Why a Be a Coachman?

Money. Plain and simple, the primary reason for being a coachman is the money that one makes. Coachman are hired on by regular coaching companies and their work is steady and stable and there are other opportunities on the side to make money. For those who own their own coach it provides an opportunity to work solely for themselves, although these self-employed coachmen are relatively rare. Lastly, there are those who drive the private coaches of nobilities and the social elite and for them the job is usually one of ease and luxury.

The other significant reason for following this profession is the travel. In the Old World most people are confined to a certain region around their farms with little opportunity to travel further. Coachmen on the other hand are able to travel about, and while many of them work the same routes day in and day out many others cover routes whose coachmen have fallen sick or unable to work. Over time, a coachmen meets numerous people, experiences interesting encounters, and enjoys a bit more of the world than the average Old Worlder.

While individual Coachmen may have their own reasons for following the career, many of them benefit from their roles in "Teamster's Guilds" in which they are members of a close-knit community that offers it member social and financial support. Upon retirement many receive a pension to supplement their savings.

Coachmen's Roles in Society

The Coachmen (and their companions, Muleskinners) play a critical role in society, ferrying about passengers, cargo, and information and ensuring that the cultural infrastructure of society functions smoothly. Every day, hundreds of coaches wind their way through the Old World's roads and highways bearing people, small goods, and news about the world. It is possible, in theory, to take coaches all the way from the tip of Estalia to Kislev, so pervasive is the road network of the Old World. It should be noted that avalanches, floods, collapsed bridges, surly coachmen, highway banditry, murderous attacks, fallen trees, and freak events make such a trip far less likely in practice.

In general, coachmen have a responsibility to get their coach, its occupants and any cargo to their destination. Some serve only a nobleman, others work for companies and thus take on all manner of clientele, and it is primarily the transport of passengers that is their duty, but space on top of or at the back of the coach is often used to haul small loads of merchandise and goods and the coachmen themselves have long carried the mail for which they are given payment to deliver by the sender.

Part of their assignment is the defense of the coach and its passengers and they are expected to resist any attempt at theft, kidnapping, or murder. Few coachmen though are willing to put their lives on the line and a few even have come to an "understanding" with bandits and the like.

Its a Living

Those coachmen with some of the easiest lifestyles are those that work for nobility and the wealthy. They are usually outfitted with a livery with the noble's or merchant family's colors and coat of arms or seal. They are usually given a place to stay in the coach house or in the stables and given authority over the stable hands and coach hands. With room and board provided for, a Coachman can expect anywhere from a schilling per day to ten a day for those serving high nobility.

For those who work for Coach Lines they are not paid by the week but by the trip. Usually part of a guild, they are able to negotiate rates and due to the expense of the trip and possible dangers the Coachmen is paid per route they travel. Some routes are more profitable than others. At the high end, routes may average out to a couple of gold per day on the best and busiest routes while in other areas it may be lower than 10/- on the least profitable of routes. Work is however seasonable, periods of bad weather may keep a coachman from working for months, banditry may close some routes down. Thus a portion of the Coachman's earnings are surrendered in guild fees while another portion is set aside for those period where there may be little work.

While working, the coach line that they work for owns the coaching inn that they stay at or has made arrangements with the inn. Thus while traveling the coachmen need not pay for basic room and board, although any alcohol is frowned upon and needs to be paid for by the coachmen.

When not working directly on routes many Coachmen spend their time working at coaching inns loading and unloading other coaches, collecting coach fares, and maintaining the coaches themselves. Coaches tend to have two coachmen so that they can change shifts when tired, to keep each other alert, to avoid danger, and in the case of repairs they can work together.

Coachmen who work find other ways of supplementing their income. Some are given tips by passengers, although this is exceedingly rare. Many coachmen carry the mail, carrying bags of letters or parcels from one coaching inn to the next in return for a few pennies, and in this manner most of the mail moves about the Old World through a series of coaching trips. Coaching lines have stepped in and started charging for mail so that slowly coachmen are losing this source of income.

A handful take up smuggling of goods in their coaches to avoid taxes or to traffic in forbidden goods and such trade is quite profitable. While this is illegal, coaches are rarely stopped and searched and thus it is quite a lucrative trade for many coaching lines.
Most coachmen consider themselves professionals, but few a handful are quite crooked and have aligned themselves with local outlaws or highwaymen. Coachmen have been known on occasion to tip off bandits in an area as to a profitably highway robbery to perform and the coachmen who acted as informant is later given some of the proceeds from the crime.