KjeldorMage
2009-05-24, 11:19 AM
My adventure background is a high fantasy version of Earth AD 950. Magic has helped to spurn technology and the way the world works has a lot of technological and historical inaccuracies for this time period. As such the middle class and metropolitanization is much more advanced, populations for all races are very inflated, science= well established, though crude still, etc...
As such this allows the characters some new freedoms with regards to their financial and social futures. The accumulation of massive amounts of gold seems rather cumbersome and boring if there isn't a lot to spend on it. Hence the need for high economic freedom for the PC's.
These work for my world but can be manipulated in any way. I am just trying to get some ideas out there. Cheers.
Here are some guidelines I have established.
(Note: as with all business transactions, it is imperative to write them down and to remind players of their obligations)
Monetary system:The gold standard of coins still applies. The average serf makes about 20 gp a month. With the middle class in play. Gold becomes more usable as opposed to being a wealthy person's standard. Allows for gold to pretty much be like 20 dollar bills (American).
On having a large gold stash: Characters are allowed to store only the amount of gold that a real pouch or sack could carry. So carrying 5k plus gold pieces gets cumbersome and heavy. To solve this problem I have worked into my gaming adventure the "International Banking trust". Characters choose a banking clan to invest in and in all of the "aligned" countries, pretty much where barter is not key, banks and stores have magic seals that travel to the regional bank through a extra-planar web. When a transaction is authorized on a runic card, I know cheesy but effective. This runic card has a blood stamp from the owner and as such helps to prevent card fraud. Since they are used only for expensive transactions they are not found in a lot of places hence the need for characters to at least keep 500 gold on them at all time to go to taverns, lower shops, and in case they get lost in rural areas.
On the ownership of animals:
To add depth to this part. Pack animals and attack animals require not only to be bought, but also require a place to be handled when adventuring, and a monthly tithe, which the DM takes out based on a predetermined amount. To represent upkeep costs for said animal. Things like training, and other accouterments cost more money. Most animals can be bought at livestock style auctions. My auctions tend to have three stages, livestock, transportation, and exotic/attack animals. Each one gets more expensive as they go. Auctions also help because they can be places where other sub-plots and main storylines can develop. Many interesting characters can develop from the people at an auction, plus it is a competitve atmosphere where the PC gets to compete with the DM.
On ownership of slaves:
Slavery is the cold hard reality of my hyper-brutal and dark reality that is my adventure world.It is important to not allow slave ownership until your heroes are at least to the 8th level or higher, as the gold concerns and game mechanics are still kind of new to the characters. This also allows the characters to kind of "settle in" to their roles and abilities. Slaves are also sold at a different auction where money needs to be paid just to get into the door. Slave auctions have three phases, work, "pleasure', and mercenary. As with the animal auction they will go up in price depending on their class. Mercenary slaves are considered 1st level heroes who are randomly shown at the auction, as per the suggestions of the buying hero, DM's can come up with a system for randomizing the slaves shown as well. As with animals, slaves cost upkeep a month and also require a place to stay. They can also accompany a party as well. Though non-mercenary and low level mercenary slaves often present themselves to be liability sometimes. Slaves who were meant for labor or for "pleasure" can also be trained by a hero in a skill that suits their race and their master's class and race. Slaves tend to fight with the same initative as their master, for clarity purposes. (see example page for more)
On owning/renting land:
There are two types of land ownership/renter-ship, there is commercial land ownership/renter ship where you own a shop front or a factory in a municipality, and estate land ownership/renter-ship. Both can generate money for you. For commercial ownership you must make sure you have approval of the municipality first. Regulators may pop in from time to time to check on your building as well. If you are running a business you need to keep it clean or be ready to bribe. (See On Starting a Business) For owning land you pay one big Tax at the end of the year which is a pre-determined tax with the DM. This will include any sort of utilities, repairs, and wages paid to employees. Renting includes all of that but are smaller monthly fees which add up to more than the taxes paid. If you are running a business on the land, you need to pay a separate business tax. Hiring mercenary workers/ protectors are separate contracts you need to work out with the DM as well. Expansion of buildings and renovations need to be approved by the Land owner, or the municipality (if you are the land owner you are all set) with proper gold expenditure noted. Also proper maintenance needs to be discussed with the DM before a gaming session as to make sure the land is not taken away or in disarray when the heroes get back. Having trusted people manage land is key. Land ownership is usually something for a level 10 or over. (See My Example for more)
On Incorporating your Mercenary group/starting a business:
