I'm about to run a very business focused campaign in the near future (the players will own a business and the focus will be on its growth). I created a set of rules to run businesses and business competition.
In this system, a business has a level just like a player. Businesses level as players invest money into them. My goal was to create a system that was a bit rules heavier than the core book but not too onerous or cumbersome.
For those curious where all of the gold numbers came from, I used a lot of the great guides online that showed in general how much wealth a character of a certain level acquired before they leveled up. I made it so that a business of level X would generate roughly the same gold over 1 year as an adventurer of level X acquires before they level up.
The rules still need work (this is a draft), but I would love some initial feedback to see if I'm going down a good path here.
So without further ado:
Stalker0's Business Rules Draft 1
Owning a Business
Each business has the following stats based on its level:
[table="width: 500, class: grid, align: center"]
[tr][td]Level[/td][td]Tier[/td][td]Purchase Cost[/td][td]Upgrade Cost[/td][td]Profit Modifier[/td][td]Inv Purchase Cost[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]1[/td][td]1[/td][td]120[/td][td]0[/td][td]15[/td][td]120[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]2[/td][td]1[/td][td]240[/td][td]120[/td][td]15[/td][td]120[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]3[/td][td]1[/td][td]360[/td][td]120[/td][td]15[/td][td]120[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]4[/td][td]1[/td][td]480[/td][td]120[/td][td]15[/td][td]120[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]5[/td][td]2[/td][td]4000[/td][td]3520[/td][td]100[/td][td]800[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]6[/td][td]2[/td][td]4800[/td][td]800[/td][td]100[/td][td]800[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]7[/td][td]2[/td][td]5600[/td][td]800[/td][td]100[/td][td]800[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]8[/td][td]2[/td][td]6400[/td][td]800[/td][td]100[/td][td]800[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]9[/td][td]2[/td][td]7200[/td][td]800[/td][td]100[/td][td]800[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]10[/td][td]2[/td][td]8000[/td][td]800[/td][td]100[/td][td]800[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]11[/td][td]3[/td][td]22000[/td][td]14000[/td][td]250[/td][td]2000[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]12[/td][td]3[/td][td]24000[/td][td]2000[/td][td]250[/td][td]2000[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]13[/td][td]3[/td][td]26000[/td][td]2000[/td][td]250[/td][td]2000[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]14[/td][td]3[/td][td]28000[/td][td]2000[/td][td]250[/td][td]2000[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]15[/td][td]3[/td][td]30000[/td][td]2000[/td][td]250[/td][td]2000[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]16[/td][td]3[/td][td]32000[/td][td]2000[/td][td]250[/td][td]2000[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]17[/td][td]4[/td][td]204000[/td][td]172000[/td][td]1500[/td][td]12000[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]18[/td][td]4[/td][td]216000[/td][td]12000[/td][td]1500[/td][td]12000[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]19[/td][td]4[/td][td]228000[/td][td]12000[/td][td]1500[/td][td]12000[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]20[/td][td]4[/td][td]240000[/td][td]12000[/td][td]1500[/td][td]12000[/td][/tr][/table]
Level – The level of the business.
Tier – There are 4 tiers of business. Each tier represents a dramatic increase in the business’ scope, power, and profitability.
Purchase Cost – This is the cost (in GP) to buy a business of that level.
Upgrade Cost – The cost (in GP) to increase a business’ level from the previous level.
Profit Modifier – Used when the business determines how much money it made (or lost) each quarter.
Inv (Investment) Purchase Cost – This is the cost (in GP) to buy a single investment from a business. See business actions for more details.
Investments and Industries
A business has a number of investments equal to its level. These investments determine what industries the business is involved. Some businesses choose all of their investments in a single industry, while others are heavily diversified.
Pure Business: A business with all of its investments in a single industry is called a “pure business”.
Example: Jimmy Cook runs a small farm that also has a little bed and breakfast. This is an Agriculture 2/Hospitality 1 Business.
