Contract Bidding

[Mootsmcboots]

So I am starting a new campaign(Level 1) it's premise is starting off pretty straight forward. The Mainland and the Wild of this world have been separated by a strait(Think Berring Strait), but every so often a land bridge rises up from the depths making the Wilds temporarily accessible.

Over the last 2 centuries, the town(A merchant town, governed by 2 merchant families) nearest the Strait has been building a bridge, allowing for permanent access to the Wilds, with it's possible new sources of natural resources etc. Now the bridge is complete.

My players will be an adventuring company, answering a call for groups to come and forray into the wild to set up new settlements. There will be 4 scouted locations, some more difficult to clear and settle than others, yeilding appropriate compensation/rewards.

They will be choosing which location they want to clear/settle via a bidding process against other parties of NPCs there to do the same. I want to avoid them dumping all of their money on a contract, so any left over bidding gold will be retained by the party for gear/supplies.

The question is how do I give them this gold? I could just create a mysterious benefactor, or claim it was gold from odd jobs done on the way to the bridge I guess.

So any creative ideas for getting these guys this bag of gold? And suggestions on how much? If they bid very little for one of the easier contracts I don't want them ending up with a boat load of left over gold.

Say an amount of gold that if they bid 3/4s of it, they remaing 1/4th won't be excessive for a party to have a lvl 1.

[Windstorm]

one of the best ways you could do it is to have them be the representatives of a person or company with an interest in the natural resources available in the area, and they are willing to make an investment (with strings attached).

example: say most of the sites being bid on are mining sites, and the adventurers are being contracted by a wealthy lord who wants access to these materials to feed another business he has. the strings might be a clause in the contract that mean the gold can only be spent on acquiring the land and rights and any extraction equipment and labor required to make the claim functional, with only a small portion of the contracted gold allowed to be used for safety and defensive purposes. (actually a pretty good mirror for how contract claims in the real world work)

[ericgrau]

Or let them keep any leftover gold for gear, but they are bound by the contract to serve for quite a while or else they must return the gear to their benefactor.

I don't think the cost of land in the boondocks should be that expensive. I'm guessing in the hundreds of gold. Maybe more depending on how much might be mined, but keep in mind precious metals are hard to find and even a silver piece per miner from a day's work is enough to eventually turn a profit and make a mine worth getting. Not all mines are the mother lode. Structures might cost in the thousands but if there even are any then that could be a separate fund and they would remain in the possession of the investor.

[Avaris]

I assume there is a reason people can't just use boats to reach the Wild?

On the bidding process itself, I'm wondering if you want to abstract it a little away from the players themselves. Auctions can be fun, but only if you're playing against other people: in this case, the bidding will be against NPCs.

So there are 4 regions up for grabs, some easier than others. You already have two merchant families interested in the new land, so they'll want a region each, and it shouldn't be too hard to come up with other factions. A wizard's guild seeking new magical materials maybe, or the local monarch wanting to ensure they have oversight of activities there. Each of these will have different levels of resource, different goals and different ways of interacting with the new realm.

What I suggest is you create at least 6 factions and run the auction between them. The trick is the players play the factions. Secretly give each of them a brief and a number of tokens representing their resources, then run a session of the bidding war. The briefs contain the faction's goals (as much as you want the players to know) and details of the new land (different groups may know different things about each region).

What this does is quickly introduce your players to the major factions on the mainland, which you won't be able to focus on much during the game itself, but are an important context for the game. It also makes the bidding process much more fun, as they are playing against each other rather than just you.

Once the bidding is over, you will have four factions, holding the rights over one region. The players can then choose which they want to work for. Their actions in the bidding war will determine how much resource is left for them to be given to fund their expedition.

...I actually have quite a few ideas for this from writing this post, for factions and how the auction works. I can flesh these out and post them if you want.

[Mootsmcboots]

Oh, nice call on the investment/service for funding ideas there.

Avaris, I really like that idea on the bidding there. I really like that each player gets to take part, and as you said establishes that context very quickly, and in an engaging way that is more than just me sitting spouting exposition at them.

Any other ideas you want to suggest/ flesh out that bidding process would be awesome!

EDIT: I think I may also give the Party a stooge. A Non combatant NPC who represents the interests of the faction they end up with. He'll mostly be for fluff, remarking on actions the party takes vs the interest of the factions. Like an NPC accountant.

[Avaris]

Ok, here goes. Make use of whatever of this you want. Warning, this is quite lengthy!

The background
200 years ago, the founders of the great mercantile Houses of Ryker and Tarnis started their great work. The Abyss of Storms, once passable only at the whim of the Gods, is open, spanned by a bridge forged of Magic and Stone. This is a new age of prosperity, and the legendary riches of the Wilds are ripe for the taking.

Word spread quickly across the land, and the rich and the powerful quickly gathered their forces ready to mount an expedition into the unknown. As the crowds converged on the town, it became clear that not all could hope to profit from this enterprise. Would it not be easier to dispose of their rivals here, before crossing the bridge? Swords were drawn, and blood threatened.

