TEXT: “’In this world nothing can be said to be certain, 
  except death and taxes.”
  — Benjamin Franklin, 1817
  Hellfrost has already covered death and its associ-
  ated costs through the burial rules, so now we’ll look 
  at something far worse—taxes. Let us stress this is not a 
  supplement about calculating tax returns, nor calculat-
  ing the exact annual income for every NPC’s profession. 
  Hellfrost is a game about adventurous heroes overcom-
  ing terrible odds while striving to make a name for 
  themselves, not juggling finances. Even if you’re using 
  the Resource Management rules, tax payments to one’s 
  feudal overlord, if any, and routine (i.e., non-adventur-
  ing) expenses are covered automatically. This short 
  document instead takes a very brief look at the economy 
  of the northern continent in the loosest of terms.
  The reason why this document was written is because 
  of a fan question. He asked how much it would cost 
  to support his party’s 25 Followers, all of whom had 
  mounts. It was suggested he use the mercenary pay rates 
  from adventure S4: The Ice Fiend and Other Tales as a 
  guideline. This gave him a cost of 45 gs per week per Fol-
  lower (including maintaining his mount), which equated 
  to an annual bill of 58,500 gs. As a reference, that is close 
  to four times what the Filthy Rich Edge provides a hero 
  in spendable cash. After recovering from the shock, 
  he commented that he thought 99% of the population 
  would have been very pleased to earn more than 1 gs a 
  week. With that in mind, it’s now time to look at just how 
  far money doesn’t go.
  Peasants & Money
  Nobles, senior clerics at major temples, powerful 
  merchants, mighty chieftains, and the like usually have 
  their income and living expenses handled by the Rich or 
  Noble Edges. Peasant barely get a mention in the rules.
  Let’s look at how much a moderately wealthy peasant 
  farmer, who we’ll call Sven, actually earns. Sven lives on 
  a small stead, and has a wife, a couple of young kids, 
  and an elderly relative or two to support, plus a small 
  amount of livestock.
  IncoMe
  Because 45 gs was mentioned in the initial query, 
  we’ll assume Sven earns a round 50 gs a week. This isn’t 
  a firm rule about how much a peasant earns—it’s a value 
  purely for example purposes.
  Despite there being 13 months and eight days to a 
  week, there are still 52 weeks in a Hellfrost year. Thus, 
  Sven earns 50 x 52, or 2,600 gs a year, or roughly half 
  what the Rich or Noble Edges generate. Before Sven goes 
  berserk and rushes out to spend his money at the mar-
  ket, he has to remember that unlike the upper echelons 
  of society with their money-generating Edges, his income 
  is before basic living expenses, not after.
  It should also be remembered that this is not a mod-
  ern society, where workers are paid weekly or monthly. 
  Sven’s income is generated mainly after the harvest has 
  been gathered. For other NPCs, such as craftsmen, their 
  income might be generated more regularly by local 
  markets, but it might equally depend on the arrival of 
  trade caravans. Thus, unlike modern workers, who know 
  when their next paycheck is coming, Sven doesn’t know 
  when his next income will arrive, and so must carefully 
  juggle his money to last an entire year.
  We should also remember that much of Sven’s income 
  won’t be hard cash (neither will his outgoings). Although 
  coin is used in most lands, both bartering and payment 
  of taxes in goods is commonplace.
  outgoIngs
  Sven might look like he has money to blow on luxu-
  ries or fine weapons, but before he goes shopping we’ll 
  look at how much he has to spend to survive.
  tax
  Income tax rates, where mentioned in the various 
  Region Guides, range from 10% up to 50% (and higher 
  in rare instances). On top of these there are numerous 
  other taxes, such as sales tax, hearth tax, voting tax, and 
  tithing to temples. For convenience, we’ll say that our 
  peasant loses one-quarter of his entire income paying his 
  taxes. That leaves him 37.5 gs a week.
  Food & drInk
  Sven and his family also have to eat. Ignore the costs 
  for meals in the Player’s Guide. In the real world, prices 
  for a single meal at a restaurant are far higher than if you 
  shopped at a grocers. The same applies to Hellfrost—if 
  you eat at an inn your meal includes a surcharge to cover 
  not only the ingredients, but things like staff wages.
  Sven has some crops from his own fields, but he 
  doesn’t grow everything he needs to survive. He also 
  has to feed several human mouths, and his livestock may 
  need surplus food during bad times. So we’ll dock a 
  further one-quarter from his weekly wage. 
  death & taxes
    
   
   
