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<blockquote data-quote="Loonook" data-source="post: 5910097" data-attributes="member: 1861"><p><strong>A Magician's Academy: The Threefold Entrance, and Spending Lots of Money</strong></p><p></p><p>So I have been doing this project on how much it costs to build a really great Mage's Academy. The first room that I wanted to get down was that of the Gatehouse, or Foyer, of the Academy. I thought about all sorts of systems of protections available... And settled on a nice little series of protections, traps, and niceties for the Academy.</p><p></p><p>First, the door. We want something strong and protective to prevent thieves with more guile than sense from entering. </p><p></p><p>The Academy of Mages has a beautifully appointed series of rooms setup as a Guildhall in most metropolises around its range of influence. The Magehalls are usually fully staffed, and visiting dignitaries are kept in opulence in the area. These Fancy Residences contain two Mage's Laboratories and a moderately sized Library and study areas for mages to come and keep up on their learning. Each of these halls are given upkeep by mages in the city... But are not actually the site of the Great Academy. </p><p></p><p>In each Magehall stands a beautiful green-space where many mages go to sit, read, meditate, and have a bit of time. Those selected to be part of the Great Order know the secret of the green-space... there is a single tree in the green-space hidden among all others, that is a magegrown tree. The species is unique, though it appears as yew. If one places a drop of blood and a special coin is touched to the crotch of the tree's main branches the tree is triggered like a <em>Tree of Greater Jaunting</em> (Treat as a Tree Stride, but with unlimited range on the plane of existence). </p><p></p><p>The spell requires knowledge of the location and name of the current 'home tree'... A mage may use the old location, but will not find the Academy's Entrance there. They may find nothing but the tree, a series of traps, or a building similar to the Foyer in appointment that serves as an <em>instant fortress </em> with a single Gatekeeper within... The Gatekeeper is a suicide hired by the Order to trigger their trap, collapsing the fortress and triggering the alarm that calls the Fortress back to the Room of Delights within the Order's Academy.</p><p></p><p>When one finds the Foyer, they are amazed by the opulence of the structure.</p><p></p><p>The true Foyer is a beautifully appointed location kept by the True Gatekeeper. The Gatekeeper is True Neutral, doesn't seem to sleep, and no one knows exactly who, or what, he is beyond this. The great lamps and beautifully bonsai'd trees around the area provide a nice ambiance. The room is a Teleporting Gatehouse with the following enchantments:</p><p></p><p>Hall of Truth </p><p>Hall of Speech </p><p>Hall of Friendship </p><p>Braziers of Law/Chaos/Evil/Good/Magic/Undead </p><p>Oaken Guardians (4) </p><p>Inscribed Devil/Angel’s Trap (All Alignments).</p><p></p><p>Total Cost: 315000 GP.</p><p></p><p>Expensive right? Well...</p><p></p><p>The Gatekeeper can speak to anyone who enters, <em>charm</em> most low level threats who enter, know if lying, confirm alignment, magic items on person, life status, and outsiders are frozen in the foyer's entrance (10*10 space). The Gatekeeper is also granted a <em>Ring of Sending</em> as part of his job, so that he may report current location and issues with a full round action. </p><p></p><p>He also has 4 Treants to protect him if need be, but the Sending spell will probably be calling the Archmagus of the Order to the location first... If the Gatekeeper finds the guest to be appropriate he triggers the Teleportation Circle, sending through to the only location into which an individual may Teleport into the Order's Location.</p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 15px"><strong>Now how does the group afford it?</strong></span></p><p></p><p>My personal setting includes around 40 Metropolises around the world, and of course larger cities that can contain wizards. For the Metropolises alone, not including the highest tier, contain the following amount of ONLY wizards in daily spells cast:</p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">320 8th level (129600 GP)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">640 4th level (14400 GP)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">1280 2nd level (3200 GP)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">2560 1st level (1000 GP)</li> </ul><p>__________________</p><p>148200 GP/day production.</p><p></p><p>If a tithe is made to the Arcane Order by half of these individuals of 10%, the Order has 2704650 GP per year to spend as an organization. </p><p></p><p>If the Order has existed for 100 years, investing 1/3 of their money into conservative investments, and creating a 'death tax' of 25% of all equipment upon death every 20 years invested back into the pool (using Generation Blocks)...