D&D 5E Asset Management

77IM · Jun 20, 2017

I have just uploaded Asset Management to the downloads area.

I've always loved domain management systems, or any part of an RPG that lets your PC have authority over the world beyond themselves. But, such systems tend to get bogged down with bookkeeping, so I'm always looking for something simpler.

Then I was inspired by S'Mon's post here: http://www.enworld.org/forum/showth...ling-domains&p=7143758&viewfull=1#post7143758

Just give out money! It's so simple, it's brilliant!

But how much money? I dunno, so I thunk up a bunch of numbers and made some tables and charts. The idea is to provide enough examples that the DM can extrapolate similar businesses and domains as needed. It's an extension of the DMG tables for building and maintaining strongholds (every option on those tables also appears on these tables). This also provides a more concrete "value" on such things, both as PC rewards, and as motivators for NPC behavior in the world.

This is not a complete domain management system. Instead, it only focusses on the treatment of domains and business as financial assets. It could be used in conjunction with other systems to represent the military force of a domain, or its intelligence-gathering capability, or the availability of magic spells and equipment, or whatever.

You can find the file here in the downloads section. Please use this thread for comments.

Stormbow · Nov 28, 2018

This is a great start!

I love the previous editions of D&D for the numerous castle and stronghold building books. It's great to see someone doing such work for 5E.

Thanks!

MNblockhead · Nov 28, 2018

While I'm looking forward to Matt Coleville's Stronghold's book, I like that this has all manner of real estate, down to hunting lodges. Provides some useful ways to spend money even at lower levels. I would love to see this expanded with more crunch on upkeep expenses and what benefits having this asset gives you. Besides the potential of money and lifestyle enhancements, could it lead to reputation benefits? Maybe add Xanathar-type complications tables that tie into "rivals" activities. Benefits on downtime activities? Lots of opportunities to make gold mean something and make players want to spend that gold.

77IM · Nov 30, 2018

I'm glad you like it! I like your suggestion to incorporate other benefits for the assets -- right now all they have is lifestyle quality. Giving each asset a one-line benefit like "craft potions at double speed" or "free ship's passage" or "get an audience with any noble of Duke rank or lower whenever you want" would be a very straightforward way to increase the utility and flavorness of the assets, without adding a ton of bookkeeping.

You might want to check out also my "Party Base" document, which covers some of the same concepts but from a different angle: http://www.enworld.org/forum/rpgdownloads.php?do=download&downloadid=1466

MNblockhead · Nov 30, 2018

I checked out your "Party Base" document, very cool. Thanks for the link and for creating and sharing it. Very useful stuff.

clearstream · Nov 30, 2018

77IM said:
I have just uploaded Asset Management to the downloads area.

I've always loved domain management systems, or any part of an RPG that lets your PC have authority over the world beyond themselves. But, such systems tend to get bogged down with bookkeeping, so I'm always looking for something simpler.

Then I was inspired by S'Mon's post here: http://www.enworld.org/forum/showth...ling-domains&p=7143758&viewfull=1#post7143758

Just give out money! It's so simple, it's brilliant!

But how much money? I dunno, so I thunk up a bunch of numbers and made some tables and charts. The idea is to provide enough examples that the DM can extrapolate similar businesses and domains as needed. It's an extension of the DMG tables for building and maintaining strongholds (every option on those tables also appears on these tables). This also provides a more concrete "value" on such things, both as PC rewards, and as motivators for NPC behavior in the world.

This is not a complete domain management system. Instead, it only focusses on the treatment of domains and business as financial assets. It could be used in conjunction with other systems to represent the military force of a domain, or its intelligence-gathering capability, or the availability of magic spells and equipment, or whatever.

You can find the file here in the downloads section. Please use this thread for comments.

Did you look at -

build and hire / profit per year
purchase / profit per year

Say for a barony

100,000/1200 = ~83
500,000/1200 = ~417

What could feel "mythic medieval" might be on the order of 100 years to repay cost from profits, so the build (in this case) seems fair, but the the sell prices look perhaps too expensive.

77IM · Nov 30, 2018

So, the prices are kind of made-up, based on the 5e guidelines for building a stronghold, maintaining a property, purchasing vehicles, the cost of hiring skilled/unskilled labor, and the lifestyle costs.

In general, the purchase/sell price is 2x the build price, because that's nice and simple and it reflects what players are used to for personal property (by default, you can sell used items for 1/2 price -- except monster gear which is too crappy, and commodities/bullion/gems/art objects, which sell for full price).