To generate money to get better weapons and to enhance adventuring, a party might want to sell stocks. Being able to establish the mercenary group as one unit is hard but if they are willing to work together, they can sell shares to investors. In turn the investors get percentages from their haul. This kind of investing is rare but does happen. More than likely, as characters develop lands, they will want to use those lands to generate wealth while they are adventuring in the hopes for grander aspirations in the future or just security when they are too old to fight anymore. Starting a business takes some homework on the characters parts, the character or group need to discuss a business plan that seems plausible to the DM. As this game is focused on success and not so much failure the DM is obliged to try and make a plausible business plan work. The better the plan the more successful the business. As with any sort of business, the nature of the business can lead to further political entanglements which lead to some more gaming ideas. The wealth generated by a business will be determined based on the number of large contracts as generated by the DM plus the areas economic potential, also determined by the DM. So the DM will give a figure and if the PC's can get more business than that, the figure can change. The business aspect of adventures should be limited as more of an upkeep cost. No more than half an hour should be spent on it per adventure. As for ownership of businesses, they can be through the party or by individuals. Often business are a great way to legitimize a group for political reasons and to serve as more stable base for adventurers to adventure from. (See my example for more) Businesses should be for level 11 and beyond by their nature.
On using economic wealth to gain poltical power:
As a group gains wealth through owning land and businesses they can push for political power from feudal lords and municipalities. Especially with defense contracting. This can be determined as the story goes along and eventually a PC can retire to rule as a regent or duke or with an oligarchy with their group. This is where the DM has to be very careful on how to change the dynamics of play if the hero wants to adventure while being a noble.
On the black market and economics of crime:
I have a thriving drug culture and corrupt political structure in place. This can effect the way your adventurers own property and adventure. Organized crime, the politics of corrupt business, and all of that can be worked through with the DM. They can decide what is best for that and modify what sort of economic and political events happen.
So that is the notes I have on that, now here is how our gaming group used it. (I was part time DM, full time character).
The Red Dawn Mercenary outfit
Our adventure group consisted of me as a Chaotic Good Half-Orc Barbarian
A smaller, frail but very intelligent, chaotic evil rogue
A Very large, human fighter, (Neutral)
My one friend went from an neutral elf rouge to a neutral good Warforged Fighter
My other friend went from a neutral elf ranger, to a neutral Dwarf Fighter.
We went for a long time as an un-named mercenary guild who was drawing the ire of the Empire we were adventuring it. It was a lawful good, but often corrupt empire where oppression was seen as righteousness. This rubbed our group the wrong way and as such we were always kind of a rogue group. To start we didn't have a stationary home to stay, we were ferried around by a ships captain and his crew. We paid them rent as we drifted from port to port. During this time, the evil human rogue had developed a persona of an anit-hero. He used wolf imagery and went by the nickname darkwolf. The more infamous we became the more Dark Wolf became a wanted man. He was the first to buy an animal as he purchased a dire wolf as a riding mount from an auction. He was able to keep the upkeep on the animal due to his hording nature and through his skill as a con-artist, thief, and gambler/cheat.
After slaughtering an imperial village in rage after my hometown was take over by imperial colonists, (in the pseudo-nordic terriotry I was from and lived on the outskirts of) I sought redemption. I bought a small pig farm near where I grew up. It represented the innocence and wild nature of my character as I had an affinity for farming and being away from civilization. I sought forgiveness through tithing to the church and through running my pig farm as a way to help rebuild the area we decimated for my human clan. I also generated a small amount of income from the half-orcs I employed to run the farm and sell the pork products.
I also bought a half-ling slave who was a rogue. He was essentially a half-ling-spartan mix (As per the movie 300) and as such I was multi-classing him into a barbarian rogue. I spent time training him during travel sequences and he gained about 5 levels before he was killed.
As we became more infamous, the empire was becoming less of a mystery to us and the story arc was pushing us beyond the empires borders. My farm, which was under the half-lings guard, was sacked and my livestock was slaughtered. The empire took the land from me. My half-ling escaped and joined our party as the ship we rented took us to a new land.
In the new land we found a shop-front connected to a factory. We decided to make it more business like to fit in with the locals, (we were in a city ruled by stone giants that was similar to Sparta, only with racial diversity). The human fighter and the human rogue pooled there money and bought this land and established an arms and armor manufacturing company. We were soon becoming very wealthy as the quality of our product attracted the Stone Giant military. The storefront served as our home, base of operations and business center. This is where we established the name "Red Dawn", since we had watched the movie the weekend before and was joking about it a lot around that time.
