive (or more) as listed. Downwards haggling was also very likely at any point. Misc. Relevant Notes: Goods listed represent some arbitrary average quality. For example, in the 14th century some wine from the Rhine was twice as expensive as wine from Gascony by volume in London. Things like horses especially will vary greatly in price depending on breeding, training, time, and place. Wages are given without considering tax of any kind. City-dwellers typically had good wages compared to their rural brethren! These numbers get a lot scarier when considering raising a family, as in any era. Afternotes and Sources: Standards of Living in the Later Middle Ages, Christopher Dyer, Cambridge University Press, 1989 London in the Age of Chaucer, A. R. Myers, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 1972 English Weapons & Warfare, 449-1660, A. V. B. Norman and Don Pottinger, Barnes & Noble, 1992 The Merchant of Prato, Iris Origo, Nonpareil Books, 1986 The account books of Henry of Lancaster, Earl of Derby *Information is primarily based on 14th-16th century English data +Some other scraps, the true, original source unfortunately lost to time Converting numbers from historical sources all starts here. This sign for apples found in Calpheon seems innocuous, but let’s ascribe some deeper meaning to it in the setting. We are RPers after all! We know our smallest denominational currency is “silvers,” so these apples must be 4 silvers. But how many apples? This is where the single biggest leap happens, but I think it’s sensible in some ways. I’m a NA player, and our greatest medieval historical sources are typically English, so I’ll be asserting that apples are sold by the pound. It’s exceedingly unlikely that people who cook almost all of their meals would have to buy apples per piece, and measuring weight-wise is still common in grocery stores today. It’s also probably not in the best interest of the merchant to sell by piece either for various reasons. It’s also unlikely that it’s 4 silver for a bushel, another common way to portion fruits, because there’s no way that there’s anything close to the ~125ish apples that make up a bushel in that bin. So, pounds it is. This is where the entire crux lies. Not a completely insensible measurement, but if you have objections, they really should be placed here. In relation to apples, all of the given prices have a historical basis. Saying that a pound of apples is four BDO silvers is just what is necessary to have a unified measurement unit. Coincidentally, here’s something fun. There are couple of prices listed at this meat shop. What is the cheapest thing here? It has to be those sausages, links dangling so neatly out of that basket. So, it seems likely that if we attribute some meaning to this image, the sausages are 21 silvers. Let’s go again for a price per pound! It’s also unlikely here that they would be sold individually. Can’t trust the merchant not to skimp you. With weights, at least customers can always provide their own scales when in doubt. It is likely that these are pork sausages, an exceedingly common meat, and a nearby vendors does say “ham” is for sale, but that’s of only minor importance. Now, if apples are 4 silvers per pound, and ambiguously cured pork sausages are 21 silver a pound, is it true that pork sausages are about 5.25x more expensive than apples by weight? Actually, that does jive with historical evidence! Furthermore, let’s think about what those other signs represent. 40 silvers is about right for a pound of salted pork, and 120 silvers is about right for a side of uncured bacon, coincidentally! Is this what PA intended? Almost certainly not, but it’s at least a fun thought exercise and something to base this whole venture on. Last up we’ve got one more interesting image. It would seem like PA just threw up some random numbers, but there is some surprising consistency here. These bins seem to represent some kind of dry goods, maybe oats, millet, and peas and such. We see scoops here provided too! Conceptually this is how dry-goods stores would have operated. A scoop would be their measure. A convenient tool for ripping off customers by using a slightly smaller scoop than the guy down the street, but the dry-goods scoop existed throughout history when supplying your own carrying container was the norm. Going by in-game scale of objects, a scoop of oats that large actually would give you something remarkably close to a pound of oats. Check your grocery store if you don’t believe me. Anyway, it is a happy coincidence that what is probably being represented here: oats, cornmeal, nuts, peas, and things like that, actually do hover around the 2x-5x worth of apples by pound in our medieval English sources! Now, I’m not the god of lore, a developer, or even a particularly veteran BDO roleplayer. What I’ve endeavored to propose here is a way to speak about “silver” in a uniform way that is actually based on some logic. All of the prices and wages in relation to each other are sound approximations to my knowledge based on the historical sources I have used. My personal analysis of what little in-game material we have is what has led to me presenting the possibility that 1 lb. of pork sausages if 21 silvers, rather than just saying generally that 1 lb. of pork sausages is worth 5.25 lbs. of apples. Basically, I’ve tried to make these relationships fit into the world of BDO lore-wise in a way that can be realistically incorporated into RP. I hope that this will provide a handy supplement for anyone that would like to use it. In the end, I’m not saying that this should be law, that you have to use this, or that my way is superior to whatever methods you’ve been using to drive your RP! I just hope that this could serve as a helpful reference or go-to whenever you need to make some judgements about your character’s wealth and resources. If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading, and I wish you thousands of hours of quality RP and satisfying character arcs. PEACE Y’ALL—NOYEL, OUT~ (Oh, but hit me up on the discord if you have any questions/concerns [Honest Merchant#0665]) Extra Bits and Bobs Tuition, Monastery School, 1 yr.