Trade Goods in Middle Earth

[Rich H]

Why not, but not the core of the game.

... I'm not sure anyone suggested it was. When you've been on these forums a little longer you'll see that many of the topics are created to discuss very specific elements of the world and game. Very few could be considered 'core'.

[Terisonen]

So true, there are plenty room for a TOR Companion

[Glorelendil]

For me, TOR is about heroes fighting against the encroaching of darkness (system is just centered on this assumption) and not about merchants swimming in gold. Notwithstanding that money and gold seems so cursed by the eye of Professeur Tolkien

I agree.

My purpose is less to enable heroes to trade their way to glory than it is to provide colorful descriptions of the hearty travelers/traders they meet in remote places. I'd rather describe the exotic contents of the pony's load than just say "trade goods destined for the Shire."

[Terisonen]

Ok, it made sense for the colorfullness of the world.

[Glorelendil]

In response to the suggestion about Beorning baked goods, one question to ask is whether the value of an item is worth the shipping costs. Bread takes up a lot of pack space for presumably a small price. So Beorning bread might be the sort of thing that savvy travelers look forward to when they're in the mid-Anduin Vales, and maybe the owners of the Easterly Inn trade for it locally, but I don't think it makes economic sense to pack it over the Misty Mountains or to Dale when something more valuable per pound/cubic foot could take its place. (Never mind the issue of freshness.)

Beorning honey, on the other hand, might have the same value, for its weight and volume, as wine.

I like the idea of Elvish writing paper. Sure, Hobbits know how to make paper, but for important documents and letters they prefer the creamy smoothness of paper from the Elves of Mirkwood. Pricey stuff.

[Otaku-sempai]

I've borrowed some of the following from MERP.

Exports:
- Wood-elves: Apples and other fruits, nuts, herbs, salted meats, rare woods, woodcrafts, dyes, spider-silk and other cloths.
- Dale: Wool, cut stone, metalwork, salt, toys, weapons, jewelry, glass, beer, pottery, musical instruments, dairy goods, grain, flour, livestock.
- Dorwinion: Wines, olives, olive oil, grapes, dyes, cloth, wool, shellfish, spices.
- Dwarves (includes Erebor, Iron Hills and Blue Mountains): Metals, metalwork, stone, stonework, gems, weaponry, musical instruments.
- Esgaroth: Fish, barrels, water fowl, herbs, candles, baskets, pottery, reed mats.
- Beornings: Honey, beeswax, herbs, woodcrafts, mead.
- Woodmen: Woodcrafts, hide, furs, herbs, salted meats.
- Rohan: Horses, horse hair, grain.
- Gondor: Wine, grapes, olives, olive oil, preserved meats, preserved fruits, grain, spices, herbs, fine cloths, finished goods, linen, jewelry, tools, weapons, metalwork, glassware, musical instruments, livestock, wool.

[Glorelendil]

I've borrowed some of the following from MERP.

Exports:
- Wood-elves: Apples and other fruits, nuts, herbs, salted meats, rare woods, woodcrafts, dyes, spider-silk and other cloths.
- Dale: Wool, cut stone, metalwork, salt, toys, weapons, jewelry, glass, beer, pottery, musical instruments, dairy goods, grain, flour, livestock.
- Dorwinion: Wines, olives, olive oil, grapes, dyes, cloth, wool, shellfish, spices.
- Dwarves (includes Erebor, Iron Hills and Blue Mountains): Metals, metalwork, stone, stonework, gems, weaponry, musical instruments.
- Esgaroth: Fish, barrels, water fowl, herbs, candles, baskets, pottery, reed mats.
- Beornings: Honey, beeswax, herbs, woodcrafts, mead.
- Woodmen: Woodcrafts, hide, furs, herbs, salted meats.
- Rohan: Horses, horse hair, grain.
- Gondor: Wine, grapes, olives, olive oil, preserved meats, preserved fruits, grain, spices, herbs, fine cloths, finished goods, linen, jewelry, tools, weapons, metalwork, glassware, musical instruments, livestock, wool.

Oh, some good ones in there. I've bolded my favorites.

Again, for a lot of them I can see the products being superior to those of other cultures, even dramatically so, but still not worth the shipping costs for their marginal value. You wouldn't ship Dwarvish stonework, you'd hire Dwarven stonemasons to come to you.

Books might be a common trade-good. Not for the quality of the binding (although that's important, too) but for the content.

[Otaku-sempai]

On preserved meats and fish: Salting is far from the only way or the best way of preserving meat. It is time-consuming and salt must be available in sufficient quantity. Other methods include drying, smoking and pickling. Use your own judgement for which methods would be most practical for various peoples and regions.

[Glorelendil]

On preserved meats and fish: Salting is far from the only way or the best way of preserving meat. It is time-consuming and salt must be available in sufficient quantity. Other methods include drying, smoking and pickling. Use your own judgement for which methods would be most practical for various peoples and regions.

I was thinking of salt cod from Portugal, which was effectively most of Europe's protein source in the 14th and 15th centuries. Then again, the Potugeuse had a good source of salt.

In Middle Earth if I included such a thing I would make it a delicacy. "Ah...pickled lake trout from Esgaroth!"

Or maybe snails. Esgaroth Escargot.

[Robin Smallburrow]

Check out this excellent article from Michael Martinez regarding trade & merchants in Middle-earth, may help you with your queries!

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/656 ... le%20Earth.

Robin S.