Economic Resources

The Wilderlands of Absalom

Land Value and Resources

As written, each hex has a given land value, which is the average amount of revenue that each peasant family produces per month, abstracted out. Some of those peasants will be farmers, some will be herders and trappers, some will run little wildcat mines, some will log timber. As written a hex's land value doesn't really change and we can sort of handwave what it is the families do to produce revenue. However, when I populate these hexes randomly I've got a category for resources (such as timber, spices, mines, etc.) that, unless the resource ends up occupying more than 1/4 of the hex I consider to be a one-shot resource that doesn't affect the land value. You can leave it, you can clear-cut it or you can harvest it in a sustainable manner; the last two options will produce some immediate short term cash benefits but won't affect the overall land value.

Hex 13.39

• Twenty feet in, the passageway opens up into a largish chamber some thirty feet in diameter with a ceiling twenty feet high. The floor is covered in decades, if not centuries, of batshit. "There's value in that," says Nathet. "Bat guano is highly prized by alchemists and magicians alike." She frowns and examines the space. "I reckon there's about 8,000 alcedes worth of guano in here. Would probably take me and few helpers a week to harvest it all, but we could certainly do it.

Hex 13.38

• Slightly north of the tower, hidden in a wide vale, is a verdant forest of black oaks, cottonwood and box elder, covering almost one and a quarter square miles. The ground here is slightly boggy and spongy; the air cool beneath the bright green spring leaves that provide shade from the sun. Almost a dozen small springs are discovered, scattered throughout the forest -- some no larger than a puddle, a few big enough to almost but not quite be considered ponds -- providing moisture to the trees.
• Although no experts in timbering or forestry the party estimates that if harvested responsibly the party might be able to produce between 10 and 20 units of common lumber per year -- enough, certainly, to provide fire wood for the Keep's cookstoves and hearths -- around five to ten units of building lumber per year and maybe one or two units of rare wood a year -- this last being several of the slowly grown oaks and locusts that are found growing in the thickest parts of the wood, sheltered from direct sunlight and allowed to grow slow and straight. If clearcut, it could yield ten times the estimated yield, but would likely never recover.

Hex 19.35

• At the very eastern corner of the hex, roughly equidistant between the two animal trails, he discovers a largish grove of trees. It is likely there is a substantial amount of timber here; were it to be clearcut it would likely yield some 500 units of firewood, 100 units of building lumber and maybe 20 units of rare woods -- walnut, cherry and hickory.
• The grove of trees is in hexes 0705, 0805 and 0806