Building a Colony [Archive] - Wizards Community

Building a Colony [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Myzery78
08-11-07, 04:58 PM I am designing a new campaign that will take place almost exclusively within a colony of a much larger Republic, and could use some suggestions to help make my campaign setting as realistic as possible. This colony exists to cultivate a crop that can grow only in the local soil. After looking around online I was able to find charts showing the average farm size in various states, and settled upon a size of 4 square miles per farm. Before I can start constructing the town though, I need to know how many people live there and much of that would be based on how many people it takes to cultivate a 4 square mile area(technically only 2 square miles, as they will be using the two fields system). I would appreciate it if anyone could give me a rough estimate for the number of people required. Thanks.
DwarvenArcher
08-11-07, 05:15 PM I would think it would depend more on how valuable this crop is. If it's say, an important magical ingredient, rare spice, etc. there might be a huge settlement built around the site.
Myzery78
08-11-07, 05:52 PM The plant is harvested for two reasons, Sageleaf and Sagebrew(the plant being called Sagebloom). The leaves are smoked like tobacco, and Im thinking a price of 8 silver pieces per box, cheap enough that it would be common for nobles to have, but inexpensive enough that even peasants can enjoy it from time to time. The actual size of a box I havent decided on just yet, but Im thinking somewhere between 1/4-1 pound. The flower of the plant is the key ingredient in a very expensive drink whos effects Im still undecided on, but costs 118 gold pieces per 16 oz bottle.

Growing of the crops is heavily regulated, and plenty of available land goes unused to keep prices at their current levels, though mostly because I want to keep the settlement small. I need to know how many people it would take to work the land though, so I dont make it too small.
DwarvenArcher
08-11-07, 06:05 PM Well, a square mile is 640 acres. An acre is about the size of a football field. So your settlement needs to actively cultivate around 1300 football fields worth of arable land. An acre is approximately the amount of land tillable by one man behind an ox in one day. Say you need to till all the land in the space of 30 days (i'm just guessing here), and you'd need 43 actual farmers. If each one of them has say 3 family members, that's 173 residents. I'd start there, maybe bump up the numbers to represent security, feed and seed store workers, etc.
Myzery78
08-11-07, 06:51 PM Exactly what I was looking for, Thanks.
Malruhn
08-11-07, 11:54 PM Don't forget that in the Middle Ages, food production was done by 97% of the population. If you have 43 farmers tilling soil for a cash-crop, you need to feed them.

Now you are talking LOTS of people.

Personally, with this run, I'd go the other way... the plants grow wild and CANNOT be planted/domesticated. That means all you need are a couple guards/men-at-arms, and a bunch of folks to harvest a couple days each time a crop is ready. That way, you could get away with having a colony of about 50 people total.
Armsman
08-12-07, 12:08 AM Maybe the farmers can grow crops that grow in different seasons. Not all crops are planted or harvested at the same time. I see no reason farmers would have to be in the sagebloom fields at the same time as the barley needs tending.
Angorath
08-12-07, 03:18 AM Using horses instead of oxen to draw the ploughs considerably increases the amount of land that can be ploughed in a particular amount of time. I saw this comparison on a documentary about medieval life, and the horse-drawn plough (two horses) went about twice as fast as the ox-drawn plough (two oxen). Maybe it was not quite twice as fast, but near to this.

Is there an indigenous population? If yes, do they cultivate or gather the wild plant? If the only reason the colony exists is to provide the crop to the Republic, they might trade (or otherwise obtain) the crop from the local people. But this might not be the only reason the colony is there...
yellowdingo
08-13-07, 01:27 AM I am designing a new campaign that will take place almost exclusively within a colony of a much larger Republic, and could use some suggestions to help make my campaign setting as realistic as possible. This colony exists to cultivate a crop that can grow only in the local soil. After looking around online I was able to find charts showing the average farm size in various states, and settled upon a size of 4 square miles per farm. Before I can start constructing the town though, I need to know how many people live there and much of that would be based on how many people it takes to cultivate a 4 square mile area(technically only 2 square miles, as they will be using the two fields system). I would appreciate it if anyone could give me a rough estimate for the number of people required. Thanks.

