Creating Character Wealth

[jdavidw13]

Hello everyone,

A while back in the campaign I'm currently playing in, there was a series of circumstances that lead to an opportunity for my character to take ownership of an inn. Story wise, from my GMs perspective, this was never supposed to happen, and ever since the incident it's become an inside joke among my group. Well, about a year later (real time and still with the same campaign), we've come to a point in the story where the GM is letting us roam freely and find our own adventure in the world as we work to complete certain goals.

With this new development, I've been toying with the idea of creating some sort of business within the world. Currently, my character has 2000-3000gp in funds available to him. Also, the party has recently taken ownership of a small mansion. It hasn't been dwelt in for a while and has meager furnishings. It's situated about 4 miles away from a prominent port city and the main roads that lead into the city. I'm not sure how much land we own with this estate.

Anyways, I wanted to get your ideas and suggestions on what my character might do to begin to create wealth for himself. I'm not all that familiar with rules or mechanics that deal with this sort of thing in the d&d world. Perhaps there are some source books I should look into? Let me hear your suggestions :)

[Prometheus]

You might need to talk over it with your DM. Either he thinks you are just going to sit there and generate money and will therefore block you because he thinks you are munchkining or he will make a nice campaign idea out of it. If it is the later, you will have to undergo various quests to protect or promote your business, the reward for which will be the money your "business" earns for you.

[ericgrau]

Check out the profession skill rules; its seems like this would apply the best. Your DM might make adjustments for circumstances, and might roleplay it out more than the basic rules, but it should help as a rough guideline. You can also find the cost of various inn things in the equipment section of the PHB. I should note that generally profession is very poor at creating character wealth. As you might expect even by common sense, you are probably better off hiring someone else to manage your inn and using your time for adventuring.

[Sstoopidtallkid]

DMG II had rules on running a business, and Stronghold Builder's Guide had ways to make quest ideas based around a home base. Both may be good things for your DM to look over.

[pirateshow]

I had a halfling sorcerer in 3.5 who, prior to stumbling into arcane power, was a travelling merchant and charlatan, not far off a fantasy version of Quark from DS9. He was an incredibly fun character to play because he alone among the PCs wasn't interested in heroism, legendary battles, or any of that nonsense. He just wanted to make a buck, but circumstance kept throwing him into adventure. Roleplaying his gradual discovery of heroism was one of the best gaming experiences I've had.

In any case, Bardolph Silvertongue III never quite gave up trying to move tradeable goods. I kept it up because it was fun to roleplay, but I quickly found out that business in D&D is for chumps. Assuming your character is willing to take on risk in the form of adventuring, it doesn't make financial sense to operate any kind of brick-and-mortar business. That's why adventuring is so lucrative- few are willing to undertake it.

The only exception, I suspect, is in moving stuff across vast distances, perhaps between planes. Import something truly unique and, provided you can find a market for it, you've made your fortune.