Populating and fleshing out Saltmarsh

[azato]

I would like to run a game of THE SINISTER SECRET OF SALTMARSH. (yes I know there is a hero conversion out there) and the module writers give no details to the town or many of the personalities. I would like to flesh this area out.

First of all - I imagine this portion of Keoland about the same climate/terrain as southern Louisana. The region is sort of bounded by a huge and humanoid populated swamp and vast untamed (goblin infested) forest. The nearest "country" has naval superiority (Sea Barons) and wishes to undermine Keoland. There is a nearby fort. THe town is described as having about 1,500 people...which is fairly good sized.

That being said... I am thinking what would be the economy of the region and/or the town of Saltmarsh?

*Foremost would be fishing. While whaling is an industry in Keoland the may be better reserved to a closer and larger city of Seaton.

* The fort would cause a need for support (small crops, entertainment, alcohol, etc) much like a miliary base today indirectly inputs cash into a local economy.

* Ship building would be a possible industry, but maybe focus on smaller boats rather than larger ships.

* I am thinking about making this region a site for the manufacture of blue dye - derived from shells (or something like that)

*Bricks - a lot of clay.

*Nets

*Sail making



I imagine the following imports would be very important:

* metals - to make into whatever
* grain
* grain alcohol
* salted meat
* stone
* women
* weapons
* cloth



What are your thoughts???

[Cancer]

Your blue dye could be a swamp plant, sort of like the real-life indigo plant. Another possible export could be wood (if your swamps have trees with rot-resistant wood, that's a trade commodity in that tech) and perhaps leather or hides of swamp animals. Shipbuilding as an industry is unlikely, because that usually means you have a large resident population around there engaged in maritime activity (and so there's lots of the specialist craftsmen already at hand), as well as abundant timber suitable for shipbuilding.

[Kristopher]

Perhaps instead there's some harvesting of a product that's important for ship-building, such as a plant that produces high-quality fiber for rope, or a resin that makes a good ingredient in water-proofing and/or sealing joints between the hull planks.

[Lawnmower Boy]

Flax is "retted" in pools of stagnant water. More generally, pre-modern textile industries often flourish where there wasn't other employment.* Textile-manufacture was a huge business in pre-modern times, and it was very competitive. I'm immediately recalling some of Egypt's delta cities, which were big textile towns. Imagine crowded little islands in the middle of a "sea of green," crowded with expert weavers. Their wages were kept low by the fact that weaving was the only game in town, and they were well-fed, thanks mainly to herds that grazed the region in the dry season and which were then culled during the Nile flood, before the herders headed out for the desert ranges of "Libya" and "Arabia" (scare quotes because while the pastures were in those directions, they were mostly within the borders of modern Egypt).


*Sometimes spectacularly so. The fez, which is practically the stereotyped hat of an Eastern Mediterranean Muslim, used to be produced exclusively in the Fezzan, a region of agricultural oases in central Libya. So if you saw a merchant in Istanbul wearing one of those funny, flat topped hats, you know that it started life in a mud hut in the ancient kingdom of the Garamantes, and was shipped across the Sahara to Tripoli on the back of a camel.

[mayapuppies]

I'm fascinated by populating any region in a game world, so this kind of thread I like to follow. Please continue with these great ideas.

[Susano]

This lives out in the swamps:



Character sheet here:
http://surbrook.devermore.net/origin...andfather.html

[Old Man]

Them's good eatin'.

There could be a kind of hunting trade out of Saltmarsh too, similar to how the fur trade used to work in the New World. Only instead of fur, the goods would be croc skin and hydraturtle shell.

[Susano]

Not to mention crawdads and catfish.

[azato]

So we can add flax derived textiles to the list.

Dye could be derived from plant or shellfish....I think I prefer the plant.