Industries
1) Agriculture
2) Hospitality
3) Mining
4) Manufacturing
5) Sales
6) Information
7) Magical Items
8) Adventuring
9) Shipping/Trading
10) Money Lending
The Profit Check
A business makes a profit check each quarter for every investment it has. The profit check is as follows:
(2d6 – 5) * Profit Modifier
If an investment is shut down for the quarter, treat the profit check for this investment as a -1.
Growing Pains
Whenever a new business is founded, taken under new management, or a business enters a new tier, it suffers a -1 to profit checks.
Once the business has a total profit check equal or greater than 0, the penalty is removed and the business is stable.
“Friendly” Competition
Indirect Competition
There are a certain number of investments in every industry that an area can support. Once the number of investments increases past that number, businesses enter indirect competition.
Each Quarter, all businesses with investments in that industry roll a Business Level check (d20 + Business Level), before rolling for profit. A pure business gains +1 to the check. Further, if some businesses are higher tier than another, the businesses at the highest tier gain advantage on the check.
The business(es) with the lowest check suffer a -1 to profit checks for that industry, and a -1 to further Business level checks for this competition. If all parties tie, no penalty occurs.
This process is repeated for every investment above the threshold. Further, the process is repeated every quarter, and the penalties stack.
Once a business suffers a penalty greater than their tier, one of their investments in that industry is shut down. If this brings the number of investments back to the threshold, the competition ends, and all penalties are removed.
Direct Competition
A business can use the “direct competition” action to target another business. The targeted business must have at least 1 industry in common with your business.
An opposed roll occurs. The rolls work the same as Indirect Competition. A new roll occurs for every use of the direct competition action (from either business).
The penalties continue until 1 side shuts down an investment, or a quarter passes without either side using the direct competition action against the other.
Illegal Actions
Sometimes, crime does pay!
Running an Illegal Business
When choosing an industry for an investment, you can choose to make that investment illegal. You can choose a portion of your investments to be illegal or all of them. Example: Growing drugs is an illegal Agriculture investment.
Illegal investments gain +1 to their profit checks.
At the end of each quarter, an illegal business makes a check to evade police notice.
Evade Check: d20 + Business Level – Number of Illegal Investments
DC: City’s Police Level (starting city = 5) + 5x Business’ current level of Marks + Any other modifiers
Failing an Evade Check
On a failure, the business receives a Mark, and must immediately roll another evade check. A natural 1 is always a failure.
If a business gains a number of marks equal the city’s crime tolerance, the business is caught.
Reducing Marks
If a business fails no evade checks for a quarter, it loses 1 mark.
A business may shut down its illegal investments to help their evade check. However, a business with marks must continue to make evade checks until all marks are removed.
Other Illegal Activities
Other activities can trigger an immediate Evade Check. Your illegal investments are not factored into the check. These actions often increase the base Evade Check DC.
(Example) Illegal Competition: Gain +2 to a business level check in either Indirect or Direct competition.
a. DC + 5
Business Actions
Each quarter, a business may take 1 business action for every Tier of the business.
Reinvest: A business uses this action when either it wishes to change its investments, or one of its investments were shut down.
Choose 1 investment. That investment is shut down. You must spend a number of actions = to the business tier, either all at once or over several quarters. After the actions are spent, in the next quarter the business can choose a new industry for that investment.
Direct Competition: A business can target another business. See the section of competition.
Merge Business: A business can acquire a lower level business, assuming the owners agree. Add the levels of the two businesses together to determine the new level. Determine the purchase cost of the new business, and subtract the purchase cost of the original two businesses. This is the amount that is paid to complete the merger.
Acquire/Sell Investment: A portion of a business can be sold to another owner. The buyer must pay gold equal to the business’ investment purchase cost. Going forward, that investment’s profit check (good or ill) belongs to the new owner. If the business increases in tier, the new owner still controls their investment.
Business Loans
Businesses can take out loans, in increments of 100 GP. The amount they pay per quarter is dependent on the length of the loan, as shown in the table.
