Greyfeather Economy

With the Convergence, the economy of the lands that joined has changed considerably. Where Greyfeather's economy was more suited for Low Fantasy and Whitefeather was more suited to High Fantasy, now all lands fit under the Medium Fantasy umbrella. In all lands, the economy has centralized to where everything costs the same everywhere, so there is no need for secondary lists, depending on the realm the player is in. Until the Convergence scenario is played out, things will remain as they have been, but once this is done, all item costs will be per the Player's Handbook in all realms.

There are some things that haven't been mentioned or covered in the 5E books, about the economy, so I wanted to include those here. Some times, the player wants to put down roots in a particular location, either by buying or building a home. They might want to open a business of their own or they wish to buy an existing one and running it themselves. This has happened a few times in campaigns that I've run and I've had to come up with amounts on the fly so they can accomplish their goals. Rather than come up with those numbers randomly now, I would like to put it down here as to what that will cost the character. I'll try to be thorough here, but should I miss something, feel free to let me know and I'll include it.

To start with, I want to show just how much money a simple NPC makes, based on social class and their line of work, as a basis for comparison. All too often, the player has no clue as to what a living wage looks like in the realm they play in and this will help them realize just how wealthy they truly are in the grander scheme of things.

Cost of Living per Year (Based on Social Class)
Poor                    25 silver to 90 silver

Lower Class      1 gold to 3 gold

Middle Class      4 gold to 15 gold

Upper Class       16 gold to 50 gold

Elite                     51 gold or more

Housing Costs (New and Used)
Simple Cottage                             30 silver (20)               Single story, with loft bedroom, living room and kitchen.

Average House                             75 silver (50)                Single story, 2 bedrooms (small), living room, kitchen, pantry.

Large House                                  5 gold (3)                       Single or 2 story, 3 bedrooms (larger), living room, kitchen, pantry, water closet

Manor House                                 25 gold (15)                   Single or 2 story, 4 bedrooms (larger), living room, dining room, kitchen, pantry, 2 water closets

Mansion                                          100 gold (?)                   Multiple stories, any number of bedrooms, any number of rooms desired by owner.

Numbers in parenthesis is the price for a used home. Those prices tend to vary a little, but this is a baseline price. Mansion prices for used tend to be left up to the owner.

Business Costs for Buying Existing
Small Business (Single owner, no other employees)            100 gold to 300 gold (enough to retire on at Middle Class)

Medium Business(Has other working there)                           500 gold to 1,500 gold (enough to pay off debts and retire at Middle Class)

Large Business (Multiple employees, popular)                       5,000 to 20,000 gold (enough to retire at Elite level)

Business Costs for Building From Scratch
Small Business (No other employees)                                       7 to 10 gold for building, additional 3 to 5 gold for supplies to start*

Medium Business (Additional employees)                               20 to 25 gold for building, additional 20 to 25 gold for employee and supplies*

Large Business (More overhead and supply costs)               50 to 100 gold for building, additional 200 to 400 gold for start up supplies.*

* This will vary, depending on the type of business they are opening. Those with lower overhead won't have as much start up costs, and some requiring supplies to sell might cost more. This is the cost per building, so if they plan to build multiples of this business in other cities or towns, those will be extra.

Building a Castle
Motte and Bailey (10 retainer maximum)                             1,000 to 1,500 gold                                      No special requirements to be constructed

Keep (40 retainers maximum)                                                 2,500 to 4,000 gold                                    Stonemasons and engineers required

Small Castle (100 retainers maximum)                                 7,500 to 15,000 gold                                   Stonemasons, Engineers, Carpenters required

Medium Castle (250 retainers maximum)                            25,000 to 45,000 gold                               Stonemasons, Engineers, Carpenters required

Large Castle (400 retainers minimum)                                 90,000 + gold                                               Stonemasons, Engineers, Carpenters required

Retainers are a must when owning your own Castle or stronghold. Without them, you have to defend it yourself. The larger the stronghold, the more retainers required, and you need specialty people to operate the stronghold on a daily basis. Get with the DM about what it would cost to pay those retainers.