I bought a piece of land on the outskirts of the city we lived in, another pig farm. I hired mercenaries to protect it as well. The human rogue spent money on a scientific lab int he basement where he ran diabolical experiments with the help of his sadistic, (and attractive goth looking) lab assistant who he was putting through college.
The human rogue is a good artist in real life and he kept on coming up with schematics for weapons and armors to sell to the stone giants. Since they were at war with the Cloud Giants (Athens) we were able to make a lot of money and developed a strong alliance with the Stone Giant Senate. Darkwolf also was starting to sell new forms of drugs and biological agents to corrupt Stone giants and gangsters. We often had to bribe the inspectors to save face with the local government.
This series often lead to a lot of side adventures pertaining to the war with the cloud giants and our part as arms dealers.
Eventually, Darkwolf had a vision of being a dictator and was "manipulating" the group to start a private army. My character would always do pit fighting as a hobby while traveling so I developed an elaborate underground pit fighting, and gladiatorial combat stadium to secretly train warriors and to serve as an advertisement for our arms and armor. As well as allowing to turn my pig farm into a well hidden fortress but allowing me to keep my pigs. Often I or the other fighters would use our prowess as a way to sell tickets as we would fight in the pit or to the death. Thus developing a fan base and recognizable super stars.
Darkwolf also purchased a bunch of beaten down buildings in a bad section of the city and turned them into "Volunteer housing" where they took in homeless. had them do work in the community in exchange for grants from the government, often costing them less money. These would be the barracks while my fortress would be the training center. The volunteer housing centers helped to cement our position and allowed the Stone Giant to overlook the incredibly illegal pit fighting operation that was going on, as I was branching out to fund minor pitfighting leagues to scout talent for my elite league.
Eventually my slave was killed during an adventure with me. Though usually he was part of the secondary group that often helped run the factory, the pig farm, and the housing. We eventually had a network of support personnel who were selling, dealing and protecting our economic interests. That is where the economic side was when the adventure ended.
So there are some of my ideas on Economics. Hopefully this can be helpful for those DM's out there looking for a way for those giant gold piles to disappear and make treasure relevant for higher level characters.
As such this allows the characters some new freedoms with regards to their financial and social futures. The accumulation of massive amounts of gold seems rather cumbersome and boring if there isn't a lot to spend on it. Hence the need for high economic freedom for the PC's.
These work for my world but can be manipulated in any way. I am just trying to get some ideas out there. Cheers.
Here are some guidelines I have established.
(Note: as with all business transactions, it is imperative to write them down and to remind players of their obligations)
Monetary system:The gold standard of coins still applies. The average serf makes about 20 gp a month. With the middle class in play. Gold becomes more usable as opposed to being a wealthy person's standard. Allows for gold to pretty much be like 20 dollar bills (American).
On having a large gold stash: Characters are allowed to store only the amount of gold that a real pouch or sack could carry. So carrying 5k plus gold pieces gets cumbersome and heavy. To solve this problem I have worked into my gaming adventure the "International Banking trust". Characters choose a banking clan to invest in and in all of the "aligned" countries, pretty much where barter is not key, banks and stores have magic seals that travel to the regional bank through a extra-planar web. When a transaction is authorized on a runic card, I know cheesy but effective. This runic card has a blood stamp from the owner and as such helps to prevent card fraud. Since they are used only for expensive transactions they are not found in a lot of places hence the need for characters to at least keep 500 gold on them at all time to go to taverns, lower shops, and in case they get lost in rural areas.
On the ownership of animals:
To add depth to this part. Pack animals and attack animals require not only to be bought, but also require a place to be handled when adventuring, and a monthly tithe, which the DM takes out based on a predetermined amount. To represent upkeep costs for said animal. Things like training, and other accouterments cost more money. Most animals can be bought at livestock style auctions. My auctions tend to have three stages, livestock, transportation, and exotic/attack animals. Each one gets more expensive as they go. Auctions also help because they can be places where other sub-plots and main storylines can develop. Many interesting characters can develop from the people at an auction, plus it is a competitve atmosphere where the PC gets to compete with the DM.
