What kind of businesses does a town need? Despite what fantasy games might imply, towns are more than just the ubiquitous taverns, inns, weaponsmiths, armorers and magic shops we usually see. Most of a town’s business will be to support its own residents, not adventurers, which means that town the PCs are passing through likely doesn’t even have a weaponsmith.
So what kind of businesses does Meadowbrook have? Let’s make a list of businesses the town’s permanent residents are likely to need:
- millers (everybody needs grain ground)
- beer-makers (in medieval Europe, everyone drank beer, even kids. It was safer than the water)
- shoemakers
- tailors/clothiers
- barbers (who also frequently functioned as town doctors)
- pot-makers (tinkerers)
- butchers
- weavers
- masons and bricklayers (and makers)
- coopers
- tanners
- leather workers/saddle and harness makers
- fishmongers
- blacksmiths
- rope-makers
- dyers
- farmer’s markets where town-dweller can buy fruits and vegetables
- food vendors
- pub or tavern
- chandlers
A port town, such as Meadowbrook, would also need:
- boat-handlers
- dockworkers
- hostlers
- banks/moneychangers
- inns (these are only necessary if the town gets many non-residents)
- bath-houses (not actually a necessity, but certainly plausible in a fantasy game setting).
While the town doesn’t need the following, they tend to show up in urban areas anyway:
- beggars
- brothels / streetwalkers
And some favorite fantasy institutions:
- thieves’ guilds
- assassins’ guilds
- magic shops
Next post: Business demographics