</p><p></p><p>Order's Investment: 901550 GP</p><p>9984000 'death tax' over 100 years invested back: 99840 GP</p><p>compound 20 years interest of total principal/year</p><p>____________</p><p>29,352,896.11</p><p></p><p>*5 Generations</p><p></p><p>____________</p><p></p><p>146,764,480.55 GP.</p><p></p><p>The Mage's Order, as an organization of tens of thousands of individuals, is a Sovereign State. Its individuals have very strong earning power, but they die quickly. The Order can influence policies, but their real power is in the accrual of items over the years. It explains why many 'ageless' wizards have so many assets... They plan for the long term, and handle things well <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite8" alt=":D" title="Big grin :D" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":D" />.</p><p></p><p>The cost is infinitesimal to the Order for investment purposes, and the Upkeep, while 1% of their overall cost for the Foyer, is still acceptable as it provides for a very nice protection to the Organization. </p><p></p><p>40 Luxury Apartment/Mage Lab complexes plus the Trees of Jaunting in the Metropolises? 21,049,600 overall for building (without including magical assistance...) A bit over 15% of the overall investments of the last hundred years, and the upkeep draws quite a bit of the overall upkeep for the Order... But the location pays dividends. It serves as a gathering point for magicians to train, scribe, create, and study. It also has an extensive Arcane Library, with a Master Library of Arcane Tomes. </p><p></p><p>Nobles may pay for opulent digs to be provided for their mistresses, visiting dignitaries, and other important guests within the Hall, providing additional income. The rooms are of a quality to support an Extravagant Lifestyle, and rental of the property alone provides the Order 2880000 GP, covering expenses of upkeep and staff, and allowing for excellent security (and payments to local Guilds to prevent rogues from getting too lippy). That is not including rental of the library by non-residents on Arcane topics and the 'small library' for residential use. </p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Upkeep: 2104960</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Rental: 2880000</li> </ul><p>_____</p><p>775040 GP </p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Rogue's 'take' yearly 432000</li> </ul><p>______</p><p>343040 GP </p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Staff Upkeep 2916</li> </ul><p>______</p><p>340124 GP 'profit'.</p><p></p><p>Not a bad set of digs, ehh? </p><p></p><p>Now what could the local house do with this money? Again 1/3 back into investments... </p><p></p><p>226749.33 GP 'spending money'.</p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Amazing Locks (15) - 2250</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Security Force (yearly, 2 lvl. 5 Warriors, 10 lvl 3 Warriors): 2880</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Physician (Adept lvl. 3): 1080</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Season Box Rental at Royal Theater (including Spectacles): 5475</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Decanter of Endless Water (upkeep): 900</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Improved Arcane Lock (3 fold entrance, for all staff): 1450</li> </ul><p>____</p><p>212714.33 GP.</p><p></p><p>So much cash... I honestly cannot think of anything else that is fully 'necessary' as the Order would have taxes covered through Spectacles and the like, and they could afford to purchase multiple items of power. In theory the cash for two years could be spent just to make all of the rooms perfectly Climate Controlled... </p><p></p><p>But the goodwill of the populace could also be spent on various machinations throughout the metropolis and the World at large. 212714 GP is nothing to sneeze at. The Guild can sponsor 5900 laborers with this money, outfit 50 guardsmen with +1 equipment (studded leather, longswords, and shields) (with cash to spare), hire 20 adventuring companies (lvl 5) for a year... or sponsor voyages to exotic locales. </p><p></p><p>____</p><p></p><p>How much does it cost to sponsor a voyage? Let us look at Columbus's Voyage as our starting point. </p><p></p><p>The three ships (Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria) account as a Carrack (Great Ship) and 2 Caravel. Per D&D guidelines ship costs alone come to 80,000 GP. If we place full complements on our Caravel and half on the Great Ship we have 100 crew. Giving everyone 'Poor' Rations puts us at 12000 GP for one year. </p><p></p><p>Now our Crew... 83 crew, 8 Sergeants, 5 Lieutenants, and 3 Ship's Captains. This matches a Human Company just about right. If our Crew are paid by soldier wages (6 GP/mo) our 8 Sergeants are paid crew/lvl (18 GP/mo), our 5 Lieutenants are PCs (150 GP/mo) and 3 Captains are PCs (210 GP/mo).