Covenants Chapter Five: Wealth & Poverty
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Wealth & Poverty
It is a very rare covenant that has no need for money. Just the same as any manor house, fortress, or monastery, there are a large number of people to be fed, housed, and protected, and only a limited amount (and limited types) of resources in the immediate vicinity. Indeed, magi are accustomed to living like nobility, with a need for precious lab equipment and materials, and expensive parchments and inks, that would be a burden for even a rich nobleman. Therefore, almost all covenants require a source of income, so that they may trade for needed goods. In this chapter you will find some straightforward rules for running of your covenant’s finances, and suggestions for sources of income.
These rules may be summarized by a very simple rule of thumb: Round any major income or expenditure to the nearest pound, and disregard smaller amounts (shillings and pence). While it is important to have a sense of the overall state of the covenant’s finances, you probably don’t want to get bogged down in the minutiae of smaller items of expenditure, such as how many jugs of ale the grogs drank last night or how many candles are used in a season. A lot of money is spent in many ways during the course of a typical covenant year, and accounting for all of it precisely would be a daunting task. Thus, for the sake of simplicity, you will only find prices for broad categories of expenditure and major items in this chapter, quoted in whole pounds.
Many covenants employ an autocrat, whose job it is (amongst other things) to oversee the covenant’s treasury and expenditure. It is also common for a magus (traditionally, but by no means always, of House Jerbiton) to take on this role, although the detailed bookkeeping is usually delegated to the autocrat or scribes.
A starting reserve of money for the covenant may be purchased with Build Points (at the rate of one Build Point per 10 pounds); otherwise it should be assumed to have no significant reserves of cash on hand at the start of the saga.
The Mythic PoundPrices in this chapter are quoted in Mythic Pounds. This conveniently ignores the fact that Mythic Europe consists of a multitude of different realms with different coinages, whose relative value may be subject to significant variation. This is something that only need concern you if you use the Extremely Complex wealth management option; otherwise, it is suggested that you do your accounting in Mythic Pounds, and simply assume that this is being handled in the local currency at the appropriate rate of exchange. One Mythic Pound is equivalent to a pound of silver, the annual income of a typical peasant, or enough money to maintain an average Hermetic laboratory for a year. |
Option: Extremely Complex Wealth ManagementIf you wish, you may keep track of the covenant’s finances exactly, recording income and expenditure down to the level of shillings and pence. For example, instead of simply noting the total cost of an expedition as one pound, say, you would account for individual purchases of basic provisions or trinkets. Most troupes prefer not to enter this level of detail for their saga, since it usually entails an excessive amount of bookkeeping, although it may be appropriate for a very poor covenant, or a saga with a focus on the mundane world or trade. Option: No Wealth ManagementNot every troupe may want to bother to keep track of their covenant’s finances. If you prefer, you can simply neglect the bookkeeping altogether, instead introducing any monetary surpluses or shortfalls at the storyguide’s discretion. This requires some careful judgment to avoid giving the impression either that the characters have unlimited funds, or that they have no control over their own finances, but this style of play may be especially appropriate for a very rich covenant or a high fantasy saga. |
Income
Most covenants have a single source of income, although some have diversified with two or more distinct sources, and impoverished covenants may have none at all. Broadly speaking, a source of income is a single large enterprise that provides a significant portion (usually most or all) of the covenant’s income. For the sake of simplicity, a group of related enterprises (for example, agricultural land with a variety of crops, or a trading business with multiple trade routes plus incomes from rent) can be counted as a single source. It is probably not worth accounting for any trivial sources of income (for example, selling surplus honey for a few shillings at the local market), unless they provide several pounds or more per year. Each source of income comes in one of four categories, specifying broadly how much income it provides (see insert).
| Source of Income | Relevant Hook Or Boon | Typical Annual Income (Pounds) |
|---|---|---|
| (None) | Poverty Hook (Major) | 0 |
| Typical | Poverty Hook (Minor) | 40 |
| Greater | n/a | 100 |
| Legendary | Wealth Boon (Minor) | 250 |
| Example | Wealth Boon (Major) | 1000 |
Baseline
The base for covenant creation (a standard covenant with no Hooks or Boons relating to income) is a single Typical source of income. An alternative base option is to take two Lesser sources of income instead of one Typical source. (Although this provides a lower total income, there are benefits to such diversity. Should one source of income fail, the covenant has a backup, plus there are double the opportunities for income growth and for stories.)
This base provides a fairly modest income by Hermetic standards (although a considerable sum by mundane standards), usually enough to cover the covenant’s expenses. Unless a relevant Hook is taken, the source of income is assumed to be mostly stable and discreet — something that the magi will not need to frequently concern themselves with. The annual income of 100 pounds is just a guideline, and assumes an average-sized covenant of about six magi. If your covenant has more magi, you may wish to adjust the income upwards by 15 pounds per additional magus. Likewise, if you have fewer magi, you may reduce the income by the same amount. For a covenant with only one Lesser source of income, the adjustment should be only six pounds per magus. If need be, you may also tweak the starting income relative to the starting yearly expenditure, so that at the start of the saga, the desired surplus or deficit is attained. Probably you will want to start the saga with the covenant having a small annual surplus, say ten pounds or so, to cover a modicum of sundry expenses (see below).
Customization
According to the Hooks and Boons taken, you can determine the number of sources of income for the covenant, and the category of each. For example, a covenant with the Wealth (Minor) and Secondary Income Boons, and the Contested Resource Hook, has one Greater and one Typical source of income, with the Greater source being contested. Based upon the covenant’s situation and concept, as agreed by the troupe, you can then flesh out these sources, using the list below as inspiration.
Improvement
Once the saga commences, the income provided by each source may vary from one year to the next, based upon the characters’ efforts (whether they invest in or neglect it) and on external factors (such as competition, demand, weather, and so on). Each year, the storyguide should choose an appropriate effect according to the Income Modification table (see insert), and apply the relevant multiplier to that year’s income from the source. Usually, this will be Status Quo, and so no change to income will be needed. Such changes are usually permanent, adjusting the base income for all subsequent years, although some effects may only apply for one year (for example, a bumper harvest, a plague of locusts, or a wandering friendly or rival merchant). Thus, a major effort or investment by the characters that meets with success may be rewarded. For example, five years of Expansion results in a Typical source of income growing to become equivalent to a Greater source. Equally, a major setback or catastrophe may result in income being slashed. If you wish, you can determine an outcome on the Income Modification table randomly by rolling a stress die, although most sagas will probably not wish to introduce such a large element of chance into their finances!
| Effect | Income Multiplier | Stress Die Result |
|---|---|---|
| Slump | x 0.5 | botch |
| Contraction | x 0.8 | 0 |
| Stagnation | x 0.95 | 2 |
| Status Quo | x 1 | 3–8 |
| Growth | x 1.05 | 9 |
| Expansion | x 1.2 | 10–19 |
| Boom | x 1.5 | 20+ |
Magical Improvement
Magi who languish in a covenant of relatively modest means will almost inevitably be tempted to employ magical means to create their fortune. Surely, they might ask themselves, could we not — even with modest and discreet magics — dramatically improve our income? The simple answer is that, yes, quite often they can, and a number of covenants do indeed do this, to a greater or lesser extent. There are a whole range of approaches, from the subtle (such as minor spells to nurture and protect crops) to the blatant (such as permanently creating raw silver).
