"Opulance, I has it"; A look into NPC wealth

[Zonugal]

So I was looking at Cityscape last night, specifically the section on traditional prices within a city. Be it from eating out to paying the rent the book had a solid system for all of them and this got me thinking to how your standard npc might go about attempting to get rich (without climbing down into dungeons or fighting dragons...). Partially this was sprung from my own campaign setting which takes a closer look at the role of economics in D&D, but from here let me present my sample squad of rich npcs.

Ribeye Jones: Male Middle-Aged Human Urban Adept 1; CR 1/2; Medium Humanoid (human); HD 1d6+0; hp 6; Init +0; Spd 30 ft.; AC 10, touch 10, flat-footed 10; Base Atk +0; Grp +0; Atk -2 melee (1d6+0/x2, 10ft.; club); SQ Domain (Commerce); AL LN; SV Fort +0, Ref +0, Will +3; Str 10, Dex 10, Con 10, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 12.
Skills and Feats: Appraise +5 (4 ranks +1 int), Craft (Culinary) +5 (4 ranks +1 int), Knowledge (Local) +5 (4 ranks +1 int), Profession (Restaurant Owner) +21 (4 ranks +1 wis +3 skill focus +2 masterwork tool +10 commerce domain +1 specialized) and Read/Write/Speak (Common and Elven); Favored in House, Mercantile Background and Skill Focus (Profession: Restaurant Owner).
Traits and Flaws: Specialized (Profession: Restaurant Owner); Non-combatant
Spells per Day: 3 0-level spells per day; 2 1st-level spells per day
Spells Typically Prepared: 0-level: Mending, Purify Food & Drink and Read Magic; 1st-level: Charm Person and Comprehend Languages.
Equipment: Business Ledger (Masterwork Tool for Profession; $50 gp)
Variants: Urban Adept

Average Earnings per Week: +21 + taking ten = 31 / 2 = 15 x 2 = 30 gp

Ribeye Jones is your standard business man within any larger city. He has only one real goal, profit, and at a very base level he does it well without the assistance of spells or magical trinkets. He earns his living through pure work, a capitalistic dream machine. Working Monday through Friday, he allows himself two days or rest. And what is Ribeye Jones able to afford, or in another way, how lucrative a life does he live?

Well going off this standard prices listed in Cityscape and breaking down Ribeye Jones' income to a weekly approach he affords such an existence.
Weekly Income ($30 gp; $20 gp spent - $10 gp left)
Living: A large apartment ($7.5 gp)
Food: Two common meals and a fancy meal every night ($7 gp & 21 cp)
Entertainment: Once per week he attends the Opera! (1 gp)
Service: A butler (expert 1) (4.2 gp)

So all together he's paying around $20 gp per week which leaves him $10 gp over to invest into further projects. For example it will take him about 15 months to pay off the loan from the bank for his low-scale restaurant (which he'll than own), after wards he'll save up & finally pay-off the loan for his average-scale restaurant in 12 years. So as he can see Ribeye Jones isn't without needs, he still depends on loans & such, but for all intents in purposes he isn't living an awful existence.

