Little evokes the romance of a time and place better than the luxuries available there: giant tapestries depicting ancient heroics, lit by beeswax candles… panoplies of gold-chased armor, engraved with sacred verses… or smooth silken robes, redolent with the cinnamon and mace that were wrapped in them during their long journey from far-off islands. Luxuries are compact and portable stores of value for hard-headed pragmatists, and make life worth living for everyone else! Luxuries as such are LC4. However, some societies have sumptuary laws that forbid people below a certain Status to own, use, or consume certain luxuries. Treat such goods as LC2, with the “license” being sufficient Status.
Perfumes were originally burned or carried rather than worn. Incense was burned in Mesopotamia and Egypt by 3500 B.C.; around the same time, musk came into use in China. By 1000 B.C., aromatic oils were used in personal grooming. Ancient perfumes were heavy on aromatic woods and their resins, and on spices such as cassia (a relative of cinnamon). As chemical extraction methods improved (see Herbal Extracts, pp. 151-152), they were applied to scents as well as medicines. While the Egyptians worked with some floral perfumes, flowers didn’t become a primary source of fragrances until TL3, when distillation technology matured.
Incense: $6 to $15 (base price) per ounce.
Perfume: Per application: $3 to $20 (base price), 0.1 oz.
Members of many hunter-gatherer societies adorned their skin with ochre and similar earthen pigments, berry juices, soot and ashes, and perhaps other substances, at least for ceremonial occasions. As cosmetics evolved, their makers mostly concentrated on three colors:
may have served as eye protection in the bright sun. Similar compounds were used in warm countries around the Mediterranean and east to India.
Nail colors were invented by 3000 B.C. in eastern Asia, combining flower petals with binders such as wax and egg whites. By 1600 B.C., henna was used for elaborate skin decorations, and to color hair.
Common Cosmetics: Made from easily produced materials; e.g., eyeliner from soot, or face paint from chalk or rice powder. Wear off within 2 hours. Per use: $0.25 to $1 (base price), 0.25 oz.
Better Cosmetics: Many “better” low-tech cosmetics were toxic, containing lead or arsenic! Wear off after 4-6 hours. Per use: $2 to $5 (base price), 0.5 oz.
Even hunter-gatherers flavored food with herbs and spices, although such seasonings probably all came from local plants. While spices weren’t the first plants domesticated, they were still relatively early. Chili peppers, for example, were domesticated in Central America by 4300 B.C. Most other spices common today – including cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, saffron, black pepper, cloves, and nutmeg – entered widespread use between the Near East and Southeast Asia from 2000 to 1000 B.C. Cardamom was used by the fourth century B.C., but was gathered from the wild rather than cultivated well into TL5. Vanilla was domesticated in Mexico by the TL1 Aztecs, and exported to Europe in the 1520s, but couldn’t be cultivated outside Mesoamerica until TL5 due to elaborate pollination requirements.
Spices have a base price from $15 to $120 per ounce. Chilies, and rhizomes such as ginger and turmeric, are easy to grow and therefore inexpensive. Saffron, which requires enormous effort to harvest, sits at the top of the scale. Spices are particularly subject to Luxury Pricing. Exotic flavorings imported from across the world could be worth their weight in silver or – in extreme cases – gold!
Many goods famed for their astronomical prices were affordable in their lands of origin, but became enormously expensive when hauled from, say, Indonesia to Holland. Traveling across the world to capitalize on immense price differences is a very real adventure. Transportation costs and risks are complex matters, but as a quick-and-dirty rule, the GM can determine the local prices of luxury imports by setting the Status level (and standard of living; see pp. B265-266) that allows one to use the item on a regular basis, and then multiplying the base price as follows:
| Status | -1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost Multiplier | x0.5 | x1 | x2 | x5 | x20 | x100 | Another x10/level |
Extremely high costs are entirely realistic – in their day, luxury goods such as cinnamon and porcelain could be literally worth their weight in gold!
Pipe (TL0). An early tobacco pipe was a long wooden tube with a bowl at the end to hold smoldering tobacco: $3, 1 lb. As smoking was adopted in Europe (TL4), disposable, mass-produced clay pipes were frequently used: $1, 0.25 lb.
Tea, Chocolate, Coffee, and Tisanes (TL0). Herbal preparations boiled in water (infusions or tisanes), often composed of medicinal substances, go back as early as TL1; see Herbal Extracts (pp. 151-152). Tea itself entered use in the first millennium B.C., in China; chocolate appeared around the same time, in Central America. Coffee showed up near the end of the first millennium A.D., in Ethiopia. One pound is enough for 100 cups of tea, eight cups of chocolate, 30 cups of coffee, or 25-100 cups of tisane. $36/lb.