There are, however, three main drawbacks to magical wealth-creation. Firstly, the creation of the relevant items or the casting of ritual spells requires seasons of lab work and the expenditure of vis. Secondly, such magical activity often attracts unwanted attention, if not done with great subtlety. It might attract the envy of a rival merchant, for example, or the questioning eyes and ears of overattentive villagers or visiting Redcaps. Since the Order of Hermes frowns on mundane interference, wise covenants try to keep quiet about their more dubious moneymaking schemes. That said, lowkey magics restricted to the covenant’s own lands are usually acceptable. Some covenants are even quite proud of the magically assisted productiveness of their own vineyards or mines, for example. The third and final drawback is that a sudden boost in income, while a great boon for the covenant in the short-term, can potentially have a corrosive effect on the local economy, namely inflation. As the covenant gains more money, it will naturally spend it, and demand for goods will begin to exceed supply. After all, there is only so much grain that villagers can produce, and if the local covenant buys it all up, these peasants will find themselves with a surplus of silver pennies, but no food left over to feed themselves, and so prices will rise. This effect is more pronounced if the covenant procures much of its wares locally, less so if its spending is more widely spread. Redcaps are usually among the first to notice local inflation, and if it is a cause for concern, the Quaesitores (or irate merchants or noblemen) may not be far behind. Due to the inflationary troubles of a number of covenants, several of the Tribunals have recently passed measures limiting each covenant to the creation of at most 2 pounds of silver (or its equivalent) per magus per year (see Houses of Hermes: True Lineages, page 87).
The storyguide should decide upon the effectiveness of any magical improvement a covenant undertakes and choose an appropriate income multiplier (which is usually applied once, but permanently). For example, each Stone-Cutting Knife (see Chapter 4: Covenfolk, Lesser Enchanted Devices) contributed to a quarry may enhance its productivity and thus merit the Growth income modifier. More powerful magical items or ritual spells may merit higher income modifiers. Some suggestions for magical improvement and example spells are listed below.
The Riches That are Rightfully Mine(d)CrTe 35 R: Touch, D: Mom, T: Ind, Ritual This spell fills a large chest or other sturdy container with up to ten cubic feet of silver pennies, an amount equivalent to about 2000 Mythic Pounds. The magus may choose the imprint on the coins, but this mark always bears some trace of the magus’s sigil, which does tend to make them traceable. A copy of this spell resides at the Great Library of Durenmar, but it is infamous for causing inflationary troubles. Given the recent rulings in many Tribunals, a covenant of ten magi would only be permitted to distribute 20 pounds of such silver per year, so that it would take 100 years to exhaust the silver created by even a single casting of the spell. Therefore, while there is nothing to stop a magus from learning this spell in the Great Library, he would surely earn the instant suspicion and attention of the Quaesitores if he did so. (Base 15, +1 Touch, +2 size, +1 complexity) |
Sources of Income
This section lists many of the more common sources of income for a covenant (and other wealthy folk in medieval Europe, for that matter). The source(s) you select are likely to depend to a large extent on the geographical location of the covenant, as well as the skills of its covenfolk and companions, and any relevant Hooks and Boons. Some sources of income (for example forestry and tollcollecting) usually require the Right Boon in order to function without interference. Otherwise, it is suggested that the Contested Resource Hook be taken, as a nearby noble is likely to have his rights infringed upon. The Indiscreet Resource Hook may be appropriate for some of the sources (for example crime and wizardry), meaning that it is difficult to undertake these activities without unwanted attention.
For those sources that yield some kind of good (for example foodstuffs or manufactures), it is not sufficient merely to produce the good in question, it must also be sold, either for other goods or cash. Much of medieval Europe is a barter economy, with money only seeing everyday use in towns and cities, and among the nobility. If the magi are not sufficiently careful about how they sell their wares (for example, dumping everything on a local village market is a bad idea), then the prices for these wares are likely to drop in the local area, resulting in a diminished income. (In this case, negative effects on the Income Modification table can be applied).
Just about all sources of income require a number of people to run them. For example, an inn owned by a covenant needs an innkeeper and staff, whereas a covenant with a large amount of agricultural land may rule over hundreds of peasants in several villages. You do not need to account for any expenditure due to such people (for example the costs to feed, house, or pay them), even if they live at the covenant proper, nor for the costs of any raw materials. Instead, the income provided by the source is simply the surplus after such “operating costs” have been deducted. Thus, you do not need to book-keep these expenses for sources of income, although an increase in operating costs might warrant a negative effect on the Income Modification table, as the profits are eaten into.
Some covenants may plausibly consume some of their own produce; for example, a covenant with a large fishing fleet may keep back a small proportion of the catch for itself. For the purposes of bookkeeping, however, it is simpler to disregard this consumption, since the cost-savings of the covenant producing some of its own supplies are offset by the loss of income due to having less to sell. Anything which is only consumed by the covenant (such as a small herd of livestock, or a handful of locally crafted wares) does not count as a separate source of income, but is instead catered for by the rules on cost-saving, below.
Story Seeds: Wealth and PovertyThe covenant starts to experience a slow but steady leak of funds, as the corrupt autocrat embezzles money away. How has this person managed to get away with this for so long, and who else might be profiting from this corruption? The covenant’s debts begin to mount, until one day a powerful creditor comes calling. She agrees to write off a large portion of the money owed, in exchange for some service from the magi, which skirts at the edge of the Code of Hermes. A mysterious character arrives at the covenant and offers a seemingly generous loan of money. What is the catch? The nearby townsfolk begin to complain of fake silver coinage, and the blame falls on the covenant. This might be due to a faerie curse or some other malign influence, such as a traveling magus passing off fool’s silver. A rival nobleman starts collecting swingeing tolls on the nearby trade route, causing difficulties for the covenant as they either fall foul of the tolls themselves, or as the local economy threatens to collapse. How can the magi persuade him to cease? A criminal band begins to prey on the covenant’s trade interests, interrupting their income or supplies. These leeches will need to be hunted down, or else the covenant’s finances will be crippled. The covenant runs out of money. Will the magi borrow to cover the shortfall, lay off some of the covenfolk, try to skimp on provisions and lab equipment, or instead pursue a magical solution? |
Agriculture
Farming is the staple activity of most peasants, and so it is a logical (if somewhat unglamorous) source of income for a covenant. Such a covenant’s territory contains at least one village of peasants, who labor in the covenant’s lands in exchange for tenancy on their own, making the covenant similar to most feudal overlords. Only a few crops are produced in quantity, with the surplus being traded for other foods and goods. Rarer (and more profitable) farms specialize in the production of agricultural luxuries, for example, vineyards, silk farms (sericulture is the art of growing silkworms on mulberry plants), and kermes plantations (insects found on some Mediterranean oak trees, used to make dye).
Pros: Provides a mostly stable and uncontroversial source of income; the farm is usually close at hand (and a local food supply offers greater protection against famine).
Cons: Farming is tedious and tiring work, suitable only for peasants and subject to vagaries of the weather and crop blights.
Magical Options: Creo Animal to make silk; Herbam to nurture crops (for example, The Bountiful Feast); Auram to ensure favorable weather.
Examples
Lesser: Two or three Scottish hamlets, with rye and field crops.
Typical: A large tract of wheat fields in Westphalia, with a half-dozen villages.
Greater: An estate of several famed Burgundian vineyards.
Legendary: A silk-farming monopoly in Constantinople.
Charity
Some few covenants are lucky enough to benefit from the charity of others, receiving a regular monetary gratuity. The donor might be an individual, such as a noble, a merchant, or a wealthy widow (if a player character, she should have the Wealthy Virtue); or an institution, such as a gild, another covenant, or the Church. The reasons for such generosity might be simple gratitude or altruism; alternatively, the donor might expect some form of protection or favors, or anticipate some future benefit from his or its “investment.”
Pros: You get money for nothing! Cons: Charity continues only for so long as the donor(s) are alive, solvent, and well-disposed towards the covenant.
Magical Options: Mentem magics in the form of charms or potions to make a potential donor feel more generously inclined.
Examples
Lesser: The charitable income of a monastery.