Reginald Comberbatch the Third: Male Middle-Aged Human Aristocrat 1/Urban Adept 1; CR 1; Medium Humanoid (human); HD 1d8+0/1d6+0; hp 12; Init +0; Spd 30 ft.; AC 10, touch 10, flat-footed 10; Base Atk +0; Grp +0; Atk -2 melee (1d6+/x2, 10ft.; club); SQ Domain (Commerce); AL LN; SV Fort +0, Ref +0, Will +5; Str 10, Dex 10, Con 10, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 12.
Skills and Feats: Appraise +5 (4 ranks +1 int), Craft (Wordsmithing) +10 (4 ranks +1 int +2 masterwork tool +3 skill focus), Diplomacy +8 (4 ranks +1 cha +2 masterwork tool), Knowledge (Local) +5 (4 ranks +1 int), Knowledge (Nobility & Royalty) +5 (4 ranks +1 int), Perform (Oratory) +10 (4 ranks +1 cha +3 skill focus +2 masterwork tool), Profession (Theatrical Director) +21 (4 ranks +1 wis +10 commerce bonus +1 specialized +3 skill focus +2 masterwork tool) and Read/Write/Speak (Common and Elven); Favored (Performer's Guild), Skill Focus (Craft: Wordsmithing), Skill Focus (Perform: Oratory) and Skill Focus (Profession: Theatrical Director).
Traits and Flaws: Specialized (Profession: Theatrical Director); Noncombatant and Shaky
Spells per Day: 3 0-level spells per day; 2 1st-level spells per day
Spells Typically Prepared: 0-level: Mending, Purify Food & Drink and Read Magic; 1st-level: Charm Person and Comprehend Languages.
Equipment: City Badge (Masterwork tool for Diplomacy; $50 gp), The Actor’s Handbook (Masterwork tool for Perform: Oratory; $50 gp), Thesaurus (Masterwork tool for Craft: Wordsmithing), and Business Ledger (Masterwork tool for Profession: Theatrical Director; $50 gp).
Variants: Urban Adept.

Reginald Comberbatch the Third is excessively rich, beyond his needs, and is the next step up, he is going to be doing far better than Ribeye Jones and for all reasons he should. Reginald is a celebrity, the equivalent of our George Clooney, and in any large city he lives with great ease. Through membership in the performer's guild (Cityscape pg. 90), which entitles him to gaining double his income from any performance or profession check (as long as they relate to performing/the arts), he pulls in a nice income. He works five days a week directing theatrical productions and in those evenings he performs at stage houses.

Average Earnings per Week: $550 gp
Craft (Wordsmithing): 20 (which means an Epic) = $500 gp; +10 + taking ten
Perform: 20 = 2 gp per day = 10 gp per week x2 = 20 gp per week; +10 + taking ten
Profession: 31 = 15 gp per week x2 = 30 gp per week; +21 + taking ten

Weekly Income ($550 gp; $191 spent - $359 gp left)
Living: Noble Villa ($25 gp)
Food: Three fancy meals every day with a fancy bottle of wine for five of those nights ($71 gp)
Entertainment: Twice per week he attends the Opera! & afterward a night of fancy drinking (64 gp)
Service: Three Butlers (Expert 1) (13 gp)

As seen Reginald is living the life, perhaps even better than most adventures by all measures of comparison (after all he isn't hunted down by any Blackguards or Hydras...)

So hopefully through this exercise I have shown that your next character should stop adventuring all together and go into the wild world of stable work!

[Saintheart]

Or he could just buy ladders and sell ten foot poles for the rest of his life. :smallwink:

[Seerow]

Not sure if I just missed it or not, but couldn't those spells from the adepts be sold as services as well? A 1st level spell being cast is cheap for an adventurer, but could easily double the incomes you have listed.

[Thurbane]

Sort of related: I've been working on a NPC Expert "Acquisitions Agent" build for an upcoming campaign. Exploiting the feats Mercantile Background, Resourceful Buyer and Wanderer's Diplomacy to buy expensive (magic) items at a reduced price, on sell them, and pocket the difference. I want him to form a symbiotic (read parasitic) relationship with the party. :smallbiggrin:

[Zonugal]

Thurbane that is awesome. From everything I gathered the easiest & quickest way to bank a nice profit is Craft (Wordsmithing). If you can reliably hit a dc of 20 once a week you'll be bringing in anywhere (and Races of Stone is vague about this) $100 gp - $500 gp. That can serve well as some start up cash.

Being a writer in D&D has its perks...

[Yora]

Or he could just buy ladders and sell ten foot poles for the rest of his life. :smallwink:

I wouldn't want to buy a 10 feet pole that is full of holes. I'd also rather use a 8 feet pole quarterstaff that is free.

