Welcome to the first part of this guide.

Lets begin with the skill to recongise the difference between ineffective and efficent tecnique's, So the difference is how much gold are you getting for each pound, 1 head of lettuce weigh's 2 pound's and is worth 2 gold, seems reasonable, But a common mistake i think is made is minning, 1 chunk of iron ore weighs 10 pound's and is worth only 5 gold, 10 red berries weigh the same as the chunk of ore but is worth double and not only that but red berries are the most common source of food, so dont mistake it as an invaluable commodity and due to it's endless supply, People make that mistake aswell as the mistake of "jumping" on one of the most difficult to find raw resources and sells it off for a "paultry sum", Also dont forget that crafting gives experience, This can also be used as a source of wealth.

Ply your trade to the most profitable but simple ways to earn gold, For example Merchants are adept in crafting and earn their bread from following the simple rules of trading, "Buy Low Sell Big"
Simply following this rule can net you tidy profits. A merchant usually works out a deal woth his customers like for fishermen "I will give you a high quality fishing rod, If you can spare some fish." Deals like that can be a life saver. Work with the comunity to earn your share of the profits, I have made some perfect examples of what im talking about, Which would earn the most coin in Raven's Reach (Capital City), would it be the peasant that gathers raw resources or the peasent that gathers food, the awnser is simple but before you awnser you must take into account local knowledge (where resources are/what resources there are, is there already food growing there or not) its things like these that influence your success as a trader, The awnser is the peasant htat gathers raw resources reason being that all over the city are small pockets of vegetables and berries growing naturaly, And that iron ore and wood is abundant in the surrounding area. Another example is who will make more money in a farming hamlet (village), A merchant that specialises in clothing or a merchant that specialises in tools, The awnser is the second merchant (tool merchant) As farmers are self sufficent theydont need fancy clothes they neet reliable tools to harvest food and chop wood. My final example is about a military based fort, Who will have more customers a blacksmith or a monk (healer), The awnser is neither as both have the same customers, The blacksmith supplies people with weapons and armour while the monk provides medicine to heal people, Since both are applying their trade to their own areas they have no need for a confrontation AKA no swords will be drawn and no blood will be spilled.

This part is all about the cycle of money in The Black Death, It all begins with the peasant gathering say meat and vegetables, Selling it to a Merchant class player that specialises in food would be ideal as he can probaly get a good dead depending on the quality of his produce. The merchant would buy an asortment of items, Anything from ores to food to just preaty much anything in terms of raw resources, As the merchants main focus on skills will be crafting, he/she can specialise in a certain "Area of Expertise" and would then earn the majority of his income, The merchant will need to choose the skills and location carefuly taking into acount what is needed and where he can procure said needed items, This will likely mean long trips across the land to new locations. All the while both the merchant and the peasant will need protection from bandits wildlife and other players, This is where the milita comes into play, Since the milita is a combat focused class he will usualy have the edge in a fight, But it all comes down to the skill of the person on the keyboard as the combat system is based on the skill of the user and not the character, So practice often. Back to what i was saying, The milita can offer their services as mercenaries in return for pay/food/equipment, A deal is often negotiated between players for example a weak merchant has a fat coin purse and needs to get past a bandit infested area, The milita will offer to clear out the bandits offering a safe journey in return for say 30 gold, If that is not acceptable then the merchant can trade some goods in return for service. All in all the milita is what one could also call a freelance mercenary, A small but vital part in the trading community, Protecting the weak for the bread in their stomachs.


I hope you enjoyed this introductory guide to The Black Deaths' Economy system, some parts will be outdated becuase i posted this guide on Version 0.06 Early access and am just too lazy to update it entirely.
I am thinking of starting a band of mercenary milita/traders in The Black Death and would welcome friendly support. Personaly i'm very picky in my games and this game is a good game, i like the trading system and that is why i made this guide. Leave a comment on your suggestions to what i should edit/modify/add to the guide and please show positive feedback to the devs of The Black Death as they have done a really good job in my opinion and i think they deserve praise for how far they've come.

THis portion of the guide is for a better economy, I believe that with the 3 base classes (Milita,Merchant,Peasant) theres the posibility for equal profit for all players. Many choose to play as a merchant, But let me tell you that this choice will strain the natural resources to the limit, The more people that want say iron or cotton the more expensive it is necesary. With so few Raw resource sources players will pay double or even triple they would for what would normaly be a paultry price, See the problem. I think the best ratio for the classes is 2 fiths' as peasants, 1 fiths' as merchants and 2 fiths' as militia, The reason i believe this ratio is in the best intrest for everyone is that theres enough to go around, The peasants gather raw resources and grow food and sell it to the merchants to turn the raw resources into say a high quality sword or the best ale to cross your lips, The milita will be a mercenary playstyle class and they will be best suited in combat, they can protect both the peasants while they gather and the merchants likely on their "Trade Routes" between towns and villages, but there will still be extra milita after all that, They will focus on bandits and hunting players that have either excessive bounties or becuase they will be paid to.
Either way players see merchants as the "Gold Diggers" of the time and thus' seek out the large amount of wealth as mentioned in the merchant trailer, but players must realise that in order for there to be a stable economy there must not be a ratio of 6 tenths' merchants, 2 tenths' milita and 2 tenths' peasants cuase as i said before that will strain the economy beyond breaking point and will in turn ruin what i think is the best mechanic about the game, THE TRADING SYSTEM!
Im not trying to force this ratio upon anyone im only asking that you think about it.

If you have a better technique on making mint then leave a comment and suggestion and i'll add it to the guide aswell as your name to the contributors section, If you enjoyed this guide to making money then maybe youll enjoy my guide on survival on The Black Death, Enjoy.