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Hurlbut
2009-06-03, 09:41 PM
What would be a base formula to figure a base bounty for one character? Adjust for the severity and frequency or fame of the crimes?

shadzar
2009-06-03, 09:50 PM
Tell me about your mother world.

Is it a healthy economy, or is it on bad times?

Bounties would usually depend on the crime/reason for tracking them down.

How dangerous is the person or place the person may be so that the reward seems worth of the risk kind of thing.

I have done good with a bounty of 1000gp for up to level 3, but then that kind of money may appear to chump change for a good economy world and the players in it.

Local criminals are probably less than more widespread ones. The more places someone is wanted, then the odds that these places will pool the reward for the bounty to make more people seek out the bounty.

Does this help or do you have more specific info you want to give/ask about? :smallconfused:

Hurlbut
2009-06-03, 10:09 PM
1000 gp for a Lvl 3???

There is no specific setting, just assume it's an average healthy economy.

NecroRebel
2009-06-03, 10:12 PM
Is it the players being the bounty, or are they the hunters?

In the latter case, make it level-appropriate loot for the encounter that the bounty would involve. For the former... Well, make it roughly quintuple level-appropriate loot for the bounty hunters that will come after them (thus explaining why high-level bounty hunters decked out in level-appropriate loot are bothering with such a bounty) :smalltongue:

You can adjust based on crimes or infamy if you'd like, but that should mainly be to affect the difficulty of the bounty or hunters that they go after/have come after them.

shadzar
2009-06-03, 10:23 PM
1000gp would be worth it for characters UP TO level 3. after that PCs may or may not be interested in the chump change.

Basing of of the edition I know best (2nd) then I would say an average healthy economy would be like this....

100gp is what adventures leave home with, which is most likely in the form of gear handed down through the ages and little pocket money because the average Joe is dirt poor.

So 1st level PCs would be happily going after a couple hundred GP worth of bounty.

To have that kind of bounty then the wanted person would need to be more than the average Joe to handle since adventures would likely take up the call, so it would need to be someone worthy of a group of PCs at level 1. This could assume a band of persons with the wanted person that has thwarted regular avenues of capturing them. So this person would probably be in the range of level 1~3. Assuming a 3rd level enemy would be a strong fight for a party of 5 1st level PCs. (check ECL and that stuff for 3.5)

Now you would be looking at roughly 100-200 GP per level of the wanted person. Add to the risks the PCs will take to being that other bounty hunters also might be searching for this individual and not want to share the bounty, they may have troubles. The more offered, the more the risk from others as well as the wanted.

I would say then maybe bump the range to 150~300 GP per level of the wanted person.

Now depending on how wanted and where, there would scale the amount of money. The more places this person if wanted, then maybe the more money asked for. Say maybe 50% increase for each additional place beyond the first looking for them.

2 places wanted in: 225~450
3: 300~600
etc

For a level 1 wanted person.

Special NPCs would be whatever amount you feel is needed for the story and the players to regain their expenses.

Of course places may offer aid for capturing and some form of payment up front which would reduce the amount of reward asked for. Maybe some tools to catch the person, or potions for healing or weapons...whatever.

There is nothing really defined about it and any scale could be made up for where ever it is used, but that is about the best I can do on it without more details on what is wanted.

Hope it helps, if nothing but gives ideas on which direction to take.

Oracle_Hunter
2009-06-03, 10:28 PM
In the latter case, make it level-appropriate loot for the encounter that the bounty would involve. For the former... Well, make it roughly quintuple level-appropriate loot for the bounty hunters that will come after them (thus explaining why high-level bounty hunters decked out in level-appropriate loot are bothering with such a bounty) :smalltongue:
In general, this is the way to do it.

There certainly were no "standard prices" for Big Bounties in medieval times; Small Bounties for rat control and such are different, of course. As an addition, consider the role the Hunter plays in the campaign - if they are the target for a single adventure, then a level appropriate reward; if they are the target for several adventures or an entire campaign, then an appropriate reward for the projected level of the party when they should capture the baddie. If they outsmart the plot, this approach gives them an extra bonus to reward them for their cleverness :smallbiggrin:

Zeta Kai
2009-06-03, 10:29 PM
Make it super-simple: 1/10WBL.

ericgrau
2009-06-04, 12:35 AM
1000gp would be worth it for characters UP TO level 3. after that PCs may or may not be interested in the chump change.


