How to stat traders?

[Balor01]

When it comes to statting NPC traders, (because PCs will want to kill/perusade/seduce them), I have a problem how to do it at higher levels - if at all. (XP and levels are gained only for meeting and suceeding at exceptional challenges)

There is no doubt that in a lvl 1 adventure local trader/blacksmith can be lvl 1 comoner or something alike. What about metropolis? Imagine an Emporium where custom made items are sold? Scrolls, wands, staffs, whole MiC?

I am actually looking for something in between. I have a town where adventurers are common (its next to a large abandoned metropolis they are looting) and magic items for them are regularly made and sold for about two decades now. Adventurers are about lvl 6-8.

I have a mundane-item seller, a few mechant bosses (Henchman emporium) and magic item seller(creator). How should i stat them or even better, if anyone feels like it - would someone stat them for me? Will use creator's name for NPCs.

thanks

[lytokk]

Mundane item sellers should be levels 1-5. Most of these things aren't hard to make. Anyone in the levels range 3-5 are probably the ones making masterwork quality, albeit slowly. Any crafter above level 10 is likely the top 1% of mundane item makers in the city.

The magic item sellers are likely levels 6-15. Granted, I'm thinking of wondrous items, rings and such. They probably have underlings who make the potions and scrolls as they work their way up to the more complex things. I never liked how you lose experience for crafting magic items. In my games I have an NPC only feat where you gain the experience for crafting instead of losing it. The more the party goes to a specific NPC for things, the better he gets. The better he gets, the more discounts he gives to the party.

[Diovid]

I'd guess all higher level mundane merchants are either masters (Dragonlance: War of the Lance) or diplomancers/bluffomancers.

[Curbstomp]

I usually use the Cityscape stat blocks for mundane merchants, but for high end/magic merchants I usually use the example Prestige Class NPC's in Complete Arcane, Complete Divine, and Complete Mage and switch out their feats.

[VoxRationis]

Think to yourself how much experience a merchant would get doing the job you have them doing. A clerk in a general store is going to be level 1, 2 at the most. But if he's wandering trader through a wilderness with lots of random encounters? He's going to be of a level on par with the PCs, because it would break verisimilitude for some random schmuck with 4 hp to survive consistent travel through a region with a high chance of green dragon attack.

[Deadline]

If the concern is that your PCs will just kill the shopkeepers and take their stuff instead of dealing with them like reasonable people, consider letting the word get out. Now no one who knows will deal with them, or if they do deal with them, they won't buy any merchandise that came from the dead merchants.

Alternatively, introduce the Mercanes (Manual of the Planes) as a sort of planar trading consortium.

[Slipperychicken]

Ehh. If they kill the merchant, then they have to deal with the cops. Those guys don't screw around: Remember to upgrade their arsenal according the magic level, with effects that can reliably debuff, CC, and save-or-lose people. If the PCs are obviously murderers, they're put to death, no questions asked. Otherwise, they get stuck in the salt mines, and their possessions are auctioned off to pay reparations.

A place which deals in expensive magic items either has their stock secure, and/or has high-level guards (not necessarily humanoids; possibly planar-bound outsiders with negotiated contracts, or constructs) to make sure nobody tries anything. They also have Alarm spells (or similar) set to trigger when magic items are taken without the proper access codes. Defenses may also include contingencies to mass-teleport magic items to safety in the event of an emergency.



I am actually looking for something in between. I have a town where adventurers are common (its next to a large abandoned metropolis they are looting) and magic items for them are regularly made and sold for about two decades now. Adventurers are about lvl 6-8.

That's your solution right there. If the PCs try to kill the shopkeep, then a balanced party of 2d4 adventurer-heroes rushes in from across the street to put them down. If the PCs make a lot of noise, then they attract 1d4 such parties. If they're causing huge explosions or something truly impossible to miss, they get 3d6 parties. If the PCs survive, their names get added to the bounty board, and they're hunted by bounty-hunter teams who pre-buff and prepare before they strike, and would consider any remaining PCs to be a CR-appropriate encounter.

[Aetis]

Traders are generally retired adventurers, and have as many levels as their customers.