Tobacco (TL0). One pound of tobacco is enough for 30 individual pipes or hand-rolled cigars or cigarettes; such bulk tobacco is $12/lb. A pack of 10 pre-rolled tobacco products, using leaf wrapping through TL3 and often paper thereafter: $10, 0.25 lb. Tobacco flavored with honey or fruit juice (TL3): +2 CF.
Fermented Beverages (TL1). Wine, beer, and other primary products of alcoholic fermentation (fermented milk, rice wine, etc.). These may be filtered or lightly flavored according to the producer’s preferences, but don’t have concentrated alcohol content. $5/gallon.
Water Pipe (TL2). A water pipe has a bowl for tobacco, a tube connecting the bowl to the bottom of a water reservoir, and a second tube above the waterline, through which the smoker inhales. Water pipes originated in Persia or India around the first century A.D. Before the introduction of tobacco, they were used to smoke medicinal plants. $35, 4 lbs.
Distilled Liquors (TL3). Initially used as medicine, distilled liquors became popular for recreational use as distilling costs dropped. $20/pint at TL3, falling to $16/pint at TL4.
Wealthy people adorn themselves and fill their properties with gilded armor, painted furniture, inlaid game sets, figurative carpets, etc. Such luxuries rarely outperform their less-valuable cousins, but they’re prettier. They grant bonuses to reaction and Merchant rolls to impress collectors and buyers, as explained in Styling (LT p. 14).
Many specific embellishments are described below for those who desire more detail than generic “styling.” Use total CF to gauge bonuses: a net +1 CF gives +1 to impress, +4 CF gives +2, and +9 CF gives +3. Weapons or armor need at least +4 CF all told to count as “presentation quality” (p. B274).
For ensembles of ornate clothing (pp. 97-100) and jewelry (below), the entire outfit’s price – after adjusting component costs for CF – determines the Status to which it’s appropriate:
Prices assume formal dress, and can run to millions for Status 6-8 regalia (e.g., crown jewels)! However, the bonus to impress never exceeds +3. Of course, buyers may assume that someone wearing finery commands matching Status (roll vs. Acting if posing), with the usual effects on transactions.
Beading (TL0). Soft goods can be decorated with a pattern of colored beads made of clay or shell (for precious stones, see Jewelry, below). Light beading (e.g., along edges or corners): +2 CF. Extensive beading: +8 CF.
Dyeing (TL0). Cloth can be dyed an attractive color, or simply bleached white. Black or white: +1.5 CF. A more vivid but still common dye (e.g., dull red from madder or blue-grey from indigo): +6 CF. Expensive dye (red from murex or cochineal, yellow from saffron, etc.): +30 CF.
Embroidery (TL0). Soft goods can have a design stitched into them. Minimal trim and simple designs: +2 CF. Elaborate design covering most of the item: +6 CF.
Figurative Painting (TL0). Any object can have a design painted or printed onto it after it’s made. Limited, simple decoration (e.g., geometric pattern block-printed around a vase’s neck): +2 CF. Complex decoration (e.g., multiple, individually drawn figures around a vase’s neck) and/or decoration covering most of the item: +5 CF for either or +10 CF for both.
Fringe, Feather, or Fur Trim (TL0). Soft goods can be adorned with an eye-catching edge made from a different material. Common feathers or furs (e.g., bluebird feathers or rabbit fur), or dyed string fringe: +1.5 CF. Particularly rare or colorful trim (e.g., peacock feathers, murex-dyed trim, or sable): +4 CF.
Inlay (TL0). As for relief (see below), but the carved or embossed surface is filled in with materials of contrasting colors. Multiply the CF for relief by 2 for simple materials (common woods or stones) or by up to 5 for precious ones (rare woods, semiprecious stones, etc.).
Relief (TL0). Hard goods can have a design carved or pressed into the surface. Simple pattern: +1.5 CF. Extensive relief: +4 CF.
Tapestry Weaving (TL0). Cloth or wicker items can have a design made of colored strands integrated into them. Simple pattern, with commonly available colors: +2 CF. Complex pattern: +5 CF. Figurative design (e.g., writing, or images of people or animals): +10 CF. In all cases, add +1 CF for moderately costly colors or +5 CF for very expensive ones.
Gilding (TL1). Hard goods can be covered with a thin layer of precious metal leaf. Mere accents are +0.5 CF in copper, +2 CF in silver, or +20 CF in gold. Triple CF to guild the item completely!
Cloth of Gold/Silver (TL2). Long, thin strips of precious metal are wrapped around a fiber core and used to decorate cloth items. Multiply the CF for embroidery or a fringe by 3 for silver thread or by 30 for gold thread.
Enamel (TL2): Metal items aren’t generally painted but are often enameled. Treat as figurative painting (see above) for CF purposes.
Etching (TL2). Any metal item can have a design chemically etched into it. Small design: +1.5 CF. Extensive etching: +4 CF.
Most pieces of jewelry are elaborate but functionally identical variations on several basic objects. Final value depends on workmanship and materials. This table lists the cost and weight (in pounds) of basic jewelry types, assuming they’re made of copper or bronze.
| Item | Cost | Weight | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beads (per foot) | $3 | 0.3 | [1] |
| Bracelet | $7 | 0.3 | |
| Chain (per foot) | $4 | 0.03 | |
| Comb | $4 | 0.1 | |
| Crown | $7 | 0.5 | [2] |
| Fibula | $6 | 0.2 | [3] |
| Piercing | $2 | 0.01 | [4] |
| Plug | $2 | 0.05 | [5] |
| Ring | $3 | 0.1 | |
| Torc | $7 | 0.4 | [6] |
Jewelry can be made larger: increase weight and cost proportionately. Indeed, most jewelry is larger; the items on the table are small examples of their kind. Pieces weighing more than 1 lb. are possible but unlikely – they’re exorbitantly expensive and difficult to wear!
Jewelry can have any option from Decorated Equipment (LT pp. 37-38) that suits hard goods or metal items. Apply CF as usual.
Jewelry may be made from materials other than copper or bronze:
Base Materials: With the general exceptions of chains and fibulas, most items may be made from carved wood, bone, shell, or ceramic, possibly held together by fabric or cord. -0.6 CF.
Precious Metals: Assume that silver costs $1,000 per pound and that gold is $20,000 per pound. That gold price is at the high end of the historical scale, however; a price as low as $7,000 a pound is plausible. For a silver item, multiply weight (in lbs.) by 1.15, and then calculate the metal cost by multiplying that weight by the cost per pound of silver. For a gold item, multiply weight by 2.1; cost is adjusted weight times the cost per pound of gold. Calculate these costs after applying decoration CF, and add them to the total price – the value of the work on a piece of gold or silver jewelry is vastly less than that of the metal itself!
Example: A large fibula might be twice the regular weight and therefore double cost: $12 and 0.4 lb. A small design etched into it gives +1.5 CF. Thus, it costs $12 x (1 + 1.5) = $30. Made from silver, it ends up weighing 0.4 x 1.15 = 0.46 lb. The silver costs an additional $460. Final cost is $490.
Advanced TL0 societies used a few attractive stones, grinding them into ornaments, but widespread use of precious stones started after 5500 B.C. Semiprecious stones such as lapis lazuli, amethyst, turquoise, malachite, and hematite were cut into shapes, and even carved into relief to make seals and cameos.
Typically, harder stones were only polished during this period. Gems appearing through TL3 have naturally rounded or crystalline forms (diamonds, for example, are typically octahedra).
In mid-TL3, jewelers began to put gemstones on settings backed with polished silver foil, making them appear more luminous with reflected light. By the 14th century, they developed cutting wheels that could cleanly cut through gemstones, creating flat facets. Cutting facets in certain ways yielded interesting shapes and improved the reflection of light inside the gem. By TL4, even diamonds could be cut.
Bits of colored glass were frequently used as jewelry. For example, the light-blue “stones” in much ancient Egyptian jewelry were glass. Imitation pearls were made from tiny spheres of iridescent Venetian glass in the 16th century. In the 17th century, a French jeweler created an even more convincing imitation by covering glass spheres with ground fish scales. Treat glass and other imitation jewelry as inlay with semiprecious stones.
Gemstones have a nominal price given by:
Price = ($1 x C^2 + $4 x C) x V
C is weight in carats. A dome-shaped one-carat stone is about 1/4” across.
V is a factor indicating the gemstone’s relative quality and popularity. A typical value is 100. Cultural factors could easily change V by a factor of 10 in either direction for any type of stone. Indeed, cultural quirks are paramount in pricing gems. Different cultures preferred particular types or colors of stone, and without good assay tests, ancient gem buyers wouldn’t distinguish sharply between minerals so long as they appeared similar. In many periods, a high-quality transparent quartz might fetch the same price as a rough diamond, even though the latter was vastly rarer and, geologically, an entirely different stone. Medieval Arabs were fond of pearls; the value of a matched pair of nigh-identical pearls could easily double beyond the prices of the individual pearls!