Economic system

There are two phases to the settlement economy. The first is survival–the people arriving at your settlement must be fed, safe, and comfortable. During this phase you might have to make some difficult choices, such as do we want people to be more well-fed but less safe, or more comfortable but eat mostly rice and beans? Thanks to TADA, this phase should pass relatively quickly, though it's important to think ahead as more people arrive every week who will still need their basic needs met.

As time goes on, complications will arise. Sometimes these might be your neighbors asking for help. Other times you might face thread of invasion or a natural disaster. All of these things will quickly change your need for basic supplies, and you'll have to decide what kind of trade-offs you might make. Some of these are purely economic: can you afford to give 100 points of food to your neighbor who is going through a famine? Others might be questions that will help define your culture's values and relationships with other cultures: do you side with the dwarves or the elves in the war that erupted, or do you attempt to remain neutral?

Eventually, TADA will allow you to weather even these complications without much drama. This allows you to begin considering what kind of culture you want to make. Do you want to support monasteries and spiritual centers? Do you want to build a system of justice and politics that provides equality and fairness to all your citizens? Perhaps you want to become a regional force in trade or military matters?

At some point your choices will shift from a survival phase of the economy to a vision phase. There won't be a clear line when this shift occurs–it may be that day to day your people are well cared for, but occasional bumps in the road still make them worry about the future. You'll also begin building that vision when you have time to consider it, when it's just a bit here and there before you can dedicate enough resources to make large strides toward it. But if things go well there will be a time when your settlement has reached self-sufficiency and is able to care for itself without large interventions by the scouting parties.

The key components of the economic system:


 * Economic Assessment: Every 7 days the needs of the settlement are compared to the available resources.
 * Resource Types: The resources that earned, measured, and used.
 * Adventure Rewards: The benefits of various missions found in the regions.
 * Passive Earning: The ways to earn resources outside of adventures.
 * Reputation and Trade: Leveraging relationships with other civilizations to earn and spend gold.
 * Spending Culture: The most flexible resource which can be spent in a variety of creative ways.
 * Society and Happiness: How can you measure and change the happiness of your settlement and the civilizations around you?