How much for an Inn?

[DracoSuave]

It reminds me of the old 'name level' rules of BECMI, where once you hit level 9, you were considered nobility and were granted land to build your own keep.

I bemoaned the non-existance of that in later D&Ds, until I realized that sort of thing shouldn't be codified in a rules system that applies to all campaigns.

So instead, I simply allow my players to adventure to get their plot device, then use said device in plots when expedient. I don't need the dice to tell me when to set up an adventure for my players, and I don't want the dice to tell me to derail an adventure for the players just to deal with their MacGuffin.

Said plot device could be an Inn, a Kingdom, a School, Membership in House Cannith, the Respect of Elminster, an Intellegent Magic Wand, a Talking Flying Giraffe, or any other status object that exists just to say 'Hey, look at this cool ____ I own!'

 

[LostSoul]

So instead, I simply allow my players to adventure to get their plot device, then use said device in plots when expedient. I don't need the dice to tell me when to set up an adventure for my players, and I don't want the dice to tell me to derail an adventure for the players just to deal with their MacGuffin.

Yeah, but there is something cool about having a system. That is that you get results that you wouldn't have created on your own but results that you think are cool.

The thing the dice do in this case, or what I was expecting the dice to do, is to force the players to make a choice. Oh crap, we won't get our cash this month/year/whatever unless we deal with this.

They also can surprise the DM, and that's cool when it happens.

 

[DracoSuave]

Yeah, but there is something cool about having a system. That is that you get results that you wouldn't have created on your own but results that you think are cool.

The thing the dice do in this case, or what I was expecting the dice to do, is to force the players to make a choice. Oh crap, we won't get our cash this month/year/whatever unless we deal with this.

They also can surprise the DM, and that's cool when it happens.

There is some truth to this as well.

 

[LostSoul]

There is some truth to this as well.

Yeah, it depends. One cool thing about tables like this is that the DM can always ignore the results, and just go with what's cool. If you don't need it, you don't use it, but if you want it, it's there.

When to use it and when not to... that's what makes DMing an art.

 

[Ahrimon]

"Oh no! We won't get our 1,000g this year if we don't roll well! Oh wait, let's just go adventure and make 1,000,000g over the next year."

Honestly I think the plot device idea is the best. Charge the characters a couple grand at most(for heroic level type of inn) and let it run. Or let them role play out the building or getting the materials. Plus in a point of light setting who's going to tell them that they can't set up an inn on the road? Even the lord of Fallcrest's influence doesnt' extend too far beyond the city. And why wouldn't he want them to own it? It keeps a very powerful force with an interest in defending the city.

IMO the inn should be a plot launching point and a source of pride and fun. Not a source of book keeping or even frustration as every bad roll affects thier inn.

 

[LostSoul]

IMO the inn should be a plot launching point and a source of pride and fun. Not a source of book keeping or even frustration as every bad roll affects thier inn.

Each roll on that little table I made creates a plot. That was the point! The cash thing is a reward/penalty just to keep it interesting.

Frustration? If things don't go their way, too bad. It's a game, suck it up.

And yeah, adventuring is more profitable. However, you could base an entire campaign around the lvl 1 inn the PCs get (for free) at 1st level; they fix it up over the course of adventures, or buy more higher-level ones, or use the cash to buy a castle, and generate more adventures from it. You could just keep rolling on the table and dealing with things as they come up, and bang, campaign! I'd have to complete the Trouble table though.

Or you could go with a more old-school style: players run different PCs at different times. One of the reasons I wrote this is because I'm thinking of making extended rests take 1 week; that will slow down the rise from level 1 to 30 quite a lot, I imagine. Anyways, so while their other PCs are resting up, the guys who work in the low-level inn (as opposed to the castle in the feywild, or the keep in the plane of fire) might go take care of some business. And maybe they'll find something the other PCs are looking for.

edit: Hmm, just realized, each "Trouble" should also generate a Minor Quest of the level of the inn.

 

[renau1g]

I wouldn't even charge them that much. As you said there's only minimal benefit so loosing out on a magic item seems pretty expensive to me. I'd charge a nominal fee for the lumber and maybe a skill challenge to navigate through the Fallcrest redtape, maybe finding the proper people to build the inn, etc. I'd imagin in Fallcrest the available architects aren't very many

 

[LostSoul]

Ooh, if you're in Fallcrest, maybe they could do something to take control of the inn if they prove that... Rendil? whatever that half-elf con artist's name is stole the cash that he bought it with.

Eventually the woman he stole it from will show up and demand the inn, as it was bought with her money!

Oh yeah, Erandil. What a douchebag. If they had collars back then, I'm sure he would have popped his.

 

[Cwheeler]

I'm all for this idea! I think it sounds like a great plot-hook.

Also, I'm one of those strange people who likes the idea of reducing the amount of gold that the PC's have access to, so they don't each end up with the GDP of a small nation strapped to their back.

The idea of them having income and assets that are tied into the world appeals to me.

If 1/4 of their gold per level came from their assets, and those assets could be effected by external factors, I would be comfortable with this.

 

[Lizard]

Our PCs inherited, sort of, an inn in the last 4e game I was in.

One of our first adventures was to stock said inn with fine dwarvish spirits. Since we were all roguish types, this involved breaking into a warehouse and stealing the stuff. Amusingly, a bunch of ninja types were ALSO breaking into the warehouse in search of some smuggled macguffins we didn't know about. Hilarity (and bloodshed) ensued.