Tobacco equivalent Slave Plantations? Planting needs to be done in a two week window. only 3/4 of the farm is rotation cropable, the other 1/4 must be a permanent sustainable woodlot.
THE WOODLOT: 1 square mile supports 12.8 people per year (sustainable firewood harvest-100 year recycle).

FARM FIELDS: 1&1/2 square miles each - 960 acres per field.

Slave supporting Food Source
You need to feed them bread and that takes 10 bushels (50lb grain/ bushel) per person. 1/2 an acre per person for grain.
1/2 acre veggarden per person

-WHEAT & VEGEGARDEN: 25 acres for 12.5 people.
-SHEEP: 780 acres

3 acres per graizing sheep.
MEAT:
Meat requirements: 1LB/PERSON/DAY (SLAUGHTERED SHEEP: 70LB MEAT) so 4,563 LB OR 65 SHEEP FOR ANNUAL MUTTON PRODUCTION.

Herd preservation requires slaughter of mutton at fourth year so 65 x 4= 260 sheep
260 x 3 =780 acres grazing
DAIRY: 62.5 gallons/day (restricted: 180 days/year)
ewesmilk cheese: 13,400lb cheese per year 2.8 lb cheese per person per day
WOOL: 487.5lb or 6lb woolcloth per person with 400lb surplus.

960 acre field - 25 acres (wheat and vege) - 780 acres sheep=55 acres for crop.

SAGEBUSH(TOBACCO): 55 acres
Yield rate for tea leaf is 1240lb per acre per harvest 7 harvest in india.
Annual Yield: 1240lb per acre x 55 = 68,200LB

ANNUAL PRODUCE:
TYPE|QTY
WOOL|400lb
SAGEBUSHLEAF|68,200LB

Or if you prefer: 160 Woolsack Bales of Sagebushleaf (400lb/bale)
Myzery78
08-13-07, 02:11 PM Using the indentured servant system, but those numbers will be extremely helpful. Thanks.
TheFrohmen
08-13-07, 05:52 PM Just throwing it out for future reference, but play Elder Scrolls Morrowind: Bloodmoon expansion. Can give you good ideas on how a colony works...

