It's an interesting question. The encounter tables in the BYB give us merchant caravans, suggesting that there is still semi-regular trade in at least six commodities (1d6: 1 = scrap metal, 2 = machinery, 3 = food, 4 = wool, 5 = clothing, 6 = furnishings). I'd want a little more variety, but it's a start, and it's better than the fuel ore, organics, and equipment of TradeWars 2002!
This feels like something that actually would integrate well with 4e's hexbashing. Generate trade surpluses and deficits for each settlement, add a possibility of salvageable goods or other resource sources for hexes without settlements, and you're most of the way to a procedurally-generated economy. Then plot your trade routes along the most efficient paths, adding premium pricing for faster methods of delivery and high-risk (i.e., marauder-infested) hexes.
- C.
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