[Saintheart]

I wouldn't want to buy a 10 feet pole that is full of holes. I'd also rather use a 8 feet pole quarterstaff that is free.

What, not even a 10 foot pole you can then stick X number of Immovable Rods in? :smallwink:

*fails Bluff check*

[Eldan]

I wouldn't want to buy a 10 feet pole that is full of holes. I'd also rather use a 8 feet pole quarterstaff that is free.

Hmm. Couldn't you just use large or huge quarterstaves as your poles?

[Telonius]

So hopefully through this exercise I have shown that your next character should stop adventuring all together and go into the wild world of stable work!

Sounds like the party Bard has a new target. Leadership ahoy!

[The Gilded Duke]

Ron the Ancient
Venerable Elan Religious Adept
Start with 13 Wisdom, 16 after age modifiers
Profession Weaver +22 (4 Ranks, +3 Wisdom, +3 SF Weaver, +2 MW Tool, +10 Commerce Domain)
Skill Focus Weaver
Makes Cloth for the Performers Guild

Makes roughly 60 gold a week, forever.

[Flickerdart]

According to the NPC WBL, a 1st level NPC should have 900gp worth of assets, and a 2nd level NPC only 2000, meaning that the Monocle of the Gilded Lord shouldn't really be owned by these schmucks.

[Talya]

According to the NPC WBL, a 1st level NPC should have 900gp worth of assets, and a 2nd level NPC only 2000, meaning that the Monocle of the Gilded Lord shouldn't really be owned by these schmucks.

That's for any NPC spontaneously generated at a fixed time. If you're actually tracking the NPCs wealth week after week, that would change, for better or for worse.

Besides, shouldn't aristocrats have higher NPC wealth than commoners of the same level? :smallsmile:

[Flickerdart]

That's for any NPC spontaneously generated at a fixed time. If you're actually tracking the NPCs wealth week after week, that would change, for better or for worse.

Besides, shouldn't aristocrats have higher NPC wealth than commoners of the same level? :smallsmile:
Apparently not. It is however more likely that aristocrats get to a higher level before being devoured by lions or something.

As for spontaneously generating, the weekly earnings assume that they always had the Monocle, which is what I'm referring to. Before they "struck it big" they would have been lowly business owners like Ribeye, making a pittance.

Also, the stat arrays are incorrect - the basic array is 11, 11, 11, 10, 10, 10, so the physical ability scores of the characters after the -1 penalty should be all nines.

[The Gilded Duke]

Yeah, the Medallion seems to be the major force behind the last two. One way Reginald can get started at least is to spend 60 gold per week for a cleric to cast it on him. He can eventually save up for the Medallion, and maybe loan out Medallions to others.

I don't think any other craft skill besides wordsmith is cheap enough however. Maybe craft poisonmaking in an ideal situation?

[ImperatorK]

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/improvingMonsters.htm#noneliteArray
Those NPCs should have an non-elite array - 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8.

[Flickerdart]

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/improvingMonsters.htm#noneliteArray
Those NPCs should have an non-elite array - 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8.
Note how the section is titled "improving monsters" and not "stats wot every monster has right out of the gate". The normal array is three 11s and three 10s, and any creature with a different array has specific text denoting it as such.

[Zonugal]

Yeah, the Medallion seems to be the major force behind the last two. One way Reginald can get started at least is to spend 60 gold per week for a cleric to cast it on him. He can eventually save up for the Medallion, and maybe loan out Medallions to others.

I don't think any other craft skill besides wordsmith is cheap enough however. Maybe craft poisonmaking in an ideal situation?

I honestly made a mis-calculation with the Monocle of the Gilded Lord but still feel that is within a reasonable distance for both Maxwell & Reginald to be able to afford it if they saved up enough capital to make the investment (they could even set-up a loan system with a mage).

