Posted on by Magnus Seter

Best of the fans (1)

One thing that has defined WFRP for a long time is the dedication of its fans. While WFRP was not supported by Games Workshop a strong tradition of creating additional material grew into a powerful force which created some of the best fan material I have ever seen. This helped keep the game relevant to the roleplaying public in a way that few other officially unsupported games manage. And with the emergence of the Internet, sharing this material became as simple as sending an e-mail to the WFRP Mailing List.

A lot has happened in the last few years. WFRPv2 has been released, and the WFRP Mailing List is as far as I know inactive. Instead the discussions about WFRP have moved to various discussion boards, such as Black Industries own official boards, or to RPGnet or other places. Some of those who were active in the past have decided to focus on other things, some carry on today, and quite a few new fans have joined the tradition of creating fan material for WFRP.

But strangely enough, even with the Internet and all, most of these fan publications go without notice from the large body of WFRP players. So I wanted to do my bit to help that situation improve. Even though my blog is only drawing about 50 readers each week (probably the same 50, bless you all), maybe I can help spread the word about what I consider to be the best fan material out there for WFRP! I won’t focus on any one edition, as to me and my game they are so similar that any material is useful.

I’ll simply pick what’s best out there, and let you figure out which edition you want to use it for!

First out, taken from one of my favourite WFRP fan sites is Dave Graffam’s Purity Seals and Prayer Ribbons (scroll down his page to find them). Taking inspiration from the scraps of paper carried by most of the people in the illustrations for WFRPv2, Dave has created ribbons and seals ready to be printed out and added to your character sheet. It adds immensely to the atmosphere around the table!

Dave also has a lot of other really good stuff on his site, and I promise I’ll remind you of them at a later date. But hey, you don’t have to wait for me to say that they rock! Download them now and find out for yourself.

Magnus

Posted on by Magnus Seter

Economics of the Ratchett Lines

I have now worked as a scribe at the Ratchett stables for several weeks. I find it immensely interesting as I often get a chance to speak to travellers going to and from our fair capital. It is also quite interesting to see how Gertrude Ratchett operates her coaching Empire, as I might call it. They transport people, of course, but also letters and special deliveries. I believe they have running contracts with some of the Merchant Houses of the Empire to act as a line of communication between important cities.

The Ratchett Stables seem to be a very serious business, certainly above the average quality found in other competing outfits of comparable size. The security they offer while on the road is fairly high, and Frau Ratchett has a well thought out contingency plan for horses becoming ill or dying, and five main coaching stations. There is quite a lot of administrative overhead, which is unusual for this kind of business, but I would be the last to complain as it gives me work and a steady wage. I also believe that the amount of paperwork put in by the formidable Frau Ratchett and her employees actually contributes to the relative success of the Ratchett line.

The Ratchett line only has four coaches. The main hub is in Altdorf, and the destinations are Middenheim, Nuln, Talabheim and Gisoreaux. Curiously Frau Ratchett has also aquired a station in all of the destinations. At each station there are spare horses (normally 4, but since more coaches use the Altdorf station, there are 20 horses here as well, so that the coaches can switch horses and quickly get back on the road). I was a bit overwhelmed at the amount of horses, but I soon learned that fresh and healthy horses is a vital ingredient in running a successful coaching line. Also, Frau Ratchett will rent out horses for use within the walls of Altdorf for short periods of time to raise additional income.

Each station has around the clock guards (2 at any give time), and the driver and coach guard are well trained and experienced. All guards and drivers have worked for the Ratchett Stables for a long time, and are tried and trusted, which is also a corner stone for the business. Frau Ratchett knows that her drivers will do their best, and she knows they won’t just dump any suspect cargo at first sight of an Imperial toll booth.

Adolphus Altdorfer
Nachexen 30, 2522 IC

Let’s look at the economics of a business like the one Adolphus describes above.

My calculations indicate that the cost of running the Ratchett Lines are around 26 000 Gold Crowns a year. This takes into account a reasonable level of safety for passengers, drivers and guards, as well as a reasonable administrative organisation to handle all the paperwork associated with the business. Most prices I based this on are pulled from OWA, except for items marked with a ”*”. All yearly prices are calculated using a 12 month year with 400 days.

I have assumed that a coach can travel 25 miles per day, and that the coaches are on the road 70% of the time.

This caluculation establishes the following price levels:

1 gc per 10 miles = 60% loss
3 gc per 10 miles = 25% profit
5 gc per 10 miles = 55% profit
7 gc per 10 miles = 200% profit

The OWA gives the price of 7 GC per 10 miles, but it is unclear as to whether this is for hiring one coach, or per passenger. When I did this calculation a year ago or so, I arrived at the conclusion that the price of 7 GC per 10 miles was for hiring an entire coach for yourself.

So the cost for one passenger would be around 1 gold crown and 10 shillings per 10 miles, or 3 shillings a mile, give or take a few pennies.