Typical: A tithe or donation from a powerful Autumn covenant.
Greater: The sponsorship of the king of France.
Legendary: The income of the Pope.
Crime
Some magi, living at the edges of mundane society and lacking a legitimate source of wealth, find themselves falling into criminal habits, in which their supernatural talents may be highly useful. In wild or lawless areas, options relying on the simple application or threat of force may be feasible. These include banditry, racketeering (demanding protection money), and piracy. Subtler possibilities include blackmail, smuggling, forgery, fencing, espionage, and assassination. It should be noted that several of the other sources of income listed in this section, if undertaken without a right or permission, may be considered criminal. Under these circumstances, hunting is poaching, toll-gathering is theft, and moneylending is usury.
Pros: Crime pays, offering rewards that are disproportionate to the effort invested.
Cons: The constant threat of capture and punishment (which is usually severe); imperilment of the soul and possible demonic interest.
Magical Options: Imaginem spells for disguise (for example, Disguise of the Transformed Image); Mentem for deception; even minor magics can cause fear or give the impression of a significant threat.
Examples
Lesser: A gang of highway bandits. Typical: An organized crime network in a large city.
Greater: The pirate fleet of the Rhine covenant of Waddenzee.
Legendary: Robin Hood, with demonic assistance.
Fishing
It is possible to make a living harvesting from seas and rivers, instead of the land. This requires ready access to a river, or (preferably) a lake or sea, and one or more crewed vessels, replete with nets. Fish supplements the diet of many folk, and is usually eaten on Friday. Whales may also be hunted, for their oil and meat, although this requires a larger and more skilled crew.
Pros: You are unlikely to ever run out of fish.
Cons: Storms may damage or wreck fishing vessels; fish smell.
Magical Options: Enchanted boats, nets, sails, or oars; Rego Auram, Rego Aquam, or Rego Animal to control the winds, the waves, and the catch, respectively.
Examples
Lesser: A dozen fishing boats in a lakeside village, employing 40 people.
Typical: A sizeable fishing fleet in a port town.
Greater: A large Basque whale fishery.
Legendary: Lübeck’s monopoly on the fertile herring grounds of southern Sweden.
Forestry
Many covenants have woodland nearby, in which skilled foresters can make a living. Timber can be cut, providing wood for construction, shipbuilding, and fuel. Alternatively, some creatures, including the bear, fox, ermine, sable, and hare, may be hunted for their fur. A third possibility is to hunt wild animals such as deer and boar, or foraging pigs, for their meat, although this is not usually a viable source of income — such game is usually destined to grace the tables of local lords, not for sale at the local market, since hunting is a privilege which noblemen like to reserve for themselves. Magi might also hunt for vis or supernatural beasts, although this is not (usually) a source of mundane wealth. Some forests have relatively few trees, consisting of hunting preserves rather than woodlands (see the Chase Boon, for example). A covenant is unlikely to possess both significant farmland and forest, unless their estates are large.
Pros: Forestry is a relatively discreet enterprise, free from most mundane interference.
Cons: Possible infringement on the domains and rights of mundane or faerie lords, earning their enmity.
Magical Options: Ritual Herbam magics to enhance the productivity of a forest; enchanted bows or spears to assist huntsmen; Rego Animal to summon or control hunted creatures.
Examples
Lesser: Several miles of woodland, worked by three dozen woodcutters.
Typical: A smaller royal chase, with a few villages and hamlets of well-trained huntsmen.
Greater: Sable and ermine from a Russian forest estate, employing a hundred trappers.
Legendary: Sole preserve of the royal New Forest, in England.
Hospitality
A decent living can be made by providing food, drink, and shelter (and possibly other, more specialized facilities or comforts) to wealthy travelers. Inns and taverns, with their related breweries and butcheries, are an obvious choice, but hospitals, farriers, and brothels also do good business. Such enterprises are usually located in towns and cities, along trade or pilgrimage routes, or at sites of religious significance or natural beauty. Unless the covenant happens to be located in such a place, a hospitable business may therefore need to be placed some distance away.
Pros: Subtle magics may make such a business very profitable; Redcaps tend to favor hospitable covenants.
Cons: Magi, having The Gift, tend to be unwelcoming types who do not usually relish mundane visitors to their covenant. If the business is located elsewhere, it must be independently managed by a trusted companion.
Magical Options: Mentem magics to bolster the spirits of visitors and loosen their purses; magically enhanced beverages or food.
Examples
Lesser: A large town tavern. Typical: A luxurious Parisian brothel.
Greater: The Bierhaus brewery and inn in Bamberg, Franconia.
Legendary: The great hospital of St. John, in Jerusalem.
Livestock
Farmland owned by the covenant might be devoted mainly to animal pasture, instead of crops, and income gained from the sale of livestock, hides, or wool. Just as with arable farming, this is not the most glamorous source of income, and usually requires at least a small holding of peasants to tend the herds. A few covenants are known to breed sheep and calves in order to produce parchment and vellum.
Pros: Animal herding is less labor intensive than arable crops; use can be made of more marginal land (such as forest or heath).
Cons: Animals are often smelly and noisy; the risk of animal pestilence.
Magical Options: Creo Animal to make cloth, hides, or parchment, or enhance fertility; Rego Animal to control herds; Herbam to nurture crops for grazing.
Examples
Lesser: A village or two of Alpine goat-herders.
Typical: A pig-herding operation (1,000 head) in extensive beech woodlands.
Greater: One of the wealthiest East Anglian wool estates.
Legendary: A famed Andalusian stud farm, breeding warhorses for princes and dukes.
Manufacturing
With a retinue of skilled craftsmen, a covenant lacking in natural resources can nevertheless provide for itself by manufacturing and selling goods. Buyers might include merchants, the nobility, the Church, or other covenants. The covenant could produce simple household manufactures, such as tools, cloth, or leather goods. More exotic possibilities, which would likely be traded further afield, include war materials (weapons, armor, siege equipment, and so on), luxury clothing, furniture, or ships. A handful of covenants are known for their manufacture of parchments, inks, glassware, and other laboratory exotica, which can be readily traded with other covenants.
Pros: Magic can often be successfully employed to improve the quality or quantity of goods, inflating profits handsomely.
Cons: The covenant’s production may draw the ire of rival producers or infringe upon pre-existing monopolies; the Quaesitores take a dim view of blatantly magical manufacture.
Magical Options: Magical tools, machines, or containers to help craftsmen with their trade; spells to purify or enhance either raw materials or the end product.
Examples
Lesser: A few dozen town craftsmen. Typical: A busy shipyard in a port city.
Greater: A famed swordsmithing workshop in Toledo, Castile.
Legendary: A Venetian glassblowing monopoly.
Mining
In the right location, a covenant may be able to hew its riches from the earth. Covenants have been known to be placed atop mines, extracting either metal ores (iron, tin, lead, copper), salt, or coal. More rarely, a lucky covenant may even be located near a source of silver, gold, or gemstones. Some other covenants are built near quarries, and export ashlar (blocks of dressed stone) or slate, which is used as a fireproof roofing material.
Pros: A relatively stable and solid source of income.
Cons: Mining is backbreaking, dirty, and dangerous work; a wealthy mine may arouse the envy of surrounding nobles.
Magical Options: Enchanted tools to accelerate quarrying or mining; a fake mine where Creo Terram is used to create metal or stone from scratch (or Muto Terram employed to transform it from base rock).
Examples
Lesser: An unremarkable coal mine. Typical: A large sandstone quarry. Greater: The salt mines of Wieliczka, in Poland.
Legendary: The Penteli marble quarries, near Athens.
