Chivalry & Sorcery Revisions

The purpose of this section is to make suggestions on the modification of certain aspects of the Chivalry & Sorcery the Rebirth rules.  When the Rebirth rules first came out and I was able to get my hands upon a set, the first thing I did was dive into the economics section of the rule books.  It greatly helped that I had in my possession, copies of CHIVALRY & SORCERY third edition along with THE GAME MASTER'S HANDBOOK for use with the third edition rule set.  The first thing I noted almost immediately was the fact that the Rebirth edition had greatly pared down the list prices of goods within the game.  In most instances, these prices were 1/5th the third edition values.  The notable exception were weapons, armor, and some livestock.
  What caught my attention too was the fact that incomes of lords, which depend upon the sales of goods, had remained the same, despite the fact that these goods were now listed as being only 20% of the third edition price values.  Clearly, someone had made a mistake here.  So why didn't I just reduce the incomes of Lords by 80% to bring them in line with what seemed to be the general across the board price reductions in the Rebirth edition?  The reason for this is because it seemed as though the Rebirth edition was attempting to give realistic as well has relatively historical values to goods within the game.  If this was to be the case, then perhaps I could improve upon the product a little.  What follows is an explanation of my changes, and reasons for those changes.

Fief Incomes

If the reason prices were modified in the Rebirth edition was to bring prices more in line with historical accuracy, then there is a need to modify the food prices.  Historically, wheat sold during the 13th century, sold for approximately 9 pennies per bushel.  Third edition prices listed this as being 15 pennies per bushel while the Rebirth edition lists this as being worth 3 pennies per bushel.  The simple expediency of halving the third edition values for grains and such by 50% means that instead of 15 pennies per bushel, wheat would sell for 7.5 pennies per bushel.  Having decided that the goods upon which the fief's incomes were derived were to be 50% of the third edition values, I was then able to run a check against the example from the book by Christopher Dyer on "Standards of living in the later Middle Ages c. 1200-1520" .  Third edition rules in CHIVALRY & SORCERY set the average income per acre of land at 100 pennies per.  At 50% values, this would drop to 50 pennies per acre.  The example given by Christopher Dyer in his book, sets the estimated income of a family with 15 acres of land at 792 pennies.  This works out to an average of 52.8 pennies per acre.  50 is close enough to 52.8, that I decided this was the best route to go.  There are two Fief income charts.  The first one essentially halves incomes and expenses, except for the household expense, which was left intact.  The taxes to the King and rents to the overlord have been corrected to reflect the formulas given in THE GAME MASTER'S HANDBOOK.  The second table was built on the basis that according to Christopher Dyer, the Lord managed to gain roughly 55-60% (just over 50% according to the book, I chose 55%) of a peasant's earnings.  On the assumption that peasant families paid 27.5 pennies per acre, Freeholders pay 15 pennies per acre held - based on the rule that 1/3rd of a freehold farmer's acres pays his rents, and families owing military service pay only 3 pennies per acre, the second table's income values are markedly lower than the first table. 

Wage Incomes

 If the cost of living drops by 50% from third edition values, it stands to reason then, that the incomes of wage earners also needs to drop by a like amount.  After all, much of the wages are spent in order that the worker may provide for his family's need of food, clothing, and shelter.  Since all costs are being halved within the food, rents, and material goods sector by at least 50%, it stands to reason that wages also would be halved.

Weapons & Armor

  As it happened to turn out, weapons and armor, instead of being lowered to 1/5th third edition values in the Rebirth edition, were instead multiplied by 2.4 for the most part.  Historically speaking, a knight's riding horse, circa 14th century,  went for about 5 pounds, or 1,200 pennies.  A lance in the Rebirth edition sells for 624 pennies.  This works out to being worth better than half the value of a riding horse!  Two chivalric lances, comprised of a total of 10 lbs of wood, was worth the value of a riding horse?  If however, you continue with the concept that prices should be knocked down to 1/5th the third edition values, then two lances are now worth 52 pennies apiece.  This works out to being 1/24th the value of a horse.  Somehow, this looks a bit more reasonable in my eyes. 
  As for armor?  As it stands now, a knight's visored helmet costs 3840 pennies.  This works out to roughly £16!  Two riding horses were worth  £10 in the 13th century.  Again, relatively speaking, the values of the armor seem too high.  If armor were instead, 1/5th the third edition values, such armor would be priced at 320 pennies, or £1, 4 shillings.

Miscellaneous

  This is where I placed the room and board revisions, the wine cost modifications, and the grains modifications.  Room and Board costs were modified because it is a revenue generation capability (for boarders and such).  Wine costs were included based on the fact that third edition Chivalry & Sorcery contained rules for the generation of income for wineries.  Grain costs were revised here as well, as they generate income for the demesne of lords as well as for the peasants.