Merchant

Merchant
Last Updated:	2/4/2023
Character Skill Roleplaying Skill

Experts of commerce, merchants help people find what they are looking for.

Description

A merchant is generally someone who sells goods in some way at game. Goods can include the obvious items such as consumables or crafted goods. But they can also sell food and drink, mugs, plates, clothing, anything you think a character might want during play might be a good item to sell if that is the angle you want to take. Bear in mind that doing this requires inventory, and inventory can be hard to protect in a game that expects players to roam frequently. This often means forming alliances with other characters (and players to some extent) to watch over the shop while you go out periodically. It also lends itself well to players who are content just tending shop for an entire shift.

But selling goods isn't all a Merchant could be. A character could be a merchant who never buys or sells with another character. Role-playing a character with a warehouse who arranges trade between two noble houses in other nations could be a merchant. Running trade routes for a boss of some kind could be a merchant.

Merchants don't just make money. They build businesses. The best merchants have repeat customers, relationships with vendors, and reputations to maintain.

Because no one else in the game can turn in valuable items for coin, merchants are the masters of valuable items. Odds are high anything involving a valuable item that a character doesn't want as is, will eventually find its way to a merchant. This often means that merchants can charge a premium to help liquidate those items.

1 (Beginner)

At this level of merchant the character can liquidate up to 100 coin worth of valuable items each event. They may also use valuable items to pay for crafting or production check-in costs. Use the preproduction system to do this. The merchant does not require Estimate Value to do this, they can turn items in blind (still using the estimate value look-up to fill in pre-production, because otherwise that would be tedious for everyone).

2 (Trained)

Using preproduction, a merchant can trade in any number of potions, scrolls, and/ or alchemy items in exchange for any combination of potions, scrolls, and/ or alchemy items with the same total number of levels. The items the merchant receives are limited to a maximum level of the merchant's highest merchant skill rank. The merchant may trade in up to their merchant rank x 10 levels of items per event.

For example, a rank 4 merchant could trade in a maelstrom (level 4) scroll in exchange for a claw of the beast (level 4) alchemy compound. That same rank 4 merchant could also trade-in during the same event a dissipate (level 2) potion and a scroll of restore limb (level 2) in exchange for a scroll of ablative armor (level 4).

3 (Proficient)

The character may now exchange any number of valuable items of any value at check in. There is no limit to how much coin worth of valuables the character can liquidate.

Keep in mind that because any character can turn any item into a valuable item using coin and preproduction, merchants can effectively run banks using this ability.

Additionally a merchant at this rank may have one personal vault. These are tinkering crafted items that let you store specific items (based on which vault is being used) safe from theft. This personal vault doesn't count against the limit of one of each encampment item per group, the merchant may have one and the group may have one.

4 (Expert)

Each event the character gets randomly selected scarce items at check-in.

5 (Master)

Work with the rules group to design your own custom ability.

Sample Master Merchant Abilities

The True Vault

A merchant with the fifth rank of merchant gains an invisible magic lock box with a size no greater than 1728 cubic inches (for example 1' x 1' x 1'). This box follows the same rules as a blue bag, but must be a box (with hard sides, a top, and a bottom). You can identify it by orange markings put on it.

I Know a Guy

Once per event during preproduction you may trade one scarce item for another of equal or lesser level that is not plot marshal controlled (very few items are plot marshal controlled to be clear).

Safe Keeping

Gain a blue and orange bag that is no bigger than 5 inches in any direction.

Fence

You may sell craftable items during preproduction gaining the cost to craft the item

Categories: Skills | Role-Playing Skills | Valuable Items