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Lets says we have a population of about 1,300 residents in the town. How would that break down for the following:

1. Bars/Inns
2. Blacksmiths
3. Carpenters
4. Coopers (or would that be imported?)
5. Tanning (I imagine most of the leather would be imported)
6. Leather workers.

I think there would be a business for mass preserving raw fish, perhaps serving as rations for sailors (smoked/salted).


Somebody, somewhere stated that if you take the population of a town you could multiply that number by 3 to get a feel for how many people were in the town for any given day (thus adding people coming for business)

The region is probably not very well educated. The author(s?) of the module state that the people are very superstitious and I am going to play that heavy for the module.

I was thinking about staying that a group of Olmans were one of the original settlers along this region. They were not conquered so much as absorbed by Keoland and over time became marginalized. Originally the lived in small fishing villages but now play the role of servants and manual laborers. Their skin color and culture keeps them from integrating into the larger culture. I am not sure I will go this route...but it is a possibility.

[Susano]

So we can add flax derived textiles to the list.

Dye could be derived from plant or shellfish....I think I prefer the plant.

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Lets says we have a population of about 1,300 residents in the town.

That's a huge town when compared to the average middle ages town or village.

How would that break down for the following:

1. Bars/Inns
2. Blacksmiths
3. Carpenters
4. Coopers (or would that be imported?)
5. Tanning (I imagine most of the leather would be imported)
6. Leather workers.

As in how many in a town that size? If you divide the population evenly, you get 400 men, 400 women, and 400 children (with 100 left over). If you figure one tavern serves 100 locals (not all at once mind you) that's 4, maybe 6. You'd have at least one blacksmith, with apprentices. The town is right on the water, so you'll need a lot of carpenter, maybe even a basic shipwrights. And if you have fishing boats, you'll need people to make the rope, sails, and rigging. This means you would have a coopers. There would probably be a tanner if there's a decent supply of local hide (say crocodile?). And there would be multiple leather workers. You also need fishermen, brewers (alewives?), farmers, hunters, candle makers, and tailors.

I think there would be a business for mass preserving raw fish, perhaps serving as rations for sailors (smoked/salted).

That falls under the fishermen. They'll preserve what they catch.

Somebody, somewhere stated that if you take the population of a town you could multiply that number by 3 to get a feel for how many people were in the town for any given day (thus adding people coming for business)

I find that hard to believe. These days, yes, in a period setting? Not so much.

The region is probably not very well educated. The author(s?) of the module state that the people are very superstitious and I am going to play that heavy for the module.

I was thinking about staying that a group of Olmans were one of the original settlers along this region. They were not conquered so much as absorbed by Keoland and over time became marginalized. Originally the lived in small fishing villages but now play the role of servants and manual laborers. Their skin color and culture keeps them from integrating into the larger culture. I am not sure I will go this route...but it is a possibility.

[Captain Obvious]

This should help with the numbers and types of businesses present. There was a 2nd ed AD&D product called the World Builder's Guide that's pretty useful, as well, and there used to be PDFs of it available on rpgnow, but it doesn't look like they're there anymore.

[azato]

Remember....there is an even Larger city Seaton about 30 miles away. A certain level must be achieved to be self-sufficient but not all trades need to be in force to support the city. Obviously the town would need carpenters, and plenty of them, but would it need that many of other trades. Plus we need to have a reason for trade...even if it is slightly exaggerated.

[Susano]

30 miles is just over a day's travel. The town is going to need tradesmen that can keep things going, especially with a population of 1,300. Their reason for trade is easy -- salted and dried fish, possible shellfish (packed in wet seaweed), and things from the marsh -- turtles, turtle shells, crocodile meat and hides, and so on.

[Old Man]

30 miles a day? In a swamp?

[Armitage]

FYI, the Dungeon Master's Guide II (3.5 version) has a complete description of Saltmarsh, although it's set a number of years after the original adventure. The town was flooded with refugees after slavers razed a good portion of Seaton, so it's up to almost 4,000 people, but it could provide a foundation for the older version.