Economics and Trade

The basic element of Rione economics is the Rioner, the universal currency used by all. It can come in one of 4 versions; Copper, Silver, Gold, or Platinum. Each version is worth more base Rioners. Copper represents 1 Rioner. Silver represents 10 Rioners. Gold represents 50 Rioners. And Platinum represents 100 Rioners.

## Provinces

Each ruler controls their own realm, which will be subdivided into “provinces.” Provinces are a generic term used for administrative units in the game. Examples in real life include counties, states, bishoprics, earldoms, etc. Each player may decide how their nation is broken up into provinces. This includes selecting:

1. Their sub-unit name (ie. States)
2. The geographical location of each province
3. General characteristics of each province
4. The names for all individual provinces (ie. Erodenhulm)

Each realm starts with TEN (10) provinces that can be assigned by each ruler. Rulers may also assign one of their 3 specializations to each province, excluding one capital province. Assigning specializations will determine what resources are produced in each province (as decided by the mods). Each specialization must have equal representation in your realm (3 provinces for each spec). Your capital province will be an amalgamation of all three specs, and will produce faction-specific goods. These goods will be decided at game’s start by moderators after consulting each player.

## Necessities

Each province will have a specific set of Necessities. These are the basic, necessary elements of life. Filling a province’s necessities is required to ensure a happy, productive population. The necessities include:

1. Population
2. Food
3. Water
4. Spirits
5. Security
6. Housing
7. Health
8. Faith

To keep things simple for players, the list of Necessities will be public, but the individual stats for each province will be kept on the backend by moderators. Whenever there is a shortage of a specific necessity, a player will be warned and a small, localized event will occur. They then have one turn to resolve the issue, or a full-scale event will be triggered. Events can include an outbreak of a disease, rampant homelessness, the beginning of a famine, or other unique events. Each event will be specific and unique. However, this will be the system to decide if something happens. Resolving Necessity shortages can be seen as essentially governance quests. A shortage in water could see an aqueduct break, and the ruler would then have to find a way to ensure that water reaches a remote village that is dying from having no water.

Some necessities are straightforward – food, water, and spirits mean simply a supply of those goods are necessary. Security, health, or faith are more complicated. Security includes a strong police force, patrols on roads, and a lack of conflict in the realm. Security can change at any time though. The declaration of war will generally see security drop, as more able bodied men and women are sent to the frontlines. This could see the rise of bandit brigades, the beginnings of thief guilds, or even riots in the population.

Whenever an action a ruler takes will have an effect on a necessity, he or she will be warned.

## Population

Each Province will be assigned a number for each type of population. The types of populations include:

1. Peasants
2. Commoners
3. Elites

Peasants represent rural populations, living outside of cities among their families, clans, or tribes. Peasants represent mainly the basic size of your army and navy. In this era, most militaries rely on peasants to fill their ranks for the majority of military units. The level of a population’s peasants represent how much raw material is produced each turn. For example, say you have set a province as Shipbuilding. Obviously, your province will need naval supplies, including mainly timber and cloth. Having more peasants ensures that the amount of timber and cloth produced each turn is higher. Be warned though – having too many peasants could lead to general poverty, as well as the eruption of riots. Peasants may know their place usually, but when they are large in numbers, they grow braver and start to question the status quo.

Commoners represent merchants, craftsmen, and other land holding citizens. They generally live in villages, towns, or cities. They represent mainly the production of finished goods in your provinces. Let’s take the earlier example of shipbuilding. More Commoners ensure that the speed of ships produced, as well as their efficacy, are improved. Be warned though – having too many commoners in a province could see that province plagued by strikes, the formation of monopolies, and the rise of powerful merchant guilds that will contest your control of a province.

Elites are the aristocratic leaders of your nation. They include wealthy patricians, clergy, and nobles. They generally live in cities, especially fortified ones. Elites generally represent the amount of taxes you may levy in your nation, as well as having a bonus on the production of raw materials, finished goods, and the pool of soldiers and sailors. Elites are rarer than peasants and commoners, but having a strong elite class in a province essentially boosts all other aspects of the province. Be warned though – having too many elites in a province could see that province lead a revolt against your rule. The more powerful elites become, the less they need their suzerain overlord.

The negative aspects of each population can be associated with overpopulation, as well as a large concentration of power in your realm. Although it’s important to build and improve your realm, do so in a balanced way. Favoring one party over another could lead to disputes. A large elite class in a province could see the rise of robber barons for example, which in turn will cause disruptions to the commoners and peasants.

Improving a specific type of population generally includes the usage of investment in two areas: money and rights. Peasants can grow by the accumulation and widespread availability of basic food supplies through Inns and Taverns; they can also grow by being given more land to till or mine, gaining limited or even full control over the materials they produce, and other such rights. Commoners can grow by the building of Marketplaces, Factories, or Docks; they can also grow by the granting of rights over the means of production and land owning. Elites can grow by the building of Temples, Senate Houses, Council Chambers, and other important governing infrastructure; they can also grow by the granting of more rights over land, by being delegated more authority in provinces, and other such rights.

## Trade

Once goods are produced, they must be used or sold. The best means to do that is through Trade with foreign powers. Each nation will be allowed to maintain their very own Market, on which goods can be put up for sale. These will be done through specific channels on Discord which every ruler will have access to. A guide on how to use the Auction Bot will be posted later.

Each realm will have access to a certain number of trade ships or caravans at the start of the game. This number will depend on your specializations (for example, a shipbuilding nation will start with more trade ships). Each resource will be calculated as a Unit. Units can vary in size; for example, a unit of a Destroyer would likely be 1 Destroyer, whereas a unit of grapes may be a ton of grapes. Each unit will be specified when the resource list is made public. Each trade ship or caravan will be able to carry a certain number of units. However, players won’t need to know where each ship is, what is its carrying capacity, or where it is heading. Moderators will handle the back end of this. When making a purchase, you should look at your Central Office channel to see what is your currently available carrying capacity (which mods will update regularly).

If you don’t have the capacity to pick something up, or would prefer to keep your ships at home, you would need to arrange transport by another realm.

I said earlier that players don’t HAVE to keep track of where ships are, but if players would like to, they are free to manage the micro level of this themselves. I have already noticed there are some nations wanting to specialize in trade, and I’m sure this would be a fun thing for them to handle. Simple discuss this with the mods when the game starts and we will go from there.

The two specializations that have effect on number of trade ships or caravans is Shipbuilding and Woodworking respectively.