[Half-Wizard]

The people running magic shops need to be exceedingly well-protected. Just imagine what the BBEG would do if he could raid and plunder magic shops selling items worth 25,000 gp or even more. In the history of your world, you can expect that countless BBEGs have tried this, and if magic shops still exist despite it, then they're exceedingly well-prepared to ensure it doesn't happen again.

Personally, if I were a merchant selling expensive magical items, I'd take a few important precautions:

Select a suitable location: I would only set up shop in a place with a reasonably reliable legal system, where I can count on the guards to arrest thieves and not try to shake me down. If I'm worried about a local tyrant trying to seize all of the valuables, I'm not going to set up a shop there, and if I already have a shop, I'll sell it and leave the area. I would be cautious about setting up shop in a border town which gets raided frequently, and I would generally prefer to set up shop in well-defended cities which are far from any national borders.

Basic precautions: I would keep all valuables behind sealed and locked glass counters. This way, I don't need to worry about some 1st level wizard mage handing himself an amulet while my back is turned. I would hire guards to protect the shop, with at least two guards on duty day and night. They don't need to be high level, but just tough enough to ward off most low-level annoyances.

Secure storage: The most expensive items (say consumables over 1,000 gp and regular items worth 10,000 gp and up) are not kept at the shop itself. They are stored on a secret demi-plane that can only be accessed by myself or someone I trust completely, or in a maximum security bank vault. If I'm not a high level spellcaster myself, then I'm renting out inventory space from a bank or powerful spellcaster. As such, there will generally be a shipping fee and a delay.

On-demand production: To improve my security and cut down on storage costs, I'll try to have as much on-demand production as possible. I'll try to build up good relationships with spellcasters who are willing to create items for sale on short notice. If I'm in a metropolis, I should be able to have a messenger get a bid from each of them and select the winner of the bid by the end of the day. Out in a rural area, mailing out bid invitations may take considerably longer. This approach will allow me to cut down on costs for items, but the delay for purchases may be excessive outside of large cities. The players may occasionally be asked if they'd like to put in a bid for crafting an item which was recently ordered.

Ransom and theft insurance: To avoid getting kidnapped and held for ransom, or having this done to family and friends, or having valuable items stolen, I'll want to purchase insurance through a merchant's guild. All of the merchants pay into an insurance fund and the guild builds up the savings, investing the savings as necessary to earn more money and also to keep the money in a format which is harder to steal. If someone or something protected by the merchant's guild gets kidnapped, ransomed, or stolen, the merchant's guild would have to provide the money to hire a small army to free the kidnapped individual. If this guild doesn't exist already, or the guild doesn't offer this service, I'd get in touch with my merchant buddies and make it happen. If the players earn a good reputation, they may be asked if they'd consider carrying out some missions on behalf of the guild. In case you think this is too modern, see History of Insurance (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_insurance). This is exactly how things would have gone down in a world with such valuable items.

Cursed and trapped items: Among the somewhat inexpensive items that I keep behind the counters in my shop, I would keep a few items that are best left alone. Things like a stone of weight (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/cursedItems.htm#stoneofWeightLoadstone) are ideal, since you're cursed before you can even get out of the shop with your stolen goods. I would also keep a few items for which I've prepared instant summons (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/instantSummons.htm) (with the help of a high-level spellcaster, if I can't do it myself). This will give me the identity and location of whoever tried to run off with a bag full of my goods, and that will drastically simplify the merchant guild's job of recovering the goods.

Quick escape: I would keep a scroll of teleportation, or possibly a few such scrolls as a backup. In the event that the city is under siege and I'm at risk of losing everything to invaders, I would teleport away with all of my goods, if possible.

If the players want to steal valuable magical items, they're going to have their work cut out for them.

[atemu1234]

They should be experts of about the same level as the PCs, with max ranks in Appraise, Bluff and Diplomacy. If they make the items, craft in relevant subcategories. They should have elite ability scores, investing a fifteen in intelligence and a fourteen in wisdom. They should probably have the Iron Will feat. If the PCs insist on killing them, have them have PC-class bodyguards. Of a higher level than the PCs. And probably better-optimized, too.