I wanted to steer away from Craft (Poisonmaking) as I felt it wasn't as practical what with poison typically being banned in a city. The npcs created were meant to be publicly known capitlists, made hard when their main source of income is poison. Now if you wanted to go with an npc like Lex Luthor who might sell poison under the table in addition to his other services, that would work rather well.

[Flickerdart]

Edmund Blackadder, Fumigation Expert. Need those giant rats out of your cellar? Instead of hiring adventurers who are going to break everything in there and loot the rest, why not come up with a more cunning plan? Contact us now for a free audit.

[Grendus]

Honestly, Guidance of the Avatar seems fairly cheesy to me. It's just too good, that one item is the difference between 1d10 copper/day and 3d6 gold per day performing, or 20 additional gold a week. That's a ridiculous increase (and that's assuming you take 10 with no charisma, ranks, or feats). Without it, it's a lot tougher to make a living, and a lot more realistic imo.

[Zonugal]

Honestly, Guidance of the Avatar seems fairly cheesy to me. It's just too good, that one item is the difference between 1d10 copper/day and 3d6 gold per day performing, or 20 additional gold a week. That's a ridiculous increase (and that's assuming you take 10 with no charisma, ranks, or feats). Without it, it's a lot tougher to make a living, and a lot more realistic imo.

I don't know if I'd say it pushed people over the realm, but it surely does assist them.

Standard Rich Dude = $550 gp
Craft (Wordsmithing) (+20) = $500 gp
Profession (+31) = 30 gp
Perform (+20) = 20 gp

Standard Rich Dude with the Monocle of the Gilded Lord = $670 gp
Craft (Wordsmithing) (+40) = $500 gp
Profession (+51) = 50 gp
Perform (+40) = 120 gp

So looking it over the Monocle offers us an increase of $170 gp, which is very nice but not outrageous. But you are right concerning the perform skill, it is quick to jump from low-pay to high-pay through the use of the Monocle (an increase of $100 gp).

[ImperatorK]

Note how the section is titled "improving monsters" and not "stats wot every monster has right out of the gate". The normal array is three 11s and three 10s, and any creature with a different array has specific text denoting it as such.
now check stats of monsters such elfs (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/elf.htm), halflings (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/halfling.htm), dwarfs (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/dwarf.htm) and other monsters that are at the same time NPCs because they can only have levels in NPC classes. Surprise! They all have non-elite array. Heck, it even says so in their description:

The dwarf warrior presented here had the following ability scores before racial adjustments: Str 13, Dex 11, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 9, Cha 8.
:smallamused:

Why is the Monocle so cheap? It should cost over 10k. :smalltongue:

[The Gilded Duke]

Honestly I think this has more potential in pathfinder.
You get feats like http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/master-of-the-ledger

Requires sixth level, but is a reliable way to make money, especially since you can invest in multiple markets. The ultimate way to make money is probably the Kingmaker Kingdom system. By the beginning of the fifth book my players were making about 200 BP per month (roughly translates to 400-800 thousand gp) And that's without power gaming it.

There also seem to be better ways to boost checks then Guidance of the Avatar. A Synthestist Summoner so talented that they tap into the beauty of the planes themselves (+8 racial bonus on perform). In another game I'm playing a Dwarven Samurai working towards the Master Crafter feat, who uses "Honor in All Things" and alternative racial traits to further boost his weapon smithing rolls.

Where it all really seems to take off though is a 7th level Psion - Shaper. Who can cast Modify matter as a 4th level power. Making what might be months of craft checks with a single roll.

[Zonugal]

Edmund Blackadder, Fumigation Expert. Need those giant rats out of your cellar? Instead of hiring adventurers who are going to break everything in there and loot the rest, why not come up with a more cunning plan? Contact us now for a free audit.

I love it and actually makes a lot of practical sense in a large, urban city. My hat off to you!

