30 Days of World-Building (Second Edition) - Day 8 - Econ & Politics

Exercise 8 - For five minutes, make a few notes on your map to mark places that have more of a type of resource, and jot down anywhere that has definite deficit of something needed. When you're done with the resources, take another ten minutes to identify which major groups in your civilizations care about which resources.

Resources in the Fringe Cities are slim - there is seldom enough firewood for every house at night, and deaths are commonplace during the winter months, especially along the River of Blood. Electricity is pretty much non-existent in the Fringe villages, and when it is present, it is seen as mystical and unnatural by some.

The reason resources in the Fringe cities are slim is because the Cities have taken most of it - as if they didn't already possess enough. Resources are abundant in most cities, and people wouldn't have to go far to buy oil for their heat lamps, or firewood for their cobblestone fireplaces.

The Blood Harvesters take what they can, whether through moral or immoral gains - to the Fringe villages, they have become little more than bandits, and some villages negotiate with them - resources and food in exchange for the ability to live another month.