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Aravir
2011-02-02, 09:20 PM
Greetings all,

I am currently a player in a well run campaign. The GM named it Honor among thieves (HAT). We work for a Mafia styled family running a portion of a major port city.

What creative ways have you or others you know made money for your characters. This campaign will likely run into higher levels, we currently are about 3rd.

Thanks. I am looking forward to reading your posts...

Jarian
2011-02-02, 09:22 PM
Wall of Iron.

The amount of iron you sell from this spell is directly relative to the 'strange' reduction in other forms of wealth your character receives, I find.

Brendan
2011-02-02, 09:31 PM
anybody who can't pay up on their mafia debts are subject to Flesh to Salt. This should not only set an example for the other indebted citizens, but also pay off the debt itself. remember salt sells for 5gp/lb...
If they can't pay up they'll be the payment.

rayne_dragon
2011-02-02, 11:27 PM
If you're playing in dragonlance: Sivak draconians.

See, the fun thing about them is that they turn into duplicates of the person who killed them, including duplicate (but non-magic) equipment. If you're carrying around something valuable (like gemstones or jewelery) and hold onto the copies, the amount grows exponentially and you end up with ridiculous amounts of treasure. Just make sure to sell it before it disappears (and you probably want to disguise yourself if you plan on doing business with the merchant in question again).

Kansaschaser
2011-02-02, 11:39 PM
anybody who can't pay up on their mafia debts are subject to Flesh to Salt. This should not only set an example for the other indebted citizens, but also pay off the debt itself. remember salt sells for 5gp/lb...
If they can't pay up they'll be the payment.

Wall of Salt from Sandstorm creates a lot more salt. Plus, you don't have to kill anyone to do it.

Here is one way that I make money. Remember: This is available at level 5 for a Wizard.

1. Create glass lined tank that can hold several cubic feet(10-20) of water.

2. Fill tank with regular water.

3. Cast Water to Acid (3rd level spell from Stormwrack) to change the water into acid.

4. Bottle the acid and sell as Acid Flasks.

Math

20 cubic feet of water weighs about 1,240 lbs.

1 acid flask weighs 1 pound.

1 acid flask sells for 5 gold.

An empty glass flask costs 1 gold.

1,240 gold to buy 1,240 glass flasks.

Sell all 1,240 acid flasks for a total of 4,960 gold.

OverThoughtName
2011-02-02, 11:43 PM
Cast Light on mundane weapons after we've come back to town and bluff them to magic status. Just make sure not to use it in shops you plan on revisiting, shop keepers tend to get irate about things like that.

HunterOfJello
2011-02-02, 11:44 PM
Forgery skill to create bank drafts and IOUs. Don't take them to the bank, take them to gullible npcs around large towns.

Forgery skill checks are done in opposition to the other character's Forgery skill check. If you use a spell like Divine Insight and put points into the skill, you can get some really well made forgeries to pass off to gullible npc storekeepers or other people. (Some ranks in Bluff wouldn't hurt either.)


~

Also, if your character doesn't use wisdom, grab the Magic-Blooded spell-like ability so that you can use Nystul’s Magic Aura 1/day on items and sell them to merchants. Insist on selling the item quickly and tell the shopkeeper you can't wait a full hour for them to cast Identify, but then haggle the shopkeep down to a fraction of the normal price.

Andion Isurand
2011-02-02, 11:45 PM
anybody who can't pay up on their mafia debts are subject to Flesh to Salt. This should not only set an example for the other indebted citizens, but also pay off the debt itself. remember salt sells for 5gp/lb...
If they can't pay up they'll be the payment.

Sounds like its time to change the idiom "not worth their salt" to "not worth their weight in salt." Har har Har...

Skeletor
2011-02-02, 11:50 PM
Wall of Salt from Sandstorm creates a lot more salt. Plus, you don't have to kill anyone to do it.

Here is one way that I make money. Remember: This is available at level 5 for a Wizard.

1. Create glass lined tank that can hold several cubic feet(10-20) of water.

2. Fill tank with regular water.

3. Cast Water to Acid (3rd level spell from Stormwrack) to change the water into acid.

4. Bottle the acid and sell as Acid Flasks.

Math

20 cubic feet of water weighs about 1,240 lbs.

1 acid flask weighs 1 pound.

1 acid flask sells for 5 gold.

An empty glass flask costs 1 gold.

1,240 gold to buy 1,240 glass flasks.

Sell all 1,240 acid flasks for a total of 4,960 gold.

