I just smashed into a barrier far worse than the magic one, which I could smash with handwavium.
I now realize that this is why so many LitRPG books either ditch Earth or rebuild it. I’m writing it as post-apocalypse. The same people are still around in the same places – except the dead ones, of course.
There are both economic and political problems post-apocalypse. My lunch break is only so long. This is physical plant and economics.
The goal: Build a base of operations – and a functional community – before winter and roving monsters kill everyone isolated in the countryside.
Problem One: Housing Stock. It’s a small town and I’m rounding up the countryside. Where are they going to go?
- Solution One A. Small towns have been shrinking, so there is some available space, already.
- Solution One B. Small towns have lots of old people in them, many of whom die due to medical care break-down.
- That, and some handwaving, will create the needed housing stock.
Problem Two: Food Storage. It’s a summer apocalypse (by design) so crops are in the fields. There will be sufficient fuel available for a traditional harvest. If everyone is going to the same small town, where are they going to put all this stuff?
- Solution Two: Spatial storage. Bags of Holding will be a thing. If that exists, a Silo of Holding can exist, too. I just need to figure out where they come from.
- Bonus: That can also be the transport mechanism so we don’t need semis. Perhaps they discover how to enlarge them early in the transport process.
Problem Three: Livestock. The same ‘where do you put them?’ question. One cannot stuff livestock into spatial storage. Even if it doesn’t kill them (I haven’t decided), they’re not going to grow in there (what would they eat?).
- Solution Three: This where the post-System productivity gains become visible: Barn raising and fencing done with superpowers. If the Amish can do it, so can werewolves, although someone needs to teach them how and supervise.
Problem Huge: Economics
The deus ex machina lever that I’m going to pull for a lot of this is the dungeon that our intrepid werewolves suborn in chapter 16. Dungeons give loot. He who controls the dungeon controls the loot. The traditional gold coin reward is mostly worthless. Hungry homeless people are not very interested in gold. Magic stuff will make a handy currency and will be useful as facilitation payments (a neat euphemism for “bribes” that I recently learned).
The dungeon will supply the first spatial storage item. How that evolves into a Silo of Holding remains unknown.
Econ Problem A: The dungeon cannot just generate loot from nothing. The energy cost must be met. My dungeons work on the principle that adventurer suffering and death feed them. This presents two obvious solutions:
- Econ Solution A1: Lots of very tough battles with gory injuries. This is good LitRPG fodder. There will need to be some sort “loot tax” to extract communal value from the exertion and suffering of the intrepid adventurers. Some need to die. I’ll try to avoid killing off any major characters, but I make no promises.
- Econ Solution A2: Feed it with bad guys. This leads to all sorts of issues with the definition of “bad guys”. Given that one of the ensemble cast members is the local sheriff, this makes good story fodder, too.
Econ Problem B: Housing Allocation. The available housing stock is owned by someone. How do I get into the hands of the new people? With what do they buy or rent it?
- Solution B1: Seize it. In some cases there is no one around from whom to buy it. Just take it. There will be a short scene in which someone complains, but is shutdown/overruled. Who gets the “free” housing and who must buy it is an unresolved issue, but I can just make something up.
- Solution B2: Buy it and give it away. Our intrepid heroes control the dungeon. They “facilitate” the sale to themselves then give it away. This builds goodwill for the strangers disrupting everything. It also builds resentment: Why did you give that person a house, but not me?
- Solution B3: Barter. People will be coming into town with grain, livestock, etc… That can be used for rent or sale.
Econ Problem C: Payment (or motivation). The werewolves – not just the initial two, a pack starts forming – are going to be providing a community service: Protecting them from monsters and providing labor (see barn raising, above). Why are they doing this? “Out of the goodness of their hearts” doesn’t hold water. How are they getting paid? Free housing? Free food? Not much motivation for people who can sleep and eat as wolves. Everyone else, too. Jerry brews beer. Frank runs a bar. Ken is the sheriff. Etc…
- Solution C: No clue.
Marked Up 