Crafting (and Wages)

[Alex Koponen]

Having been raised on a homestead, I had the 'opportunity' to move dirt and
rock with pick and shovel a number of times. The 250 cubic feet for loose
digging is actually low if one is using modern shovels, et cetera - but
probably close to accurate for medieval technology. The 125 cubic feet for
rocky soil is probably high - even with modern shovels and picks. Rocks and
roots dramatically slow the digging. Perhaps to 1/3rd or 1/4 (or worse) the
speed of loose soil in my experience. At a guess I'd use 300 cf and 100 cf
per day based on my experience.
    And of course laborers with better stats do more work, those with worse
stats do less. (If you need the heroes to dig, or are having ill-fed slaves
do the work).

        Alex Koponen

----- Original Message -----
From: Choinski, Burton <Burton.Choinski at MATRIXONE.COM>
To: <POWERS-AND-PERILS at geo000.CITG.TUDELFT.NL>
Sent: Monday, April 01, 2002 4:36 AM
Subject: Re: Crafting (and Wages)


> ||>In a related note, I was checking on the stats for a laborer. In
effect:
> ||>"Working in teams with good equipment, 250 cubic feet of earth or sand
or
> ||>125 cubic feet of rocky soil can be excavated per man per day."
> ||
> ||That's cool.  If its based on something :)
>
> Well, the problem is that it's second or third derivatives...the above
quote
> was from someone's GURPS rules for constructions, and I have no idea where
> his numbers come from.  On the surface it seems reasonable, although to my
> wimpy-computer-science bones it looks like a backbreaking pace that I
would
> think would burn out the labor pool very quickly.
>
> If anyone here (especially in the rural areas or internationally) knows
> people with real-hand experience that can be extrapolated, all the better.
>
> ||>250 cubic feet is a ditch 2.5 feet deep by 10 feet wide and long. Does
> this
> ||>seem like a lot to you (perhaps not, given a 10 hour day...could I
> ||>personally dig out about a cubic yard of earth in an hour? I think I
> could.
> ||>I'd be pretty beat by the end of the day, though.
> ||
> ||I forgot about the medieval 10 hour shift thing.  Was thinking in modern
> ||times.
> ||Good point.  Also with the ditch good point.  See when its explained
> ||like that it makes more sense :)  Course you have to figure out
substance.
> ||Like Granit, hard rock, volcanic rock, plain sand..etc..
>
> Yea, although when you get to rock you leave the realm of excavating and
> into quarrying.  There may be some way to figure out a unified rule that
can
> be used, with differing multipliers as the material gets harder.
>
> I think, as a rule of thumb, going from vertical to horizontal will cut
the
> production rate in half, since you no longer have gravity to do some of
the
> work.
>
> ||>However, given this, 250 cubic feet of soil is about 13 TONS of earth.
> Good
> ||>Lord, could I actually dig out that much dirt?
> ||
> ||Does seem high.  I get pooped doing a pickup truck load of dirt :)
> ||But I'm a programmer not a laborer :)
>
> I think this rate and weight only qualifies for getting it out of the
> hole...another set of labor is required to haul the excavated material
> offsite.
>
> ||I was reading that very article at work today among others...
> ||Could you do a bit on nevy?  ie sailors for the mass combat conversions
> ||and troop strength?  i could but not sure if you've done that already
> ||or not...:)   Sailors...etc..
>
> That's probably a reasonable idea.  Since soldiers are figured as S & St,
> while scouts are figured as A & D, what do you think is best to base
marines
> on?  St & A or S & A?
>
> And actually, I had revised the rules I had a bit (removed the multipliers
> for cavalry and archers, instead putting in an additive cost).  When I get
> the marines in I will re-post.
>
> I might as well put in an appendix based on the cultural notes I had
> before...some cultures have improved stats or combat abilities which would
> differ them from the "normal" units (i.e. In my cultural notes I give the
> Kazi a +2 OCV and DCV bonus, just because they are supposed to be so
nasty.
> And being from the Kaz, they will probably be tweaked up a tad.)
>       -- Burton
>
>
>
> Burton Choinski
> Principle Software Engineer, Quality Engineering
> email: burton.choinski at matrixone.com
>
> phone: 978-322-2135
> fax  : 978-452-5764
>
> MatrixOne, Inc.
> Two Executive Drive
> Chelmsford, Ma 01824
> www.matrixone.com
>
> The First in Intelligent Collaborative Commerce
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