      
      Background notes
  
  
  That may sound a lot, but as with all goods, the cost 
  varies greatly by region. If Sven lives in the south, where 
  food is generally more abundant, he’d pay less. If he lives 
  above the Icebarrier, where winters are longer and the 
  growing season shorter, he’ll pay considerably more. 
  So as with everything this figure is merely a convenient 
  average, not an absolute. Now that’s out the way, we can 
  see Sven has 25 gs a week to spare. Well, that’s not quite 
  true, since there are other regular expenses.
  goods
  Sven has a stead and family to maintain. New nails 
  and tools, clothes, pots, sleeping furs, sharpening of 
  tools, and other assorted goods and services account 
  for around another one-quarter of his income. Naturally 
  Sven isn’t actually spending 12.5 gs each week on these 
  things—he replaces them as he needs them throughout 
  the year, so he will have months with minimal expen-
  diture and months with major expenditure. On averge, 
  Sven now has 12.5 gs a week left.
  So far we’ve accounted for 75% of Sven’s income. We’ll 
  round it down by a further 2.5 gs a week, partly because 
  it gives us a flat 10 gs, and partly because there are always 
  other routine expenses that crop up from time to time 
  but must be accounted for (gifts for the wife, additional 
  taxes for major ceremonies, feasts, and so on).
  At 10 gs a week, a generous calculation, Sven has 520 
  gs a year in his pocket. That’s a fair amount of money. 
  Sven could easily buy himself a chain hauberk one year, 
  a sword the next, and then a riding horse! Well, he could, 
  but there are always hidden expenses to account for.
  More BIlls!
  The costs above assume only basic living expenses. As 
  with player characters, there are things in Sven’s life not 
  covered by routine bills. For instance, a hero might be a 
  mighty lord, but if he wants plate armor or an alchemical 
  device he can’t chalk it up to a basic expense and claim 
  his Noble Edge covers it. Rather, he has to purchase his 
  goods from his spare cash.
  Sven is young and fit, so he’s probably in the fyrd or 
  militia. Assuming he has already purchased leather ar-
  mor and a spear, there’s still a good chance his spear 
  will break. No, the rules don’t allow for spears breaking, 
  but they are fragile things, and common sense says he’s 
  going to break one every year or so. At 75 gs to replace 
  a short spear, that’s almost two months “spare” money 
  lost. Then one of his kids falls sick, so he has to call on 
  the local healer or cleric of Eira. She provides a herbal 
  remedy, setting Sven back another 50 gs, or just over a 
  month’s “spare” money. Two purchases have cost Sven a 
  third of his spare income already.
  Sven’s decent income of 50 gs a week also doesn’t 
  cover things that are beyond his control. If the crops fail, 
  his annual income may be halved, or worse. Not only 
  does he have less money to spend on necessities like 
  food, but the cost of these items rises. Snow may prevent 
  merchants from calling at his stead, orc bandits may stop 
  trade, or a war may require him to pay additional taxes 
  or answer a call to arms, taking him away from his fields. 
  While he can hire help for his wife, that’s an added ex-
  pense.
  So yes, 50 gs a week sounds like a lot of money if 
  you’re an employer, but if you’re the one receiving the 
  money, it’s not a lot to live on. Then again, that’s why 
  they are peasants, not lords.
  cuttIng the Wage BIll
  Going back to our Followers, there are ways for the 
  party to cut the immense wage bill (aside from killing 
  and eating all their mounts).
  First, you can supply subsistence level food and force 
  your hirelings to forage to survive. That might lower 
  the bill by one-quarter. Remember, though, that these 
  are fighting men, not farmers, and if they are fatigued 
  through hunger they are more likely to die.
  Second, you can supply them with tents. Now they 
  don’t have a house to maintain, and as a mobile force 
  they probably don’t bother paying tax. Unfortunately, 
  you still have to provide their goods, so maybe another 
  25% reduction in wages is appropriate.
  So far you’ve cut their wages in half, but the men and 
  their mounts are half-starved, and they’re cold at night. 
  Still, you’ve saved over 29,000 gs a year. You could prob-
  ably knock a further 25% for various miscellaneous rea-
  sons, though the odds of a mutiny are greatly increased.
  To further help you could also found a Resource and 
  dedicate some of the men to protecting it. While they 
  won’t come adventuring with you any more, their wages 
  have now become a basic living expense, not one you 
  have to handle personally. Alternately, your Resource 
  could be a mercenary company. Now you can forget the 
  entire wage bill, though you’ve lost most of the men for 
  adventuring purposes. While you’re killing giants and 
  dragons and saving princesses, they are off earning mon-
  ey as swords-for-hire—without such behind-the-scenes 
  missions the Resource can’t earn any money.
  Even if the Followers aren’t an official mercenary com-
  pany, your GM might be convinced that any who do not 
  take part in an adventure are earning a living elsewhere 
  (maybe protecting a caravan), saving you their wages. Of 
  course, there is always a chance they might die doing 
  such work, but life is hard and brutal.
  To briefly summarize, Followers are expensive. If you 
  want an army in tow, even a small one, you need to either 
  have a huge income, set up a Resource (if only to gener-
  ate cash to pay adventuring Followers), or make sure any 
  adventures you undertake pay a small fortune. 
  What GMs shouldn’t do is suddenly increase the re-
  wards just because the heroes have Followers. It’s the 
  job of the heroes to pay their troops, not the patron. A 
  village might pay the player characters 50 gs a head to 
  find lost cattle, but it won’t pay for an extra 25 Followers 
  just because the heroes have them at their side.
  © 2012 Triple Ace Games
  
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