Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="77IM" data-source="post: 4319209" data-attributes="member: 12377">That is a good point about the katanas.  Those suckers take time.  What's worse, under the current system, a lousy craftsman could simply spend a very long time and eventually wind up producing a katana just as good as a master smith.  I'm tempted to add some sort of DC or penalty system for producing such goods -- but now that I think about it, it may be easier to just use specialized skills.  For example, Background Skill (Katana Smithing) may require you to have Background Skill (Weaponsmithing), and Background Skill (Weaponsmithing) can't be used to create katanas.  Since the selection of background skills is totally governed by the DM's Judgement, that sounds legit....And now, for some maths:My goal for the "Profits" system was not to produce a medieval economy or even a working fantasy economy, but to give heroic PCs some rules for non-heroic money-making that were both believable and less profitable than adventuring.  Here's how it works out.  (Remember that earning sp costs 10sp and you can Take 10 on it; earning gp costs 15gp and you can't Take 10.) - Imagine that the average peasant has a 13 in his highest stat (it's the top of the 3d6 standard array) and that he has a background skill that matches that stat, and is level 0.  He'll have a +6 modifier.  This means that if he is working in silver pieces, he can take 10 and earn 6sp per week, which seems about right for lower-class toil such as subsintance farming, herding, manual labor, begging, or being the village cobbler.  If the person works in gold pieces, he earns an average of 1.5gp per week.  This requires substantial up-front capital (you need 15gp buy-in just to play) and carries some risk -- a run of bad luck and you can deplete your savings down to less than 15gp.  This amount of earning makes a ton of sense for merchants and innkeepers, educated professionals like clerks and scribes, traveling performers, or specialized craftsmen like blacksmiths and inner-city tailors. - Of course, that assumes NPCs are built like PCs, and they're not.  An NPC with a background skill modifier of +4 or less basically must work in silver pieces, as they are statistically likely to lose money if trying to earn gold.  An NPC with a modifier of +14 or more has no reason to work in silver pieces, as rolling for gold will always at least break even.  Such a person would earn an average of 9.5gp per week plying their trade -- a sum that quickly adds up, and could easily represent a wealthy merchant or banker, or a sought-after advocate or entertainer.  The +14 modifier probably doesn't come from class levels; it probably is assigned by the DM based on the needs of the game (you know, the same magical way that monster mathematics works in 4e). - None of these figures directly accounts for cost-of-living.  My assumption is that this is either already taken care of for the character, or it's part of the weekly expenses (e.g. a farmer lives in a farmhouse and part of his farming activities includes maintaining that house). - Where does this leave PCs?  Well, at 1st level, assuming a +3 in the relevant stat, they can earn an average of 3.5gp per week, just hanging around town.  That's not a lot, but it's enough to spend a month or two forging a decent weapon.  The most a 1st level PC could have is a +13 modifier -- +5 for training, +5 for max stat, +3 for Skill Focus.  That's an average of 8.5gp per week, which is nice, but STILL not as good as defeating a single 1st-level encounter. -- 77IM</blockquote>

Verification