On ownership of slaves:
Slavery is the cold hard reality of my hyper-brutal and dark reality that is my adventure world.It is important to not allow slave ownership until your heroes are at least to the 8th level or higher, as the gold concerns and game mechanics are still kind of new to the characters. This also allows the characters to kind of "settle in" to their roles and abilities. Slaves are also sold at a different auction where money needs to be paid just to get into the door. Slave auctions have three phases, work, "pleasure', and mercenary. As with the animal auction they will go up in price depending on their class. Mercenary slaves are considered 1st level heroes who are randomly shown at the auction, as per the suggestions of the buying hero, DM's can come up with a system for randomizing the slaves shown as well. As with animals, slaves cost upkeep a month and also require a place to stay. They can also accompany a party as well. Though non-mercenary and low level mercenary slaves often present themselves to be liability sometimes. Slaves who were meant for labor or for "pleasure" can also be trained by a hero in a skill that suits their race and their master's class and race. Slaves tend to fight with the same initative as their master, for clarity purposes. (see example page for more)
On owning/renting land:
There are two types of land ownership/renter-ship, there is commercial land ownership/renter ship where you own a shop front or a factory in a municipality, and estate land ownership/renter-ship. Both can generate money for you. For commercial ownership you must make sure you have approval of the municipality first. Regulators may pop in from time to time to check on your building as well. If you are running a business you need to keep it clean or be ready to bribe. (See On Starting a Business) For owning land you pay one big Tax at the end of the year which is a pre-determined tax with the DM. This will include any sort of utilities, repairs, and wages paid to employees. Renting includes all of that but are smaller monthly fees which add up to more than the taxes paid. If you are running a business on the land, you need to pay a separate business tax. Hiring mercenary workers/ protectors are separate contracts you need to work out with the DM as well. Expansion of buildings and renovations need to be approved by the Land owner, or the municipality (if you are the land owner you are all set) with proper gold expenditure noted. Also proper maintenance needs to be discussed with the DM before a gaming session as to make sure the land is not taken away or in disarray when the heroes get back. Having trusted people manage land is key. Land ownership is usually something for a level 10 or over. (See My Example for more)
On Incorporating your Mercenary group/starting a business:
To generate money to get better weapons and to enhance adventuring, a party might want to sell stocks. Being able to establish the mercenary group as one unit is hard but if they are willing to work together, they can sell shares to investors. In turn the investors get percentages from their haul. This kind of investing is rare but does happen. More than likely, as characters develop lands, they will want to use those lands to generate wealth while they are adventuring in the hopes for grander aspirations in the future or just security when they are too old to fight anymore. Starting a business takes some homework on the characters parts, the character or group need to discuss a business plan that seems plausible to the DM. As this game is focused on success and not so much failure the DM is obliged to try and make a plausible business plan work. The better the plan the more successful the business. As with any sort of business, the nature of the business can lead to further political entanglements which lead to some more gaming ideas. The wealth generated by a business will be determined based on the number of large contracts as generated by the DM plus the areas economic potential, also determined by the DM. So the DM will give a figure and if the PC's can get more business than that, the figure can change. The business aspect of adventures should be limited as more of an upkeep cost. No more than half an hour should be spent on it per adventure. As for ownership of businesses, they can be through the party or by individuals. Often business are a great way to legitimize a group for political reasons and to serve as more stable base for adventurers to adventure from. (See my example for more) Businesses should be for level 11 and beyond by their nature.
On using economic wealth to gain poltical power:
As a group gains wealth through owning land and businesses they can push for political power from feudal lords and municipalities. Especially with defense contracting. This can be determined as the story goes along and eventually a PC can retire to rule as a regent or duke or with an oligarchy with their group. This is where the DM has to be very careful on how to change the dynamics of play if the hero wants to adventure while being a noble.
On the black market and economics of crime:
I have a thriving drug culture and corrupt political structure in place. This can effect the way your adventurers own property and adventure. Organized crime, the politics of corrupt business, and all of that can be worked through with the DM. They can decide what is best for that and modify what sort of economic and political events happen.
So that is the notes I have on that, now here is how our gaming group used it. (I was part time DM, full time character).
The Red Dawn Mercenary outfit
Our adventure group consisted of me as a Chaotic Good Half-Orc Barbarian
A smaller, frail but very intelligent, chaotic evil rogue
A Very large, human fighter, (Neutral)
My one friend went from an neutral elf rouge to a neutral good Warforged Fighter
My other friend went from a neutral elf ranger, to a neutral Dwarf Fighter.
