Money
Money makes the world go round; even in Eressea. Many different ways to earn money exist in Eressea: You can earn money by: working, entertaining the peasants, collecting taxes oder trading.
Working is more of a type of stopgap, units workig will earn barely enough to feed themselves. You can make quite a lot of money with entertainnment and taxation. Especially at the beginning of your ventures, trading might be the biggest source of income, profits of some thousands of silver are possible, provided the regions have the appropriate luxury goods.
Silver has its own weight: each 100 pieces of silver equal one unit of weight (UW/GE). When calculating weight it is a common rule to round up; even one piece of silver can overload.
Because persons (of most Races) can carry 5.4 UW/GE, they can carry up to 540 silver with them; when carrying 541 silver a single person is overloaded. A boat (50 UW/GE capacity) for example, can carry one person (10 GE of most Races) with 4000 Silver; even 4001 silver would be too much.
Expenses
Recruit
If you want to recruit people, all you need is enough small change, because those willing to recruit are often particularly thirsty ... Depending on the race, you have to spend between 40 and 150 silver on recruitment costs for each person you recruit. The amount of the recruitment costs depends on the race and can be found in the this table.
You can only recruit people of your own race! Persons of other races can only be accepted by human factions, and these must be handed over by other factions.
Recruitment is prevented by guarding.
Upkeep costs
Every person of a faction and each peasant require 10 silver each turn to buy themselves the supplies needed to survive. Units of a faction help each other with silver when staying in the same region, i.e. it is basically enough if one unit has enough silver for all persons present (which can lead to catastrophes when done wrong and nobody else has any silver!). If your own faction does not have enough silver, other factions that have set HELP SILVER to your own faction will also help (see here). Units that move must be supplied where they arrive. Silver, which was previously reserved, is also used for unit maintenance. Without enough silver, people will starve (see below).
Some buildings also require weekly maintenance costs in order to function. These maintenance costs are incurred at the start of the round, i.e. they must be collected in the preliminary round and are due as soon as the building has been started (i.e. even for half-finished buildings). If there is not enough silvers available, the function of the building cannot be used. More details can be found in the chapter on Buildings.
Starvation
Starvation for player units
Starving units take damage, the hungry Halflings proportionally more than others. However, a fully rested unit will not die in the first week. A starving unit cannot give people to other units. In addition, the skill levels of starving units fall by half, they do not regenerate health points and they learn much more slowly than normal.
The Sailing talent is only reduced by one level when units are starving. Nevertheless, starvation at sea is a critical situation. On the one hand, nobody can work there except aquarians, so you are dependent on silver from outside. Secondly, due to the reduction in skill, you may not be able to gather enough sailing levels to manoeuvre the ship, causing it to take Damage and drift away.
Hunger is almost fatal if you come into contact with the enemy, e.g. due to theft or poor planning. Units lose hit points and will be much weaker in any subsequent battle. If units survive such a battle anyway, there is still a risk that they will continue to starve because they were unable to work due to the battle (see Combat End).
If units master the Endurance skill at a high level, they may experience the strange effect that a unit is "very strong" according to the report (i.e. it has more hit points than it should normally have) after starving.
Starvation for peasants
Peasants also need sustenance, which they normally earn themselves and take from the regional supply. If the regional supply is exhausted, the peasants starve and die. This can have various causes:
- The region is overpopulated. In a plain without trees, where each peasant earns 12 silver, only 12000 peasants can survive in the long term, because only 10000 peasants work, earning 120000$, which is only enough for 12000 peasants. In the short term, the number of peasants can be higher as long as there is still enough silver in the region's supply.
- The region is not overpopulated, but working player units occupy some of the jobs.
- The peasants earn enough silver, but player units collect taxes before the peasants can provide for themselves.
- There are also rumours of special events that can temporarily or permanently reduce the fertility of a region, which means that the peasants can no longer earn their own living.
Starved peasants can later "be" resurrected as Undead.
Income
Work
Units can earn money by working in agriculture (see command WORK). However, the larger the forests in a region, the less arable land there is, and the fewer peasants (and player units) can work: eight peasants or players can no longer work per tree, each sapling occupies 4 jobs. The maximum number of people who can work (not live) in a region, i.e. without any forest, depends on the terrain (see the table in the WORK order).
A peasant normally earns 11 silver per turn. This wage can be increased by the bonus of a citadel up to 16 silver per peasant and week (see also this table). If, for example, a citadel is built in a plain and the forest is cut down, 10000 peasants can feed themselves in one turn and another 60000 silver are added to the region silver.
However, working units of players earn less - after all, they are only auxiliaries. How much they can earn (usually 1 silver less than peasants) is specified in the report and can also be found in the table in the order WORK.
Work is prevented by guarding only for units on ships.
Collecting taxes
Armed and trained units can use the order TAX to squeeze out of the peasants 20 silver in taxes per person and skill taxation level. To do this, you will of course need the taxation skill, as well as a weapon per person (catapults don't count) and the corresponding skill.
If the peasants live close to the maximum population, almost all the silver reserves will be used up by themselves, so they will have no more silver "left" for taxes. Taxes can then still be collected (in the amount of the regional reserve), but the peasants who are not supplied will starve to death (and this will not increase their earnings ...). This is why it makes sense to build a castle, as this increases wages: with 12 silver instead of 11 silver, 2000 peasants earn 2000 silver more per turn!
Collect taxes is prevented by guarding.
Entertainment
The silver that remains to peasants after paying taxing units is added to the region's silver (the peasants' silver supply, so to speak). Of this silver, 5% can be earned through entertainment. This amount is also stated in the region's statistics. Each person can earn up to 20 silver per round and talent level in entertainment with the ENTERTAIN order, if the peasants have enough money available.