Money
For those who already find themselves with a surplus of cash, it is possible to profit in a number of ways, including moneylending, banking, moneychanging, or pawnbroking. Since the Church regards usury (the charging of interest) as sin, moneylending is mostly undertaken by Jews, although some other moneylenders and moneychangers employ various tricks to hide their interest, such as demanding repayment in a more valuable currency. In the 13th century, banking is in its infancy, only existing to any extent in the urban centers of northern Italy.
Pros: No heavy lifting; money breeds money.
Cons: Usury is sin — moneylenders may be vilified or punished; the risk of bad debt; requires you to have money in the first place!
Magical Options: Creo Terram to create coins from scratch; Muto Terram or Muto Imaginem to change the denomination of coins or their appearance; Mentem magics to influence customers.
Examples
Lesser: The main pawnbroker in a sizable town.
Typical: A large and wealthy Jewish family.
Greater: A Mercer House specializing in moneylending.
Legendary: The Genoese bank of Leccacorvo.
Service
Although it is difficult to make a good living out of unskilled labor, since peasants are cheap to hire, covenants may be able to profit by hiring out their skilled covenfolk or companions, be they apothecaries, architects, artists, fortune-tellers, merchants, minstrels, or ship’s captains. One or two individuals by themselves are unlikely to provide a sizable income, unless prodigiously talented; dozens of skilled workers may be needed. Such skilled service is likely to prove most profitable where there are rich people willing to pay for it, such as in a large city, or in the lands of a wealthy nobleman. Some covenants have even been known to hire out their turb as a band of mercenaries, although this stretches at the edges of the Code.
Pros: Puts the idle covenfolk to work, without needing to feed and house them.
Cons: Availability of work may vary considerably; the covenfolk may get a better offer and decide not to return.
Magical Options: Any items which help the covenfolk in their work, such as enchanted musical instruments; Mentem magics to ensure their loyalty and return.
Examples
Lesser: A wandering troupe of a dozen minstrels, modestly famed.
Typical: A king’s favored astronomer, paid handsomely for his astrological predictions.
Greater: A Greek navy of several dozen ships, with expert crew, for hire.
Legendary: Several hundred elite Ghulam bodyguards.
Toll-gathering
Those who find themselves in a strategically important location, such as by a bridge, ford, ferry, mountain pass, city gate, or waystation, usually seek to profit from it, by imposing a toll on passing travelers and merchants. To do this legitimately requires either that one owns the facility in question, or has permission from the feudal overlord to collect tolls, although this is a privilege that the greater nobility like to reserve for themselves. In places where it is possible to easily bypass the toll station (such as on a road), it must be patrolled, and all toll stations require a certain measure of force, so that non-payers can be refused entry.
Pros: You ask people for money and they give it to you!
Cons: Typically infringes on the rights of nobles; requires enforcement and defense; threat of rival toll-collectors.
Magical Options: Creo Terram to create a bridge; Rego Terram or Mentem to extract more coins from toll-payers.
The Twice-Gifted CoinPeMe 15 R: Touch, D: Mom, T: Ind This spell is usually cast when the target deposits a coin into the caster’s hand. The victim immediately loses his memory of having paid. Assuming that he had a legitimate reason for paying in the first place, he then usually reaches for his purse to hand over another coin. Some sneaky covenants have been known to enchant this effect into a toll-gate, for example. Travelers are asked to pay a toll before the gate, then allowed to proceed, whereupon they touch the gate and promptly forget having paid. Upon request, they then pay again, after the gate. The income from a toll station can thus be doubled. (Base 10, +1 Touch) |
Examples
Lesser: The toll on a river ferry. Typical: The toll on the only bridge leading to a large town.
Greater: A toll station in the Rhine gorge or an Alpine pass.
Legendary: Customs duties at Venice or Constantinople.
Trade
A covenant lacking resources can make money by transporting things from where they are cheaply available to where they are expensive. Some merchants travel great distances with precious items, while others prefer to follow short routes many times per year. Some covenants provide other services to traders, like warehouse space, repair facilities and lighterage, in exchange for fees.
House Mercere is involved in many trading enterprises and is usually interested in exploring alliances with trading covenants.
Pros: Selling someone else’s wares is easier and more profitable than producing them yourself.
Cons: Competition may be fierce; risks of banditry and piracy; supply and demand may vary. Cargoes are very expensive and are often purchased with credit, making shipwrecks ruinous.
Magical Options: Items or spells to preserve goods or transport them safely and quickly, such as faster or more durable wagons or ships; Muto magics to change the size or amount of goods for storage or sale.
Examples
Lesser: A local merchant with a dozen carts, or a small ship that trades locally.
Typical: A large merchant ship chasing rumors of profit across Europe or trading manufactured goods to nearby regions. Alternatively, a small fleet of ships engaged in local trade of bulk goods like food, fuel, or salt.
Greater: A merchant company with warehouses in at least two cites, ferrying consignments in many ships each year. Alternatively, a fleet of up to a dozen ships, of varying sizes, all plying profitable routes.
Legendary: In Northern Europe, an annual fleet to Acre in the Levant, that returns laden with fine silk and aromatic spices. In Southern Europe, annual expeditions to the almost-fabled lands where gemstones are mined and spices grow, like India, Ethiopia, or Persia.
Wizardry
Some covenants take the straightforward approach of trying to profit directly from their magical talents. Magical items, potions, the casting of spells disguised as charms or fortune-telling, and so on, may be offered to wealthy nobles for the right price. This needs to be undertaken with considerable discretion, in order to avoid mundane meddlement and attracting unwanted attention to the Order of Hermes. An alternative possibility is to sell items of Hermetic value, such as books, lab texts, vis, items, longevity rituals, and even seasons of service to other covenants or magi. Although vis is the far more usual Hermetic currency, rich covenants and magi may sometimes be willing to pay in cash, or with other mundane wealth — even a single pawn of vis may be worth a dozen or more pounds to the right buyer. This avoids the problems of selling to mundanes, but it is rather demeaning to hawk away one’s magics for mere silver.
Pros: Wealthy folk will pay handsomely for magic; needs very few covenfolk.
Cons: Most magi tend to view those who sell their magics with some measure of contempt; possible attention from the Quaesitores; loss of seasons and vis.
Magical Options: This is the magical option!
Examples
Lesser: Occasional minor charms or potions sold to the local nobility.
Typical: A couple of smaller items or Longevity Rituals per year sold to the nearest Mercer House.
Greater: Michael Scot, the court wizard of Frederick II, the Holy Roman Emperor.
Legendary: Verdi, the domus magna of House Verditius.
Expenditure
The successful running of a covenant requires a multitude of different supplies and goods, which, if the covenant does not produce them itself, need to be purchased. At the most basic level, there is the need to feed, clothe, and shelter the covenfolk, and to provide laboratory equipment and writing materials for the magi. Beyond that, the grogs need weapons and armor, the defenses need to be maintained, luxury items might be purchased, construction may be undertaken, travel and hospitality need to be paid for, and so on. Even for a small Spring covenant, these costs can easily amount to 50 pounds per year; larger covenants may spend five or even ten times that much.
Points of InhabitantsTypical inhabitant points and living conditions modifiers for covenants by their season.
When calculating a covenant’s sum of points in this area, do not include characters of independent means who pay for their own upkeep, nor any characters who work for one of the covenant’s sources of income. By sacrificing their privileged lifestyle (and the better Living Conditions Modifier), impoverished magi may reduce their point cost to 3. By adopting the same privileges as standard covenfolk (the same food, wages, and living quarters), magi and companions may even reduce their point cost to 2. However a covenant with such pauper magi will likely develop a negative Reputation as the Redcaps quickly spread word of their lamentable standard of living! |
To start with, determine the normal yearly expenditure of the covenant — the costs of the things that are the same every year. Firstly, determine how many people of each type live at the covenant. After deciding on the basic number of inhabitants, the additional support staff needed must be calculated (see the Covenfolk Categories section below). Then, total up the points of inhabitants, points of weapons and armor, and points of laboratories; use these to determine the corresponding costs in each category of expenditure listed below, or refer to the Yearly Expenditure summary . The resulting total annual expenditure — which is the sum of these category expenditures —usually remains static unless the point totals change (for example, the covenant employs more covenfolk, or the magi upgrade their labs).
