Questions tagged [trade]
For questions involving the economic exchange of goods or services.
99
questions
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1answer
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How fast might technical knowledge & culture spread in the pre-colonial Americas?
Unbeknownst to the majority of the continent, there is an alien invasion in progress. Finger-sized and not particularly threatening, they've been confined to the coasts of North America by the unique ...
3
votes
3answers
1k views
How do submariners contribute to the surface-world?
If there are people living deep underwater swishing around in nice submarines, how will they provide value to normie landlubbers?
http://theoildrum.com/node/4558 all but rules out the possibility they ...
1
vote
1answer
51 views
How far could material cableways stretch if carbon nanotubes were used?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Material_ropeway is an elegant technology, popular around the 18th century, that transports bulky cargo along highly-trafficked routes with minimal energy requirements.
...
3
votes
2answers
130 views
Are vactrains a good choice for cargo?
It seems like all the discussion of vactrains is about transporting people.
But what about a smaller-diameter vactrain that could shuttle cargo around the world at thousands of mph? You could have a ...
2
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3answers
86 views
Maxed out charisma
The Feridians, marine fauna, kings of the ocean and for centuries unmatched with no predators and capable of eating and surviving on any source of food, even plankton.
This thing evolved perfectly to ...
2
votes
2answers
103 views
What would two planets connected by traversable wormholes trade that is worth the travel risks?
I've posted here before about the realism of my wormholes and such, but I feel this question better fits the forums context of how it wants questions.
I have multiple wormholes that are within the ...
2
votes
6answers
774 views
How would a world with limited access to modern technology work?
The setting is a semi-modern fantasy world with pockets of population separated by huge expanses of wild land where monsters and other predatory creatures live, keeping civilization from expanding too ...
2
votes
2answers
239 views
What makes for a good/bad port city?
What are the factors that would determine whether a city on the coast will become a bustling metropolis or whether it will always remain a modest fisher's village?
8
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6answers
2k views
Reasons for insanely huge precious metal deposits?
In my book series, there is this extremely rich Earthlike planet called Aurea whose claim to fame is supplying the vast majority of the galaxy’s precious metals (gold and silver for the purposes of ...
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2answers
125 views
How do I fix the unit of money/coins? [closed]
Ok so here's the thing, how is the the value of a coin and the value of items you buy with it decided?
After production is enough to fill the needs of the population, item to item trade comes to an ...
2
votes
2answers
89 views
Is there a way to cross my volcanic ocean?
In my world there is an ocean that separates the two main continents. The problem is that I think it's impossible to navigate these waters as there are active volcanoes on the bottom of the ocean that ...
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11answers
3k views
Despite proliferation of graphene, why is gold still so expensive in the future?
Right now I can think of 3 important factors determining the trading value of gold and why is it so expensive:
Factor 1 is longevity; this element rarely if ever reacts with anything, particularly ...
5
votes
3answers
280 views
Why is monster index still going strong?
An index is a measure of how a stock market is performing. Even the monsters know how to build up their portfolio.
When a kill is secured -- say a human being -- or a carcass is recovered, they are ...
5
votes
7answers
819 views
Is it possible for an isolated island nation to reach early-modern (early 1700s European) technology levels?
Background: I am currently writing my first fantasy novel and the nation/continent on which my story takes place is an island roughly the size of New Zealand. It consists of two nations who split off ...
3
votes
3answers
164 views
Assuming that the environment of Earth and Mars are similar, is there possible trading between Earth and Mars in current technology?
Let's assume that Mars has an atmosphere, oceans, plants, and animals, even there is some native civilization like John Carter.
Is there any possible trading between Earth and Mars?
I noticed that ...
3
votes
6answers
398 views
What basic goods do I need to make a functioning High-Fantasy trade system
This is my first time ever posting. Please let me know If I've done anything wrong and I'll do my best to correct it.
This is my first time attempting to create a functional world in D&D5e and I'm ...
6
votes
3answers
405 views
Is the composition of the major asteroid belt bodies different enough to make trade between colonies worthwhile?
For my question I'm assuming that we're talking about colonies on the very biggest bodies that are 100s of kms in size. I'm assuming that by this point humans have become cyborgified/roboticized ...