</p><p></p><p>Ships</p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">2 Caravel: 20000</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">1 Greatship: 60000</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Ship Upkeep (yearly): 8000</li> </ul><p>_____</p><p>88000</p><p></p><p>Sailors:</p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Rations (upkeep/year): 12000</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Crew Yearly: 5976</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Sergeants Yearly: 1728 </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Lieutenants Yearly: 9000 </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">3 Captains Yearly: 7560</li> </ul><p>_____</p><p>36264</p><p></p><p>__________</p><p></p><p>Cost of Year-Long Voyage with Ship's Purchase: 124264 GP</p><p>Cost of Maintenance/Yr: 44264</p><p></p><p>Columbus's Voyage took 5 weeks. Our ships could circumnavigate an Earth-sized world in 3-6 years if given room to run and sea to sail. Of course the ship would also have the ability to take along spices and other trade items to slowly become self-sufficient upon repaying the initial investment in ships. </p><p></p><p>Well, that was a long post... Soon we'll go into the costs of the wonders of the Mage's Academy/Citadel.</p><p></p><p>Slainte,</p><p></p><p>-Loonook.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Loonook, post: 5910097, member: 1861"] [b]A Magician's Academy: The Threefold Entrance, and Spending Lots of Money[/b] So I have been doing this project on how much it costs to build a really great Mage's Academy. The first room that I wanted to get down was that of the Gatehouse, or Foyer, of the Academy. I thought about all sorts of systems of protections available... And settled on a nice little series of protections, traps, and niceties for the Academy. First, the door. We want something strong and protective to prevent thieves with more guile than sense from entering. The Academy of Mages has a beautifully appointed series of rooms setup as a Guildhall in most metropolises around its range of influence. The Magehalls are usually fully staffed, and visiting dignitaries are kept in opulence in the area. These Fancy Residences contain two Mage's Laboratories and a moderately sized Library and study areas for mages to come and keep up on their learning. Each of these halls are given upkeep by mages in the city... But are not actually the site of the Great Academy. In each Magehall stands a beautiful green-space where many mages go to sit, read, meditate, and have a bit of time. Those selected to be part of the Great Order know the secret of the green-space... there is a single tree in the green-space hidden among all others, that is a magegrown tree. The species is unique, though it appears as yew. If one places a drop of blood and a special coin is touched to the crotch of the tree's main branches the tree is triggered like a [I]Tree of Greater Jaunting[/I] (Treat as a Tree Stride, but with unlimited range on the plane of existence). The spell requires knowledge of the location and name of the current 'home tree'... A mage may use the old location, but will not find the Academy's Entrance there. They may find nothing but the tree, a series of traps, or a building similar to the Foyer in appointment that serves as an [I]instant fortress [/I] with a single Gatekeeper within... The Gatekeeper is a suicide hired by the Order to trigger their trap, collapsing the fortress and triggering the alarm that calls the Fortress back to the Room of Delights within the Order's Academy. When one finds the Foyer, they are amazed by the opulence of the structure. The true Foyer is a beautifully appointed location kept by the True Gatekeeper. The Gatekeeper is True Neutral, doesn't seem to sleep, and no one knows exactly who, or what, he is beyond this. The great lamps and beautifully bonsai'd trees around the area provide a nice ambiance. The room is a Teleporting Gatehouse with the following enchantments: Hall of Truth Hall of Speech Hall of Friendship Braziers of Law/Chaos/Evil/Good/Magic/Undead Oaken Guardians (4) Inscribed Devil/Angel’s Trap (All Alignments). Total Cost: 315000 GP. Expensive right? Well... The Gatekeeper can speak to anyone who enters, [I]charm[/I] most low level threats who enter, know if lying, confirm alignment, magic items on person, life status, and outsiders are frozen in the foyer's entrance (10*10 space). The Gatekeeper is also granted a [I]Ring of Sending[/I] as part of his job, so that he may report current location and issues with a full round action. He also has 4 Treants to protect him if need be, but the Sending spell will probably be calling the Archmagus of the Order to the location first... If the Gatekeeper finds the guest to be appropriate he triggers the Teleportation Circle, sending through to the only location into which an individual may Teleport into the Order's Location. [SIZE="4"][B]Now how does the group afford it?