Hello everyone, this is an idea I am pushing inside my current Kingngmaker campaign. Something somebody else may find fun and use sometime. The idea behind Moonradish economy is to provide a variety of sidequests and economic/diplomatic opportunities to roleplay and advance the kingdom.
The premise is simple, Moonradishes and Fangberries are a very sought-after commodity in most parts of Golarion, among spell-casters at the very least. But they seem to grow only in specific areas of Stolen Lands and Brevoy, and under very specific circumstances, which are not well known to the majority of the academia. This makes cultivation of these plants a difficult challenge. Many wizards and alchemists of the regions tried to but very few had any real results. One of them is the once famous alchemist, now a mad hermit, Bokken. But like most who found out the secret - he does Moonradishesnot wish share it with anyone. Evidence to his knowledge - his own small path of Moonradishes and Fangberries in the vicinity of his hut.
Lore On Moonradishes
DC25 Knowledge Nature - tales us that these radishes, besides glowing under the moonlight and besides being very spicy, nutritious and delicious, have an additional alchemical property. Fresh radishes juice, with the help of some alchemical infusions and mixing, can be made into Moonvigor, a very powerful concentrated tonic that can be used by alchemists in potion creation. When brewing potions under the moonlight this vigor can be added to the mix to increase the base alchemical brew potency, allowing to make 2 exact same potions instead of 1, by spending 25% of the base price worth of materials on tonics (essentially getting a second portion for 1/4 price).
DC35 Knowledge Planes - very few scholars know the truth, that Moonradishes are not native to this world. In fact, they hail from the first world. This explains why these plants do not grow in cultivated soil far from fey-controlled forests.
Lore On Fangberries
DC30 Knowledge Arcane - skilled alchemists know how to distill Fangberries into Fangwine, a strong alchemical spirit that when consumed - greatly increases magicians internal vigor (aside from regular alcoholic intoxication). This newly found vigor allows to hasten magical item creation without fear of magical fatigue getting in the way. Fangwine allows 16h of crafting per day instead of regular 8h, although the intoxication provides a cumulative -4 modifier to any craft check, per cumulative day of crafting.
It usually takes 2 gallons of fangberies to make 1 portion of Fangwine. Making Fangwine is not hard, usually Fangberries are set to ripe then juiced in a process that takes a week or two, then with a DC15 Craff Alchemy and 5gp worth of special yeast it takes another week to distill and produce the so called Fangwine.
DC35 Knowledge Planes - same as Moonradishes, Fangberries are thought to come from the First World.
Market price
In my game it’s roughly 10gp per 1 lb of radishes and 50gp for a 1 gallon of Fangberries.
Kingdom influence
For every 2 hexes that have either these radishes or berries increase the kingdom lore by 1 and economy of the kingdom by 2. In addition, when the kingdom with access to these commodities crafts random magic items - roll twice and select most needed one. Of course, such hexes will also have additional upkeep and would be fairly rare.
Players that decide to craft in their free time can make use of Fangberrie and Moonradish effects.
In my game, the secret to cultivating and Fangberries is fresh water from fay-controled regions and fey-made natural “fertilizer” (you know what I mean). But you can make it dark and grim by making it fey-blood or something. This may require cultivation of fangberies be seasonal or having some upkeep behind it.
Trade war
DC 20 Knowlege Local - House Medvyed is currently the largest supplier of both Fangberries and Moonradishes for the region, exporting barely enough to sooth the growing demant, and asking any price they wish.
If players wish to explore the possibilities of making money from these plants, they might get some infamy with House Medvyed.