[3.5e NPC PrC] The Dealer of Goods (PEACH)

[Welknair]

The Dealer of Goods

"Would you like to browse my wares?"

-Slyke, Dealer of Goods

Heroes need equipment. They usually need expensive and rare equipment. Quite a profit to be made in that line of business. And so the Dealers arose. They wander about in towns and cities looking out for bands containing one or more drunkard, at least two races, a mild trail of destruction, and the general appearance of being haphazard. These are their clientele. They do a bit of negotiating, avoid being mugged, and go about the process of requisitioning the goods which the adventurers request.

Becoming a Dealer of Goods
To become a Dealer of Goods, you must first have some Goods and know how to Deal them. Learning how to deal with your customers is usually the hardest part of the job. Dealers tend to be entrepreneurial and a bit... frugal. Anything for a copper.

Entry Requirements
Skills: Diplomacy 6, Gather Information 3, Sense Motive 3
Special: Must posses at least 500 gp. (That can be a bit tough for NPCs, but the money is needed to start the business...)

Skill Points at each level: 4 + Intelligence Modifier
Class Skills: Appraise, Bluff, Diplomacy, Hide, Knowledge (Local), Move Silently, Sense Motive, Spellcraft, Use Magic Device

Hit Dice: d6

Level	BAB	Fort	Ref	Will	Special
1st	+0	+0	+0	+2	Obtain
2nd	+1	+0	+0	+3	Magic Item Identification
3rd	+1	+1	+1	+3	Anti-thief
4th	+2	+1	+1	+4	Magic Item Use
5th	+2	+1	+1	+4	Just the Thing

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Dealers of Goods are proficient with all simple weapons and light armor.

Obtain: The most important job of a Dealer is to get the goods which he sells. A Dealer may Obtain an item worth up to their Dealer level squared times one thousand gp. They pay half price for these goods. Obtaining an item takes a number of days equal to the market price of the item divided by one thousand, square rooted, rounded up. So that's one day for up to 1,000gp, 2 for 4,000, 3 for 9,000, 4 for 16,000 and 5 for 25,000gp. This works out quite well with the limit of what they can obtain where they end up spending a number of days equal to their Dealer level to obtain an item of the highest value available to them.

Magic Item Identification: Dealers make their trade in magic items. It's good to know what it is they're looking at. They may make Spellcraft checks to identify any magic item which they see as if they had cast Detect Magic on it.

Anti-Thief: For some reason people keep on trying to mug Dealers. Well, they've found a decent way around this: Cursed Items. Dealers of third level and higher always have a couple of Cursed Items readily available whereas they keep their actual wares hidden away. As a result, anyone pickpocketing or robbing a Dealer will get items that they really would rather not have.

Magic Item Use: After being around magic items for so long, Dealers learn how to use their goods. They receive a +5 bonus on all Use Magic Device checks.

Just the Thing: It's good to be prepared. Dealers may expend up to 1,000gp in a market to stock up on "Things". These magic items are not firmly defined until they are needed. It takes a full day at the market to restock.


Note: Out of all of my NPC PrCs, this is the one most open to an Epic Progression, as odd as that sounds. With the nature of Obtain, it would continue scaling into Epic levels. An exponential growth of that kind can pick up fast.



So... yeah. Another one.

[Seerow]

This one I like with no real complaints. Especially the random 4000gp worth of "any item I want"

[Welknair]

This one I like with no real complaints. Especially the random 4000gp worth of "any item I want"

Hurrah! Got one more: The Mage's Assistant, but it's getting a bit late here. I think I'll post it tomorrow morning. I'm also open to any suggestions for additional NPC PrCs.

[Thugorp]

I think, "just the thing," seems a little overpowered, Even if this were a Pc. class. I mean it lest you get ANY Item at ANY time and if you have the quick-draw feet you can produce them as a free action. The only cavity to this is that the items must be of 4,000 gold or less... this means that if someone was dead they could produce the diamonds to revive them four times over. or they could pull a +4 sword out of there hat, or a plus 1 keen dancing mace... you see where I am going with this? it just seems a bit much. Maybe make it the ability to produce any item worth 1000gp or less?(this would put it only slightly above the power of Presto's wizard hat from the D&D cartoon. :-) )

[Welknair]

I think, "just the thing," seems a little overpowered, Even if this were a Pc. class. I mean it lest you get ANY Item at ANY time and if you have the quick-draw feet you can produce them as a free action. The only cavity to this is that the items must be of 4,000 gold or less... this means that if someone was dead they could produce the diamonds to revive them four times over. or they could pull a +4 sword out of there hat, or a plus 1 keen dancing mace... you see where I am going with this? it just seems a bit much. Maybe make it the ability to produce any item worth 1000gp or less?(this would put it only slightly above the power of Presto's wizard hat from the D&D cartoon. :-) )

Yeah, it needs to get bumped down. It's so weird that it's more acceptable when it's NPC-only. Now my thought process for balancing these is all off.

[Thugorp]

Oh, my I didn't mean to bump off your thought prosses*eek* hmmm... what was your balance standard before? I guess in my mind N.P.C.s are usually weaker than normal characters, but now that I think on it, I do remember a very purposfoly overpowered N.P.C. class in the Revised Portable Hole All Full Of Beer II, the idea was that it didn't matter how over-powered it was because it would never be played by any person other than the D.M. is that what you were thinking?

[Welknair]

Oh, my I didn't mean to bump off your thought prosses*eek* hmmm... what was your balance standard before? I guess in my mind N.P.C.s are usually weaker than normal characters, but now that I think on it, I do remember a very purposfoly overpowered N.P.C. class in the Revised Portable Hole All Full Of Beer II, the idea was that it didn't matter how over-powered it was because it would never be played by any person other than the D.M. is that what you were thinking?

Pretty much. I was going by the assumption that these weren't to ever be used by players and as such the abilities could be a bit more... versatile. This class is actually a very good example. As an NPC the 4,000gp ability is quite nice and allows him to pull out a number of useful items that would be considered "Situational". Then again, the PCs wouldn't be able to tell which items he actually had on his person and which ones were from this ability. As a matter of fact, there's a decent chance that they wouldn't even know that he had levels in this class and to them he'd just seem lucky. However, as a PC the ability is quite more potent and I hadn't approached it from this side previously. It's a relatively minor change however. No biggie.

[PoorHobo]

Needs bonus languages. Hard to make a deal when you don't speak the lingo.

[Welknair]

Needs bonus languages. Hard to make a deal when you don't speak the lingo.

Who are you trying to sell to that can't speak Common? If you are catering to such clientele, it's likely your focus, in which case spending two skill points isn't that bad.

[Qwertystop]

By the rules, this guy instantly loses all his abilities if he ever has less than 500 gp. Maybe add a stipulation that the requirement is only necessary for taking levels in this class, not for keeping them. I normally wouldn't mention it, but rules would have to be very important to a DM if they're using this class instead of just fiat for where the shopkeeper gets his stuff.