Man I don't think I'd allow that as a GM, or I'd not allow you to sell all 1240 flask for 5 gp each. I mean how much of a market can there be for flasks of acid? :smallcool:

Gavinfoxx
2011-02-02, 11:56 PM
Wall of Salt
Wall of Iron & Shape Metal & Metal Melt & Fabricate
Also the feat 'invisible spell' for INVISIBLE iron!
Wall of Stone & Stone Metamorphosis, and Greater Stone Metamorphosis, and then Shape Stone


Simulacra of any creature that can make permanent plant matter with Major Creation (various Djinn types). MAKE ANY PLANT MATTER! Including poisons, structural stuff, the high end 'like iron' woods, spices, coffee, various chemicals for this or that. They also get Wish -- start the Wish Economy...

Then use Wood Shape & Fabricate on the plant stuff... someone did the calculations of some of the AWESOME stuff you can make with a djinn's SLA of Major Creation...

FABRICATE FABRICATE!

Kansaschaser
2011-02-03, 12:00 AM
Man I don't think I'd allow that as a GM, or I'd not allow you to sell all 1240 flask for 5 gp each. I mean how much of a market can there be for flasks of acid? :smallcool:

In a Metropolis there is probably 5,000+ acid flasks available at any one time. I would think you could double or tipple that without causing too much of a problem for the economy.

Dr.Epic
2011-02-03, 12:01 AM
Max out forgery and get the autograph of every noble. Need I say anymore?

NichG
2011-02-03, 12:35 AM
D&D economics are always tricky. Like many things in D&D, the stuff on buying and selling of items isn't really meant to scale.

E.g., for the acid thing, even if there are 5k flasks in the economy at any given time (which I don't know if I actually agree with - they're not that useful for adventurers, and alchemists would probably want specific acids and not whatever generic 'acid' the spell makes), they're being sold by various scattered suppliers. To personally double that, you'd really need a distribution chain and so on, which is actually the lion's share of the work in that sort of endeavor. It wouldn't be quick or necessarily all that profitable compared to other things you might be able to do.

Other aspects are just a consequence of the world not adjusting to available magic. Either the spells Wall of Iron, Wall of Salt, etc are incredibly rare (in which case the spell itself might be worthy of being a plot element as it can crash an economy), or the prices of salt and iron should be artificially deflated compared to other substances. If the spells are readily available, the prices would be limited only by the transportation costs from the nearest magerium that has a mage capable of casting the relevant spells. Traveling mages could undercut that price and make some money, but since those spells are comparable in level to teleport, not that much more.

On the other hand, PCs should be able to earn money in any way that NPCs can, and so one way to make a ton of money would be to offer spellcasting services, just like the corresponding NPC businesses that litter the world. Even though its no Wall of Salt in terms of efficiency, it would be pretty lucrative even if you only manage to convert 25% of your spell slots each day into gold. I imagine that creative uses of certain divine spells, especially uses that go against the normal moral grain of those who tend to get them, might also make additional income - a cleric willing to use Bestow Curse as a means of birth control, a druid willing to use Last Breath as a youth treatment or analogue of plastic surgery (change your race, we'll keep trying till you get what you want!), etc.

Kansaschaser
2011-02-03, 12:40 AM
Ways a 3rd level Wizard can make money.

1. Max out Craft: Metalworking, Craft: Woodworking, Craft: Blacksmithing, and/or Craft: Arms & Armor.

2. Cast Unseen Crafter and have it work on any crafts you are good at.

Math

With an 18 intelligence, you will have 2 second level spells per day.

If you are Transmutation Specialist, you can cast 3 of them per day.

If you are a Focused Specialist, you can cast 4 of them per day.

Unseen Crafters last for 1 day per caster level.

You can get an average craft check of 21 (+4 intelligence, +7 ranks, Take 10).

You can make half your check in gold per week of dedicated work.

Unseen crafters don't need to rest and can work for 24 hours per day.

With a total check of 21, an unseen crafter can make 4.5 gold in a 24 hour period.

If you can cast 4 per day for a week straight, you can make 378 gold per week.

faceroll
2011-02-03, 12:44 AM
From a real game:
I had a beguiler as part of a party that went on a quest from an Azer to recover a 50,000gp worth of gems from a athach warlord. We got the gems, but my beguiler kept 25,000gp of them or so, and used a high bluff check (glibness, max ranks, good charisma) to convince the Azer that the Athach had spent it and that was all we could recover. I think I got a bluff check of 50 or 60, and it was a reasonable lie, and it's super hard to pimp out sense motive. So I got to keep tens of thousands of gp worth of gems. Awesome!

bloodtide
2011-02-03, 03:09 AM
1.Summon Monster Any summoning spell will do. Simply have your summoned monsters attack someone or some place. They be walking by and leap to their rescue. And toss in a bit of Bluff and you should be able to get a reward for your heroic deed.

