Coinage

Katabasis uses a silver standard, meaning that silver coins are the primary unit of currency. Gold coins are the relics of an ancient age, rare and precious treasures. Loot from most old school modules should be reduced by a factor of 10 accordingly.

40 silver forths (f) = 10 silver drams (d) = 1 gold guilder (G)

100 coins fit in an inventory slot, regardless of denomination.

Market Class

Settlements are divided into Market Classses by their population. Larger markets can provide a greater variety of goods and services, as indicated by an item’s Rarity. Larger markets can also provide greater quantities of goods and services and absorb larger amounts of spending before suffering from Inflation.

 

Market Class also impacts the Upkeep a character can expect to pay in a settlement.

 
Population Max Expenditure Max Production Inflation Clock
Hamlet (MC1) 50-100 200d 500d 2-Clock
Village (MC2) 200-800 500d 2500d 4-Clock
Town (MC3) 1.5-10k 2500d 10,000d 8-Clock
City (MC4) 10-50k 10,000d 50,000d 12-Clock
Metropolis (MC5) 100k+ 50,000d — 16-Clock

Maximum Expenditure

Maximum Expenditure is the amount of money the party can spend in a settlement before they begin to strain its resources and production capacity. Consistently overspending the Maximum Expenditure will lead to Inflation, and eventually initiate a boom economy, attracting new merchants, professionals and residents to the settlement, increasing its Market Class.

 

Each Span the party overspends the Maximum Expediture, a Hazard Roll of Locality advances the Inflation Clock by 1 tick. If the Hazard Die rolls Locality and the party has not overspent the Maximum Expenditure, the Inflation Clock decreases by 2 ticks.

 

As the Inflation Clock ticks, prices in the settlement, in its adjacent hexes, and finally in its entire Economic Zone will gradually increase. When the Inflation Clock is full, the settlement has expanded to the next Market Class and prices return to normal.

 
Settlement Adjacent Hexes Economic Zone
0 Clock — — —
¼ Clock x2 — —
½ Clock x4 x2 —
¾ Clock x6 x4 x2

Maximum Production

Maximum Production is the absolute limit a settlement can produce in a Span. All spending in a settlement is subject to the Maximum Production, as it does not just represent an amount of finished goods, but also the raw resources a settlement has access to.

Social Class
Daily Income Monthly Income Yearly Income
Poor 1d 30d 300d
Modest 2-5d 80d 1000d
Comfortable 10-20d 500d 5000d
Wealthy 40-100d 2000d 25,000d
Aristocratic 200-2500d 6000-75,000d 100k-1Md

Poor: Serfs, laborers, peddlers, vagabonds

Modest: Yeomen, craftsmen, vicars, soldiers, clerks, stewards

Comfortable: Gentry, master craftsmen, priests, military officers, senior notaries, physicians

Wealthy: Knights, alchemists, high scholars, senior barristers, highly successful merchants

Aristocratic: Nobility, bishops, royal judges, guildmasters