[/B][/SIZE] My personal setting includes around 40 Metropolises around the world, and of course larger cities that can contain wizards. For the Metropolises alone, not including the highest tier, contain the following amount of ONLY wizards in daily spells cast: [LIST] [*]320 8th level (129600 GP) [*]640 4th level (14400 GP) [*]1280 2nd level (3200 GP) [*]2560 1st level (1000 GP) [/LIST] __________________ 148200 GP/day production. If a tithe is made to the Arcane Order by half of these individuals of 10%, the Order has 2704650 GP per year to spend as an organization. If the Order has existed for 100 years, investing 1/3 of their money into conservative investments, and creating a 'death tax' of 25% of all equipment upon death every 20 years invested back into the pool (using Generation Blocks)... Order's Investment: 901550 GP 9984000 'death tax' over 100 years invested back: 99840 GP compound 20 years interest of total principal/year ____________ 29,352,896.11 *5 Generations ____________ 146,764,480.55 GP. The Mage's Order, as an organization of tens of thousands of individuals, is a Sovereign State. Its individuals have very strong earning power, but they die quickly. The Order can influence policies, but their real power is in the accrual of items over the years. It explains why many 'ageless' wizards have so many assets... They plan for the long term, and handle things well :D. The cost is infinitesimal to the Order for investment purposes, and the Upkeep, while 1% of their overall cost for the Foyer, is still acceptable as it provides for a very nice protection to the Organization. 40 Luxury Apartment/Mage Lab complexes plus the Trees of Jaunting in the Metropolises? 21,049,600 overall for building (without including magical assistance...) A bit over 15% of the overall investments of the last hundred years, and the upkeep draws quite a bit of the overall upkeep for the Order... But the location pays dividends. It serves as a gathering point for magicians to train, scribe, create, and study. It also has an extensive Arcane Library, with a Master Library of Arcane Tomes. Nobles may pay for opulent digs to be provided for their mistresses, visiting dignitaries, and other important guests within the Hall, providing additional income. The rooms are of a quality to support an Extravagant Lifestyle, and rental of the property alone provides the Order 2880000 GP, covering expenses of upkeep and staff, and allowing for excellent security (and payments to local Guilds to prevent rogues from getting too lippy). That is not including rental of the library by non-residents on Arcane topics and the 'small library' for residential use. [LIST] [*]Upkeep: 2104960 [*]Rental: 2880000 [/LIST] _____ 775040 GP [LIST] [*]Rogue's 'take' yearly 432000 [/LIST] ______ 343040 GP [LIST] [*]Staff Upkeep 2916 [/LIST] ______ 340124 GP 'profit'. Not a bad set of digs, ehh? Now what could the local house do with this money? Again 1/3 back into investments... 226749.33 GP 'spending money'. [LIST] [*]Amazing Locks (15) - 2250 [*]Security Force (yearly, 2 lvl. 5 Warriors, 10 lvl 3 Warriors): 2880 [*]Physician (Adept lvl. 3): 1080 [*]Season Box Rental at Royal Theater (including Spectacles): 5475 [*]Decanter of Endless Water (upkeep): 900 [*]Improved Arcane Lock (3 fold entrance, for all staff): 1450 [/LIST] ____ 212714.33 GP. So much cash... I honestly cannot think of anything else that is fully 'necessary' as the Order would have taxes covered through Spectacles and the like, and they could afford to purchase multiple items of power. In theory the cash for two years could be spent just to make all of the rooms perfectly Climate Controlled... But the goodwill of the populace could also be spent on various machinations throughout the metropolis and the World at large. 212714 GP is nothing to sneeze at. The Guild can sponsor 5900 laborers with this money, outfit 50 guardsmen with +1 equipment (studded leather, longswords, and shields) (with cash to spare), hire 20 adventuring companies (lvl 5) for a year... or sponsor voyages to exotic locales. ____ How much does it cost to sponsor a voyage? Let us look at Columbus's Voyage as our starting point. The three ships (Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria) account as a Carrack (Great Ship) and 2 Caravel. Per D&D guidelines ship costs alone come to 80,000 GP. If we place full complements on our Caravel and half on the Great Ship we have 100 crew. Giving everyone 'Poor' Rations puts us at 12000 GP for one year. Now our Crew... 83 crew, 8 Sergeants, 5 Lieutenants, and 3 Ship's Captains. This matches a Human Company just about right. If our Crew are paid by soldier wages (6 GP/mo) our 8 Sergeants are paid crew/lvl (18 GP/mo), our 5 Lieutenants are PCs (150 GP/mo) and 3 Captains are PCs (210 GP/mo). Ships [LIST] [*]2 Caravel: 20000 [*]1 Greatship: 60000 [*]Ship Upkeep (yearly): 8000 [/LIST] _____ 88000 Sailors: [LIST] [*]Rations (upkeep/year): 12000 [*]Crew Yearly: 5976 [*]Sergeants Yearly: 1728 [*]Lieutenants Yearly: 9000 [*]3 Captains Yearly: 7560 [/LIST] _____ 36264 __________ Cost of Year-Long Voyage with Ship's Purchase: 124264 GP Cost of Maintenance/Yr: 44264 Columbus's Voyage took 5 weeks. Our ships could circumnavigate an Earth-sized world in 3-6 years if given room to run and sea to sail. Of course the ship would also have the ability to take along spices and other trade items to slowly become self-sufficient upon repaying the initial investment in ships. Well, that was a long post... Soon we'll go into the costs of the wonders of the Mage's Academy/Citadel. Slainte, -Loonook. [/QUOTE]
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