Playing God: Building an economy for the world of your WIP

Hello and welcome to my final Playing God post…for now, anyway. Today I talk about the economy as an aspect of world-building, the most important economic elements to build, and give a sneak peek at the system in my own fantasy WIP. Come and check it out!! →

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SERIES CONTENTS

👍 Introduction | 💡 Creation | 🌟 Cosmology | ☯ Religion | 🔮 Magic | 🌍 Geography | 🌦 Climate & Weather | ⏳ History | 🎭 Race & Culture | 💬 Language | 🎵 Music, Art & Writing | 🏠 Infrastructure | 🤴 Government | 📜 Laws | 💰 Economy

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An economy is more than just money: it’s a dynamic social domain that encompasses trade, production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. For as long as societies have existed, goods and services have been exchanged, and thus economies have evolved. With that in mind, it’s important that you build the basics of an economic system when it comes to world-building for your fantasy WIP. Here’s why:

🌳 Realism

Money makes the world go round! I mean, I know I just said that an economy is more than just money, but money has proven time and again to be a powerful catalyst. If you want your fantasy world—and your characters’ obligations and motivations—to have a sense of realism and relatability, then you need to set the scene for how money flows through society. This will have ongoing implications for how your characters behave day-to-day and their interactions with each other.

🎭 Culture

The way a society’s economy functions can be closely tied to its culture—and vice versa. Think of how much Western cultures depend on the economy, and how much capitalism drives Western culture. To capture this connectedness within the world of your fantasy WIP, you need to incorporate a sense of both how each culture values goods, services and trade, and how economic systems help to shape the norms, traditions and rules of each culture.

🔄 Integration

The economy is another element of world-building that is highly integrated and intertwined with several others, and which will dictate what individuals, groups and nations can do and how. Trade and other economic transactions shape governance, historic events, who can access infrastructure, and may have implications for the legal system. It also determines how people make a living, and therefore limits (or not) what your characters can realistically achieve.

📚 Plot

The economy of your fantasy world will, once again, have implications for the story’s plot. Is there some kind of rebellion or war? Then it’s likely that trade will be disrupted and certain goods and services limited, which will impact your characters and the general population. Do you have an end-of-the-world scenario? Then chances are the economy will fail or collapse, causing widespread suffering. Give your plot authenticity by considering how everything is connected!

Like any other aspect of world-building, the extent to which you develop an economy is entirely up to you, and will likely depend on the nature of the story you’re trying to tell. If you’re writing a fantasy steeped in political intrigue, the economics may play a large role. But even if money matters aren’t all that important to you, here are a few key considerations you should give a little bit of thought:

💰 Currency

Currency is a system of monetary units that indicate the value of goods and services. In our world, this generally includes coins, banknotes, and digital credits of some variety. But how does it work in your world? What different kinds of currency exist and what are they worth in a transaction? Remember: you don’t have to limit yourself to thinking about coins and banknotes! Or maybe your world doesn’t have actual currency, and goods and services are obtained entirely through trade.

🤴 Jobs, wages and economic classes

Once you figure out what money looks like in your world, you should establish how people obtain it. What kinds of jobs exist and who can access them? What do people get paid and which professions earn the most? How does this tie in to economic classes within society and can people move between them? These are all important questions that will influence how your characters view and move within the world, as well as elements of your settings, so it’s worth considering the answers!

🤝 Trade relationships

Depending on the nature of your world, it may not be realistic for a given community / region / nation to produce everything it requires to thrive. What is scarce in one place may be plentiful somewhere else—the obvious basis for trade. Consider the geography, climate, and culture of each part of your world, and therefore what resources they would import and export. How do the trade relationships between different areas affect the political or legal relationships? Again, it’s all connected!

I actually found building an economy for the world of my WIP fantasy series Graceborn to be one of the most enjoyable parts! Certain aspects were given more attention than others, but that’s always the way it goes. Here are some of the key points to note:

Currency: Money is represented by the Abharan coinage system, which consists of three different types of coin: the gold lari, the silver rian, and the copper brin. People can also obtain a scrip from the bank, which is a letter of credit stating the money a person has to their name, and saves carrying around actual coins.

Jobs, wages and economic classes: This is the least-developed economic aspect of my world given it is not particularly relevant to the story. I have assigned each rank of Graceborn an indicative wage so I can estimate what they earn and thus what they can spend…and is it GENEROUS compared with other professions!

Trade relationships: I have written a brief summary on the state of each nation’s economy and listed out what products each nation exports. This gives the different parts of the world a certain depth and richness (I think so, anyway) and helps me determine what kind of bargaining power each government has when it comes to diplomatic relations.

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How does the economy work in the world of your fantasy WIP? Which aspects have the most significance to the story? What do you think are the key considerations?