For those interested, I have broken down the costs associated with the Ratchett Lines.

Startup costs
Item / Cost per item in gc/ Quantity / Subtotal
Coaches / 500 / 4 / 2000
Horses / 25 / 36 / 900
Grooming kits / 5 / 36 / 180
Harness and special equipment / 2 / 32 / 64
Barding / 75 / 32 / 2400
Driver equipment (hand weapon, leather jack and cap, coach horn) / 35 / 4 / 140
Coach guard equipment (blunderbuss (x2), powder and shot, leather jack and cap) / 160 / 4 / 640
Coaching station in Altdorf / 2500 / 1 / 2500
Coaching station in Middenheim / 2000 / 1 / 2000
Coaching station in Nuln / 2000 / 1 / 2000
Coaching station in Talabheim / 2000 / 1 / 2000
Coaching station in Gisoreaux / 2500 / 1 / 2500
Station guard equipment (hand weapon, leather jack and cap, bell) / 30 / 30 / 900

Initial investment: 18224 gold crowns

Running costs (per year)
Item / Cost per item in gc per day / Quantity for the whole year / Subtotal
Horse fodder / 0,020833333 / 14400 / 300
*Horse shoeing and fitting / 1,125 / 36 / 40,5
Horse medicine / 117 / 1 / 117
Driver salaries (including double pay for risky work) / 234 / 4 / 936
*Driver training / 15 / 4 / 60
Coach guards salaries (including double pay for risky work) / 234 / 4 / 936
*Coach guard training / 15 / 4 / 60
Coaching stations (upkeep) / 150 / 5 / 750
1 senior clerk at each station / 117 / 5 / 585
2 junior clerks working at each station / 26 / 10 / 260
6 guards at each station (3-shift) / 78 / 30 / 2340
4 stable boys at each station / 15 / 20 / 300
Writing kits / 10 / 60 / 600
Paper (bookkeeping) / 0,25 / 4000 / 1000
*Posters (advertising) / 0,4 / 1000 / 400
*Medical expenses for drivers and coach guards / 50 / 8 / 400
Pensions for widows and orphans / 100 / 1 / 100
*License / 150 / 5 / 750
Mortgage and interest (5 year loan at 25%) / 4556 / 1 / 4556
Extraordinary expenses (10% of cost) / 1449,05 / 1 / 1449,05

Efficiency (per year)
Miles travelled per coach (with 30% downtime) 7000

Running costs with four passengers (per coach per mile)
Item / Cost per item in gc per mile / Subtotal
Tolls and fees / 0,056 / 0,056
Coaching inn for passengers (lodging, breakfast, lunch and dinner) / 0,1 / 0,1
Stabling (four horses) / 0,006666667 / 0,006666667
Coach upkeep / 0,05 / 0,05

Bribes and taxes
Twenty percent of real costs / 4378,843333 /

Running total: 26273,06 gc

Magnus

Posted on by Magnus Seter

FAL Review: Explorer’s Handbook

Publisher Wizards of the Coast. Released August 2005. Format Hardcover. Game system Dungeons & Dragons. Setting Eberron. Pages 160. Price $29.95.

Designers David Noonan, Rich Burlew, Frank Brunner. Cover artist Wayne Reynolds.

Sometimes a book is released that helps define a setting. When your read it you go “ah, now I understand!”. Explorer’s Handbook for D&D is one of those books. I like Eberron, I like the sources for inspiration and I like the rules system. Still it has been difficult for me to know what I was supposed to do with it all. When playing, it felt more like just ordinary D&D, without the spices that supposedly makes Eberron special. This uncertainty was laid to rest with this book.

Explorer’s Handbook’s focus is exploration, how to do it and where to do it. Leave Sharn and discover the world, board the ligtning train and leave the civilised countries behind; the Eberron atmosphere is taking shape, and it feels like Raiders of the Lost Ark! Only with swords and sorcery, of course. First out is a discussion about why and how you travel and how long it takes. After that comes equipment, organisations, expeditions and prestige classes. You also find maps showing several different vehicles, like airships, storm ships and lightning rail trains. The PCs kan be members of the organisations described and adventure hooks for this are detailed as well. This is followed by sections on places where the PCs journey can start, stops on the way and final destinations. You are given examples you can use straight out of the book, maps, NPCs and adventure hooks. To spice things up the writers also include short comments on specific details of the Eberron setting.

The contents of this book is aimed at the Dungeon Master. The style of writing shows more attitude than the more standard D&D fare, which I find somewhat boring in the generic books. Sometimes this feels awkward but most of the times it works well and makes reading the text an enjoyment. Most of the contents in the Explorer’s Handbook is specific for Eberron but since the places described are unknown to most people on Eberron, including the PCs, they can easily be transferred to another campaign setting.

If you are a Dungeon Master who is thinking about what to do with Eberron will get lots of ideas and examples of how to create new adventures with that pulp feeling Eberron has as a signature trait from this book.

Magnus