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Myzery78 08-11-07, 04:58 PM	I am designing a new campaign that will take place almost exclusively within a colony of a much larger Republic, and could use some suggestions to help make my campaign setting as realistic as possible. This colony exists to cultivate a crop that can grow only in the local soil. After looking around online I was able to find charts showing the average farm size in various states, and settled upon a size of 4 square miles per farm. Before I can start constructing the town though, I need to know how many people live there and much of that would be based on how many people it takes to cultivate a 4 square mile area(technically only 2 square miles, as they will be using the two fields system). I would appreciate it if anyone could give me a rough estimate for the number of people required. Thanks.
DwarvenArcher 08-11-07, 05:15 PM	I would think it would depend more on how valuable this crop is. If it's say, an important magical ingredient, rare spice, etc. there might be a huge settlement built around the site.
Myzery78 08-11-07, 05:52 PM	The plant is harvested for two reasons, Sageleaf and Sagebrew(the plant being called Sagebloom). The leaves are smoked like tobacco, and Im thinking a price of 8 silver pieces per box, cheap enough that it would be common for nobles to have, but inexpensive enough that even peasants can enjoy it from time to time. The actual size of a box I havent decided on just yet, but Im thinking somewhere between 1/4-1 pound. The flower of the plant is the key ingredient in a very expensive drink whos effects Im still undecided on, but costs 118 gold pieces per 16 oz bottle. Growing of the crops is heavily regulated, and plenty of available land goes unused to keep prices at their current levels, though mostly because I want to keep the settlement small. I need to know how many people it would take to work the land though, so I dont make it too small.
DwarvenArcher 08-11-07, 06:05 PM	Well, a square mile is 640 acres. An acre is about the size of a football field. So your settlement needs to actively cultivate around 1300 football fields worth of arable land. An acre is approximately the amount of land tillable by one man behind an ox in one day. Say you need to till all the land in the space of 30 days (i'm just guessing here), and you'd need 43 actual farmers. If each one of them has say 3 family members, that's 173 residents. I'd start there, maybe bump up the numbers to represent security, feed and seed store workers, etc.
Myzery78 08-11-07, 06:51 PM	Exactly what I was looking for, Thanks.
Malruhn 08-11-07, 11:54 PM	Don't forget that in the Middle Ages, food production was done by 97% of the population. If you have 43 farmers tilling soil for a cash-crop, you need to feed them. Now you are talking LOTS of people. Personally, with this run, I'd go the other way... the plants grow wild and CANNOT be planted/domesticated. That means all you need are a couple guards/men-at-arms, and a bunch of folks to harvest a couple days each time a crop is ready. That way, you could get away with having a colony of about 50 people total.
Armsman 08-12-07, 12:08 AM	Maybe the farmers can grow crops that grow in different seasons. Not all crops are planted or harvested at the same time. I see no reason farmers would have to be in the sagebloom fields at the same time as the barley needs tending.
Angorath 08-12-07, 03:18 AM	Using horses instead of oxen to draw the ploughs considerably increases the amount of land that can be ploughed in a particular amount of time. I saw this comparison on a documentary about medieval life, and the horse-drawn plough (two horses) went about twice as fast as the ox-drawn plough (two oxen). Maybe it was not quite twice as fast, but near to this. Is there an indigenous population? If yes, do they cultivate or gather the wild plant? If the only reason the colony exists is to provide the crop to the Republic, they might trade (or otherwise obtain) the crop from the local people. But this might not be the only reason the colony is there...
yellowdingo 08-13-07, 01:27 AM	I am designing a new campaign that will take place almost exclusively within a colony of a much larger Republic, and could use some suggestions to help make my campaign setting as realistic as possible. This colony exists to cultivate a crop that can grow only in the local soil. After looking around online I was able to find charts showing the average farm size in various states, and settled upon a size of 4 square miles per farm. Before I can start constructing the town though, I need to know how many people live there and much of that would be based on how many people it takes to cultivate a 4 square mile area(technically only 2 square miles, as they will be using the two fields system). I would appreciate it if anyone could give me a rough estimate for the number of people required. Thanks. Tobacco equivalent Slave Plantations? Planting needs to be done in a two week window. only 3/4 of the farm is rotation cropable, the other 1/4 must be a permanent sustainable woodlot. THE WOODLOT: 1 square mile supports 12.8 people per year (sustainable firewood harvest-100 year recycle). FARM FIELDS: 1&1/2 square miles each - 960 acres per field. Slave supporting Food Source You need to feed them bread and that takes 10 bushels (50lb grain/ bushel) per person. 1/2 an acre per person for grain. 1/2 acre veggarden per person -WHEAT & VEGEGARDEN: 25 acres for 12.5 people. -SHEEP: 780 acres 3 acres per graizing sheep. MEAT: Meat requirements: 1LB/PERSON/DAY (SLAUGHTERED SHEEP: 70LB MEAT) so 4,563 LB OR 65 SHEEP FOR ANNUAL MUTTON PRODUCTION. Herd preservation requires slaughter of mutton at fourth year so 65 x 4= 260 sheep 260 x 3 =780 acres grazing DAIRY: 62.5 gallons/day (restricted: 180 days/year) ewesmilk cheese: 13,400lb cheese per year 2.8 lb cheese per person per day WOOL: 487.5lb or 6lb woolcloth per person with 400lb surplus. 960 acre field - 25 acres (wheat and vege) - 780 acres sheep=55 acres for crop. SAGEBUSH(TOBACCO): 55 acres Yield rate for tea leaf is 1240lb per acre per harvest 7 harvest in india. Annual Yield: 1240lb per acre x 55 = 68,200LB ANNUAL PRODUCE: TYPE\|QTY WOOL\|400lb SAGEBUSHLEAF\|68,200LB Or if you prefer: 160 Woolsack Bales of Sagebushleaf (400lb/bale)
Myzery78 08-13-07, 02:11 PM	Using the indentured servant system, but those numbers will be extremely helpful. Thanks.
TheFrohmen 08-13-07, 05:52 PM	Just throwing it out for future reference, but play Elder Scrolls Morrowind: Bloodmoon expansion. Can give you good ideas on how a colony works...