Thankfully, diplomacy broke out. Over the course of several days, representatives of the most powerful parties present set out the Laws of the Bridge, that would govern what was to come. Deals were made, contracts signed, and a date was set: the Rights of the Wild would be auctioned, and all with the wealth to participate could seek their fortune...

The theory behind the bidding is that there is so much interest in the project and what lies beyond that people would kill each other for the chance to take part. Therefore, the rights to do so would be auctioned off. The funds raised from the auction would be used to defend the bridge itself, allowing those who win the auction to be confident that their investment is secure. These security measures will include Guards who enforce the Laws of the Bridge, which are as follows:


The Land Beyond is independent of the laws of any land, beyond the laws that the contract holders themselves bring with them.
Each contract grants dominion over a specified tract of the Land Beyond. These tracts are determined by the appointed surveyor, and are to coincide with the areas of that land which can be mapped with sufficient accuracy. Mapping of the lands outside these tracts is to be funded from the Bridge Fund, so that more areas might become available in future.
Each tract shall be auctioned on an annual basis, with the funds raised from this auction going to the Bridge Fund. If the holder of a contract successfully holds their tract of land for 5 consecutive years, their hold becomes permanent, and it is auctioned no longer.
The holder of a tract of land may exploit its wealth in any way they see fit. They may not exploit the wealth of other tracts, nor the areas which have yet to be auctioned. The exception to this is that anyone who passes into the Land Beyond may return with whatever they can carry on their own back.
To prevent the Land Beyond being seized by force, the only groups permitted to enter the Land Beyond armed as for battle are Adventuring Companies registered with the Keeper of the Bridge. The definition of Armed as for Battle is at the discretion of the Keeper of the Bridge.
An Adventuring Company consists of an independent group of no more than 10 individuals, who are to make themselves known as available for hire to all who hold contracts for the Land Beyond. Before entering the Land Beyond they must be under contract to a holder of a tract of land, or to the Keeper of the Bridge himself.



I should probably explain the logic for a few of these points...

Firstly, the annual auctioning means that the players themselves may be able to bid on their own behalf in future using the wealth they gain, and it also means that groups will pay less for their investment, as they will only pay what they think they can recover in the year. It also allows for groups who only wish to gain access for a single year, giving more variety of potential goals.

Secondly, the adventuring company restriction answers the question of why no-one just sends an army in to claim it for themselves, and explains why the players are getting involved. The bidders need adventurers to carry out their dirty work.

Thirdly, having more regions become available later allows you to expand the campaign further into the wilderness if you desire. You could even have a campaign of working for the Keeper of the Bridge to map the new regions, rather than working for one of the groups that won the auction.

The Auction process
Each group will have a certain amount they are willing to spend on the auction and subsequent expedition. You can represent this with the players using tokens: poker chips will be good, or just coins. Could also use something more exotic like gems if you want. Each token represents a set amount of wealth, I'd suggest 100GP. You probably want 20-30 per player, depending on their group's wealth.

The known details of each tract of land will be announced, and the bidders will discuss and vote on what order the tracts will be auctioned in. This is also an opportunity for the players to discuss who wants what and how they will bid. They can lie and bribe each other if they want! The point of voting for the order is that the players may decide they want their favoured tract to be bid on first to get it out of the way, or for it to be last so everyone else has used some of their money.

Once the order is decided, an opening bid is set. I'd suggest you start at 500GP, or 5 tokens. Anyone who is willing to meet this bid puts that many tokens in front of them. Continue increasing the bid until only one person remains in. They pay that amount, and each other bidder pays 1 token for every 5 they put in (this helps prevent frivolous bidding, and increases the bridge fund further. You could change it to 1 in every 10, or just a single token regardless of number if you want). A player may artificially raise the bid at any point by putting more tokens in: each other player must match that or withdraw from the bidding.

Hopefully each tract will go for about 20 tokens. Any remaining tokens are then used by the groups to fund their expeditions, i.e. the players. This means some groups will have more funds left over than others. Note that not all groups will give the players all their remaining wealth!

The groups
Ideas for groups bidding for the tracts of land follow:

The Merchants
"We funded this bridge, we want to see a return on our investment, and if that requires more money so be it!"

The King
"This new land is troublesome, as it exists outside my control. I must establish a prescence there, to ensure that my laws can stretch beyond the bridge if need be."

The Temple
"This land is new, and must know the light of our faith. We should gain some land and build a temple there, to be the focus of worship in the Wild. Of course, we will need to hold it for 5 years, so we can't bid too high..."

The crime lord
"This is the perfect opportunity to establish a base of operations beyond the eyes and reach of the law. The extra riches are an added bonus."

The Mages
"We have heard of a powerful magic item in the land beyond the bridge, and our scrying has revealed it lies in tract Y. We should obtain control of this tract so as to recover it, or at least reach an arrangement with whoever wins it."

The bitter enemy
"I don't particularly want the land, but I want to ensure [group] pays as much as possible for it! I hate that guy!"

The rich guy
"What a lovely location for a summer home!"


Hope all this helps! Happy to help flesh it out a bit more!