How much does an inn cost to buy?

[Phineas Crow]

There's got to be something wrong either with those numbers or with some other prices.

According to Sword and Fist, I could buy and outfit four border towers for that price. It seems like they should cost more than an inn not less (especially since they're mostly stone structures and the inn is wattle and daub.

For that matter, I could hire wizards or priests to build the inn using Wall of Stone spells for much less than that (at PHB prices).

Well, here is a breakdown of how I got those numbers.


Inn, 3 stories

Layout and Excavation
1st floor: (1500 sq ft x 2gp/sq ft) = 3000 gp
2nd floor: (1500 sq ft x 2gp/sq ft x 1.1 height modifier) = 3300 gp
3rd floor: (1000 sq ft x 2gp/sq ft x 1.2 height modifier) = 2400 gp
Excavation: (1500 sq ft footprint x 2 cubic feet of excavation x 0.2gp per cubic foot) = 600 gp
Initial Estimate = 9300 gp

Materials
Foundation: Stone / Wall: Wattle and Daub / Roof: Thatch
Material Modifier: 14
Material Cost: (Material Modifier 14 x Initial Estimate 9300 gp) = 130,200 gp
Base Price: (Initial Estimate 9300 + Material Cost 130,200 gp) = 139,500 gp

Carriage
Carriage Cost: (Base Price 139,500 gp x .2 flat fee) = 27,900 gp

Style
Interior Style Cost: (Base Price 139,500 gp x .6 Style Modifier, Normal) = 83,700 gp
Exterior Style Cost: (Base Price 139,500 gp x .15 Style Modifier, Normal) = 20,925 gp

Final Cost: Base Price 139,500 gp + Carriage Cost 27,900 gp + Interior Style Cost 83,700 gp + Exterior Style Cost 20,925 gp = 272,025 gp


All this is the mundane cost... a stack of Wall of Stone scrolls and a Lyre of Building could potentially reduce the costs greatly.

 

[DragonLancer]

Why do players always want inns and taverns these days?

What happened to spending your gold on a castle or tower?

 

[Phineas Crow]

...According to Sword and Fist, I could buy and outfit four border towers for that price. It seems like they should cost more than an inn not less (especially since they're mostly stone structures and the inn is wattle and daub...

Just for fun I computed the S&F Border Tower using the MMS:WE building system, here are the results:

Border Tower
S&F Price: 40,000 gp
S&F Build Time: 4 weeks

MMS:WE Price: 45,509 gp
MMS:WE Build Time: 56 weeks

 

[marketingman]

It could always be for free if they clear out all the ghosts who have taken up residence.

 

[Agemegos]

Here are some price (in pennies, from a time when the common wage of day labour was a penny-farthing (1.25 pennies) per day.

Building construction

Church, 125’, stonework only 27,000
” cathedral 500,000+
Cottage, 2 storey– w. material free 480
Hall & chamber, modest 2,880
–labour only, materials from estate
Hovel, from materials available 120
Wooden gatehouse, with drawbridge
–with materials from estate 1,280
–plus value of materials 3,840
Stone gatehouse, in modest private castle
–with materials from estate 4,000
–plus value of materials 7,200
Tower (in large royal castle) 48,000
Well, per fathom deep 18

Buildings & real estate

Row house (in York, well built) 1,200
Craftsman’s house, with shop, 2,880
workers’ quarters, and tile roof
Merchant’s house, in large city 7,200
House with a courtyard, ” 21,600
Guildhall in large city 32,600
(hall, 2 chambers, buttery, pantry, kitchen)

Divide these costs by 12.5 to get equivalents in D&D gold pieces.

I would guess that a small inn would be about equivalent to a merchant's house, and that a very grand inn might be up to equivalent to a guildhall. So I would suggest that a minimum for a decent inn (including real estate, materials, and construction) would be about 580 gp, and that a maximum for a very grand inn would be about 2,800 gp.

The folowing figures, also in pennies, will give you an idea of how much it might cost to furnish and inn:

Household furnishings

Basin & ewer 16–32
Blanket, woolen 15
Bottle 3
Bowl, earthenware 0.25
Candles, tallow, in the country, per lb. 1.5
” tallow, in a large city, per lb. 2
” wax, per lb. 6.5
Chair 4
Chest 6
” large, for clothes 24
Coffer (strongbox) 12
Cup, earthenware 0.25
” glass 2.5
Ewer, metal (brass?) 6
Knife, eating 2
Mattress, straw 2
Mirror, silvered 24
Padlock 12
Pillow 1
Plate, earthenware 0.25
Pot, cooking, ceramic 0.5
” brass, large 12
Sheet, linen 4
Stool 3
Towel 6
Table 6

And the following may give some idea of the cost of stock:

Provisions

Ale, per gallon 0.5
Bacon, per side 9.5
Bread, 1 loaf (24 oz?) 0.25
Cider, per tun 60
Cheese, retail, per lb 2
” whole, 80 lb 40
Eggs, per dozen 0.5
Fish, herrings, per dozen 1
” Pike, whole, 3’ long 80
” Sturgeon, per barrel 396
Fruit, figs, per lb 1.5
” pears, 30 1
” pomegranate, 1 only 6
Gingerbread, per lb 36
Grain, barley, per quarter 22
” oats, per quarter 16
” wheat, per quarter 38
Ham, whole 16
Onions, 1 bushel 8
Partridges, per brace 4.5
Raisins, per lb 2
Salt, per bushel 3
Spices, per lb up to 168
Sugar, per lb 12
Wine, fine claret, per tun (252 gal.) 480
” best, per gallon 4–5
” cheapest, per gallon 2
To feed a lord, per day 7
” a squire ” 4
” yeoman ” 3
” groom ” 1

You see that most of the prices suggested by game designers display an almost schizophrenic lack of connection with plausibility. No plausible business turnover could ever amortise an inn costing 272,025 gp, a figure that is nearly 500 times too high.