3
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5answers
196 views
How can I build an inter-dimentional transportation system between pocket realms?
The world is broken down into 5 continents: North America, South America, Eurasia, Africa, and Austrailiartica. These landmasses exist in separate dimensions called realms, and are separated from each ...
9
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5answers
2k views
How can I reinstitute the gold standard in the current global economy?
The gold standard is a monetary system where a country's currency or paper money has a value directly linked to gold. The U.S.A (United States of Amestris) operated on this standard, allowing the ...
36
votes
13answers
9k views
What would America lack if cut off from World trade for years?
North and South America totally cut off from world trade for years in modern times. No intercontinental except between the two. Would there be any current technology that couldn't be made due to lack ...
1
vote
1answer
109 views
How does an empire rise, work and fall [closed]
So let’s say that an empire is rising. How does that work? How do the people form an empire? They would need to have some land, a leader, and some natural resources to trade? So now the empire has ...
51
votes
30answers
10k views
Despite slain monsters continually yielding gold coins, why does gold's trading value seem to remain constant over the years?
Set in fantasy medieval times, monsters can be seen loitering around the kingdom. People discovered that the slain carcasses of these monsters contain a certain quantity of gold coins. The rest is ...
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5answers
437 views
How to perform important transactions over vast distances?
I asked a similar question on the History Stack Exchange, but it was suggested I might get better feedback here.
How can you guarantee atomicity of a transaction in a high-latency system?
High-latency ...
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28answers
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What would keep traders away from a specific area of the ocean?
This is a WIP map of a continent in my world:
The small portion of land you can see in the topmost area is another continent, to the north of which the sea is almost always frozen and thus almost ...
26
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20answers
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Why would an advanced civilization even want slaves?
In a world where people have advanced robotics and A.I. to the point that most people can just have a machine do things for them, is there any reason for slaves to be used also?
Obviously nobody needs ...
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2answers
115 views
Most important trading resources for the US [closed]
After Bob brought the American flag from the moon into his possession and convinced the majority of the American people that it is true, President Prumptin is not very pleased of this idea. While he ...
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4answers
202 views
What kind of tradable resources would come from the ocean in a Renaissance era culture that would be different from our own society?
Ocean sourced Trade goods in a Renaissance era Earth
I am in the process of writing a fantasy book that is set in a post-apocalyptic late medieval/renaissance era society.
This is on Earth, about 1300-...
13
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4answers
1k views
How to teach the Mesoamericans seafaring?
I want to have a powerful Mesoamerican civilisation by the 1100s; one that decides to sail east and discover Europe. Earlier versions of the story had them contacted by Zheng He in the 1400s, but I ...
5
votes
5answers
188 views
Can a city develop without exterior trading?
I’m exploring different scenarios for a future D&D campaign. I want to know if it’s possible, for a growing settlement, to develop without trading with its neighbors.
Let’s assume that they can ...
9
votes
3answers
640 views
"African" states alliance?
To start this off I will dispel preconceptions: Africa had great empires and was not technologically inferior to Europe before the invention of guns. They had quilted armor (the equivalent of ...
15
votes
7answers
3k views
Is a privately owned nomadic trading fleet economically viable?
A popular trope with some basis in history is the "travelling merchant", who visits remote villages carrying merchandise both common and rare, and many stories from strange lands.
I've got a scenario ...
-1
votes
1answer
106 views
What valuable resources or features could a city state have to keep themselves independent and a dominant local power? [closed]
Trying to build a coastal region of feudal/renaissance city states surrounded by small feudal kingdoms. Looking for resources that are valuable beyond their access to sea, its bounty and the trade ...
6
votes
8answers
365 views
Why is there a cap on magical currency despite unlimited magic power?
Set in the modern day, only a small portion of the population is aware of magic and some of them has unlocked their innate magic potential at a young age. There is a governing body that ensure fair ...
2
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6answers
147 views
What environmental conditions would create compounds not found on earth?
My world is spread across thousands of planets in thousands of star systems, with a sort of United Nations (of Planets) acting as intermediary to ensure peace and prosperity between the planets.
Each ...
38
votes
8answers
9k views
How could pirates reasonably transport dinosaurs in captivity, some of them enormous, across oceans?
