"Hey GM, why are we going to join the caravan? Wouldn't it be quicker and cheaper to schlep this stuff down to Aleath, put it on a boat, and take it directly there?"
"I don't get it, GM. Why are we shipping it to Thay and then carrying it to Burzyn when it would be cheaper to ship it directly to Burzyn? What do you mean, 'because the King said so'? Why would he say that?"
Everyone knows about H�rn's great semi-annual caravans and, for many GMs, that is the default solution when it comes time to make choices about moving goods across H�rn. But there are alternatives, and sometimes those alternatives do save time and money. Even if they are not always cheaper, you may consider using the alternatives just to give some more texture to your version of H�rn, especially if it is "off-season" and there are no caravans available.
Based on the information on my pages regarding the costs of maritime and overland trade, I've come up with some comparisons that will help you make choices; they might also inspire some campaign ideas.
Please note that the cost-per-ton figures used are only estimates based on the "typical" boats or "typical" caravans I used to come up with the data. Your actual costs will vary if you use larger boats, for example, or slow the horse-drawn carts to keep pace with the pack mules the caravan master allowed to tag along, or must the bear the cost of your own mercenaries if traveling independent of the great caravans. Also note that these figures do not include any tariffs or taxes on trade! But the data in the tables that follow will help you make some quick comparisons of the relative cost efficiency of alternatives to the caravan routes.
Cherafir to Tashal |
Burzyn to Coranan | |
Burzyn to Aleath | |
Burzyn to Thay |
Thay to Burzyn | |
Thay to Tashal | |
Thay to Aleath |
Tashal to Thay | |
Tashal to Aleath | |
Tashal to Coranan |
Aleath to Tashal | |
Aleath to Thay | |
Aleath to Burzyn |
Coranan to Tashal | |
Coranan to Burzyn | |
Coranan to Thay |