Posted on by Magnus Seter

Children’s games

Pieter Bruegehl, Children's Games

It is impossible to venture out on the streets of Altdorf without being overrun by children. When I say children it is with the greatest of constraint that I chose such a benevolent word. Brats, racals, even criminals often seem a better word for them, and much better reflects their activities. Even though many children in our fair city begin working at an early age, often helping their parents out with various and sundry tasks, there are many, many who have nothing better to do than spend their time playing on the streets with their various toys.

Of these, wooden weapons seems the most common among the boys. Swords and shields are swung at unprotected heads, or indeed even at the knees of innocent passers-by, in furious battles enacting the war against Chaos. I have also observed a not insignificant group with painted tin soldiers, or troops whittled out of wood. They meet in parks and in public squares all over the city to fight out imaginary battles between the armies of the Empire and the forces of Chaos. A worrying amount of the boys involved in these different war games thoroughly enjoy playing Chaos warriors, and some even run bellowing around Altdorf, scaring women and babies, and panicking horses and cattle! A right nuisance, if you ask me!

And speaking of nuisances, the children of Altdorf seem to have made it their holy mission to remind the rest of the world of their existance; for this they use infernal rattles, pipes, bells, drums or whistles, even horns or trumpets stolen from some unfortunate coach driver add to the cacaphony of sounds of everyday life. Some foolish adults even pay children to come and scare off the ill influences of sickness and disease with their instruments of torture to the ear and sensibilities of educated people! The practice of making this noise seems to be most popular among the girls, for some reason.

Apart from the toys mentioned, the children of Altdorf play with balls made from cloth and inflated pigs’ bladders, playing games that involves much kicking and screaming. They also excel at the game called Nine Kings, where you use a ball to knock over as many of nine pins placed in varying patterns as possible in two tries. Very popular in the more affluent parts of our capital. In the poorer parts of Altdorf the children play with marbles, so called even though they are commonly made from stone or scrap glass or metal.

Adolphus Altdorfer
Bezahltag, Sigmarzeit 33, 2522 IC

While doing some quick research for this piece, I came across the painting Children’s Games by Pieter Bruegel. This paints a much better picture of what an ordinary day in Altdorf can look like, so right-click the image above and save it to disk. Then open it in an image viewer of your choice and take a closer look. It is well worth the extra effort!

Magnus

Posted on by Magnus Seter

Charlatans and tricksters

There are many magic fairy tales in this world, and none of them should be told lightly. Our old world contains mysteries beyond the understanding of our sharpest minds or most dim-witted fools. And so there are those who would profit from this. Profit from our fears and anxiety. Who would pretend to eradicate Chaos where no such taint occurs. To take our gold to rid us from evil, and save us from our waking dreams.

Most of these charlatans are adventurous types, armed with sharp blades and an array of tricks. They claim to fight evil, to battle Chaos and to do what is right in this world. In reality they only do what’s right by themselves. Today most of these wretched beings have fortunately been enlisted to fight the Storm of Chaos, and will hopefully justly perish on a dirty and grimy battlefield in the cold north.

But there are some who are still at large and I can see them pass me by on the streets of Altdorf every day. Who knows what they are planning?

Adolphus Altdorfer
Konistag, Sigmarzeit 2, 2522 IC

Those of you who follow my other blog, Fanboy at Large, might have already read my short review of the movie The Brothers Grimm, which I watched a couple of days ago. If you haven’t, nip by the site and do so, I’ll wait here until you’re done.

…

Already back? Good. Well, the point of this post is to make sure that all of you who play WFRP also watch this movie. For the scenery and visuals, if for nothing else. But also because I feel that the Grimm brothers and their companions really embody many of those qualities that make up a WFRP adventuring party. They look after themselves first and foremost, they are barely competent, they muck about with things they don’t understand, they are beset by a torturer which would be perfectly cast as an unhinged witch hunter in any WFRP campaign … the list goes on.

As a straight adventure or fantasy movie I feel that even though I like it, I can’t recommend it without some pretty severe caveats.

But as an inspiration for WFRP game masters or players, I can’t recommend it highly enough. Watch it as a source of inspiration for your games. You will find much in there that could make it into your game, or conversely you will find scenes that highlight what you don’t want in your game.

So gather your gaming group and watch The Brothers Grimm together, and imagine it being a session of WFRP. That will make the viewing even more fun!

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