Logistics and Dragons: Running the Biz!

[Username17]

So looking through the DMG II, the business rules are really weird. But in the long run, they are extremely profitable.

A business has three stats: Capital, Resources, and Risk. High risk is good, because it makes your profits come in increments of 50 GP instead of something ass. But High Resources has no advantages at all, it just costs you 100,000 GP up front and 200 gold every month forever.

Weirdly, the best thing to run for long term profits is a Shop. And the best place to put it is in the middle of the fvcking woods. That's pretty weird, but it comes from the fact that being in the woods, while it costs you an extra 500 gp every month, reduces the cost to reinvest in your business to 500 GP. And reinvesting in the business gets you 125 GP every month. So after 1 year, being in the woods has cost you 6000 GP, but has saved you 6000 GP in initial capitalization, and is now breaking even. And all further capitalization is gratis forever.

You don't even need any skill in shop keeping! The reinvestment rules for your shop are so generous that even if you have no skill at all, you can turn a profit without dumping all that much into the money pit. At taking 10 with a zero relevent skill, you're probably looking at getting a 10 every month (because you invest in 5 specialists), and need a 30 to break even (because those specialists need to eat). That puts you in the hole by 1000 GP a month. Also, you're going to be spending 500 GP every 3 months on reinvestment. On month 22 of operation, you'll be breaking even. In the meantime, you'll be 17,500 GP in the hole - and from thence on you'll be making 125 GP per month per three months forever.

So you'll be be in the black - deeply in the black - in 27 more months. That's a long time, but remember that that's before you start stacking on skill bonuses. Every skill bonus, from Guidance to Aid Another to actual cheating like Improvisation and Sadism - adds 50 GP per bonus point per moth forever. That stacks up fast.

So the moral of the story is that if you have 20 grand in a pile and 4 years to kill, the wealth by level guidelines are gone.

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Plan B: Alternately, you can set up a Criminal Organization in a local metropolis, which requires a huge outlay of cash (164,000 GP), and starts making money immediately because it runs off of your frickin Intimidate skill. Reinvesting in a high capital enterpise in the big city is for some reason essentially impossible, so you won't do that. However, if you just sit around making money you'll have the option of "franchising" within 2 years, which allows you to pay an unlimited amount of money to essentially make about 1/4 of it back every month forever - which pays the big cash really fast if you have a lot to start with. That completely blows wealth by level out of thw water - netting you millions of GP at whatever level you can pay the start-up fee. But the start of fee is in the hundreds of thousands, so you have to get the whole party involved or wait until you are quite high level to begin.

-Username17

[User3]

Heh, time to borrow a copy and see if it's possible to figure out what method they used to come up with these rules.

[RandomCasualty]

The business rules were among the most pointless inclusion in the DMG2.

In 2nd edition, they may have actually made sense. Before wealth wasn't directly tied to power. Now that wealth=power, there just can't be ways of making more money than you deserve or the game breaks. It's equivalent to letting people gain BaB, saves and new spells without actually gaining levels.

[Fwib]

Many of the entries on the 'Business Related Encounters' table can be opportunities for the GM to destroy or degrade your business if you don't properly complete an adventure.
Perhaps this is useful as a balance.

Reading the business stuff, I noticed Frank had left all the 'and this can destroy your business' references - probably because if handled properly all that stuff can be adventures or encounters which actually give you more stuff or opportunities.

[Username17]

Reading the business stuff, I noticed Frank had left all the 'and this can destroy your business' references - probably because if handled properly all that stuff can be adventures or encounters which actually give you more stuff or opportunities.

Yeah, when Bandits show up, it's an EL = ECL-2 encounter, and if you lose it you're business may be destroyed. Of course, you wipe your ass with encounters of that level, it really is something that your character should be able to solo. And losing it generally involves your character being dead, so this is seriously not a big deal.

-Username17

[erik]

Cool, I get a business and complimentary random encounters full of XP and gp too?

Can't wait to install spiked pit traps in my flower shop!

[Fwib]

Pit Trap?

"Ah. Hello, I'd like a bunch of yellow and blue lillies please..." *click* "...aaaArgh..."*squish*

"Honestly, I lose more customers that way...."

[erik]

Feh, he was probably just casing the store for his next robbery. Another crime foiled by swift pit justice!

Are there rules for turning adventuring into an entertainment business? I played in one entertaining campaign where we had a manager who marketed us as heroes, lined us up for endorsements, and had special events where people paid to watch us do battle with giants, and competitions to see who would be our leader's new squire. I guess rules for a carnival or circus would be close.

[Username17]

There are rules for being a travelling performer, but the rules are that you don't make any money, and ride off into the woods to make costumes at the end of every season if taht's what you want to do. That practical advantage is that it's nearly free and generates random encounters every month which are often profitable in terms of XP or GP or both.

-Username17