Fluff | Goods

Names and fluff texts for goods for a city builder set in ancient times. The intent here is to give a hint at gameplay effects, and bits of historical context where possible. The goods in bold are citizen’s Needs and providing them will affect gameplay, so this layer had to be taken into account as well in the writing.

Public Service	Effect	Fluff
Cattle Market	+1 population +2 income -2 health	People gather here to trade denarii (and diseases)
Latrines	+1 population +2 health -1 income	A place of socialization and relief. Be sure to toss a coin to the luck shrine.
Sanctuary	+2 happiness +3 belief -2 income	Whatever deity lives here looks after your citizen’s welfare – as long as sacrifices are in order.
Fountain	+2 population +4 fire safety	Watering your citizens and sometimes your streets.
School of Rethoric	+7 knowledge -1 income -2 belief	Entrusted ex-slaves teach grammar and the latest philosophies – even the most disruptive ones.
Forum	+2 population +2 income +2 Fire safety +2 prestige	A wide fireproof space embodying the life of the city, where one can speak and rise.
Baths	+3 population +4 Fire Safety +2 Health -2 Income	A social mind in a cleaned body. Entry fee is symbolic and here, fire will never take.
Theater	+7 happiness +4 knowledge -3 income	A place to guffaw at other people’s worries and lose coin – occasionally ignorance.
Temple	+3 population +9 belief -3 income -2 knowledge	Godly patrons of goldy importance are revered by all here – everything else, forgotten about.
Amphitheater	+4 population +9 happiness +3 belief +3 knowledge +9 prestige -4 income	Ostentatious displays and transcendant games for crowds made up of each and every social layer.
Horse Market	+1 population +1 income	The best horses in town are worth the journey – and the price.
Tavern	+1 population +2 happiness -1 health	Migraine is such a small price for meeting with new people and a laugh.
Tattooist	+3 belief +1 knowledge -1 income	Younger one’s skins preserve ancient secrets.
Proving Grounds	+2 population +3 prestige -2 income	Here everyone may gamble their tunic away, rise to glory or anything in between.
Bardic Hearth	+1 population +3 happiness +3 knowledge -2 income	News from the world coming in rhymes and dance.
Fanum	+1 population +1 income +4 belief -1 knowledge	It’s not clear who exactly is honored here, but the auguries never lie. Or do they?
Nemeton	+6 belief +2 knowledge -2 Fire safety	Where the old ways are remembered and the old words are spoken.

Example of early implementation for the Public Service Needs fluff:

