What skills for ‘merchanting’?

[Naanomi]

What skills would one use for being a successful merchant? Beyond the persuasion/insight/deception for haggling... and the perception/Investigation for analyzing products... what would you use to facilitate more broad business concepts (book-keeping, business strategy, economic forecasting, etc)?

[Kane0]

Straight ability checks (Int, Wis, Cha) work in most cases, though you might want to make it a 'tool' proficiency if it comes up more often.

Call it Mercentile or something.

[Avonar]

What skills would one use for being a successful merchant? Beyond the persuasion/insight/deception for haggling... and the perception/Investigation for analyzing products... what would you use to facilitate more broad business concepts (book-keeping, business strategy, economic forecasting, etc)?

History could be useful for knowledge of economics and ways of achieving success? Arcana if you intend to dip into magic items. Insight to tell if the buyer/seller is attempting to rip you off.

[Hypersmith]

What skills would one use for being a successful merchant? Beyond the persuasion/insight/deception for haggling... and the perception/Investigation for analyzing products... what would you use to facilitate more broad business concepts (book-keeping, business strategy, economic forecasting, etc)?

The guild artisan feature, Guild Membership should merit some form of advantage on whatever checks you decide are appropriate, be they history, insight, or just straight intelligence.

[Naanomi]

The guild artisan feature, Guild Membership should merit some form of advantage on whatever checks you decide are appropriate, be they history, insight, or just straight intelligence.
The character is a (Cleric or Divine Soul) of Waukeen with the Merchant background... kind of a ‘radical prophet of modern economic theory’ type. I really want to best push the ‘business genius’ angle, even if it won’t get much play in my adventuring career

[Slipperychicken]

Business major reporting in. Since you have a mercantile background, I say just add your proficiency bonus to those tasks which a merchant does regularly. Bookkeeping shouldn't require ability checks (unless you're getting "creative" with your reporting), and unless you're trying to model an entire modern corporate bureaucracy, I'd roll up strategy and execution into a single check.

You can also make a new skill for it, call it something like business. Making a plan might be intelligence(business), but getting people to follow it would be charisma(persuasion). If you're really cynical about business leadership, you can make them flat ability rolls.

[Coffee_Dragon]

A dedicated merchant in D&D would ordinarily be an NPC, and not use PC proficiency rules.

[Naanomi]

A dedicated merchant in D&D would ordinarily be an NPC, and not use PC proficiency rules.
I’m a prophet of the Goddess of the Economy. I don’t want to actually do a lot of investment banking or develop many economic forecasts; but having the skills to do so masterfully is important conceptually.

I’m Adam Smith (or Keynes) if he got his theories in a dream from a divine power who also told him to kill dragons (to spread its stagnant wealth through the larger economy)

[8wGremlin]

A dedicated merchant in D&D would ordinarily be an NPC, and not use PC proficiency rules.

Why?
Think of the adventures that could be had!
Think of the voyages of Sinbad, Mal from Firefly; being good at merchant skills can be a great plot hook and enabler. as well as mechanically sound!

[Kane0]

Also with all the taverns and gambling establishments that PCs tend to end up finding themselves in you'd think that business practice would come in at a higher priority. I mean, just look at Durnan.

[Coffee_Dragon]

Why?

I don't know, ask the designers. 2E had a more extensive list of proficiencies; 5E aims to support the game's core focus.


Think of the adventures that could be had!

Sure, adventuring can happen in that context, it's just that the game doesn't have much of a mechanical framework for the actual merchanting beyond the general "DM sets the context for a check, picks a stat, sets a DC".

I reckon any of the mental stats could conceivably be called on: INT for bookkeeping, WIS for judiciousness, CHA for bargaining. I can see Investigation, Insight or Persuasion applying from time to time in specific situations, Perception maybe not so much. But really, working any profession is more of an ongoing mundane activity than a sequence of significant spot checks, which is what 5E does.

[Chaosmancer]

Ability plus proficiency works if the DM is cool with it, probably wisdom or intelligence .

If you're talking macro-economic theories and the skills to understand the economy and how to run a business in general. Unfortunately my gut says Intelligence. Actual skills might come up if you have a specific focus, like Nature or Medicine if you happen to sell beers or foods, History if you're working a traditional industry like mining as a dwarf.

Personally I love this concept, one of my favorite characters was a pious Tiefling Jeweler who worshipped Waukeem. He was also a Storm Sorcerer, but his devotion to his Goddess was what drove everything about him. I also loved how Waukeen's dogma is okay with smugglers and black markets, but despises thievery