What does the KFS buy and sell?

[Matt W]

The Kentucky Free State apparently buys from Merchants who travel along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. They buy food, slaves and "salvage". In return, they sell goods that would be appropriate to the early 19th century

I've never been too happy about this. The KFS is basically Kentucky and most of Tennessee. They should be more than self-sufficient in agricultural goods and they have the ruins of several cities to "mine" for transistors, steel and so on.

The slavery seems implausible, but it's a necessary part of the KFs being the game's Evil Empire

However, I have a few ideas on the KFS luxury imports

1. Cassina: this is a species of holly native to coastal areas from the Tidewater region of Virginia to the Gulf Coast of Texas. The main attraction is that it contains CAFFEINE. Cassina Tea was very popular before coffee and tea started to be imported into North America
2. Furs/skins/ivory: some of the mutant megafauna would provide some great furs. Buff teeth could be useful for inlaid decoration
3. Rare metals. Gold, titanium, even platinum


What do other people have as Trade goods?

[gamerguy]

Just thinking out loud.

Fruits, citrus and others like grapes or peaches. Fish, fresh (live) or salted. Beef or pork (you could have a latent virus or poison in the soil which won't allow some present day common foodstuff to be grown regionally and now has to be imported). Ice (cut in winter, stored in sawdust and brought south in late summer or early fall).

What locations is chicory grown in? Some clay needed for a specific pottery? Iron ore and maybe limestone for a steel industry. Coal in PA so just next door and those slaves would make good coal miners.

Cotton. A specific species of wood for lumber or charcoal. Oil from PA?

Why not slaves?

[cosmicfish]

I always thought of the KFS's trade practices to be about influence more than money. They retain the ability to be self-suffucient, but buying and selling beyond their borders let's them extend their reach substantially. They gain a large area that they don't need to defend but can still somewhat control, and can annex as they need to grow.

[knightofrubus]

If the KFS had an inkling I'd imagine they'd trade for dried hops for beer though not sure how far south they grow. Thst said its very labor intensive to get Hops which might be an avenue for slave trade even past that quality grains such as wheat out of Western New York or even apples might be an option as well.

[dragoon500ly]

Originally Posted by knightofrubus

If the KFS had an inkling I'd imagine they'd trade for dried hops for beer though not sure how far south they grow. Thst said its very labor intensive to get Hops which might be an avenue for slave trade even past that quality grains such as wheat out of Western New York or even apples might be an option as well.

Over 74% of the hope in the US are grown in Orege, Washington and Idaho.

I truly don't see the KFS having to import much in the way of foodstuffs, rather i would expect them to import raw materials to feed their factories. This would allow them to trade finished product to their neighbors. Things like trade rifles and their ammunition, cookware, cloth, tools, even batteries and radios (carefully preset to KFS frequencies and, perhaps, equipped to monitor and record conversations and transmit them at selected times). It may even be in the best interest of the KFS to sell steamboats to carefully vetted groups.

[Project_Sardonicus]

The KFS are probably the only truly industrial power in the Morrow Project World, so firstly they can trade wonderous treasures from another world.

Assuming they have a pharmaceutical plant; then antibiotics and painkillers would be the difference between life and death.

Modern ammunition sold to groups such as Badges or maybe even Maxwell's Militia would turn them into loyal mercenaries. Even if these guys can make their own ammo and smokeless powders, it wouldn't be as efficient as a truck full from KFS stores.

In exchange the KFC could ask for whatever they wanted. Everything from luxury goods and food stuffs to whatever. Probably a particularly useful thing would be skilled slaves.

In this dark future there aren't any computers, few libraries or universities. So a literate slave with specialist skills in say for example agriculture would be equivalent to updating your software patch.

[knightofrubus]

Originally Posted by dragoon500ly

Over 74% of the hope in the US are grown in Orege, Washington and IDahl.

That's true however, as a native new Yorker I can attest to a resurgence in hops.even past that there are many feral varieties that have persisted. New York also has massive salt deposits though I'm not sure on the mineral wealth the KFS has access to.

[Gelrir]

• Rubber for making tires, hoses, insulation, etc. ... or a rubber substitute, such as guayule from Texas.
  
• Oil, for lubricants if not for fuel.
  
• Sulfur, for chemical engineering.
  
• Gypsum, for mortar and plaster, among other things.
  
• Vanadium Pentoxide, for making sulfuric acid "the modern way".

There are lots of needful things for a society making all the "amazing things" that the KFS produces.

We've been growing a list of processes for our local campaign: http://asmrb.pbworks.com/w/page/1131...%20Engineering

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Michael B.