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Some More Money Awareness

I do not usually bother with minor money matters for knights, unless of course they are in dire situations, in which case I show how the game punishes them for poverty. But here are a couple of bits of information to give the players a perspective of what a Librum really is.

Contents

Noble Guest Costs
Income Scale for Commoners
Throw them a Librum
I mean a penny.

Noble Guest Costs

No one lives for free. When your player character casually adds a noble guest to the household, someone decides how much he or she will eat. Not everyone is treated equally. Subtract the cost from Treasure. If the guest is for the winter only, then halve these values. Here are some numbers to judge things by.

For one year:
One person to live like a squire, with riding and pack horses, no family: £1
One person to live like a regular knight or lady, without squire, servants or horses: £2
A knight, with his squire and his family, but without horses: £4
A knight and squire, with horses but without family: £4

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Income Scale for Commoners

Here are some general guidelines to compare costs support a whole family. I don’t recommend this petty stuff for use in play. But it is useful to understand what it means for a knight to casually throw a librum to a peasant, though.

Officer Level, £2

These officials are the common-class men who have made it. They are the senior managers of great responsibility, such as stewards, butlers, and other top-tier authorities who take care of a great lord’s estates. A banneret might have one, but usually only ranking noble households keep such individuals at this pay grade. Thus the steward of a manor, or even the Chief Steward of a banneret, would not be of this rank. These individuals could be commoners, but this is really good pay for an esquire as well.

Professional Level, £1

The leading authority on a single manorial estate would have this rank. Thus, the Steward of a manor costs this much. Professionals include the occupations on page 10-12 of the Book of the Manor, many of which are customarily held by commoners.

Valet Level, £¾

This is the basic scale for upper rank servants.
Book of the Manor, page 8, has some of these listed as “Manorial Specialists”

Groom Level, £¼-½

This is the basic scale for lower rank servants.
Book of the Manor, page 8 has some of these listed as “Skilled Help”

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“Throw them a librum, squire.”

This casual gesture for a wealthy knight needs to be seen from the recipient’s point of view.

First, remember that a £1 does not exist. The common denomination is the penny, and £1 = 240 pennies, so when the squire is throwing out a librum, he is actually scattering 240 dime-sized silver coins; or more likely a hundred or so pennies, a couple of hundred ha’pennies, and a hundred quarter pennies (all the latter being the full coin chopped up).

£1 pays one year of support for:
One squire and his horses, or
8 rich commoners, or
24 commoners, or
48 poor commoners

OR
7,000 commoners for a day, or
15,000 poor people for a day

“Um, I meant a penny then.”

I hope this makes it clear why £1 warrants a Generosity check.

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