Every year, there is also at least one pound’s worth (usually considerably more) of sundry expenses — one-off items of expenditure, such as travel, or the purchase of books. Refer to the price list below. These extra costs should be noted, totaled at the end of the year, and added to the normal yearly expenditure to give you that year’s total expenditure. Subtract this from the income for the year, and add any surplus to (or if there is a shortfall, subtract it from) the covenant’s stores.
Covenfolk Categories
For the purposes of accounting, the covenfolk (that is, everyone living at the covenant apart from magi and companions) should be separated into the following categories. (For characters that have a dual vocation, simply pick the most appropriate category.)
Craftsmen: People with a Craft Ability, employed by the covenant to practice their craft and produce wares for the covenant, such as a smith, a carpenter, or a weaver.
Craftsmen allow for cost savings in one or more categories of expenditure — the covenant does not need to spend so much buying wares from outside. The exceptions are book-binders and illuminators, who do not save costs, but instead allow the covenant to produce quality books.
Dependents: Residents supported by the covenant who do no useful work, such as children, idle spouses, the infirm, and retirees. Children should only be counted from the age of five onwards (children younger than five consume negligible). Once they are old enough to work, children can be moved to another category.
Grogs: Full-time soldiers whose primary vocation is the martial defense of the covenant and its magi.
Laborers: Workers who gather food for the covenant, such as farmhands, herders, fishermen, or hunters. Laborers allow for cost saving on Provisions, since the covenant does not need to buy so much food.
Servants: Essential folk who prepare and serve the food, clean, and perform other household tasks, such as maids, cooks, bakers, errand-boys, stablehands, and the like.
Specialists: Individuals who occupy some important role in the hierarchy of running the covenant, such as an autocrat, a steward, a chamberlain, a turb captain, or a scribe. Hermetic apprentices also count as specialists.
Teamsters: People who are employed to procure provisions and supplies from elsewhere and transport them to the covenant, typically one or more market buyers and a team of wagoners or hauliers. Some covenants are served by traveling merchants, in which case the teamsters do not belong to the covenant. However, they still need to be paid and accounted for, since it is more expensive to buy wares on your doorstep than to travel to market and buy them there — either way, the covenant has to bear the haulage costs.
You may employ as many or as few of each type of covenfolk as you like, except that there is a minimum required number of servants and teamsters. There is also a limit to the number of laborers and craftsmen that can be usefully employed (see the Cost Saving section below).
To determine the minimum number of servants and teamsters for your covenant, proceed as follows: Total up the points of inhabitants (see insert), including everyone except laborers, servants, and teamsters. For every ten points of this total, you need two servants.
Add the points for these servants to the total. Now, subtract twice the number of laborers. For every ten points of this total, you need one teamster.
Finally, re-compute the total points of inhabitants, including all laborers, servants, and teamsters.
| Number of Servants Required | 2 for Every 10 Points of (All Inhabitants, Excluding Laborers, Servants, and Teamsters) |
| Number of Teamsters Required | 1 for Every 10 Points of (All Inhabitants, Excluding Laborers and Teamsters – [2 * Number of Laborers]) |
Yearly Expenditure Categories
The regular expenditure of the covenant can be divided into the following categories. It is worth noting that the Buildings, Consumables, Provisions, and Wages totals usually amount to exactly one pound per point of inhabitants, and form the bulk of the expenditure. Thus, a very rough rule of thumb is that a covenant can afford a number of points of inhabitants equal to its income in pounds, provided it has a moderate amount of cost saving.
Buildings
The covenant’s buildings need to be properly maintained, decorated, and furnished to prevent them from falling into disrepair. For example, damaged roofing and stonework has to be patched up, old furniture needs to be replaced, and there are often plenty of minor repair jobs for a carpenter to do.
| Buildings Cost | 1 Pound for Every 10 Points of Inhabitants. +1 per Minor Fortification, +5 per Major Fortification |
Add two pounds for any relevant Minor Fortifications Boon, and five pounds for any relevant Major Fortifications Boon (see Chapter 2: Boons and Hooks, Fortification). Only Boons that add to the size, magnificence, or quantity of the covenant’s buildings or fortifications count.
Consumables
There are a whole host of minor tools, equipment, and consumables that are necessary for the smooth running of a covenant, which need to be replenished and repaired, including candles, carts, clothing, fuel, kitchen utensils, barrels, brooms, and so on. Special materials required for books and laboratories are accounted for separately.
| Consumables Cost | 2 Pounds for Every 10 Points of Inhabitants |
Inflation
Most covenants have a gradually corrosive effect on their local economy (see the Magical Improvement section above) and the magi would be wise to be careful how they spend their money, to avoid inflating the prices of the things they need to buy.
The effects of inflation can be crudely modeled by simply adding a flat cost in pounds to the yearly expenditure. In the covenant’s first year, the inflation cost should be zero. As a rule of thumb, it is suggested that it increase by one pound per hundred pounds of expenditure every year, although in favorable years (if there is a good harvest, for example) the inflation may not rise, or in bad years (perhaps when the magi have spent profligately) it may increase by several pounds. Also, it is suggested that inflation not increase during a year in which the covenant’s expenditure drops (for example, as a result of new cost saving measures).
Laboratories
Unsurprisingly, magi are willing to spend a significant portion of their money on their own laboratories. To maintain a laboratory at its existing level requires a steady supply of replacement equipment (especially glassware) and precious ingredients, as well as more basic items, such as fuel for heating and candles for lighting. The cost for each laboratory depends on its Upkeep score (see Chapter 9: Laboratory). For example, a standard laboratory (with an Upkeep of 0) costs one pound per year of typical use.
| Laboratories Cost | 1 Pound Per 10 Points of Laboratories |
Points of Laboratories
These following multipliers apply to maintenance costs, but not construction costs:
A covenant’s total in this area is the sum of the points for all the laboratories in the covenant. For an Upkeep score of between –5 (the lowest possible) and +2, the number of points per laboratory is as specified in the above table. For example, a standard laboratory (Upkeep 0) equates to ten points. Beyond +2, the number of extra points gained per level of Upkeep increase is equal to the new Upkeep score times ten. For example, increasing the Upkeep from +2 to +3 increases the number of points by 30 (+3 multiplied by ten), taking it from 30 to 60. Thus, for a laboratory with an Upkeep of +2 or greater, the number of points is equal to ten times the number of experience points needed to buy an Art score with the same value as the Upkeep, as specified in the Advancement Table of ArM5, page 32. For example, a lab with an Upkeep of +15 equates to 1200 points, ten times the cost of an Art score of 15 (120 experience points). There is no upper limit on an Upkeep score except the covenant’s ability to pay for it! |
Provisions
With many dozens of mouths to feed, one of the covenant’s major items of expenditure — often the largest of all — is the purchase of foodstuffs. A typical covenant consumes grains, meat, fish, vegetables, cheese, spices, salt, ale, and wines, and needs fodder for its horses.
| Provisions Cost | 5 Pounds for Every 10 Points of Inhabitants |
Tithes
Some covenants need to regularly pay off their masters, just like many folk in medieval Europe. Such yearly payments might take the form of a tithe to another covenant, taxes to a feudal overlord or the Church, or debt repayments.