[ImperatorK]

Maybe you missed it, so I will repeat myself:
The Monocle should cost over 10k. Not 3k, as was pointed out in your thread at BG. You said that it is crafted by an Artificer. Why does the Artificer sell it so cheap?

[The Glyphstone]

Honestly I think this has more potential in pathfinder.
You get feats like http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/master-of-the-ledger

Requires sixth level, but is a reliable way to make money, especially since you can invest in multiple markets. The ultimate way to make money is probably the Kingmaker Kingdom system. By the beginning of the fifth book my players were making about 200 BP per month (roughly translates to 400-800 thousand gp) And that's without power gaming it.

There also seem to be better ways to boost checks then Guidance of the Avatar. A Synthestist Summoner so talented that they tap into the beauty of the planes themselves (+8 racial bonus on perform). In another game I'm playing a Dwarven Samurai working towards the Master Crafter feat, who uses "Honor in All Things" and alternative racial traits to further boost his weapon smithing rolls.

Where it all really seems to take off though is a 7th level Psion - Shaper. Who can cast Modify matter as a 4th level power. Making what might be months of craft checks with a single roll.

6th level? 7th level? It'd take the average NPC a lifetime to even qualify for those abilities - the whole point of this is to see if 1st and 2nd-level NPCs can survive and thrive without being utterly dependent on well-armed graverobbing hobos to sustain their economy.

[Seerow]

Having just looked up the spell, even at 10k gold that's really cheap, and an abuse of custom item creation rules.


Actually a use activated item of a level 2 spell is 2*3*2000 = 10,000 as stated, but since it has a duration of 1 minute (not 1 minute per level, so that's 10 rounds) it has a x4 multiplier for 40,000gp.

Given a +20 competence item is normally 20*20*100 = 40,000 I'd say that's actually the far more accurate pricing. But you're still abusing the spell to make it increase every skill you have rather than just 1 skill, so I'd price it even higher. Even if you use it only for those two skills, that's a minimum 80,000, possibly 100,000 for combining them both into the same item slot.

[Zonugal]

Maybe you missed it, so I will repeat myself:
The Monocle should cost over 10k. Not 3k, as was pointed out in your thread at BG. You said that it is crafted by an Artificer. Why does the Artificer sell it so cheap?

Because he can, through price reducers and such. It costs him almost nothing to sell the item for a cheaper cost while it does build him loyalty with the higher-elite within the city (while also out-beating any competition).


Having just looked up the spell, even at 10k gold that's really cheap, and an abuse of custom item creation rules.

Actually a use activated item of a level 2 spell is 2*3*2000 = 10,000 as stated, but since it has a duration of 1 minute (not 1 minute per level, so that's 10 rounds) it has a x4 multiplier for 40,000gp.

Given a +20 competence item is normally 20*20*100 = 40,000 I'd say that's actually the far more accurate pricing. But you're still abusing the spell to make it increase every skill you have rather than just 1 skill, so I'd price it even higher. Even if you use it only for those two skills, that's a minimum 80,000, possibly 100,000 for combining them both into the same item slot.

Hmm I may have done a mis-calculation than (I'm not too knowledgeable about magical crafting rules yet so the duration part may have gotten past me). Thanks for the catch!

[Talya]

Ah yes. NPCs can buy everything at half price, then resell it at full price...

[Zonugal]

Adjusted the build and removed the Guidance of the Avatar item as it was creating too many problems & issues.

[Flickerdart]

now check stats of monsters such elfs (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/elf.htm), halflings (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/halfling.htm), dwarfs (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/dwarf.htm) and other monsters that are at the same time NPCs because they can only have levels in NPC classes. Surprise! They all have non-elite array. Heck, it even says so in their description:

:smallamused:

Why is the Monocle so cheap? It should cost over 10k. :smalltongue:
Yeah, and those are all the exception to the rule which is explicitly specified. Like I said. So not sure what you're getting at here.

