Kismet's Guide to Slave Costs in Fantasy Settings

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What Is This For?

This is a brief guide to determining slave costs in a medieval fantasy setting, like the Forgotten Realms of Dungeons and Dragons. While a number of games contain slave-trading, few books provide guidance on pricing for sentient beings, for many reasons.

The system below governs prices for humanoid characters rather than monster-style creatures, and all prices are based on D&D's gold piece currency.

It also presumes several things:

1. Slave trading is relatively tolerated in the area, so prices are lower than they would be on the black market.

2. Slave trading is the pursuit of the elite and intelligent beings aren't sold cheaply.

3. Humans are the most commonly captured species.

4. The average slave has statistics no higher than 11.

5. Characters above tenth level are not usually sold, given how difficult it can be to hold them against their will.

This setup is only an example of how these matters can be handled and should be adjusted for your campaign and group.

Individuals

To determine the price of an individual slave:

1. Find the price of the character's class in Table 1.

2. Then multiply the class's base price by the multiplier given for their level in Table 2.

3. Add the price for the character's race (also found in Table 2) for the subtotal.

4. Determine relevant bonuses and penalties (see Table 3) and add them up until you arrive at a total percentage.

   1. Exceptional ability modifiers will cause penalties or bonuses; the character's age category can also affect the final price.

Table 1 - Classes & Base Prices

The classes listed here can act as a guide for determining the prices of other classes. For PC classes, find a PC class that it resembles the most and use that price (the assassin prestige class resembles the rogue base class the most, for example). If you wish to know the price for an NPC class, however, compare it to the NPC classes that are listed (the adept, aristocrat, commoner, courtesan, and warrior).

Table 2 - Level Multipliers & Racial Base Prices

* Level Adjustment is a feature of D&D 3e, which I was running and playing when I originally made this guide. It lets players play monster races by taking a penalty to their character's level, and each race is assigned a modifier based on their overall power. I included it here in case PCs ended up on the auction block or a race that wasn't on the list above was available (such as tieflings, who are LA +1). If you're using a different system, you can ignore it or extrapolate from it.

Table 3 - Statistic & Age Adjustments

* Characters with ability modifiers outside of the range shown here are rarely if ever sold as slaves.

** Please note: I do not advise portraying enslaved children or teens for many reasons. There are many ways to leave them out, even in campaigns that are evil, historical, and/or open to slavery. Only if everyone in the group freely, fully, and openly consents beforehand should prices for young people be considered; your group can extrapolate from what is here, if you wish. But everyone should be prepared for the fallout that may follow.

Groups

Some institutions or individuals can afford to buy many slaves at once but expect a discount off the top. Overcrowded markets are also likely to offer groups for less, as well. For simplicity's sake, assume a lot of slaves is made up of individuals of roughly the same race, class, ability, and age. Those who can cast magic, have 5 or more levels, are longer-lived than humans, or have ability modifiers higher than +1 are rarely sold in groups.

The price for a large lot is determined as follows:

1. Calculate the price for an individual who is representative of the group.

2. Multiply that total by the total number of slaves in the lot.

3. Reduce the new total by the percentage below (in Table 4).

Table 4 - Bulk Discounts

Examples

For one adult human second level adept with a Wisdom of 17 (+3 modifier), the price is determined thusly: 10 gp (human) + (75 gp adept x 2 level modifier) = 160 x 75% (for high Wisdom) = 280 gp total price.

For one middle aged orc fourth level warrior with an Intelligence of 7 and Strength of 16, the price is calculated like this: 20 gp (orc) + (50 gp warrior x 6 level modifier) = 320 x 40% (-10% for middle age, -25% for -2 Int mod, +75 for +3 Str mod) = 448 gp total price.

For a bulk lot of 50 adult human first level commoners with average stats, this is how it works: 10 gp (human), no level modifier, + 10 gp (commoner) = 20 x 50 =1,000 gp - 5% = 950 gp total price.