You can also do the protection trick. Summon a monster or two to 'prove' and area is dangerous, then get paid to guard someone from the monsters. This can work good for a caravan, for example.

2.Unseen Servant The unseen servant can do a task for one hour a level. It can do tons of light labor. It can wash clothing, dig holes, water crops and so forth. It can even mend things, so you can have it fix up any broken items you have to resell.

You can also do the magic item trick: Have the unseen servant stir a pot of soup. Then you can Bluff and sell the spoon as a magical 'spoon of string'.

3.Create Holy/Unholy Water You can create this to sell, but not at market price, of course. But use a couple of Summon Undead spells first, and you can get folks to pay double or triple the price for some 'must haves' to fight off the undead.

4.Goodberry 2-8 magic berries a day. First you can sell the berries as a meal for 5 sp(a good meal in the PH). But even better is you can sell them as minor healing berries. Healing a single hit point of damage should be worth at least 5 gold(A cure light wounds potions is 50 gold). You don't mention the whole max berries in 24 hours part...of course.

With summon animal..you can even sell/trade your healing berries after a 'wild animal attack' hurts someone.

Summon Instrument and then sell it, of course. Just be out of the way after a couple min pass and it fades away.

Keld Denar
2011-02-03, 03:11 AM
From level 1, be a Wizard and memorize Mount, Magic Aura, and Disguise Self.

1. Cast Diguise to make yourself look like a used horse salesman (polyester suit optional but recommended).

2. Cast Mount to summon a horse.

3. Cast Magic Aura to mask the mount's magical aura to an upity customer who decides to cast Detect Magic.

4. Sell horse for whatever you can get for it, no offer is too low.

5. ...

6. Proffit!

gorfnab
2011-02-03, 04:42 AM
Minor (or Major) Creation + 1 vial Black Lotus Extract = cubic ft/CL Black Lotus Extract. 1 vial = 1 ounce. 1 cubic ft = 957 ounces. Can be done early on with a 1st level Shaper Psion however the duration would be limited. It can be sold, especially to those who need to "take care of some business" that day.

At higher levels this ridiculous amount of poison would be great for assassination attempts, coups of any kind, taking out a small army, or just for when you really need to take someone out.

Ashram
2011-02-03, 04:48 AM
I wonder, is this 3.5 or Pathfinder? Since in Pathfinder, the ability to Fabricate things from a Wall of Iron was taken out due to stuff like this.

The Wall of Salt idea is pretty good, though...

Eldan
2011-02-03, 05:02 AM
Scams. Some have been suggested, but here's an anecdote I read on another forum:

A wizard finds himself only with 0 level spells left, but he really, really needs a piece of equipment.

He walks up to a merchant, pulls a small vial from his pocket and casts prestidigitation to make a small wisp of fog come out of the merchant's noise and vanish in the bottle.

"I have stolen your soul!", he proclaims. (High bluff check)
"No! Please, no!", the merchant answers.
"If you want your soul back, you will give me the following items..."
The merchant gives him the (not very valuable) items and gets the bottle back.

dsmiles
2011-02-03, 06:09 AM
Not one of my characters, but a character I DMed for:

Bought an inn, installed a gate-like spell that went to one of the nicer districts in Sigil, and made a killing as a "quaint little bed-and-breakfast" for the jaded pandimensional entities that either lived in or passed through Sigil. Of course he was a Wizard, and had researched a geas spell to enforce non-violence on the entire property. He was a neutrality hot-spot, and lots of planar creatures used his inn to conduct business meetings and such, due to the nature of his geas. Also, he went so far as to magic up indoor plumbing, with hot and cold running water.

FelixG
2011-02-03, 06:39 AM
Magical Traps.

Have a trap that casts create food/water, then have a trap that the first one triggers to cast prestidigitation on the food to make it taste delicious.

Charge any amount, 5sp-1 gold will work! Then you have delicious tasting food at a reasonable cost that any number of people can gain access to by walking through, say a hallway or archway.

You pretty much have a McDonalds thats healthy for your customers in a fantasy setting, and the low price and delicious food ensure repeat business!