[table="width: 500, class: grid, align: center"]
[tr]
[td]Loan Duration (Quarter)[/td]
[td]4[/td]
[td]8[/td]
[td]12[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]GP Owed (per quarter)[/td]
[td]27[/td]
[td]14[/td]
[td]10[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]
In this system, a business has a level just like a player. Businesses level as players invest money into them. My goal was to create a system that was a bit rules heavier than the core book but not too onerous or cumbersome.
For those curious where all of the gold numbers came from, I used a lot of the great guides online that showed in general how much wealth a character of a certain level acquired before they leveled up. I made it so that a business of level X would generate roughly the same gold over 1 year as an adventurer of level X acquires before they level up.
The rules still need work (this is a draft), but I would love some initial feedback to see if I'm going down a good path here.
So without further ado:
Stalker0's Business Rules Draft 1
Owning a Business
Each business has the following stats based on its level:
[table="width: 500, class: grid, align: center"]
[tr][td]Level[/td][td]Tier[/td][td]Purchase Cost[/td][td]Upgrade Cost[/td][td]Profit Modifier[/td][td]Inv Purchase Cost[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]1[/td][td]1[/td][td]120[/td][td]0[/td][td]15[/td][td]120[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]2[/td][td]1[/td][td]240[/td][td]120[/td][td]15[/td][td]120[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]3[/td][td]1[/td][td]360[/td][td]120[/td][td]15[/td][td]120[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]4[/td][td]1[/td][td]480[/td][td]120[/td][td]15[/td][td]120[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]5[/td][td]2[/td][td]4000[/td][td]3520[/td][td]100[/td][td]800[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]6[/td][td]2[/td][td]4800[/td][td]800[/td][td]100[/td][td]800[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]7[/td][td]2[/td][td]5600[/td][td]800[/td][td]100[/td][td]800[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]8[/td][td]2[/td][td]6400[/td][td]800[/td][td]100[/td][td]800[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]9[/td][td]2[/td][td]7200[/td][td]800[/td][td]100[/td][td]800[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]10[/td][td]2[/td][td]8000[/td][td]800[/td][td]100[/td][td]800[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]11[/td][td]3[/td][td]22000[/td][td]14000[/td][td]250[/td][td]2000[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]12[/td][td]3[/td][td]24000[/td][td]2000[/td][td]250[/td][td]2000[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]13[/td][td]3[/td][td]26000[/td][td]2000[/td][td]250[/td][td]2000[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]14[/td][td]3[/td][td]28000[/td][td]2000[/td][td]250[/td][td]2000[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]15[/td][td]3[/td][td]30000[/td][td]2000[/td][td]250[/td][td]2000[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]16[/td][td]3[/td][td]32000[/td][td]2000[/td][td]250[/td][td]2000[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]17[/td][td]4[/td][td]204000[/td][td]172000[/td][td]1500[/td][td]12000[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]18[/td][td]4[/td][td]216000[/td][td]12000[/td][td]1500[/td][td]12000[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]19[/td][td]4[/td][td]228000[/td][td]12000[/td][td]1500[/td][td]12000[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]20[/td][td]4[/td][td]240000[/td][td]12000[/td][td]1500[/td][td]12000[/td][/tr][/table]
Level – The level of the business.
Tier – There are 4 tiers of business. Each tier represents a dramatic increase in the business’ scope, power, and profitability.
Purchase Cost – This is the cost (in GP) to buy a business of that level.
Upgrade Cost – The cost (in GP) to increase a business’ level from the previous level.
Profit Modifier – Used when the business determines how much money it made (or lost) each quarter.
Inv (Investment) Purchase Cost – This is the cost (in GP) to buy a single investment from a business. See business actions for more details.
Investments and Industries
A business has a number of investments equal to its level. These investments determine what industries the business is involved. Some businesses choose all of their investments in a single industry, while others are heavily diversified.
Pure Business: A business with all of its investments in a single industry is called a “pure business”.
Example: Jimmy Cook runs a small farm that also has a little bed and breakfast. This is an Agriculture 2/Hospitality 1 Business.
Industries
1) Agriculture
2) Hospitality
3) Mining
4) Manufacturing
5) Sales
6) Information
7) Magical Items
8) Adventuring
9) Shipping/Trading
10) Money Lending
The Profit Check
A business makes a profit check each quarter for every investment it has. The profit check is as follows:
(2d6 – 5) * Profit Modifier
If an investment is shut down for the quarter, treat the profit check for this investment as a -1.