Need	Effect	Fluff
Cockles	+1 population +1 happiness	This taste brings everyone out of their shell.
Smoked Eels	+ 2 population +1 income	Big enough to feed a solid three people and then some to spare.
Tunics	+2 income	Even liberti open their wallet for woollen wares.
Reed Shoes	+2 health	Keeps most of the foot rot away.
Cheese	+2 population +2 income	This most portable dairy specialty draws a crowd.
Beer	+1 population +3 happiness +2 Fire safety -2 knowledge	Makes most problems go away at the expense of the brain.
Trousers	+2 income +2 health -1 fire safety	Proud Celts wear braccae against cold – whatever Romans say, they look on fire.
Rings	+2 happiness +2 belief	Shimmering rings catch the eye and bind the soul.
Drinking Horns	+2 income +2 happiness	Expertly hollowed out, soon to be filled with liquid joy.
Racing Chariots (Britannia)	+3 income +1 prestige	These are why Celtic efficiency is known all over the world.
Racing Chariots (Latium)	+5 income +4 happiness -1 population	Equites yearn to make all errands in this cart, at any cost.
Fungi	+5 belief +3 knowledge -3 health	What doesn’t kill you makes you wiser.
Wine	+3 income +3 happiness +2 belief -1 knowledge	Ideal for libations – public, private, or both when it makes one dumb enough.
Cloaks	+3 income +3 health	Even statuettes wear these precious warm cloaks.
Torcs (Britannia)	+4 income +3 prestige	Worn only by the most venerable members of the community.
Torcs (Latium)	+8 income +4 belief	Said to choke the wearer if they ever speak a knowing mistruth. Looks majestic, though.
Golden Sickles	+3 income +3 belief	Ceremonial instruments will cut through everything but prices.
Lyres (Britannia)	+3 happiness +3 knowledge	A stirring accompaniment for stories, odes and satires.
Lyres (Latium)	+4 income +4 happiness +4 knowledge	Echoes of noble culture made by skillful barbarians hands.
Bread	+3 population +1 income	Bread dole ensures your cities don’t turn ghostly.
Sausages	+2 population +2 happiness	Finally a non-fishy, tasty food! Everyone is here for it.
Brooches	+3 income +1 belief	The joy of keeping a chiton from becoming a chitoff can’t be too expensive.
Sandals	+1 population +2 health +2 prestige	Softer on the feet than the rocky roads people take every day.
Lamps	+4 income +4 belief -3 fire safety	The trend for these ceremonial lamps is burning bright.
Writing Tablets	+4 knowledge -1 belief	Users believe in little but written facts.
Bird Tongues in Aspic	+4 income +4 prestige -2 happiness	No one in high society will admit that it tastes horribly: that’s not where its value lies.
Togas	+3 population +2 income +5 prestige -2 fire safety	Symbols of an office valued by many, but no shield against flames.
Handmirrors	+5 income +2 knowledge	Seeing yourself is the prized beginning of wisdom.
Fine Glass	+4 income +4 prestige	Precious transparency makes the bearer’s status clear.
Cutlery	+4 income +3 health	Silver is easier to clean than hands and harder to come by.
Porridge	+3 population -1 happiness	A bland block of grain down to the stomachs of many.
Sardines	+1 population +1 health	The omega if not alpha of healthy food for all.
Pileus	+2 Happiness	Doesn’t it feel nice to be free?
Garum	+3 Happiness	Life becomes worth living, meal after meal.
Stolas	+3 income +1 Prestige -1 Fire safety	Elegance is a fragile, flammable thing – but worth a lot.
Oysters with Caviar	+3 population +4 income +3 health	Jewels of the sea increase the lifespan of the rich.
Cosmetics	+3 income +5 happiness +4 prestige -2 health	One must suffer, poison oneself and spend lots of money to be beautiful, but what a shine!
Painted Statues	+5 income +5 belief	Expertly painted statues whose heads one can adapt to the creed of the moment.
Palanquins	+5 income +7 prestige -2 health	A finely decorated litter; good for the reputation, bad for the heartrate.

Examples of early implementation for the Needs fluff:

Good	Fluff
Wood	One can still count the years this tree lived before the axe came.
Timber	Sliced to the point they can’t grow back anymore.
Eels	Slimy, long and oddly exquisite.
Mud	Stands on liquid ground.
Coal	Flammable Earth.
Tiles	Redirect rain.
Sheep	The sheep is holding onto the wool for now.
Reeds	The first thing any wader learns is how to reed.
Wattle & Daub	Low footprint and excellent insulation will become highly fashionable in time. Just you wait.
Ochs	They’re bigger than you. Fortunately, they’re also gentler.
Milk	Once meant for a calf.
Barley	Growing despite the wind! An inspiration.
Malt	Forever trapped between sprouted and not.
Yellow Dye	Soon to be welded onto cloth.
Peat	Flammable plant fossils.
Sails	Ship wings.
Chassis	A chariot without the char, but in right order.
Ponies	Compressed horses with fluffy manes.
Granite	Grey rock with a twist. Lived in a volcano once.
Amber	The tears of a god, a tree, or both.
Silica	Portions of a beach, ready to export.
Pigs	Intelligent, omnivorous social animals; like looking in a mirror.
Iron Ore	This humble ore is the seed of many luxuries and atrocities.
Iron	All impurities have been ironed out.
Salt	The best way to conserve organic matter and your advantage at verbal jousting.
Weapons	One of the factors explaining economic supremacy.
Murex Snail	They were born by design and will contribute to another one.
Glass	It’s actually a liquid.
Handles	Keeps your citizens from cutting their own hands.
Perfume	The answer to most neighboring problems.