Cost for animals? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Cost for animals? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Lanky Ogre Baggy Pants
02-14-06, 02:47 PM Other than the 4 types of horses and 2 types of dogs in the PHB, what would the cost for animals be? I'm talking about things like hawks, elephants, leopards, etc. Throughout history, especially in the middle ages, many nobles had private zoos or personal menageries. What kind of costs would go into this?
Lanky Ogre Baggy Pants
02-15-06, 01:04 AM I was given a link to something on Crystal keep, but it doesn't include ordinary animals. Somebody suggested 100 gp for a falcon. I tried comparing this to a warhorse, because it seems like similar people would own both. From reading history though, it seems that more people owned horses than falcons. Was this just because more people cared to ride than hawk, or did it actually have to do with the costs involved.
Korone
02-16-06, 12:18 AM Bump.
I'm interested in this too.
ubernex
02-16-06, 01:03 AM The Arms and Equiptment Guide has pricing and training costs for a whole slew of animals and beasts that fit into the "mount" category. Everything from Camels to Dire Wolverines to Gelatinous Cubes. I am so buying a Gelatinous Cube as a mount for my Jubillex worshiping villan.
Talen Lee
02-16-06, 01:14 AM A hundred GP for a falcon? Are they nuts? That's over a year's wages for a labourer, and pretty much any hunter worth his salt could train and rear one. That'd be like charging a hundred bucks for a weasel (which were trained for more or less the same role).
ubernex
02-16-06, 01:58 AM A hundred GP for a falcon? Are they nuts? That's over a year's wages for a labourer, and pretty much any hunter worth his salt could train and rear one. That'd be like charging a hundred bucks for a weasel (which were trained for more or less the same role).
I wouldn't be so sure on any of those claims. Falconry is a dodgy prospect, and as it was pretty much an activity of the nobility only, it had nobility prices to boot.

Historically speaking well trained hunting birds were worth more than their weight in gold. Probably the best known example was in the 14th century where the Ottoman Sultan, Beyazid, turned down an offer of around 200,000 gold ducats for the ransom of the Duke of Burgandy's son. Instead the Sultan wanted 12 white gyrfalcons.

Another telling take on the status of hunting falcons was again, in the 14th the theft of a falcon was held equal to the theft of a horse under the law of Edward III; both were capital offenses.
Talen Lee
02-16-06, 02:12 AM That's because the laws were, by definition, weighted to hurt the poor and ignore the nobility. I live in a country which, based on those laws, deported a trained farming man for taking a handkerchief, and another man whose heinous crime was dropping a hammer in a church.

That said, while the very height of falconry was, indeed, expensive, not all falcons were. It's like comparing pedigree dogs with, well, dogs. The Kings Mews were invariably filled with expensive critters - but your average hunter who had a single falcon and taken some time to train it himself would not have invested nearly the monetary worth of such a creature. The economy isn't that bloated.

Basically, 100 gp will get you a ridiculous quantity of stuff in the D&D economy. It's enough to start and run a business. A falcon is not worth THAT much, surely.
ChimericPhase
02-16-06, 03:12 AM I ran a campaign with a sultan who had a menagerie of exotic monsters. The history of his collection was that when occasional brave souls captured unusual creatures, they would bring them to the sultan's steward, who would bargain with them and buy the creature from them.

From this you could speculate that different creatures had no set costs, as each purchase was bargained, haggled, and argued over in legnth. The rarity of the creature raised the price, along with how dangerous the creature was. Easy to catch, easy to find creatures lowered the price. Young creatures that could be trained price goes up. Older creatures that can't be trained, price goes down. Etc, etc.

On the other hand, you could look at the cost of services to hire hunters to capture the creatures. In which case the cost is based on the rate of pay to the hunters.

In all it makes a great plot hook if a noble hires the adventurers to capture certain exotic creatures alive instead of just slaughtering them as usual.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Lanky Ogre Baggy Pants 02-14-06, 02:47 PM	Other than the 4 types of horses and 2 types of dogs in the PHB, what would the cost for animals be? I'm talking about things like hawks, elephants, leopards, etc. Throughout history, especially in the middle ages, many nobles had private zoos or personal menageries. What kind of costs would go into this?
Lanky Ogre Baggy Pants 02-15-06, 01:04 AM	I was given a link to something on Crystal keep, but it doesn't include ordinary animals. Somebody suggested 100 gp for a falcon. I tried comparing this to a warhorse, because it seems like similar people would own both. From reading history though, it seems that more people owned horses than falcons. Was this just because more people cared to ride than hawk, or did it actually have to do with the costs involved.
Korone 02-16-06, 12:18 AM	Bump. I'm interested in this too.
ubernex 02-16-06, 01:03 AM	The Arms and Equiptment Guide has pricing and training costs for a whole slew of animals and beasts that fit into the "mount" category. Everything from Camels to Dire Wolverines to Gelatinous Cubes. I am so buying a Gelatinous Cube as a mount for my Jubillex worshiping villan.
Talen Lee 02-16-06, 01:14 AM	A hundred GP for a falcon? Are they nuts? That's over a year's wages for a labourer, and pretty much any hunter worth his salt could train and rear one. That'd be like charging a hundred bucks for a weasel (which were trained for more or less the same role).
ubernex 02-16-06, 01:58 AM	A hundred GP for a falcon? Are they nuts? That's over a year's wages for a labourer, and pretty much any hunter worth his salt could train and rear one. That'd be like charging a hundred bucks for a weasel (which were trained for more or less the same role). I wouldn't be so sure on any of those claims. Falconry is a dodgy prospect, and as it was pretty much an activity of the nobility only, it had nobility prices to boot. Historically speaking well trained hunting birds were worth more than their weight in gold. Probably the best known example was in the 14th century where the Ottoman Sultan, Beyazid, turned down an offer of around 200,000 gold ducats for the ransom of the Duke of Burgandy's son. Instead the Sultan wanted 12 white gyrfalcons. Another telling take on the status of hunting falcons was again, in the 14th the theft of a falcon was held equal to the theft of a horse under the law of Edward III; both were capital offenses.
Talen Lee 02-16-06, 02:12 AM	That's because the laws were, by definition, weighted to hurt the poor and ignore the nobility. I live in a country which, based on those laws, deported a trained farming man for taking a handkerchief, and another man whose heinous crime was dropping a hammer in a church. That said, while the very height of falconry was, indeed, expensive, not all falcons were. It's like comparing pedigree dogs with, well, dogs. The Kings Mews were invariably filled with expensive critters - but your average hunter who had a single falcon and taken some time to train it himself would not have invested nearly the monetary worth of such a creature. The economy isn't that bloated. Basically, 100 gp will get you a ridiculous quantity of stuff in the D&D economy. It's enough to start and run a business. A falcon is not worth THAT much, surely.
ChimericPhase 02-16-06, 03:12 AM	I ran a campaign with a sultan who had a menagerie of exotic monsters. The history of his collection was that when occasional brave souls captured unusual creatures, they would bring them to the sultan's steward, who would bargain with them and buy the creature from them. From this you could speculate that different creatures had no set costs, as each purchase was bargained, haggled, and argued over in legnth. The rarity of the creature raised the price, along with how dangerous the creature was. Easy to catch, easy to find creatures lowered the price. Young creatures that could be trained price goes up. Older creatures that can't be trained, price goes down. Etc, etc. On the other hand, you could look at the cost of services to hire hunters to capture the creatures. In which case the cost is based on the rate of pay to the hunters. In all it makes a great plot hook if a noble hires the adventurers to capture certain exotic creatures alive instead of just slaughtering them as usual.