Investing in your city

[frost890]

I was thinking of trying to invest in a city that our group is in but when we were at the game table I drew a blank. So my question is in your world's how can someone invest in the cities to increase available services? Since things get broken in a setting like d&d I put money from our latest crawl in to a qoury but I am not sure where to go from there. Eventually I want to start a magic school. But what kinds of things should I get my hands into to make the process easier?

[Âmesang]

My first thought was the DUNGEON MASTER'S Guide II since it has rules and suggestions for running a business, including magic/fight schools/universities. There's also Power of Faerûn with its fourth chapter, "Play the Market," which involves economy and business.

[Gildedragon]

Building a magic school makes more sense
You need a stronghold first. (See Stronghold Builder's Guide)
A curriculum (what does the average graduate (1st level wizard) and post graduate (5th level) look like upon leaving, how's their spellbook, feats?)

Besides the building you need BOOKS
Also an artificer program.

I'd recommend the school have a hospital wing (for ambrosia harvesting)

City investment is a bit more complex. Try to secure contracts for public works (lighting up the streets, for example) and devise a method to do it on the cheap.
Create Water traps for fountains, for example (you might want to make the disable DC high)

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Stronghold-wise
You need a) dorms b) meal halls c) laboratories and lecture spaces; the latter can be quite free-form d) library e) administrative areas (for the bursar, offices for the teaching staff, admissions department (probably via divination)) f) recreational spaces g) production spaces (smithy, wander, glassblowers) and h) security spaces (vaults for storing valuables and dangerouses; barracks for ordinary guards)

Some of a, b, and f can be offsourced to the city itself (make nice with the proprietors of taverns near the school (casting resistance on their furniture, prestidigitation knicknacks) to provide preferential rates and spaces.
If dueling is a big thing: metamagic rods of subdual spell, merciful weapons, and the like ought be common things produced by the University's forges.

One might also want to hire locals as cleaning staff, though they may be supplementary to the use of cleaning magic. But hiring people pushes money into the city and protects against antimagic mishaps. Ditto for reinforcing security with living folk and not just golems and the undead (be sure to check local laws about that, pay handsomely for the bodies, and dress them up in a PR-friendly fashion: I'm thinking Swiss guard-esque; also use skeletons, they are less smelly and disease friendly)

[Honest Tiefling]

Can you tell us about the setting? For instance, nobles as a whole aren't known for being fond of the idea of people who are not them getting power, prestige or wealth.

As for the magic school, some hooks you should consider throwing at the DM are:
1) Permission or other legal ways to have a certain number of guards and permission to trade in magical goods and services. I assume both would be restricted in most worlds.
2) Contacts! What is the point of a school without prestigious students?
3) You're probably going to need to hire staff, and not just teachers. Servants, guards and scribes all come to mind.
4) You'll also need a location. Make scouting or acquiring one an adventure! Balance defense and safety with comfort, prestige and convenience.
5) If you are in a setting based on an early era, horses are nearly always good to have around. Or better yet, acquire majestic magical mounts.

[martixy]

There is also the Pathfinder Kingdom building and downtime rules, which are abstract enough to make them easily back-portable. I rather like them(though I may be a bit biased since I particularly enjoy games with multi-scale systems).

[Gildedragon]

Honest Tiefling raises a good point. Local nobles might be less than keen about this.
If so: set the campus out in the wilderness (near a river, might I suggest) and start your new University city.
Spread some rumors, get some students; services and merchants will start coming.
Hold market fairs, develop a reputation for fair laws and that there is easy money to be had...

[DarkSoul]

The Pathfinder rules are a good system but just judging by the little bit of time my players have dabbled with them, I think they're a little too involved for just a side project. If the campaign is going to focus on establishing and maintaining businesses it would be a great system to work with. If you're interested in them the full system is in Ultimate Campaign.

[frost890]

Thank you all. The setting/city is a run down city with some well off merchants but no Nobles besides the Duke that runs the city. We haven't been very far outside the city yet so I do not know much about any nearby cities yet. The GM apparently (I am new to the group) likes to build on what the last group did. Since there was some great War in the last campaign so the area is rebuilding. If it takes a long time to build that is fine with me.

[Gildedragon]

Thank you all. The setting/city is a run down city with some well off merchants but no Nobles besides the Duke that runs the city. We haven't been very far outside the city yet so I do not know much about any nearby cities yet. The GM apparently (I am new to the group) likes to build on what the last group did. Since there was some great War in the last campaign so the area is rebuilding. If it takes a long time to build that is fine with me.

City is being rebuilt: excellent time to make the statusgrab

Horizontally placed walls of stone make great roads, for example

[Honest Tiefling]

So uh, what alignment is your character? If its run down, maybe that Duke doesn't have many bodyguards...And better to get him out of the way now before he decided he wants a part of your Magical School Pie. Is he even competent at his job?