In my novel, there is money to made in the capturing and selling of 'exotic' animals from a distant, jungle-covered continent, though for various reasons (notably that it is illegal under Roman rule) ...
3
votes
0answers
311 views
BCS: Chola Empire colonizes Australia? [closed]
So, here's the premise- in the mid 11th century, a Vellalar prince, looking to gain influence and power in the Imperial Chola court, funds and organizes a small colonial expedition to search for new ...
1
vote
1answer
119 views
What if Modern Furniture was Brought to the Renaissance? [closed]
A protagonist equipped with unstable time traveling powers is shopping at their local furniture store when they realize their powers will knock them back to the Renaissance period.
They only have a ...
1
vote
3answers
207 views
Introducing currency in a barter trade society
I am writing a book where I have a main character who comes to a young civilization. The young society only works through barter trade, and he wants to introduce a form of currency, such as money. ...
5
votes
4answers
574 views
Is My Historical World Domination Reasonable?
This can be considered a sister question to this question.
The Beginning
Outside of Ser, the world was a chaotic and dangerous place. Ser was the only neutral country in a world filled with violence ...
16
votes
11answers
7k views
Is a world with one country feeding everyone possible?
I imagine a world with the size of Europe and the Middle-East. In this world, with lands and seas that are comparable to Europe and the Middle East for its geography, farming is not developed. In fact,...
4
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5answers
288 views
What is the cheapest way to move large amounts of trade goods to orbit?
Given a world with similar size and atmospheric composition to Earth that has a commodity export, be it grain or oil etc, that has trade with other planets, what would be best way to orbit massive ...
9
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11answers
2k views
How to market an anarchic city as a tourism spot to people living in civilized areas?
So, in my Post-Apocalyptic world, there’s a city down in South Nevada known as Vegas. Unlike the rest of the majority of North America, Vegas was not hit by nuclear warheads in its near vicinity. But, ...
10
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6answers
587 views
Trading Upstream
I've created a city at the joining point of two rivers, and I'm trying to determine the population ceiling. I'm just going for a general idea of relative size, and so far I've just been making towns ...
6
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4answers
501 views
Costs/Income from potential craftsmen [closed]
I run a D&D game in which my players have built an outpost and are now attempting to "staff" it with craftsmen: Blacksmiths, Farriers and the like.
I want to give them a "choice&...
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6answers
193 views
Importing Space for Sale in Cans - How to remove the smell? [closed]
My company wants to sell novelty cans (or other containers) of genuine space from various places in the Galaxy but unfortunately space smells - see the following expert's statement.
"Louis ...
asked Feb 26 '19 at 14:00
chasly - supports Monica
46.4k12 gold badges138 silver badges288 bronze badges
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3answers
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Could a medieval fantasy world sustain itself by occupying important trade hubs and taxing trade?
The civilization I'm talking about is marked in pink (cities A and B).
The trade routes are marked in yellow.
Owning the city B (the entire island) means they only need to travel across two ...
asked Feb 23 '19 at 11:28
MadCake - Reinstate Monica
1,0812 gold badges6 silver badges14 bronze badges
3
votes
1answer
98 views
Trading ships simulation and maybe some pirates [closed]
I don't know if this is an acceptable question (it's not even a question), but I like the site artwork and I built a world.
Playing with Javascript, I came up with a sea world. Buggy test here http://...
1
vote
7answers
522 views
Would it be realistic to have a world with no currency, just trade?
In the world I’m creating, there’s no specific form of currency. People trade for goods- you could buy clothes from a merchant and in return, they could get food, valuable items, things that could be ...
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11answers
352 views
The Emperor bans the number seven on pain of death. Does this inevitably disrupt a medieval society? (trade and commerce) [closed]
The medieval Emperor is up to his tricks again. He has decided that the number seven is unlucky. Despite advice from his courtiers that it can't be done, he bans its use on penalty of death by any of ...
asked Dec 9 '18 at 14:12
chasly - supports Monica
46.4k12 gold badges138 silver badges288 bronze badges
5
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10answers
3k views
In a world where money and currency were never invented, and never will, how is international trade different from our world?
This is something that I've been thinking a lot about. Before there was currency the way that people traded goods was through bartering their goods and services in exchange for other goods and ...