Wages
Covenfolk are not usually paid a daily wage; they instead receive food and lodging in return for their service. Nevertheless, it is common for them to be given a modest weekly or monthly stipend so that they may occasionally buy things for themselves. For example, a grog in a typical Spring covenant might get one penny per week, enough to buy a dozen mugs of ale. Although magi do not get paid wages per se, they nevertheless often have some kind of allowance for discretionary personal spending. This caters for minor purchases such as clothing, jewelry, and the like, which need not be accounted for separately. The “wages” for horses can be assumed to be spent on the extra food that they require.
You may adjust these wage costs as appropriate for your covenant, but bear in mind that the more you pay them, the happier the covenfolk will be (and viceversa). The standard wage costs listed here make no adjustment to Loyalty; if you increase (or reduce) them, you may gain the benefits (or penalties) to Loyalty outlined in Chapter 4: Governance, Prevailing Loyalty.
| Wages Cost | 2 Pounds for Every 10 Points of Inhabitants |
The formula equates to one penny per point of inhabitants, per week. Add one pound per each penny that is paid daily to any professional soldiers in the covenant’s service. For example, for the Veteran Fighters and Crossbowmen Boons, add one or nine pounds per soldier, respectively.
Weapons and Armor
Almost all covenants have a turb of warriors, who are outfitted with weaponry and armor, and some have an additional store of weapons, or even an arsenal. This equipment needs to be regularly cleaned, repaired, and (every so often) replaced.
However, for a small turb with modest outfitting, this cost is likely to amount to only a couple of pounds per year.
| Weapons and Armor Cost | 1 Pound for Every 320 Points of Weapons and Armor |
Points of Weapons and Armor
A covenant’s total in this area is the sum of the points of the weapons and armor possessed by all the characters at the covenant, as well as any the covenant itself has stored. For the sake of simplicity, you may wish to simply estimate the average number of points per grog. |
Writing Materials
Writing is a costly business, since parchment and inks are expensive. As a rule of thumb, one pound provides enough materials to write four books, without embellishment. Typically, a magus uses such a quantity in one year. For example, two seasons of lab work (in which a lab text is produced), one season of book writing, plus diaries, accounts, records, letters, and so on, would amount to this much. Writing costs can be reduced for magi who are absent from the covenant or undertake little lab work or scribing, however. Specialist craftsmen (scribes, binders, and illuminators) allow better quality books to be produced, but add to the production costs (see Chapter 7: Library). Precious materials used for resonant bonuses on books are more expensive still, but are counted as sundry expenses (see below), on a case-by-case basis.
| Writing Materials Cost | 1 Pound for Every Magus, Scribe, Bookbinder, and Illuminator |
Cost Saving
There are three main ways in which a covenant may be able to reduce its expen ditures (apart from scrimping or laying off staff): by employing laborers, by employing craftsmen, and by utilizing magical items (or Ritual spells) which substitute for the work of one or more covenfolk . The benefits of adding laborers and craftsmen are threefold: Firstly, there is a modest net saving in overall expenditure. Secondly, by producing more of its food and wares locally, the covenant becomes more resistant to crises caused by any interruptions to its outside supplies. Lastly, by adding more points of inhabitants, the cost saving limits (as detailed below) increase in real terms, allowing the covenant to exploit economies of scale. For example, adding laborers actually allows the covenant to potentially make greater use of its existing craftsmen, who find themselves with more work to do, such as creating and repairing the tools used by the laborers.
Laborers
Each laborer working for the covenant reduces expenditure on Provisions by one pound. (In addition, as detailed above, every five laborers also make one teamster redundant, indirectly saving one pound.) The maximum amount of money that can be saved by laborers is half of the Provisions total. A covenant with craftsmen producing foodstuffs can also save even more money on Provisions, as described below, up to the entire annual Provisions expenditure if there are enough different types of sufficiently skilled craftsmen.
Craftsmen
Craftsmen employed by the covenant come in two types. Common craftsmen, such as blacksmiths, leatherworkers, and brewers, are those found in almost every village of any size in Mythic Europe, and are relatively easy to come by. Rare craftsmen, such as glassblowers, goldsmiths, and percamenarii, have a much more specialized trade and are encountered less frequently. They are harder to find and recruit, but are consequently more highly valued by a covenant.
A common craftsman reduces expenditure by a number of pounds equal to one plus half of his Craft Ability, rounded down. For example, a craftsman with an Ability score of five saves three pounds. A rare craftsman reduces expenditure by a number of pounds equal to his Craft Ability.
Craftsmen may save money in various categories of expenditure, as detailed in the insert. For each category, there is a limit to the amount of savings that can be achieved with each particular craft. For example, a typical covenant with 100 points of inhabitants spends 20 pounds per year on Consumables, before cost saving. At most 20% of this (four pounds) can be saved in any one craft. Thus, no matter how many blacksmiths the covenant has (or how skilled they are), the maximum that can be saved by blacksmithing alone is four pounds. However, the covenant could (potentially) save its entire spending on Consumables by employing at least five different relevant types of craftsmen. In some cases, you may wish to make common-sense adjustments to the cost-saving limits. For example, if only a handful of your grogs carry bows, the cost-saving limit for a bowyer should be much less than 50% of the Weapons and Armor expenditure.
| Category of Expenditure | Example Craftsmen | Cost Saving Limit (per Craft) |
|---|---|---|
| Buildings | stonemason, carpenter, furniture maker, thatcher | 50% |
| Consumables | blacksmith, carpenter, candlemaker, tinker, weaver, leatherworker, cooper, cobbler | 20% |
| Laboratories | glass-blower, goldsmith, silversmith, lapidary, mechanic, toolmaker | 20% |
| Provisions | brewer, vintner | 20% |
| Weapons and Armor | swordsmith, armorer, bowyer | 50% |
| Writing Materials | percamenarius, ink-maker | 50% |
Magic
Magic can also be employed to save money; many of the options here are similar to those for magically improved income, except that product of the magic is consumed instead of traded for profit. For example, the fertility of the covenant’s own lands may be improved, or the magi might magically create tools or lab equipment instead of purchasing them. See Chapter 4: Covenfolk, Magical Alternatives to Covenfolk for examples of relevant magical devices and spells. A magical item might reduce the Consumables costs, for example, an oven which requires no fuel. Alternatively, it might save on labor, for example, a broom that sweeps by itself. In the former case, one or more pounds is saved directly; in the latter case, you can achieve the same results with fewer covenfolk (thus saving money indirectly). The minimum required numbers of servants and teamsters may thus be reduced.
Magical items can also perform the work of laborers and craftsmen, and may be treated as such for the purposes of cost saving. For example, the Motivated Plough (see Chapter 4: Covenfolk, Lesser Enchanted Devices) does the equivalent of about three laborers’ work, and thus saves three pounds per year. As a very simple rule of thumb, each magnitude of effect in such items can save one pound per year. Each casting of a Ritual spell may save approximately five pounds per magnitude, although this depends on the nature of the effect (and the discretion of the storyguide). Although Ritual spells may make dramatic improvements, such as creating a barnful of grain, they are somewhat rarely employed, since most magi value the necessary vis at more than five pounds per pawn. At the storyguide’s discretion, non-ritual Rego craft spells, if cast repeatedly over an extended period, may save money as per magic items.