Growing Pains
Whenever a new business is founded, taken under new management, or a business enters a new tier, it suffers a -1 to profit checks.
Once the business has a total profit check equal or greater than 0, the penalty is removed and the business is stable.
“Friendly” Competition
Indirect Competition
There are a certain number of investments in every industry that an area can support. Once the number of investments increases past that number, businesses enter indirect competition.
Each Quarter, all businesses with investments in that industry roll a Business Level check (d20 + Business Level), before rolling for profit. A pure business gains +1 to the check. Further, if some businesses are higher tier than another, the businesses at the highest tier gain advantage on the check.
The business(es) with the lowest check suffer a -1 to profit checks for that industry, and a -1 to further Business level checks for this competition. If all parties tie, no penalty occurs.
This process is repeated for every investment above the threshold. Further, the process is repeated every quarter, and the penalties stack.
Once a business suffers a penalty greater than their tier, one of their investments in that industry is shut down. If this brings the number of investments back to the threshold, the competition ends, and all penalties are removed.
Direct Competition
A business can use the “direct competition” action to target another business. The targeted business must have at least 1 industry in common with your business.
An opposed roll occurs. The rolls work the same as Indirect Competition. A new roll occurs for every use of the direct competition action (from either business).
The penalties continue until 1 side shuts down an investment, or a quarter passes without either side using the direct competition action against the other.
Illegal Actions
Sometimes, crime does pay!
Running an Illegal Business
When choosing an industry for an investment, you can choose to make that investment illegal. You can choose a portion of your investments to be illegal or all of them. Example: Growing drugs is an illegal Agriculture investment.
Illegal investments gain +1 to their profit checks.
At the end of each quarter, an illegal business makes a check to evade police notice.
Evade Check: d20 + Business Level – Number of Illegal Investments
DC: City’s Police Level (starting city = 5) + 5x Business’ current level of Marks + Any other modifiers
Failing an Evade Check
On a failure, the business receives a Mark, and must immediately roll another evade check. A natural 1 is always a failure.
If a business gains a number of marks equal the city’s crime tolerance, the business is caught.
Reducing Marks
If a business fails no evade checks for a quarter, it loses 1 mark.
A business may shut down its illegal investments to help their evade check. However, a business with marks must continue to make evade checks until all marks are removed.
Other Illegal Activities
Other activities can trigger an immediate Evade Check. Your illegal investments are not factored into the check. These actions often increase the base Evade Check DC.
(Example) Illegal Competition: Gain +2 to a business level check in either Indirect or Direct competition.
a. DC + 5
Business Actions
Each quarter, a business may take 1 business action for every Tier of the business.
Reinvest: A business uses this action when either it wishes to change its investments, or one of its investments were shut down.
Choose 1 investment. That investment is shut down. You must spend a number of actions = to the business tier, either all at once or over several quarters. After the actions are spent, in the next quarter the business can choose a new industry for that investment.
Direct Competition: A business can target another business. See the section of competition.
Merge Business: A business can acquire a lower level business, assuming the owners agree. Add the levels of the two businesses together to determine the new level. Determine the purchase cost of the new business, and subtract the purchase cost of the original two businesses. This is the amount that is paid to complete the merger.
Acquire/Sell Investment: A portion of a business can be sold to another owner. The buyer must pay gold equal to the business’ investment purchase cost. Going forward, that investment’s profit check (good or ill) belongs to the new owner. If the business increases in tier, the new owner still controls their investment.
Business Loans
Businesses can take out loans, in increments of 100 GP. The amount they pay per quarter is dependent on the length of the loan, as shown in the table.
[table="width: 500, class: grid, align: center"]
[tr]
[td]Loan Duration (Quarter)[/td]
[td]4[/td]
[td]8[/td]
[td]12[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]GP Owed (per quarter)[/td]
[td]27[/td]
[td]14[/td]
[td]10[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]
Last edited:
