For years I have struggled with economy in D20 games. Not something important, in the larger scheme of the game, and not important to play. Most of the time it is easy for adventurers to accept that ‘background’ happens. But as a world/setting designer, it is irksome. Again not a massive thing, but something that rears its head occasionally, especially if you try to use the downtime / building / settlement in PF1 - as I do :} TBH, it isn’t really a problem, as a designer and GM I can hand wave what ever suits me, for the storyline I am building - but that still irks me a bit. However, it was only when I tried to build something using the various PF1 rules that I really started to struggle.

The question came down to - how do unskilled commoners make a living in wild hinterland farms, forests, woods, swamps etc. Because every module, AP and setting has them. Those hardy pioneer sorts that make it difficult for adventurers, but also provide the opportunity for small adventures, character building and gathering allies. Then I realised that the answer had been there all along, I just hadn’t seen it. And although I have searched the internet (for years) for inspiration - I have never seen it suggested anywhere.

Ironically, I was watching video shorts on the disappearance ‘vulnerable’ traditional craft skills, at a time the question was in my mind, and realised that we all have skills will never be listed in our skill sets, that make up our basic understanding of the world we live in.

If you live in a Western ‘Developed’ society, you know how to cross a road safely, how to turn on a light switch or an electronic device and what a television does. You expect water to come out of taps, and can even read the symbols on the tap that tell you what the temperature will be. You know what an aeroplane and a bus are, you probably know how to get tickets and ride them to new places. None of our Commoners know those things.

Instead, the commoner knows how to find a few bits of food, how to make simple cordage, how to build a hut or a shelter. In fact, they know how to use and repair most of their household items – let’s face it, they can’t afford to replace them. And that is borne out as both Survival and Craft are listed as skills that can be used untrained. DCs for craft indicate that anything simple has a DC5 - so even with no skill points in the craft, a Commoner has a 75% chance of succeeding. A spoon is listed as a DC5 task - and I suspect that if I get a piece of wood and a knife, I could whittle a basic spoon. I have minimal woodworking skills, and it wouldn’t look pretty, but it would be functional. Other simple tasks might include making small lengths of cordage, rawhide, shaping a simple plate, turning a dried gourd into a cup or plastering wattle with daub.

Knowing all of that, I can comfortably hand wave how any given commoner makes an average of 1sp /day (see text below) – or (roughly) 30sp / month. 30sp / month is 3 gp month, and …

From Food & Lodging (aka Monthly Cost of Living) Poor (3 gp/month): The PC lives in common rooms of taverns, with his parents, or in some other communal situation—this is the lifestyle of most untrained laborers and commoners. He need not track purchases of meals or taxes that cost 1 sp or less. My commoners untrained commoners can live, at subsistence level, just about anywhere I put them. And if I add in the benefits of a Survival roll, it is even easier to handwave it.

Extracts from the relevant skill descriptions.

• Craft (Int)
• Practice a Trade
• You can practice your trade and make a decent living, earning half your check result in gold pieces per week of dedicated work. You know how to use the tools of your trade, how to perform the craft’s daily tasks, how to supervise untrained helpers, and how to handle common problems. (Untrained laborers and assistants earn an average of 1 silver piece per day.)

• Survival (Wis)
• Survive in the Wilderness. You can keep yourself and others safe and fed in the wild.
• DC 10 - Get along in the wild. Move up to half your overland speed while hunting and foraging (no food or water supplies needed). You can provide food and water for one other person for every 2 points by which your check result exceeds 10. (50/50 chance - effectively every other day.)
• Feats If you have the Self-Sufficient feat, you get a +2 bonus on all Survival checks.