But there are numerous exceptions, for example:
- Religious buildings (temple, abbey) sell for 1.5x because the market isn't as good since only priestly types will buy them (under-demand).
- Farms sell for 1.5x because of over-supply; farms are abundant so it's usually pretty easy to find some down-on-his luck farmer wanting to cash out, or noble who will trade serfs for cash.
- Ditto for carriage/ferry, but the sell for only 1x because depreciation on the vehicle cancels out the value of the established business.
- Domains (barony, duchy, kingdom) sell for 5x because the build price here represents building a new domain from uncivilized frontier land. Domains that are already a going concern are tremendously valuable, more for their legal and political authority than for financial profits. So they are rarely bought and sold for anything other than other domains. This is also why kingdoms are always trying to conquer places: to build a domain in barbarian territory, or to take by force their neighbor's domains.
- Mines sell for a whopping 20x for similar reasons: the cost here is the cost to build a new mine, assuming you've discovered a vein of some mineral worth mining. So the supply is severely constrained. But the financial upside is tremendous. OTOH the mine might run out of minerals, and it can be hard to predict when this could happen. The mine has an extreme "monthly deviation" to represent this.

If you want to make 100 gp per month, and you want to purchase assets instead of building them, you could spend:
1,000,000 gp for 1 large castle (but it hasn't got much land around it)
500,000 gp for 1 barony
200,000 gp for 2 keeps
200,000 gp for 10 inns in the town or city
150,000 gp for 5 guildhalls that make exotic crafts
100,000 gp for 10 trading posts
20,000 gp for 1 mine
20,000 gp for 2 merchant ships
15,000 gp for 20 farms
5,000 gp for a fleet of 100 carriages

...So obviously there are other factors involved in the purchase price than just profitability. For example, it's trivially easy to buy a carriage and hire a driver, but establishing a fleet of 100 carriages is going to be tremendously difficult. Even if you're in a city large enough to support that, how will the Teamster's Union feel about it? Maybe you will wind up as part of the foundation of a new 5,000 gp "Theater or Arena" featuring shows by giants. ;}

clearstream · Nov 30, 2018

77IM said:
So, the prices are kind of made-up, based on the 5e guidelines for building a stronghold, maintaining a property, purchasing vehicles, the cost of hiring skilled/unskilled labor, and the lifestyle costs.

In general, the purchase/sell price is 2x the build price, because that's nice and simple and it reflects what players are used to for personal property (by default, you can sell used items for 1/2 price -- except monster gear which is too crappy, and commodities/bullion/gems/art objects, which sell for full price).

But there are numerous exceptions, for example:
- Religious buildings (temple, abbey) sell for 1.5x because the market isn't as good since only priestly types will buy them (under-demand).
- Farms sell for 1.5x because of over-supply; farms are abundant so it's usually pretty easy to find some down-on-his luck farmer wanting to cash out, or noble who will trade serfs for cash.
- Ditto for carriage/ferry, but the sell for only 1x because depreciation on the vehicle cancels out the value of the established business.
- Domains (barony, duchy, kingdom) sell for 5x because the build price here represents building a new domain from uncivilized frontier land. Domains that are already a going concern are tremendously valuable, more for their legal and political authority than for financial profits. So they are rarely bought and sold for anything other than other domains. This is also why kingdoms are always trying to conquer places: to build a domain in barbarian territory, or to take by force their neighbor's domains.
- Mines sell for a whopping 20x for similar reasons: the cost here is the cost to build a new mine, assuming you've discovered a vein of some mineral worth mining. So the supply is severely constrained. But the financial upside is tremendous. OTOH the mine might run out of minerals, and it can be hard to predict when this could happen. The mine has an extreme "monthly deviation" to represent this.

If you want to make 100 gp per month, and you want to purchase assets instead of building them, you could spend:
1,000,000 gp for 1 large castle (but it hasn't got much land around it)
500,000 gp for 1 barony
200,000 gp for 2 keeps
200,000 gp for 10 inns in the town or city
150,000 gp for 5 guildhalls that make exotic crafts
100,000 gp for 10 trading posts
20,000 gp for 1 mine
20,000 gp for 2 merchant ships
15,000 gp for 20 farms
5,000 gp for a fleet of 100 carriages

...So obviously there are other factors involved in the purchase price than just profitability. For example, it's trivially easy to buy a carriage and hire a driver, but establishing a fleet of 100 carriages is going to be tremendously difficult. Even if you're in a city large enough to support that, how will the Teamster's Union feel about it? Maybe you will wind up as part of the foundation of a new 5,000 gp "Theater or Arena" featuring shows by giants. ;}

5x feels a bit too high. Maybe 2x would end up more balanced? Mines seem okay albeit perhaps that sort of roll-of-the-die asset should have a cost per roll-of-the-die, rather than an auto-success, if you see what I mean? So 1000gp gets you maybe a 5% chance (20 on a d20)... that's if the group don't want to RP it. Or perhaps that sort of thing is better always RP'd?

It'd be interesting to connect this with some kind of influence value. So when I look at the option of 1,000,000gp for a castle and 5000gp for some carriages, both profiting me 100gp a month, I might prefer the castle because of the massive amount of influence it exerts... or something like that?

D&D 5E Asset Management

77IM

Explorer!!!

Stormbow

Explorer

MNblockhead

A Title Much Cooler Than Anything on the Old Site

77IM

Explorer!!!

MNblockhead

A Title Much Cooler Than Anything on the Old Site

clearstream

(He, Him)

77IM

Explorer!!!

clearstream

(He, Him)

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