Editing Magical Realm Cyoa/Diaspora/System (section)

== '''Economy''' ==

The Economy of Diaspora is unique because it is driven partially by the realm's Theme, partially by the inhabitant's Skills and Magics, and based primarily on the availability of the standard currency unit, the Xan.

It would take several pages of text to explain how the Diasporan economy differs from a normal economy, and more to explain how its economic model actually works.  That explanation would be boring, and thus will not be included.  Instead, here is a descriptive example of how the economy of Diaspora works.

A man (the Shopper) walks into a merchant's shop with 1000 Xan in his pocket.  The shop is a standard item shop - the walls are covered with shelves, on which rest potion bottles, bundles of herbs, coils of rope, numerous kinds of tools, and so on.  It is much like an old-time general store from a western movie - except there is only one of every item.  The Shopper asks The Merchant to show him the shop's inventory - which is brought up on a pop-up screen which both the Merchant and the Shopper can see, but no one else.  That is the full extent of the Merchant's need to participate in the transaction, unless the Shopper wishes to start selling things as well.

The Shopper is then presented with a list of items.  Each item's description can be examined, its Character effects noted and detailed, and unless the Merchant is using the Black Market skill all descriptions will be accurate and thorough.  The Shopper then goes through the catalog, chooses the items he wants from the list, selects a quantity for each item, and the total cost of items will be shown.  The Shopper can now buy the items (assuming he has enough Xan) and the items will be placed in his inventory (assuming he has enough item slots there).  If there are issues with the inventory, delivery can be arranged via the Merchant, who will likely charge a few Xan for the service.  There is no haggling involved in this process - the two individual's relative negotiate skills ensure that the deal is the best on the Shopper is going to get.

You'll note that, despite that there is only one of each item on display in the shop - and in truth, these items are there purely for display, and many of them might not even be physically present in the shop - the Shopper needn't worry about availability.  This is because the items purchased are supplied from wherever they currently exist, not from some storage local to the shop itself.  The items in the shop must be available for purchase from a Craftsman or Tradesman within the town, or from a private owner, or occasionally from the town or city's item pool.  In the case of a private owner or item pool, there will actually be a limited quantity of items available and if the customer tries to raise the quantity above what is available then the quantity they select will max out at what is available.

However, if a Tradesman or Craftsman is selling goods, there is no limit on quantity.  None.  As long as sufficient funds are available, then the goods will be provided.  The difference between a Craftsman and a Tradesman is what they provide to merchants (and a single individual may be both at once).  A Craftsman is someone who creates finished products in a workshop from raw materials and other goods, like a Blacksmith.  A Tradesman provides raw materials like lumber or metal, like a Lumberjack or Miner.  

In order for a Craftsman to provide goods, however, they must spend at least one hour per day, per good offered, in a workshop where that good could be produced, and have access to a source of materials for that item based on the crafting rules for that item.  They don't need to spend their time there producing that item, of course - most Craftsmen spend their workshop time studying, reading for pleasure, or entertaining themselves in other ways.  Many married couples who are both craftsmen have large families.  Alternatively, the Craftsman may use their time to produce higher quality or uniquely crafted items - such side projects do not interfere with their production of their provided items, and actually improves their relevant skill to allow them to provide newer, better products to the merchant at a later date.

From the Craftsman's point of view, when a person buys an item that they produce from a Merchant that they have agreed can sell their produced item, then the money for that item, less the Merchant's percentage (based on the Merchant's negotiate skill) and less the cost of materials (based on the material's source).  If the source a materials for the craftsman is direct from a Tradesman or from that same merchant, no further deductions are made.  But if another merchant is involved, then their percentage is deducted as well.  A Craftsman will always receive at least 10% of his costs in profit, creating a minimum profit to the Craftsman (which can again be increased through Negotiate skill.

In order for a Tradesman to provide goods, they must spend one hour per produced material per day (and that may something like hardwood, softwood, pinecones, resinous saps, etc. for a lumberjack) in an area where they can gather that resource.  Other than that requirement, and the need for tools, they are as free in how they use their time in that location as the Craftsman in his shop.

Things get even more interesting if more than one craftsman or tradesman is providing the same item to a merchant (who may want multiple sources in case one of them gets sick and can't provide inventory on a given day).  In this case, the funds from the purchased item are divided evenly among all providers.  And since the Xan is an indivisible unit of currency (there are no half-Xan), transactions which would result in only partial-Xan being provided effectively set up 'IOUs' within the system so that in the next purchase, those who are 'owed' get first dibs on the currency units.

And none of this requires the intervention of the parties themselves.  Much like a modern just-in-time banking transaction with a middleman doing all the accounting work, the universe itself transfers all the materials, moneys, and even seems to provide the labor necessary to actually harvest, transport and manufacture the product.

The only issues in production arise when more than one locale is necessary to produce an item.  Extremely high quality items, including most enchanted items, generally require materials from several areas.  In this case, such materials must be shipped into the location where the craftsmen exist.  And then, the items are either actually produced by the craftsman, or else bought from a merchant in quantities limited by the availability of the least-available resource.

Perhaps with sufficiently advanced magitech, such material scarcity issues could be resolved, but for now that is a limiting factor on the Diasporan materials economy.

As for the prices of items, those are set based on the relevant negotiation skills of the Tradesmen.  Since the individual tradesmen providing the materials have little to no cost themselves, then theoretically they could charge nothing for their goods, and the end product would in turn cost little or nothing to produce, depending on the willingness of the craftsmen to charge nothing in turn.  But the Tradesmen themselves must, invariably, go outside their own homes to a location which, at the very least, is on the outskirts of the civilized and well defended areas of cities and towns, risking their very lives for their livelihoods.  Under these conditions, there are few if any Tradesmen willing to provide materials without cost, and all of those are paid in side-benefits which provide other drains on the economy.  As such, the primary source of cost within the Diasporan economy is danger and/or hardship.

Which is very interesting, because the primary source of wealth in the Diasporan economy is surviving danger and/or hardship.  The Xan can be gained from:
{| class="wikitable"
|selling items || A process which will not be explained here, but which has only slightly more interaction between the participants than buying
|-
|completing quests || Which are either '''1)''' dangerous (see below), '''2)''' rare (sufficiently so as to not be economically important), '''3)''' paid for entirely by the quest-giver (thereby economically neutral)
|-
|killing monsters || Which provides wealth directly in proportion to the danger of the activity
|-
|gathering treasure || Which provides wealth directly in proportion to the danger of the activity
|}

And, equally interesting, the most direct economic sinks where Xan are removed from the economy are:
{| class="wikitable"
|enchanting items || In addition to rare components, the Diasporan form of enchanting requires the sacrifice of the currency
|-
|giving quests || Kind of like a universe-tax on income, transactions in the form of quests take a percentage of the offered Xan rewards roughly in proportion to the experience generated by the quest.
|-
|Using powerful magics || Most of the magics which provide the best defenses against natural and monster-based hazards, as well as those used to claim territory for civilization, require Xan
|}

So, in essence, the economy of Diaspora is driven by the forces of Danger and Safety (or Hardship and Comfort), rather than Supply and Demand.