Lost Omens: Tradewinds??? - What would you want to see in a book about the international economy of Golarion?

[Umutuku]

We're getting The Grand Bazaar to flesh out the market of the world's largest city and the wonders that flow into it, but what about the rest of the world?

What sort of topics do you think could stand to be fleshed out in this theme?

I feel like the obvious first stop here is going into notable trading routes, land, sea, or otherwise. What are the "silk roads" of Golarion, and what sort of environments, landmarks, notable characters, and hazards would caravans and their passengers be likely to encounter while traveling them? Reefs, swampy highways, bandits, pirates, ports of call, and so on.

I'd like to see a deep dive on exotic materials and resources, their applications, and how they are acquired/traded. Maybe some content on unique mines, farms, hunting grounds, fisheries, etc., and the challenges or threats related to them.

A little section on how climate and seasonal weather affect the production and transfer of goods around Golarion would be neat.

Maybe a bit on how services of unique professionals are commissioned across great distances.

Maybe a section with more updates and details on the Aspis Consortium operations, what their agents are up to these days, and companies/organizations competing or in conflict with them. Maybe setting the scene for a future AP related to them (either a neutral-to-lawful-evil campaign where you actually play as shareholders/freelancers/tiered-agents travelling around and being honest about roleplaying greedy bastards for once, or as a more heroic campaign trying to build a an upstart trading company to compete with them). Are there any groups like this in other continental settings that we just haven't spent enough time in the area to hear about? Aspis butting heads with a new (or just previously unmentioned) global player coming out of Casmaron or Tian Xia could foster a lot of content.

[keftiu]

I feel like everything I want from this book would actually just be Lost Omens: Casmaron. Why have we seen everything on both ends of the biggest trade route in the setting, but none of the massive, storied empires in the middle?

That said, I’m dying for more info on Arcadian firearms, and on the Taotake people.

[vagrant-poet]

I think the Druma book that came out near the end of 1e is the most you're going to get on trade routes tbh.

I would definitely love to see a Lost Omens: Casmaron. Or at least an article like the Vudra one about Kelesh and the Whistling plains (we know something about Iobaria). With maps. So we know what's just past the edge of the map.

[keftiu]

vagrant-poet wrote:

I think the Druma book that came out near the end of 1e is the most you're going to get on trade routes tbh.

I would definitely love to see a Lost Omens: Casmaron. Or at least an article like the Vudra one about Kelesh and the Whistling plains (we know something about Iobaria). With maps. So we know what's just past the edge of the map.

Please! And a full Arcadia book while we’re making demands!

[Ixal]

While trade often gets glorified today as you can earn a lot of money with it (fun fact, in history traders were almost universally vilified and were among the lowest class possible as they did not produce anything and in the eyes of most people only made money because they ripped off people) I would be more interested in the production side of the trade.

Where are goods produced, how do those people live and work. Are there things like factories running on undead labor or other "modern"-ish factories similar to the Arsenal in Venice.

But the suggestion of possible encounters for traders is also a interesting idea.

[John Compton]

As someone who's happily written various trade sections in Campaign Setting books (Qadira's patronage mechanics and Druma's trade adventures), I'll chime in to say "Yes, trade! Very much trade!"

It's a pleasure to learn what fantasy economics topics folks enjoy reading about—not just for the love of learning, but also to spark NPCs and campaign ideas.

[YawarFiesta]

YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!

[Rude_]

If there was a trade and economy book I'd like it to include some sort of subsystem or thoughts on running a campaign where the PCs focus is on creating a trade empire.

One of my groups is doing that now and its been great so far. I'm using Leadership to keep track of their organization and some sort of rep/patron type thing as they make more and more trade contacts but I wonder if there could be some simple and solid rules that could apply to their small trade company all the way up to large organizations such as Aspis.

Maybe the kingdom building rules for Kingmaker would be applicable but not entirely sure until that comes out

[keftiu]

Necroing this to say that today's Guns & Gears panel mentioned the book has a map of international trade routes, one that apparently shows both Arcadia and Casmaron.

[Tender Tendrils]

I would love a (probably small) section on trade with other planes/trade of goods sourced from other planes. I imagine the City of Brass, Hell and The Plane of Earth would all have trade with the material plane, with the difficulty of travelling to those places making the merchants who can access those exotic goods pretty wealthy.

[Dimitris]

I am interested ...

[keftiu]

Necroing this old thread because I wanted to point people towards not only the writeups of the Inner Sea's major trade routes in the Lost Omens Travel Guide, but also the significant expansion those routes get in Blood Lords #5's excellent backmatter article. Super fun stuff in there about what gets traded and how the seasonal changes impact the flow of ships and goods.

Figured folks might like to know!

[zimmerwald1915]

Ixal wrote:

I would be more interested in the production side of the trade.

Where are goods produced, how do those people live and work. Are there things like factories running on undead labor or other "modern"-ish factories similar to the Arsenal in Venice.

I second this motion!

[Morhek]

If we're reviving this thread like it's Geb, other than listing each Inner Sea country's major exports and imports, a few interesting trade deals and routes that could serve as DM plot hooks, and some exotic items to throw into your games' markets, I think a trade book could really use some fiction about international trade. If Paizo aren't going to do full books about southern Garund, Tian Xia, Casmaron and Arcadia any time soon, they could do some really neat short stories to test interest. Like an in-universe travelogue. Standing on a massive Keleshite sandship cruising the golden road as it passes close to the border past a ruined Ninshaburrian city, its crew and escort solemnly watching its ghostly inhabitants weeping and wailing, unable to move on, and watching for stray spirits or monstrosities that slip across sometimes. Passing through a Droon customs checkpoint and the tips and tricks for throwing off the guards' sniffer velociraptors, and looking up to see skyships sailing overhead from one of the southern nations. The night a yeti clan attacked a convoy across the Crown of the World and the sled dogs came to the rescue. An irritated Segadan official handing back "merchants" to Anchor's End, who are just as annoyed as the Segadans, because the prisoners really are just merchants but don't understand that this isn't the Inner Sea which has free travel agreements and didn't bother to check if they needed the proper paperwork. And you could even use it as a chance to throw in some region-specific feats, heritages and spells that you don't want to wait for a full book (which may not come for years, if at all) for.