This. The PC or any bounty hunter needs to be offered enough money to make them want to bother with it. Besides the PC's wants, it also has to match the level of danger and the means of the person paying the bounty. Given that life or death confrontation is the norm for PC's, a fight-to-the-death bounty is the easiest to figure out. Just give them the amount of gold they normally get from an adventure and you're done. All you need now are the DMG tables. That's how much PCs or other bounty hunters would get realistically too, since that's what they've come to expect. If someone didn't offer that much, they'd hunt or adventure somewhere else instead.

LibraryOgre
2009-06-04, 12:54 AM
How much is a person worth in your world?

This may seem like an odd question, but for good chunks of history, especially in Northern Europe, people had legally defined values based on their age, sex, and social class.

Kill an adult male free farmer? Pay X. Kill his wife of childbearing years? 2X. Kill his mother? X.

Crimes, and their costs, were determined by how much a person was legally worth. If I maim your hand (i.e. it will not work anymore), I have to pay your entire price, because I've just ruined you. If I mar your face, there's likewise a cost associated with it.

It's a fairly sensible system, though today it may allow people to buy their way out of trouble.

Oracle_Hunter
2009-06-04, 01:29 AM
It's a fairly sensible system, though today it may allow people to buy their way out of trouble.
We still have a standardized cost for a human life (In America,
anyhow :smalltongue:) that is the basis of all Cost-Benefit analysis for government policy. And a quick look at an (American) Worker's Compensation policy will show you exactly how much a given injury is worth.

There are two things that keep this from being abused (In America):
(1) Criminal Prosecution
(2) Punitive Damages

In America :smalltongue:

Kornaki
2009-06-04, 02:40 AM
We still have a standardized cost for a human life (In America,
anyhow :smalltongue:) that is the basis of all Cost-Benefit analysis for government policy. And a quick look at an (American) Worker's Compensation policy will show you exactly how much a given injury is worth.

There are two things that keep this from being abused (In America):
(1) Criminal Prosecution
(2) Punitive Damages

In America :smalltongue:

I don't know if I'd call it standardized. You're literally worth what you're projected to make in income over the course of your life

Farlion
2009-06-04, 02:59 AM
I'd go with a simpel:

Bounty = Level * Level * 100gp

http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Ushtarak/bounty.png

1 100
2 400
3 900
4 1600
5 2500
6 3600
7 4900
8 6400
9 8100
10 10000
11 12100
12 14400
13 16900
14 19600
15 22500
16 25600
17 28900
18 32400
19 36100
20 40000


Cheers,
Farlion

Haven
2009-06-04, 03:35 AM
Sixty billion double dollars.

Tsotha-lanti
2009-06-04, 04:26 AM
Sixty billion double dollars.

Love and peace!

MickJay
2009-06-04, 05:29 AM
Level squared times 100(gp) is a good guideline, though if you don't want to pay as much, you can always improvise: offer less, but describe why the criminal is wanted in colourful detail so that PCs actually want to bring him down, mention how much the locals will be grateful or, in the worst case, subtly make it clear that they are going after the criminal, because you've prepared nothing else for today :smallbiggrin: Other possible subtle hint worth dropping is that there's going to be more money involved anyway, in form of evildoer's own possessions or other loot found on the way.

Make it realistic, too, if the bounty is being offered by a small village, then anything above 50 or 100 gold would already be too much; instead, you can offer some half-forgotten, completely useless for farmers, magic item that's been adorning communal hall for the last 100 years, or some land (if your PCs are into that), etc.

Narmoth
2009-06-04, 06:16 AM
I'd go with:
10 - 50 gp cr1
50 - 100 gp cr 2
150 - 300 gp cr 3
400 - 800 gp cr 4

1000 - 2000 gp cr 5
2000 - 4000 gp cr 6
4000 - 6.000 gp cr 7
6.000 - 8.000 gp cr 8
8.000 - 10.000 gp cr 9
10.000 - 15.000 gp cr 10

Above cr 10, the reward would be land and titles from the king or church.
Also, the cr is for the hunted himself, not his allies, merchenary band or army of half orcs who are aiding him or her