 

[Kilmore]

I'm with MM in principle (BTW, welcome to EN World).

What kind of adventuring party BUYS an inn? Don't most parties acquire inns by getting poisoned by the gang-involved cooks and waitresses, bust out of the cells beneath the wine cellar, find evidence of criminal activity, wreak righteous vengance, and claim the inn as salvage?

 

[random user]

I'm with MM in principle (BTW, welcome to EN World).

What kind of adventuring party BUYS an inn? Don't most parties acquire inns by getting poisoned by the gang-involved cooks and waitresses, bust out of the cells beneath the wine cellar, find evidence of criminal activity, wreak righteous vengance, and claim the inn as salvage?

Well, this is what has happened. In short, through a combination of luck and fate they befriended a innkeeper and made a new drink (similar to a wine cooler) and new entertainment (basically karaoke) popular.

It's proven to be so popular the innkeeper is interested in expanding his business to a neighboring city. While others have started immitating the karaoke, his brand is the equivelent of the "hippest" and he's trying to cash in on the brand name. And besides no one else knows the secret of making wine coolers that taste as good as his does.

If it proves popular, he's hoping to actually start a chain of inns (he's making tons of gold right now because his tavern is packed and he's charging a lot for the wine coolers. As a matter of fact he can actually charge a cover because it's so popular, which had previously been unhead of).

At the same time, the party has been given a long term assignment that is intrigue related. They're thinking that it would be a great cover if they could pose as investors for these new inns, and it would also give them a base of operations and a way to pass messages back and forth through the cities if necessary. It would also give them an excuse to travel between the cities a lot, and allow them to ask certain questions under the guise of being concerned about their investment in the inn.

Anyways, that was their idea, so they asked how much each inn cost to build/buy. I didn't have an answer available at the time, so I ballparked it at 10kgp, but then told them that I was sorry that I hadn't anticipated that they would have thought of that so that number is subject to change.

From there we moved on (they wanted to go visit an undead ruins) to an adventure, agreeing to table the discussion of that till the next session. So here I am, trying to find out how much an inn costs

 

[ichabod]

You see that most of the prices suggested by game designers display an almost schizophrenic lack of connection with plausibility. No plausible business turnover could ever amortise an inn costing 272,025 gp, a figure that is nearly 500 times too high.

Are you sure this isn't a case of your prices for some things not jibing with their prices for other things? I mean, by the D&D rules, the inn I quoted grosses about 4,500 gp a year at an average of half occupancy on room and meals alone. Add in money from booze, probably their big money maker, and it would seem a reasonable business to me.

 

[jgbrowning]

Well, here is a breakdown of how I got those numbers.


Inn, 3 stories

Layout and Excavation
1st floor: (1500 sq ft x 2gp/sq ft) = 3000 gp
2nd floor: (1500 sq ft x 2gp/sq ft x 1.1 height modifier) = 3300 gp
3rd floor: (1000 sq ft x 2gp/sq ft x 1.2 height modifier) = 2400 gp
Excavation: (1500 sq ft footprint x 2 cubic feet of excavation x 0.2gp per cubic foot) = 600 gp
Initial Estimate = 9300 gp

Materials
Foundation: Stone / Wall: Wattle and Daub / Roof: Thatch
Material Modifier: 14
Material Cost: (Material Modifier 14 x Initial Estimate 9300 gp) = 130,200 gp
Base Price: (Initial Estimate 9300 + Material Cost 130,200 gp) = 139,500 gp

Material modifier is a percentage (14% instead of x 14) so continuing with that in mind....

Material Cost: (Material Modifier .14 x Initial Estimate 9300 gp) = 1302
Base Price: (Initial Estimate 9300 + Material Cost 1,302 gp) = 10,602 gp

Carriage
Carriage Cost: (Base Price 10,602 gp x .2 flat fee) = 2,120 gp

Style
Interior Style Cost: (Base Price 10,602 gp x 1.6 Style Modifier, Normal) = 16,963 gp
Exterior Style Cost: (Base Price 10,602 gp x 1.15 Style Modifier, Normal) = 12,192 gp

Final Cost: Base Price 10,602 gp + Carriage Cost 2,120 gp + Interior Style Cost 16,963 gp + Exterior Style Cost 12,192 gp = 41,877 gp

So the final cost for the inn is 41,877 gp and would probably pay for itself in 10 years... and.. i just got my computer fixed and just found out that MMS:WE is up for an Origins award!

joe b.

 

[Phineas Crow]

Material modifier is a percentage (14% instead of x 14) so continuing with that in mind....

Material Cost: (Material Modifier .14 x Initial Estimate 9300 gp) = 1302
Base Price: (Initial Estimate 9300 + Material Cost 1,302 gp) = 10,602 gp

Carriage
Carriage Cost: (Base Price 10,602 gp x .2 flat fee) = 2,120 gp

Style
Interior Style Cost: (Base Price 10,602 gp x 1.6 Style Modifier, Normal) = 16,963 gp
Exterior Style Cost: (Base Price 10,602 gp x 1.15 Style Modifier, Normal) = 12,192 gp

Final Cost: Base Price 10,602 gp + Carriage Cost 2,120 gp + Interior Style Cost 16,963 gp + Exterior Style Cost 12,192 gp = 41,877 gp

So the final cost for the inn is 41,877 gp and would probably pay for itself in 10 years... and.. i just got my computer fixed and just found out that MMS:WE is up for an Origins award!

joe b.

ok, that works better... I must of blanked out while skimming the materials step...

Congrats on the Origins award, MMS:WS deserves a nomination.