Worldbuilding Economics: Create the Core of Your Fantasy Economy

Welcome to my blueprint for the creation an economy in fantasy worldbuilding! In this video we'll talk about defining the economic core: steering mechanisms, wealth, and disposal rights!

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Transcript

Economics. Is there a more mysterious and tumultuous discipline? Perhaps not. And yet, somehow, a worldbuilder has to grapple with this field. Economics is the lifeblood of civilizations, real or imagined. It governs how people live, what they value, and how power is structured and maintained in a fantasy world.

As a fantasy writer or game master, you are often tempted to focus on politics or magic systems or fantasy elements or cultures when creating your world. But without a functioning economy, a society has no engine to drive it forward, and your worldbuilding will feel hollow.

So today, let's kick off our final miniseries of Season 1 by unpacking the core drivers of an economy.

Welcome to Worldbuilding Blueprints with your host Marie Mullany from Just in Time Worldbuilding.

In this economics series, we're going to explore my seven-layer onion model of fantasy economics, and we're going to do it in a couple of episodes, starting today with the three core layers of the seven-layer model. We will also explore, in later episodes, full examples, and we'll go through how economic changes can affect your plot and how you can build those changes into your world and story.

But before we get there, we do have to understand the core drivers of your economy. And that discussion starts with core wealth and resources, which is the first layer in the heart of the onion model.

Every economy starts with a definition of wealth. Before we talk about coinage or trade, we have to ask: what counts as wealth in this world?

In most societies, wealth begins with resources: food, land, water, livestock, minerals, and labor. These raw materials are the foundation upon which all other economic activity is built. Now, bear in mind, in a fantasy world, this category can also include magical or divine resources that have unique value. Think about components that feed your magic system or about unique materials like dragon scale that makes amazing armor, or metals like Tolkien's mithril that make a very strong alloy.

Let's explore a few examples of what has counted as wealth in the past and in fantasy.

In medieval Europe, land was the primary form of wealth. Nobles gained power and prestige based on the size and productivity of their estates. Peasants worked the land in exchange for protection and subsistence, making control over territory the bedrock of feudal power. Land works very well if you have an agrarian culture that is predominantly sedentary in nature. Any plant-based agricultural society will likely value land if it is scarce.

On the other hand, among many African cultures, cattle represented both material wealth and social capital. In Zulu and Maasai cultures, cattle were used for bride prices, spiritual rituals, and prestige. Wealth wasn't counted in land but in heads of cattle. This is despite the relatively sedentary nature of those cultures. If I were to speculate, I'd say that land was less valuable because there is more of it, and it was thus less contested. Value essentially depends on utility plus scarcity plus demand. Because Africa is big and fertile, the land was more accessible and less contested, and thus cattle was more valuable.

Metals and other materials are also very much controlled by scarcity, and their ownership was contested—often a prime driver of what was considered wealth. Think of the Bronze Ages and the early Iron Age. Here, civilizations like the Hittites, who mastered iron production, gained strategic advantages through control of key materials. Tin and copper needed to produce bronze drove vast trade networks across the ancient world. Indeed, their disruption was a key component in the collapse of Bronze Age civilizations.

But sometimes wealth is tied to plants, right? Well, yes. The Inca Empire used storehouses of maize and potatoes to feed armies and redistribute resources across vast territories. Grain was also a primary measure of wealth in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, where it sustained both the population and the temple bureaucracy. Food plants are the most obvious choice for wealth in such an agrarian society, but it is not the only one if you want to go for plants. In the Roman and later medieval economies, rare resources like saffron, cinnamon, or Tyrian purple dye became luxury goods that conferred status and drove long-distance trade—and thus counted as wealth.

In today's economy, stocks (as in owning part of a company), land, minerals, houses, and a plethora of other items count as wealth—not money. Money is not wealth. Money is a counter.

Don't ask me my opinion on currency exchange profiteering. Neither of us have three hours to waste while I rant from my soapbox about the valueless generation of more money without wealth. We're talking about wealth.

Anyway, let's talk about more fun things, like fantasy wealth and resources.