Alleran
2011-02-03, 07:48 AM
Bought an inn, installed a gate-like spell that went to one of the nicer districts in Sigil, and made a killing as a "quaint little bed-and-breakfast" for the jaded pandimensional entities that either lived in or passed through Sigil. Of course he was a Wizard, and had researched a geas spell to enforce non-violence on the entire property. He was a neutrality hot-spot, and lots of planar creatures used his inn to conduct business meetings and such, due to the nature of his geas. Also, he went so far as to magic up indoor plumbing, with hot and cold running water.
That actually sounds a bit like the World Serpent Inn.

Eldan
2011-02-03, 07:56 AM
Not one of my characters, but a character I DMed for:

Bought an inn, installed a gate-like spell that went to one of the nicer districts in Sigil, and made a killing as a "quaint little bed-and-breakfast" for the jaded pandimensional entities that either lived in or passed through Sigil. Of course he was a Wizard, and had researched a geas spell to enforce non-violence on the entire property. He was a neutrality hot-spot, and lots of planar creatures used his inn to conduct business meetings and such, due to the nature of his geas. Also, he went so far as to magic up indoor plumbing, with hot and cold running water.

Doesn't actually work, though: you can't gate into Sigil, nor travel there by any other means than the official portals.

dsmiles
2011-02-03, 08:04 AM
That actually sounds a bit like the World Serpent Inn.I don't know the World Serpent Inn, but this one was called the Gold Dust Inn. The inn is still there, too. In every campaign world I create, I use it.

Doesn't actually work, though: you can't gate into Sigil, nor travel there by any other means than the official portals.
Ssshhh...don't tell anyone. We actually didn't use that fluff, but we did have the (at the time) current 2e edition of Planescape. We just liked the idea of a planar nexus, and used Sigil to provide that nexus.

Alleran
2011-02-03, 08:27 AM
I don't know the World Serpent Inn, but this one was called the Gold Dust Inn. The inn is still there, too. In every campaign world I create, I use it.
Manual of the Planes Web Enhancement (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20010921a)

The World Serpent Inn had a 3rd edition update in that .pdf file, and Volo's Guide to Cormyr (2nd edition Forgotten Realms sourcebook) has the previous information on the Inn. It's quite an interesting place, and is also remniscient of "Honest Johns" in Feist's Midkemia setting (you know, the planar inn/tavern/business-locale accessed via the Hall of Worlds).

dsmiles
2011-02-03, 08:29 AM
Manual of the Planes Web Enhancement (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20010921a)

The World Serpent Inn had a 3rd edition update in that .pdf file, and Volo's Guide to Cormyr (2nd edition Forgotten Realms sourcebook) has the previous information on the Inn. It's quite an interesting place, and is also remniscient of "Honest Johns" in Feist's Midkemia setting (you know, the planar inn/tavern/business-locale accessed via the Hall of Worlds).That's probably where the player got it from, then. He was a big Feist fan.

Jayabalard
2011-02-03, 08:31 AM
Other aspects are just a consequence of the world not adjusting to available magic. Either the spells Wall of Iron, Wall of Salt, etc are incredibly rare (in which case the spell itself might be worthy of being a plot element as it can crash an economy), or the prices of salt and iron should be artificially deflated compared to other substances. If the spells are readily available, the prices would be limited only by the transportation costs from the nearest magerium that has a mage capable of casting the relevant spells. Traveling mages could undercut that price and make some money, but since those spells are comparable in level to teleport, not that much more.There's another or that you left out ... "or for whatever reason you can't get any usable raw materials out of the wall of X spells"

Asheram
2011-02-03, 11:51 AM
Greetings all,

I am currently a player in a well run campaign. The GM named it Honor among thieves (HAT). We work for a Mafia styled family running a portion of a major port city.

What creative ways have you or others you know made money for your characters. This campaign will likely run into higher levels, we currently are about 3rd.

Thanks. I am looking forward to reading your posts...

Bets. I recently made a 97.000gp by betting on arena combats that my co-players were doing.
Ever seen Rat Race? It wasn't exactly that, but.. heh. you could make a Lot of money. I'm still a bit annoyed I didn't bet more when I had a 4:1 odds.

Gavinfoxx
2011-02-03, 11:57 AM
Expedition to the Plane of Elemental Earth for some mining!

Choco
2011-02-03, 01:38 PM
My characters go to dungeons, kill the inhabitants, and take their stuff. Seems to be a reliable way to make gold. Bonus points if you sell the bodies to necromancers.

There is also the usual "sell an item and then have the rogue steal it back" method.

Aravir
2011-02-03, 02:41 PM
Thanks for so many quality responses. If you dream up more please share. I had one person suggest buring down a forest after buying up a ton of lumber. Then selling the lumber back at a premium.

Thanks again...