Goods and Services

Good and Services

Background

Like everything else, the infrastructure for pretty much all goods and services was destroyed with the arrival of the Rifts, no gas, no electricity, no water, no telephones, no GPS, no mobiles, no unified supply chains, no import or export, and no super markets. Basically everything was reset to what it would have been in or before the early 18th Century.

General

Depending on where you are in the world depends on what you can expect to find. In 90% of the world, despite any technology you may come across, the infrastructure is 18th C. If you want water, dig a well (and hope its potable) or get a Mage to create some for you. If you want electricity buy a generator and then find a source of fuel for it (if applicable).

The same is true for goods and services. Want a horse, either find a dealer and haggle a price for it, or go capture it from “wild” stock, break it, and train it. Need it shod, find a Farrier. Need some tools, find a Blacksmith or Operator. Need medical treatment find a Doctor or Healer.

After these basics things become much more complicated. Want Coffee? Better hope you’re somewhere where it can be grown. The same is true of every other foodstuff and raw material. Food is once again seasonal unless it can be stored.

There are exceptions to these rules. In the Coalition States things are generally back to where they were at the end of the 19th Century except with the benefit of 21st C technology thrown in, so they have for the most part an electricity grid, water supplies, sewage, a reasonably integrated food chain (at least for what can be grown in North America - so no Tea, Coffee, or Cocca(Chocolate)), and access to a reasonable but limited selection of raw materials (No Iron, Aluminum, Manganese, Copper, Bismuth, Tin, Zinc, or Chromium though - so all the major ones in reality).

Ishpeming and the Manistique Imperium are in much the same boat as the Coalition, except they both have vast reserves of Iron. Things are somewhat different in both Lazlo and Tolkeen. They have the benefit of Magic and Techno-Wizardry.

The general upshot of this is that in the big cities in the big states you can find shops that are akin to supermarkets with a reasonable off the shelf selection. Even in these big cities there is still a significant reliance on small traders and specialists, and about 50% of items are bought to order, i.e. you find a supplier for what you want, order it, pay a deposit, and then collect it when it’s ready.

Shiftsville

Shiftsville is atypical of a large wilderness town for a couple of reasons

1. It is on a “safe” route south from Lazlo
2. It is the home of Iron Hands Irregulars Mercenary Company
3. It has a significant Magic using population

This means it’s population is actually larger than stated (the Irregulars are not counted as part of the population) and is has a regular itinerant population of traders, explorers, and others heading in the main North to South.

This means it supports a larger retail population than would be expected, including several arms dealers (including a licensed Northgun and Titan Industries dealer), several armourers, a couple of operator run garages, a couple of general stores, a provender of horses, a saddlery, and a clothing store. It also has about a dozen other specialist suppliers including a several Tailors and Dress Makers, and more than a couple of magic outlets.

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