Thoughts about Economics of the Barbarian Humanoids: Looking for Weapons and Equipment
by Pol GinésWe have been playing an all-humanoid campaign since early 2023. Some details are here.
We have discovered some things about weapons and equipment for humanoids.
1) Kidnap: is the best source of resources.
Humanoids with nets and a useful "Hold Person" or "Sleep" spell can make important prisoners (human military commanders, clerics, noblemen, rich merchants...) and exchange them for good quality weapons, or even magic weapons, arrows, armor, healing potions, other 1st or 2nd level potions... Knights and clerics from sacred organizations, clans or guilds will pay well.
2) Clerics of Loki or Cretia can be "comancheros", that is, they can mediate between barbarian humanoids and civilized people. They go to the exchange point and make the deal. They take a percentage of the business.
3) In a world with "Raise Dead", nations, nobles, even guilds and clans, will pay for their dead people, to recover the bodies and raise them. In my campaign a body can be raised only up to 6 times (one third your CON). Exchanging dead bodies can be easier than living prisoners, but most people will be ready to pay more for living ones.
4) There are some places where these exchanges and businesses are usual. One is Landersfjord in Vestland. Perhaps the Black Eagle Barony, too. You can rule that some evil or neutral clerics have a strong government in such a place, providing order and the level of confidence you need to have that trade and even industry.
Grukk, in the mountains between Alfheim and the Broken Lands would be one of those places. In my campaign it is ruled by human clerics of Orcus. They produce and sell undead. But they can exchange undead for armor and weapons, and exchange weapons for living creatures (such as yaks or bears) that they can turn into undead. You can also rule that Grukk is big enough to have smiths and weapon-making. In my article here you have the price of undead servants.
Some humanoids or smugglers can buy these servants in Grukk (for example, 20 boar skeletons) and sell them to a medium level wizard in Glantri (where clerics are few and forbidden), asking their pay in weapons or potions (1 first level potion=3 or 4 skeleton boars=40 normal shields or swords).
5) Wars and recruitment points
When there is a war between nations, or even a civil war, one or more of the factions will be willing to hire humanoid mercenaries. Humanoid tribes and groups are not stupid (mercenary groups tend to be veteran and smarter than young and silly tribes in the Broken Lands) and will ask for their first payment in good quality weapons, especially armor. They offer night warfare (infravision), and some other useful skills (gnolls are strong, goblins have 27m infravision and sometimes wolves). Veteran gnolls or hobgoblins can ask plate mail (AC3, 60 gp) for their troops. War is expensive and humans will pay.
Also, long wars are a reason that humans are willing to train "their" humanoid troops in some weapons such as heavy crossbows or knife shields. In our campaign, normal crossbows do not apply Strength bonuses (nor penalties), so you can train kobolds to use crossbows to avoid their -1 penalty to damage. These are things that happen in wars.
A recruitment point is a place where mercenaries, troops, merchants, weapon sellers and military join to buy and sell services and lords recruit their troops. There humanoids can spend their loot and money, or exchange prisoners, for resources.
In our campaign there is a war between 3 Ethengarian tribes and the Heldannic order in Heldann territory. They conquered Hayavik, which became the recruiting point. Humanoids and mercenaries of many cultures arrive there.
Also, broken or defeated humanoid hordes return there and join other hordes or groups. They feel it is better to choose in a big market than being recruited or slaved by a tyrannical ogre or bugbear lord or horde in the mountains.
6) The problem of big and small armor: kobolds, goblins, bugbears and ogres
By loot, trading or exchange, or even buying, humanoids can obtain quite easily human sized weapons and armor.
Some tribes and hordes (such as ours) will have a skilled Leatherworker. He is very valuable and protected. He can make slings, some leather panel-protections and, more important, leather armor from giant lizards and animals, such as tuataras or even killed dragons. These armor sets can give AC5, 4 or 3 to their users. This is useful for humanoids of all sizes. Also, if they obtain human leather armor, the leatherworker can adapt those sets to goblin or kobold size, but it is not useful as they already have natural AC8 or 7. They will prefer a shield.
Small sized armor for goblins or kobolds is difficult to find, and these humanoids will have to pay perhaps twice the price, or more, than a halfling would pay in a market in the Five Shires.
These small sized humanoids can be lured into a war against halfling places by promising them halfling sized armor and weapons.
The situation for bugbears and ogres is still worse: humans do not make nor sell big size armor for them. They need to go to special places such as Grukk to buy those armors, or kidnap human, elf or dwarf smiths to make that armor for them.
Bugbears can walk without making noise even with heavy armor, so some human lords could ask their smiths to make plate mails for some of them, but not in the hundreds.
Armor made of lizard scales (tuatara, dragons, hydras or similar creatures) can be a realistic option for tribal huge humanoids: perhaps they kidnap goblin or orc leatherworkers to produce them.
Also, you can rule that Thar in Orcus Rex has organized a serious iron industry and is making good (but ugly) armor, crossbows, heavy crossbows, knife and horned shields and other weapons for his legions, and perhaps is selling some of those to allies. He can attract bugbears and ogres from other tribes by giving them good armor (perhaps not in ownership, simply lending them the armor before battle).