In Brandon Sanderson's *Mistborn* series, access to specific metals is central to power. Because each metal fuels different magical abilities, these metals become strategic resources. The availability and control of these metals determine the balance of power in the world, and they very much count as wealth.

You can apply the same kind of thinking to fantasy resources like fauna and flora. What if a forest produces fruits that allow spellcasting, or birds whose feathers grant flight? These resources could become the center of economic control, trade, and conflict.

You could also look toward divine resources or resources related to a civilization that has fallen. John Gwynne combines these two in his *Bloodsworn* series, where the remnants of dead gods and their treasures represent amazing resources and wealth.

So those are all resources that kind of look toward the past, right? But what about futuristic resources? Some societies might treat labor, information, or even memories as wealth. A magical empire could use bound spirits as a labor force or trade secrets extracted through magical means.

Understanding what your culture values at its economic root sets the tone for everything else—social hierarchy, labor systems, trade, and technological innovation.

Let me know in the comments what your society values most.

Speaking about value—if you're enjoying Worldbuilding Blueprints and want to dive deeper, members of the Just in Time Worldbuilding YouTube channel get exclusive access to additional content. All tiers of membership get access to worksheets which help define their world. These worksheets are a great way to turn ideas into actionable steps that will help you create amazing stories.

I would also like to thank each and every one of my channel members who really help me keep the lights on every month. You guys are the best. If you don't want to commit to a monthly membership, you can also purchase these worksheets on my Ko-fi page. Links to all that down below.

All that being said, I appreciate every listener and viewer of this podcast. I would not have a channel at all if it wasn't for you, my audience. So thank you very much for listening.

And now, back to economics.

Once you know what counts as wealth, the next question is: who controls it, and how is it distributed?

This layer of the model explores the mechanisms that steer the economy. Who makes decisions? How are goods distributed, and who benefits from the wealth?

First, let's talk about how the economy is managed or directed—what I call the model of economic steering.

The first type of steering is through the open market, commonly called market economics. Market economies rely on decentralized decision-making. Prices and production are shaped by supply and demand. Merchants, artisans, and consumers determine the flow of goods based on local needs and individual initiative.

The market that drives the economy can be at different levels of regulation. The market could be left pretty much to its own devices. This was the case in the late medieval ages and early Renaissance, where markets pretty much went gangbusters. There was some control through enforced guild rules or trade restrictions enforced via city charters or feudal oversight, but it was a crazy time with a very light touch in terms of actual market regulations. Consider how dubious even property rights are during that time, considering the existence of privateers and letters of marque.

So that is a very open market. But you can also have degrees of regulation on the market. You can have a market that doesn't allow for cornering, for example, or a market that doesn't allow monopolies to grow—so a market that ensures some kind of competitive angle, or perhaps even a market where some resources are controlled for strategic nation-state reasons.

So your market economy might not be completely open, and your state—whatever form that takes—might have laws and regulations over the market. And we'll talk more about laws and regulations in a later podcast.

But market economies are not the only option you have for steering and wealth distribution. Command economies are also an option.

Command economies involve centralized decision-making. This might be a king, a priesthood, a magical order, or a council of elders. Goods are allocated by decree, not by market forces. In many Bronze Age economies such as Sumer, Egypt, and the Minoan civilization, temples and palace complexes controlled much of the economy. These institutions gathered grain and goods through taxation or tribute and redistributed them according to religious calendars or administrative needs. Economic output was recorded in cuneiform or hieroglyphics, and labor was often allocated as a corvée service—which was a new word I learned recently.

Bear in mind, these models can be hybridized. A merchant might operate freely within a market while still owing tribute to a noble house, or a magical guild might control certain key industries while the rest of the economy is decentralized.

So it's a scale, with completely free market on the one end and command economy on the other end. And that is what I'm referring to when I say: what is your economic steering model?

But this layer of the onion model also handles wealth disposal rights—that is to say, who can decide where wealth goes?

Are disposal rights individually held, like a merchant choosing to spend or invest their gold, or communally or hierarchically managed?

Let's think back to feudal Europe. The noble class had control over the land and the peasantry. Disposal rights were embedded in titles, oaths, and feudal obligations. In tribal economies, wealth may be redistributed by elders or used to support kinship networks, like the potlatch ceremonies of the Indigenous Pacific Northwest cultures.

And of course, even here, fantasy or sci-fi elements can play a role. In the *Culture* series by Iain M. Banks, a post-scarcity society is managed by hyperintelligent AIs—the Minds—who effectively control all economic steering. There's no money, no labor requirement, and no private property in the traditional sense. The Minds determine optimal allocation of resources for the benefit of all sentient beings. Everyone has access to their needs and wants, creating a utopia built not on ownership but on abundance.

Disposal rights are one of the attributes that might shift over time due to various economic shocks, and we'll discuss that more during the last episode in this miniseries when we talk about causing changes in economic systems. So make sure you subscribe for that.

For now, just remember that disposal rights might very well change over time.

And let's move on to our last layer for today: Layer Three—Economic Objectives.

Every economy serves a purpose. Once you've established what counts as wealth and who controls it, the next step is to ask: what is the economy trying to sustain?

This layer defines the priorities of your civilization. Is the economy geared toward expansion and conquest, supporting a large standing army, feeding a vast population, maintaining spiritual balance, or uplifting the population of your nation to richness?

The economic objective influences which industries are emphasized, how labor is distributed, and what goods are considered essential.

Let's take a look at some historical examples.  
The Roman imperial economy funneled wealth into the maintenance of its military infrastructure and urban populations. Conquest brought in slaves, gold, and grain, which in turn sustained the empire's objectives of territorial control and political dominance.

In feudal Japan, the economic objective was stability under a warrior caste. Resources were used to support the daimyo and samurai, while rice production remained central to wealth and taxation. The economy was designed to serve a rigid hierarchy.

In ancient Egypt, economic activity was directed toward pleasing the gods and maintaining the divine order—the Ma’at. Temples controlled vast resources, and labor was often directed toward building monumental architecture as an expression of cosmic stability.

During the Ming dynasty in China, the economic objectives varied over time. Ultimately, the economic goal was internal self-sufficiency and social harmony. Trade expeditions like those of Zheng He were curtailed in favor of focusing on agrarian strength and the Confucian ideals of social order.

In fantasy, you have all of these kinds of historical objectives available—and you have more.

A magical empire might use its economy to support a caste of sorcerer-kings who consume enormous magical resources. Industries would arise to mine and harvest magical energy, with peasants or lesser mages working to maintain arcane infrastructure.

Or a society recovering from apocalyptic collapse might structure its economy around preservation and renewal, directing labor toward rebuilding sacred groves, restoring ancestral sites, or crafting protective wards.

Alternatively, a divine theocracy could define economic value by religious contribution. Only those who donate magical relics or tithe labor to the temple may access food or protection.

It's very easy to be cynical here and say that the objective of the economy is just to support the ruling class. And sure, there is some validity in that statement. But understanding what your economy really supports in terms of its objectives will help you build the economy in a way that feels congruent with your culture—which you’ve hopefully defined using the cultural model, as we discussed earlier in this podcast.

And like with disposal rights, bear in mind that economic objectives can—and often do—change. These changes might arise from shifts in leadership, military needs, magical events, or demographic pressures.

For example, a long war depletes resources, leading a war-focused economy to transition toward rebuilding. Or a religious awakening transforms a secular trade empire into a theocratic state. Or a magical drought forces a civilization to abandon its arcane elite in favor of more sustainable practices.

Tracking these shifts allows you to build historical momentum into your world. Cultures don’t just exist—they evolve alongside their economies.

What’s your economy’s objective? Has it changed over time? Let me know in the comments.

And those three layers form the heart of this model on building an economy.

Next time, we’ll plunge into economic activities as well as markets, trade, and money.

Before we go, I’d like to give a huge thanks to my members for sponsoring this podcast.

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And on that note, I will see you soon for another episode. Remember—build what you need, when you need it.

And happy worldbuilding.