Yearly Expenditure SummaryBuildings + Consumables + Provisions + Wages
InflationStarts at 0; increases by an average of 1 pound per 100 pounds of expenditure per year Laboratories1 pound per 10 points of laboratories Weapons and Armor1 pound per 320 points of weapons and armor Writing Materials1 pound per magus, scribe, bookbinder, or illuminator Cost Saving
Tithes and Sundry ExpensesPer specific amounts |
Expenditure — A Simple ExampleVernus is a typical starting Spring covenant. It consists of 6 magi (30 points), 4 companions (12 points), 3 specialists — a chamberlain, a steward, and a turb captain — (6 points), 10 grogs (10 points), and no dependents, laborers, or craftsmen, for a provisional total of 58 points. It thus needs 12 servants (12 points), taking the total to 70 points. Finally, it also needs 7 teamsters (7 points), giving a final total of 77 points of inhabitants (from 42 people). It has 60 points of laboratories (6 standard laboratories) and 320 points of weapons and armor (Standard cost outfitting for each grog). It has no cost savings at all (purchasing everything it needs) and its Yearly Expenditure is as follows: Buildings + Consumables + Provisions + Wages: 77 pounds Inflation: 0 pounds Laboratories: 6 pounds Weapons and Armor: 1 pound Writing Materials: 6 pounds Total: 90 pounds After ten years of expansion, Vernus has acquired a small plot of farmland and has added 20 laborers (farmhands and huntsmen), 6 craftsmen (4 of various common types with a Craft Ability of 6 who produce wares for the covenant, plus a bookbinder and an illuminator), 10 more grogs, and has acquired 10 dependents. Thus it now has 6 magi (30 points), 4 companions (12 points), 3 specialists (6 points), 20 grogs (20 points), 6 craftsmen (12 points), and 10 dependents (10 points), for a provisional total of 90 points. It thus needs 18 servants (18 points), taking the total to 108 points. Subtracting twice the number of laborers (2 * 20 = 40) from this gives 68, so 7 teamsters (7 points) are needed. Adding these, plus the 20 laborers (20 points), gives a final total of 135 points of inhabitants (from 94 people). It still has 60 points of laboratories but now has 640 points of weapons and armor. Its Yearly Expenditure (before cost savings) is now as follows: Buildings + Consumables + Provisions + Wages: 135 pounds Inflation: 10 pounds Laboratories: 6 pounds Weapons and Armor: 2 pounds Writing Materials: 8 pounds Its Cost Savings are as follows: Laborers: –20 pounds Craftsmen: 16 pounds Total: 125 pounds |
The Finances of Semita ErrabundaSemita Errabunda has no Hooks or Boons relating to income and thus has a single Typical source of income, providing an annual income of about 100 pounds. This consists of a trading enterprise, which exploits the property of the covenant’s regio that connects to different places in Europe, effectively allowing the covenant to rapidly “transport” large quantities of goods over very long distances. A sizable shipment of goods is bought cheaply near to their source, and then stored at the covenant’s voluminous central warehouse (and preserved with the aid of magic, if need be). At such time as a regio opening leads to a new region in Europe where these goods are in demand, they are sold off. The profits from this scheme do depend to some extent on luck, providing a somewhat variable income, but it often pays off handsomely. The covenant currently consists of:
This gives a provisional total of 100 points. Therefore 20 servants would be needed, but two magic items with a total of 4 magnitudes of effects take the place of 4 servants, leaving 16 servants (16 points), taking the total to 116. Subtracting twice the number of laborers (2 * 40 = 80) from this gives 36, so 4 teamsters (4 points) are needed. Adding these, plus the 40 laborers (40 points), gives a final total of 160 points of inhabitants (from 110 people, not including Victor or those involved with the trading business). The covenant maintains 4 standard laboratories (Upkeep 0) and one laboratory with an Upkeep of +2, belonging to Darius, for 70 points of laboratories. The covenant maintains one suit of full Standard armor and 4 Standard weapons per grog, for 640 points of weapons and armor. It should also be noted that the covenant suffers no inflation, due to trading at different places all over Europe. Semita Errabunda’s cost savings are as follows: Laborers: Provisions –40 pounds (6 fishermen, 24 farmhands, and 10 huntsmen) Craftsmen: Provisions –8 pounds (2 brewers); Buildings –16 pounds (2 carpenters, a thatcher, and a furniture maker); Consumables –16 pounds (a blacksmith, a candlemaker, a tinker, and a cobbler) Magic Items: 4 items with a total of 12 magnitudes of effects:
The expenditure in each category before and after cost saving (in pounds) is summarized in the table below. The fixed yearly expenditure is thus 90 pounds per year. In a typical year, Semita Errabunda also has about 5 to 10 pounds worth of sundry expenses, mainly due to hospitality and travel. The covenant runs a small surplus in most years, but it is very small. The magi are considering ways to bolster their income, so that they may be able to fund building projects and the improvement of their laboratories.
|
Emergency Savings
Sometimes a covenant will find itself out of money (or credit), with its expenditure exceeding its income. If it cannot suddenly increase its cashflow, it will need to reduce its outgoings. There are a number of possibilities, which are a good source of stories. As detailed in the Points of Inhabitants insert above, the more privileged members of the covenant may voluntarily dispense with some of their perks and luxuries. (The points per magus or companion may be reduced to less than five or three points each, respectively, and the cost saving limit on Provisions from laborers may be increased from 50%, as the covenfolk rely more on their own produce.) Alternatively, the wages may be cut, but the covenfolk’s Prevailing Loyalty will suffer. Some of the covenfolk could be laid off, turning them into disgruntled vagabonds, possibly with an axe to grind against their former employers. As explained above, there is a minimum number of servants and teamsters needed to keep the covenant running smoothly. If you have fewer than these minimums, it will adversely affect the functioning of the covenant — the storyguide should determine the appropriate story consequences, such as overworked staff, or magi having to forage or cook for themselves! In more severe cases of shortage or emergency, the magi might neglect entire categories of expenditure, allowing the buildings, laboratories, or weapons to go unmaintained, or letting the covenfolk starve, which will likely cause severe Loyalty Point penalties.
Sundry Expenses
Depending on the events of each year, there are numerous items of irregular expenditure, and some surplus cash is spent. These may be travel expenses; fees paid to visiting Redcaps; purchases of equipment, buildings, or land; laboratory upgrades, and so on. Here are listed some of the more common sundry expenses, and a price list, below.
Books
Knowledge is always a wise investment, and some covenants have amassed a large collection of mundane books. Merchants who trade in rare tomes frequently find that covenants are a lucrative port of call. See Chapter 7: Library, Prices for Books.
When producing their own Hermetic books, magi like to use resonant materials to decorate and enhance them (see Chapter 7: Library, Resonances). Although the costs vary considerably depending on the exact nature of the materials used, a good rule of thumb is that these precious materials cost one pound per book.
Hermetic Commodities
Items for trade amongst magi of the Order (Hermetic books, items, Longevity Rituals, and the like) are almost always priced in vis, not silver. Nevertheless, cash may exceptionally be accepted as payment, especially if offered in very large quantities, or if the seller is poor.
The Price of VisIt is almost impossible to put a fixed monetary price on a pawn of vis. Magi prize vis, their currency of choice, far more highly than silver. Most consider that mundane things should be bought with silver, and magical things with vis, and that is indeed usually what happens. There are many wealthy covenants that would not even consider selling a pawn of vis for less than a hundred pounds, since vis can be employed effectively in various magical wealth-creation schemes. Yet at the same time, plenty of covenants would not be able to spare more than a few pounds to actually buy vis, since their silver is needed to run their covenants. For this reason, the trading of vis for silver is rarely undertaken, although it is not unheard of, especially amongst House Mercere, who have a more practical sense of the relative worth of vis and silver (see Houses of Hermes: True Lineages, page 87). In the cases where vis is sold for silver, the price varies wildly between a couple of pounds to a hundred or more pounds per pawn, depending on such factors as geographical location, the particular Art of the vis, the wealth and whims of local covenants and magi, and the availability of vis relative to other Hermetic commodities in your saga. Having said that, a base guideline of roughly ten pounds per pawn is a reasonable rule of thumb for a typical saga. |
Hospitality
The visits of Redcaps can be rather costly. It is customary that each visiting Redcap is paid 30 silver pennies (an eighth of a pound) for her services. The total cost of a Redcap’s stay often rises to three or four times this amount, however, once he has been suitably wined and dined by the covenant. Months or seasons of accommodation for visiting noblemen or magi may be even more expensive. A covenant may decide to throw an occasional festival or regularly observe feast days, which involves greater consumption of food and drink, but which boosts the morale of the covenfolk, adding loyalty points (see Chapter 4: Governance, Increasing Prevailing Loyalty).
Labor
Sometimes, there is a temporary need to hire extra hands, for example, for a construction project, as mercenaries, or to crew a ship. Fortunately, most labor is cheap, although skilled labor is somewhat less so.
Laboratory Construction
The materials needed to outfit a laboratory (starting with an unfurnished chamber) cost one pound per two points of the laboratory. Thus, a standard laboratory with an Upkeep of 0 costs five pounds to build from scratch. If upgrading a lab (see Chapter 9: Laboratories) results in an increase to Upkeep, the cost is one pound for every two points by which it increases.
Magi
The whims of magi and their need for silver are hard to predict. They may suddenly demand large amounts of “petty cash” from the autocrat to finance current pet projects or schemes. Modest amounts of such spending are already handled by the yearly expenditure on “wages,” but the costs for major purchases, such as a warhorse, a set of luxury furniture, a golden casket, and suchlike, should be added separately.
The Pound of Enumerus
A reknowned Jerbiton magus by the name of Enumerus once wrote a lengthy treatise on the economics of a covenant, a copy of which now resides in the Great Library of Durenmar. In the course of his research he came to a curious discovery: no matter how precisely he reckoned the books of his covenant, he could never fully account for all of its outgoings. After many years of trying, he eventually gave up, concluding that it was simply impossible for a mortal man to account for all such expenditure — there would always be some petty costs he had neglected, amounting to at least a pound. Since then, this phenomenon (and amount) of undocumented covenant spending has become widely known as the Pound of Enumerus.
Every year, therefore, you should add one pound onto the sundry expenses. (Note that if the covenant is somehow cursed, or suffers from incompetent or crooked management, the Pound of Enumerus might amount to significantly more than one pound!)
Property
For the covenant to expand, it may wish to purchase or construct new property, or acquire extra land. A covenant is often judged, on first appearances at least, by the magnificence of its buildings and surroundings. These usually constitute very large items of expenditure, needing to be saved for and planned some years in advance. As a rule of thumb, roughly one virgate of arable land (a twentieth of a square mile) is needed for each farmhand laborer at the covenant.
If building a property, you may simply assume that the costs of the raw materials and labor are equivalent to the price of a pre-existing building. In this case, it takes one year per floor (or ten feet of height) to build. This rate can be doubled by paying 50% more. As a rule of thumb, new buildings designed for covenfolk can be assigned a cost equal to the number of points of inhabitants they are to house. For example, in a Spring covenant, a hut to house a servant costs one pound, whereas the house of a magus costs five pounds.
Training
Although most covenants train their covenfolk and grogs themselves (which costs nothing), rich covenants may decide to pay outsiders for this purpose. If so, assume that a skilled individual costs half as much to recruit for teaching as to employ for work (see the price list).
Travel
Magi are known to go on expeditions from time to time! Travel and accommodation for a group of magi and their grogs can be quite costly, especially for an extended period. This may involve passage on a ship, accommodation in inns, or the hire of a coach and horses. If such a party is traveling rough, however, then you need not account for their expenses (in this case they fall under the purview of the existing Provisions and Consumables costs). A season or more of rough travel might merit a penalty to the Living Conditions modifier for the characters involved, for that year.
Price ListThis list is a rough guide to the prices of various items of sundry expenses. Exact prices may vary considerably by region and circumstances. For the sake of simplicity, prices are quoted in whole Mythic Pounds. Quality and Size MultipliersShoddy / Small. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x 0.5 Standard / Average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x 1 Superior / Large. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x 2 Excellent / Huge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x 5 Flawless / Stupendous. . . . . . . . . . . . . x 10 Apply these quality and size multipliers to prices where appropriate. For example, a handsome riding horse (Excellent) costs considerably more than a filthy nag (Shoddy), a Standard house might be made of timber whereas a Superior dwelling is built of stone (although note that a Standard castle is built of stone), a diamond counts as an Excellent gem, a goat counts as a Large sheep, and so on. Note that both quality and size multipliers can apply, for example, something that is both Huge and of Excellent quality has a total multiplier of 25.
20 sheep, 8 hunting dogs, 4 cows, 2 oxen, or 2 draught horses. . . . . . . . . . . 1 pound Captured or trained wild animal, such as a bear or monkey. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 pound Riding horse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 pounds Warhorse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 pounds
One standard book (non-Hermetic) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 pound Parchment and inks sufficient to write four books, without embellishment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 pound
House. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 pound Bridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 pounds Mill. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 pounds Gatehouse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 pounds Chapel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 pound Manor house. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 pounds Motte and bailey. . . . . . . . . . . . 12 pounds Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 pounds Tower . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 pounds Castle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,000 pounds
One year of maintenance of a standard laboratory (with average use). . . 1 pound Outfitting a standard laboratory from scratch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 pounds
Hospitality One lavish festival or two feast days for a hundred participants. . . . . . . . . . 1 pound Visits of two Redcaps, each lasting a couple of weeks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 pound Maintaining a horse for a year. . 1 pound Board and lodging for a commoner for one year. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 pound Board and lodging for a nobleman or magus for one season . . . . . . . . . 2 pounds
Purchase of a half-dozen slaves. . 1 pound Hire of one unskilled workman (paid one penny per day) for a year. . . . . . 1 pound Hire of one skilled workman or man at arms (paid two pence per day) for a year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 pounds Hire of one master craftsman or ship’s captain (paid five pence per day) for a year. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 pounds
One virgate of arable land, or two virgates of wild land. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 pounds
Ten blocks of dressed building stone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 pound Half a dozen precious gems. . . . 1 pound Three or four paintings or tapestries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 pound Two garments of fine fur. . . . . . . 1 pound A statue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 pound A bough of rare wood. . . . . . . . . 1 pound One pound of gold. . . . . . . . . . 10 pounds
Rent of a wagon and horses for a season 1 pound Two weeks of travel and accomodation for a couple of magi and a half-dozen grogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 pound A season of travel and accomodation for a couple of magi and a half-dozen grogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 pounds 12 wagons, or one coach . . . . . . 1 pound 12 small fishing boats. . . . . . . . . 1 pound Barge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 pounds Ship. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 pounds
16 sets of Inexpensive armor, 4 sets of Standard armor, or 1 set of Expensive armor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 pound 32 Inexpensive weapons, 8 Standard weapons, or 2 Expensive weapons . . 1 pound 2 ballistas or light catapults, or 1 heavy catapult or trebuchet. . . . . . . . . . 1 pound Armor prices are for partial armor. Full armor is twice as expensive. Weapons and armor cost 1 pound per 32 points to buy. Starting characters and mercenaries usually come with their own weapons and armor, which do not need to be paid for. The cost for yearly repair and maintenance is one tenth of the cost to buy, 1 pound per 320 points Shields cost the same as weapons. |
Attribution
Attribution Based on the material for Ars Magica, ©1993-2024, licensed by Trident, Inc. d/b/a Atlas Games®, under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license 4.0 ("CC-BY-SA 4.0"). Ars Magica Open License Logo ©2024 Trident, Inc. The Ars Magica Open License Logo, Ars Magica, and Mythic Europe are trademarks of Trident, Inc., and are used with permission. Order of Hermes, Tremere, Doissetep, and Grimgroth are trademarks of Paradox Interactive AB and are used with permission.