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Message: <blockquote data-quote="candidus_cogitens" data-source="post: 245689" data-attributes="member: 770">I see your reasoning, McMurray.  I see now that my supply/demand analysis is only part of the picture. This is a quite complicated question.  Among the other issues are:  how are "adventurers" regarded in your story world?  Is treasure something that people in the story world regard as fairly commonplace, or is it to be considered truly an exceptional boon attained only by great heros?  In my (revised) opinion, it is reasonable to pay hirelings substantially less than an equal portion of the treasure, because treasure should be regarded as something highly unexpected by most NPCs.  Players may come to view piles of gold and gems as commonplace, but this should not be the case for the ordinary inhabitants of the world.Here's another issue to consider:  how precious is magic?  I just read the section in the DM Guide, and was startled to observe the discrepancy between the amount suggested for a days wages for a second level warrior (6 sp!!), and the amount suggested for the payment of spellcasters (10 gp for a single spell of first level, cast by a first-level cleric or wizard).  Magic is precious and muscle, cheap.   Although its not just muscle that is so cheap ... brainpower can be bought for a mere two gp/day.There is a certain logic to this, if you think about it.  From a meta-gaming perspective, we tend to regard a third level fighter and a third level cleric as being roughly equal in their level of ability in their respective areas of expertise.  But at the story level, depending on your campaign world, perhaps it is only a quite exceptional fighter or rogue that distinguishes himself from the dime-a-dozen mercenary or thief.  Mages, on the other hand, perhaps are more unusual.On the other hand, the DMG guidelines are probably not reliable.  According to what it says for "merenary leader," you could hire a tenth-level warrior for a mere 30 sp per day.  Ridiculous!  Even if you want to go with the idea that magic is more precious than muscle, you would certainly want to adjust that wage rate significantly.But let's say we're talking about truly elite fighters (like PCs, or close to it).  They might be able to command a sum equal to that of a mage.  So, this brings us back to McMurray's original question:  what would be a good flat rate for really talented NPC hirelings?I would say 400 gp per day is too much for low level hirelings, and too little for higher levels.  10 gp per day should be enough for even a pretty talented first-level NPC (with a PC class).  But at higher levels, one might question whether an NPC would even be willing to hire on at a flat rate, since they have enough experience to know that you wouldn't be hiring them if you didn't have your eye on a pretty hefty sack of treasure.  Here's a chart I would propose:Level     Daily Wage1 . . . . . . . . 102 . . . . . . . . 403 . . . . . . . . 904 . . . . . . . . 1605 . . . . . . . . 250+6 . . . . . . . . 360+7 . . . .  unlikely to be available for hire at a flat rateThese numbers are somewhat based on the rate a spellcaster could demand for casting two or three of his most powerful spells (according to the DMG guidelines).  But basically, its just an arbitrary proposal for what seems reasonable, IMHO.  Also, keep in mind that extreme danger (or anything else that would make an NPC begin to feel that he wasnt being treated fairly) might warrant up to double these amounts.</blockquote>

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