We went for a long time as an un-named mercenary guild who was drawing the ire of the Empire we were adventuring it. It was a lawful good, but often corrupt empire where oppression was seen as righteousness. This rubbed our group the wrong way and as such we were always kind of a rogue group. To start we didn't have a stationary home to stay, we were ferried around by a ships captain and his crew. We paid them rent as we drifted from port to port. During this time, the evil human rogue had developed a persona of an anit-hero. He used wolf imagery and went by the nickname darkwolf. The more infamous we became the more Dark Wolf became a wanted man. He was the first to buy an animal as he purchased a dire wolf as a riding mount from an auction. He was able to keep the upkeep on the animal due to his hording nature and through his skill as a con-artist, thief, and gambler/cheat.
After slaughtering an imperial village in rage after my hometown was take over by imperial colonists, (in the pseudo-nordic terriotry I was from and lived on the outskirts of) I sought redemption. I bought a small pig farm near where I grew up. It represented the innocence and wild nature of my character as I had an affinity for farming and being away from civilization. I sought forgiveness through tithing to the church and through running my pig farm as a way to help rebuild the area we decimated for my human clan. I also generated a small amount of income from the half-orcs I employed to run the farm and sell the pork products.
I also bought a half-ling slave who was a rogue. He was essentially a half-ling-spartan mix (As per the movie 300) and as such I was multi-classing him into a barbarian rogue. I spent time training him during travel sequences and he gained about 5 levels before he was killed.
As we became more infamous, the empire was becoming less of a mystery to us and the story arc was pushing us beyond the empires borders. My farm, which was under the half-lings guard, was sacked and my livestock was slaughtered. The empire took the land from me. My half-ling escaped and joined our party as the ship we rented took us to a new land.
In the new land we found a shop-front connected to a factory. We decided to make it more business like to fit in with the locals, (we were in a city ruled by stone giants that was similar to Sparta, only with racial diversity). The human fighter and the human rogue pooled there money and bought this land and established an arms and armor manufacturing company. We were soon becoming very wealthy as the quality of our product attracted the Stone Giant military. The storefront served as our home, base of operations and business center. This is where we established the name "Red Dawn", since we had watched the movie the weekend before and was joking about it a lot around that time.
I bought a piece of land on the outskirts of the city we lived in, another pig farm. I hired mercenaries to protect it as well. The human rogue spent money on a scientific lab int he basement where he ran diabolical experiments with the help of his sadistic, (and attractive goth looking) lab assistant who he was putting through college.
The human rogue is a good artist in real life and he kept on coming up with schematics for weapons and armors to sell to the stone giants. Since they were at war with the Cloud Giants (Athens) we were able to make a lot of money and developed a strong alliance with the Stone Giant Senate. Darkwolf also was starting to sell new forms of drugs and biological agents to corrupt Stone giants and gangsters. We often had to bribe the inspectors to save face with the local government.
This series often lead to a lot of side adventures pertaining to the war with the cloud giants and our part as arms dealers.
Eventually, Darkwolf had a vision of being a dictator and was "manipulating" the group to start a private army. My character would always do pit fighting as a hobby while traveling so I developed an elaborate underground pit fighting, and gladiatorial combat stadium to secretly train warriors and to serve as an advertisement for our arms and armor. As well as allowing to turn my pig farm into a well hidden fortress but allowing me to keep my pigs. Often I or the other fighters would use our prowess as a way to sell tickets as we would fight in the pit or to the death. Thus developing a fan base and recognizable super stars.
Darkwolf also purchased a bunch of beaten down buildings in a bad section of the city and turned them into "Volunteer housing" where they took in homeless. had them do work in the community in exchange for grants from the government, often costing them less money. These would be the barracks while my fortress would be the training center. The volunteer housing centers helped to cement our position and allowed the Stone Giant to overlook the incredibly illegal pit fighting operation that was going on, as I was branching out to fund minor pitfighting leagues to scout talent for my elite league.
Eventually my slave was killed during an adventure with me. Though usually he was part of the secondary group that often helped run the factory, the pig farm, and the housing. We eventually had a network of support personnel who were selling, dealing and protecting our economic interests. That is where the economic side was when the adventure ended.
So there are some of my ideas on Economics. Hopefully this can be helpful for those DM's out there looking for a way for those giant gold piles to disappear and make treasure relevant for higher level characters.