| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Kno |
Posted - 01 Aug 2011 : 14:25:59
Has anyone every mapped out the main merchant routes in Faerun?
Additionally, I would be interested in seeing what kind of goods are
transported over these routes, how long it takes, and what principle
merchant costers use which trade routes. |
| 9 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 08 Aug 2011 : 18:26:55
I'd always assumed that people tend to follow roads. Ships tend to follow the coast. Especially for merchants, who are well known for their penchant to avoid real work or expend needless time and gold into things that other people have already payed for.
I expect merchants would generally prefer to travel in the company of (or not too far behind) other merchants, caravans, convoys, patrols, armies, flotillas, crowds, and even random travelling strangers who appear reasonably decent. You can never know who will be a potential buyer or seller of valuable goods or even more valuable information, you'll always enjoy greater profits by aggressively creating and exploiting opportunities. Plus only a fool would turn away pleasant company or another ally with sword or wand while bravely riding the long dull hours and days through whatever perils the local outlaws and bandits and monsters (and tax collectors) might offer.
I also expect that merchants would tend to stop frequently, even annoyingly, at every single hamlet or farmstead or city or crossroads waterhole along the way, constantly buying and selling and moving goods while touching base with their loyal customers and learning the local news. Giving away a few "special deals" or free trinkets or even buying a round of drinks for garrulous locals at the tavern or tipping the stable boy or whatnot can yield all sorts of invaluable information about what to expect at the next stop on the road. The best merchants will make some sort of profit at each and every stop, trading away odd things like spices and pieces of handmade art, producing a steady trickle of profit on the side (actually on many sides) while sustaining good relations with as many locals as possible. The craftiest merchants might even work ("officially" or otherwise) as spies for powerful groups, they might even hire a travelling bard to help ensure people eagerly seek out their next visit.
So, short answer, I just follow the roads and waterways to find merchants gathered at every populated center along the way. |
| MisterX |
Posted - 08 Aug 2011 : 12:28:28
Mind that most of the traffic between cities will be trade. So every major road will be used primary for trade. Look at the maps and you got them, it's as simple as that. In combination with the prior mentioned map in 3e FRCS detailing im- and exports, you can easyly work out different flows of goods. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 04 Aug 2011 : 10:49:57
quote:
Originally posted by crazedventurers
Damian
ps am sure a mod will be along very soon to clean up the link 
Not in this case... Those kind of links don't work properly with the coding. |
| crazedventurers |
Posted - 04 Aug 2011 : 09:43:54
Ed on trade routes
http://web.archive.org/web/20031228105031/http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Castle/2566/ed-traderoutes.htm
Cheers
Damian
ps am sure a mod will be along very soon to clean up the link |
| Hoondatha |
Posted - 02 Aug 2011 : 20:11:29
Actually, the 1e FRCS does map out trade routes. Or maybe it was the original Waterdeep and the North. I forget which, but it was one of the very first Realms products. It wasn't an exact trail map, but more an import/export map showing the major trade goods coming into and going out of all of the cities on it. I'll take a look and see if I can't figure out which book it was when I get home.
In addition, as Gouf noted, a lot of 2e books would in city and country write-ups include major imports and exports. I'm thinking specifically of Drizzt's Guide to the Underdark, but that book was following a pattern that had already been established for quickly and concisely giving the stats of a city or nation (Who rules, who really rules, important temples, important places, import/export, that sort of thing).
You might also want to ask THO. IIRC, one of the things that got Ed to really start fleshing out his new gaming world, back when it was the Crazed Venturers who were the scourge of the gaming table, was that the Company kept taking jobs as caravan guards, and the young whippersnapper players kept insisting on knowing what exactly it was they were guarding, where it was coming from, where it was going, and why. Of course, knowing this group, I'm sure that's only scratching the surface, but caravans and the movement of trade goods are actually deeply connected to the modern-day depths of the Realms. |
| Gouf |
Posted - 02 Aug 2011 : 20:01:48
Many of the FR 2E series denote trade routes. |
| bladeinAmn |
Posted - 02 Aug 2011 : 19:33:03
I believe the FRCG (2e & 3e/3.5e) deliberately doesn't map out trade routes, simply for DM's to develop their own, and the intrigue thereof. Not juss of monsters or bandits to be faced on the route, but to open up quests regarding business or political intrigue (ie- there's a minor plotline in Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn, wherein we learn of a nobleman who built his fortune by offering good rates on a trade route from Amn to Calimshan, but eventually lost credibility in his business). |
| Kno |
Posted - 02 Aug 2011 : 07:56:08
Too bad
maybe I'll find the time |
| Halidan |
Posted - 01 Aug 2011 : 14:57:37
Not really. The best canon effort in this area is the map on page 88 - 89 of the 3rd edition FRCS. It shows what the primary exports of some Realms countries/regions are and which directions they head. No actual trade routes are mapped out, so none of your additional information can be computed.
Sages on this board, the FRdm and FRCS e-lists and several other FR related sites on the internet have all talked about creating such a project, and some have even started it. As far as I know, no one has published a completed work. |
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