······················ 22.5k silver Wedding-Feast, Middle Class···························· 11.3k silver “Keeping an earl's warhorse 82 days in summer” ············································ 20.7k silver Gold Ring with Ruby ··········································· 15k silver Gold Necklace ······················································· 9,400 silver Apprenticeship Fees, Craft Guild····················· 564 silver Membership Entrance Fee, Craft Guild ········· 1,880 silver 3 Men + 4 Servants, 1 night in an Inn (Food, Booze, Lighting, Horse Feed, Beds) ···· 1,280 silver Pair of Flintlock Pistols······································· 25.4k silver Craftsman’s Workshop + Residence················ 135.4k silver Large Tiled Barn··················································· 936.2k silver Coat, Fox-fur ························································· 10k silver Saddle ····································································· 5,000 silver Glass Bottle, ~1 quart········································· 188 silver Pot, Brass ······························································ 1,128 silver Silver Spoon* ························································ 1,316 silver River Barge ···························································· 112.8k silver Anvil ········································································ 11.3k silver Firewood, 1 cord (128 ft^2) ······························· 544 silver Fox Pelt··································································· 333 silver Axe, Chopping ······················································ 236 silver Spyglass, Wooden ················································ 1,332 silver Eleanor of Lancaster’s Chariot ························· 11.2 mil. silver Wagon Travel: 15,000 lb. Capacity Large Wagon pulled by 6 horses and staff (Trail boss + Teamster + Guard) 1 Day’s travel, ~15 miles by easy, safe road with 30 [32 gallon] barrels = 775 silver coins expense for the Merchant who owns the wagon / 1,550 silver coins charged to a third party utilizing the shipping service. Quirks of the system (After-after notes): *Silver is pretty undervalued in this setting compared to Earth if we’re assuming that “silver coins” are pure silver or some kind of high-silver sterling silver alloy (95%ish). It may be that these coins are quite low in actual silver content, with lots of copper and tin mixed in. One other reasonable explanation is: this isn’t earth! It’s very possible that silver just happens to be extremely abundant in the known world, or there’s some fantastically large source of it that has made its way into circulation. It does seem to be extremely easy to gather silver from random rocks lying around, but it may be hypocritical to all of the sudden turn to game terms when we’ve been trying to skirt them so far. Or they could be extremely small and thin. Either way, I’m satisfied with the numbers as they are, being quite manageable and having tens vs. thousands vs. millions of silvers falling along very easy to comprehend categories of goods/services. Some other theories: “Silver” is just a unit of accounting and doesn’t necessarily exist as the standard coin. It could refer to ways that a coin is meant to be clipped, maybe in fourths or even eights! If this is true, the mass of coins needed for a transaction would be four or eight times smaller. There’s no evidence for this though. It is also possible that whole coins are used, but “silver” is a unit of accounting that is less than the value of the coin or represents a defunct lesser coin. That requires quite a bit of math on the part of our poor farmers though. **As we move up to pricier items that require very large amounts of material and work-hours will obviously vary widely in cost. The Large Plains-crossing Cargo Wagon and Ocean-going Merchant Galleon Ship presented in this document are pretty much top-of-the-line for what a standard professional might employ. The Ship is akin to the old Spanish Treasure Galleons, and the Wagon is probably close to something like would’ve been used to cross the Great Plains in the US. Obviously independent shippers/merchants, fishermen, etc. will be using cheaper and smaller versions, while the wealthiest nobles and Merchant Unions might employ something monstrously expensive! All items here are considered new, and 100% of the labor costs (which is the bulk cost of these huge constructions) are included in the price. Second-hand and aged goods will be much cheaper, much like a used car, but a little less extreme. Level of technology in production and processing seems to vary quite widely in the world of BDO, just like the transitional period of our world. Differentiating between what was produced via cottage industries and what was the product of renaissance-era technologies in the source material is quite difficult with my level of understanding. Some of the widely available technologies in Calpheon, kind of an Italian proxy in BDO lore, like moveable type and presumably other things involving screws and springs (Italy started its renaissance period quite early) would probably introduce quite a shift in the valuation of goods by region. I’ve decided not to touch it, however, and just rely on what my sources have to say about the 13th-16th century of Earth in general. Hooray, generalizations!
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