Examples of potential income
| Region | Trees | Peasants | Max. workers | Wage | Income | Upkeep | Surplus | Entertain |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plain | 200 | 3742 | 8400 | 11 | 41162 | 37420 | 3742 | 187 |
| Plain | 200 | 3742 | 8400 | 14 | 52388 | 37420 | 14968 | 748 |
| Forest | 818 | 3742 | 3456 | 11 | 38016 | 37420 | 596 | 29 |
| Forest | 818 | 3742 | 3456 | 12 | 41472 | 37420 | 4052 | 202 |
For each tree, the maximum number of peasants that may work is decreased by 8, for each saplings the number is decreased by 4.
In this example, the total income is smaller because not all the peasants can work. This is because too many trees are preventing them from growing food.
This also does not take into consideration the peasants' savings (region silver reserve). They will live on this reserve when overpopulation strikes. The silver available for entertainment is also affected by the amount of silver reserve. As a rule, more silver can therefore be earned through entertainment, as the 5% refers to this reserve.
Entertain is prevented by guarding only for units on ships.
Stealing: the dishonest way
In addition to the honest ways of earning money, there is also the dishonest variant: theft. Units that are cloaked can attempt to steal silver from other units using the order STEAL.
If stealth skill of the stealing unit is higher than the perception of the best unit of the stealing faction in the region, it steals 50 silver per talent level difference.
It is also worth reading the chapter on stealth on this topic.
Trade
In every region, the peasantry produce one special luxury item. Your units may purchase this product. In all regions that do not produce this special luxury product, there is a continuously rising demand. If you are not afraid of the risks involved in long distance travels, trading is a very lucrative method of earning silver.
In order to trade, a unit needs the trade skill. For every level of trade skill, a person can BUY up to 10 luxury items or sell 10 luxury items.
Furthermore, some form of castle is needed for the trade to take place. At least the size of a tradepost is required. It does not matter who controls the castle, the owner cannot directly prevent the trading from taking place. However, he can indirectly prevent trading from going on by simply attacking the trading units with his own armed units.
The unit that owns the largest castle in the region receives a percentage of the proceeds of all sales by the other factions. This revenue share is deducted from the trader's income. If two castles in the region are the same size, no one receives this share. The amount of the "tax rate" can be found in the table in Castles chapter.
Trade is prevented by guarding only for units on ships.
This table shows the base prices of luxury goods. The number of units of luxury goods that can be bought without raising the price is 1% of the number of peasants in the region. Every time this amount is bought (the total bought by all factions), the price rises by the base price. A region with 2,000 peasants means 20 luxury items can be bought without raising the price. The price drops to normal the next turn.
| Luxury good | Base price | Weight UW/GE |
|---|---|---|
| Balm | 4 | 2 |
| Oil | 3 | 3 |
| Spice | 5 | 2 |
| Silk | 6 | 3 |
| Gem | 7 | 1 |
| Incense | 4 | 2 |
| Myrrh | 5 | 2 |
The sale price of a luxury item in a region is a multiple of the basic price, and is declared in the report of the region. Each time more than 1% of the peasants has bought a certain good, the sale price drops by the basic price and rises again slowly in the following turns. Each turn, there is a 10% chance for each luxury good for its sale price to increase by its basic price. In regions with a Harbour, this chance is 20%. If the purchase price is already 25 times the base price, it will not increase any further.
The prices and maximums shown are valid for all factions in the region and not per faction, but per luxury product. Without trade agreements between players, the selling prices of luxury goods can easily be ruined.
All purchases and sales of luxury goods are distributed equally among the factions. The price increase or decrease therefore affects everyone who buys or sells in the turn equally.
Exemple:
- Assuming a region with 8,000 peasants. It proposes incense for 4 silver, and asks spice for 15 silver. 1% of the peasants is 80. If all the traders in the region sell 200 spices, the first 80 units are sold for 15 silver a piece, the next 80 units are sold for 10 silver a piece (down one basic price for spices), and the last 40 spices are sold for only 5 silver a piece. The next week, spices will be sold for only 5 silver. Except if the price has incrised to 10 (10% probability, 20% with a harbour).
- If 100 incense is bought in the same region, the first 80 are bought at 4 silver a piece, and the next 20 are bought at 8 silver a piece (an increase of one basic price). In the coming week the price for incense will be 4 silver again and you can buy the first 80 incense for this price. If the 100 incense was purchased by units from two different factions, both pay 4,8 silver per luxury good (except for rounding effects).
The silver spent by traders to buy the luxury goods available in the region benefits the selling traders. Nevertheless, the region does not lose any silver, because the peasants own luxury goods with which they can pay the taxes. The money is not created out of nothing - it is the value of goods produced in another region. The silver spent by BUY, on the other hand, goes into the region's supply. Clever rulers can take it back from them through entertainment and taxes.
It's worth equipping a boat and setting sail. Although it is possible to trade with the two products usually produced on an island, the profits remain relatively low. On the other hand, if you return from a foreign island with a cargo of rare goods, you can make astronomical profits, whatever the distance between the islands. Remember, a tradepost is a prerequisite for any trade.
Competition between different factions
If several factions work, maintain, collect taxes or trade in a region, the possible income is divided as evenly as possible between the units. It is best to consult with your neighbours if they are friendly.
If the region is guarded by a foreign faction, your own unit cannot collect taxes or recruit. Work, entertainment and trade are possible, however, unless your own unit is on a ship.
If all guarding factions have set HELP GUARD or HELP ALL to our faction or CONTACT to our unit or our faction, then guarding has no effect. This also applies if our unit is not seen due to sufficiently good stealth skill. For a TEMP unit (particularly relevant when recruiting), the "mother" unit counts, i.e. the unit that gives the command MAKE TEMP.
See also
| Continue reading: | Material Pool |