[ImperatorK]

Yeah, and those are all the exception to the rule which is explicitly specified. Like I said. So not sure what you're getting at here.
NPCs get non-elite array, because they're monsters. Just like NPCs with PC classes get elite array.

[Flickerdart]

NPCs get non-elite array, because they're monsters. Just like NPCs with PC classes get elite array.
As far as I can tell, the non-elite array is entirely optional, and given to humanoid opponents at the DM's discretion (thus the DMG is careful to note the exception every time it occurs rather than having a blanket rule for this). This particular DM chose not to do it.

[Zonugal]

my campaign setting the standard for pcs is 25 points, for heroic npcs it is also 25 and for "extras in the background" (so these guys) it comes around 18 (with possibly 20 for cool extras).

[Flickerdart]

Actually, now I'm curious how much Mr Blackadder would actually make. I can't find the poison crafting rules (wasn't it like 1/4 cost?) so I'm doing traps instead.

Let's make him a Middle-Aged Earth Kobold Expert 2 with, therefore, 12 Int and Wis, 5 ranks in Craft (Trapmaking), and the Masterwork tool, as he is an experienced exterminator. He also has Skill Focus in Trapmaking.

For Craft (Trapmaking), he therefore gets, taking 10, 10+5+4+1+2+3=25. This allows him to create CR6 or lower traps, but we'll be making a CR1 trap. The minimum cost for a trap is CR*100, so our theoretical trap costs 100gp. It costs 333sp in materials to create such a trap. The DC for the trap is 20, so every week he makes 500sp of progress. He can finish one of these every two weeks, selling it for a 66.6gp premium and living a pretty comfortable life - better than the restaurant owner (who is a frequent customer!).

With some way to get another +5, he will be able to kick his crafting up a notch, taking +10 to the DC (now 30) to accelerate his crafting, with 750sp of progress weekly, therefore making 50gp of weekly income.

[Zonugal]

Actually, now I'm curious how much Mr Blackadder would actually make. I can't find the poison crafting rules (wasn't it like 1/4 cost?) so I'm doing traps instead.

This is a nice guide to poisons. (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=4854.0) The two biggest things are that progress is measured in gp rather than sp, and that the raw materials for crafting poisons are only 1/6th of the base price.


Let's make him a Middle-Aged Earth Kobold Expert 2 with, therefore, 12 Int and Wis, 5 ranks in Craft (Trapmaking), and the Masterwork tool, as he is an experienced exterminator. He also has Skill Focus in Trapmaking.

For Craft (Trapmaking), he therefore gets, taking 10, 10+5+4+1+2+3=25. This allows him to create CR6 or lower traps, but we'll be making a CR1 trap. The minimum cost for a trap is CR*100, so our theoretical trap costs 100gp. It costs 333sp in materials to create such a trap. The DC for the trap is 20, so every week he makes 500sp of progress. He can finish one of these every two weeks, selling it for a 66.6gp premium and living a pretty comfortable life - better than the restaurant owner (who is a frequent customer!).

What can I say, the city is roaming with vermin...


With some way to get another +5, he will be able to kick his crafting up a notch, taking +10 to the DC (now 30) to accelerate his crafting, with 750sp of progress weekly, therefore making 50gp of weekly income.

Have you looked at the npc class Magewright from the Eberron Campaign Setting? It can achieve everything the expert build can but it also has the ability to cast magecraft (+5 to any craft check, once per day), which might enable you to hit that DC of 30.

[Flickerdart]

Wow...that means poison synergizes great with trap-making, since you add the poison's price to the trap's price. Being able to make poison quickly, you add almost no time to the crafting, with a 600% return on your investment. While not strictly RAW, and not questioning why you need devastation vermin poison on a CR1 trap, it's a hilarious and effective way of making a living.

Incidentally, the return on a trap goes down exponentially as the trap's CR goes up. A trapsmith would never be able to make a living as anything but a pest controller.