Rental costs

[BobROE]

My players want to rent a place where 6 characters could sleep and has access to a forge. I have no idea how much this would cost and any suggestions would be nice. The campaign is set silverymoon in the Forgotten Realms if that helps.

 

[jgbrowning]

My players want to rent a place where 6 characters could sleep and has access to a forge. I have no idea how much this would cost and any suggestions would be nice. The campaign is set silverymoon in the Forgotten Realms if that helps.

Of the top of my head, I'd tell them that they can't get what they want unless they can find a blacksmith that's willing to sell out (highly unlikely) or if they build it themselves.

I know that's not very helpful, but it actually may solve your problem. Toss the idea by them of just bunking up in a house that's close to a friendly blacksmith.

joe b.

 

[mikebr99]

There wouldn't be any trouble renting an old farm house w/ barn for this purpose... but I'd make them purchase the blacksmith equipment, probably make a deal with an existing blacksmith to buy his stuff and set him up w/ new.

I don't remember seeing a 'Complete Rent-all' during my last visit to a medieval city.



Mike

 

[Dave99]

Actually this isn't hard. For the most part anyone can be bought.

First figure what the smith in question could make that week, players pay him 3 times that for his 1 week vacation. Should be ok, as long as he's under no real large must be done contracts.

Really if you think about the monthly wage that a smith makes and you ask to rent the forge and equipment for a week, 200-300 gold is more than enough.

Now do the PC's required assistance from his underlings and such? That will be extra.

As a common worker running a shop (any kind) and some comes and want to rent your place for more than you make in a year, what do you think you would say?

Edit: Guess I was thinking short duration, that would definetly make a difference as to how long this renting was going to take.

 

[jgbrowning]

Actually this isn't hard. For the most part anyone can be bought.

First figure what the smith in question could make that week, players pay him 3 times that for his 1 week vacation. Should be ok, as long as he's under no real large must be done contracts.

Rural Blacksmiths often worked throughout the year for individuals and then paid a set amount of yearly money (or more often in food supplies).

Urban blacksmiths often had "relationships" with their customers that were more than a "pay by piece" situation. Getting a medievalesque blacksmith to take a vacation is basicaly asking him to reneg upon his social obligations. You're asking him to act improperly in his social environment.

Really if you think about the monthly wage that a smith makes and you ask to rent the forge and equipment for a week, 200-300 gold is more than enough.

Smithing was also a process that was done with a lot of a sense of "magic." Rituals were performed that had nothing to do with the actual forging processes because they didn't have modern chemistry to understand what was really necessary to the process.

And as any craftsman will tell you, asking another man if you can use his tools is a touchy situation.

Now do the PC's required assistance from his underlings and such? That will be extra.

As a common worker running a shop (any kind) and some comes and want to rent your place for more than you make in a year, what do you think you would say?

You may be able to overcome all of these obsticals will a lot of gold, but then you've done several things to the social fabric of the community.

1. You've created strife. The PC is now disliked by the individuals who were relying on the blacksmith, even if just for sharpening their knifes.

2. You've demonstrated a lack of caring to the populace at the same time when showing them you've a lot of gold. In an urban environment this can have unforseen circumstances. More than likely the PCs are "outsiders" to the city. What are the PC's going to do if the city council catches wind of this and decides to tax them a new tax for the "surreptitious rental"? Or the blacksmith guild gets a bit peeved because they now "own" a forge and they're not members.

Things are very socially complex and the PCs are usually not in the "inside", but are rather "outsiders." That's dangerous ground to tread when you start ticken off the locals.

It would be so much simplier socially to simply hire the blacksmith. And if they do it right they can, instead of antagonizing the populace, create a positive place for themselves.

joe b.

 

[Umbran]

Remember that we're talking about the blacksmith giving you access to his entire life and livelihood. What would you say if some stranger walked up to you wioth a wad of cash and said, "Hey, I want you to move out of your house, and let me have your home, computer, car, etc, for a while"?

 

[nsruf]

"Hey, I want you to move out of your house, and let me have your home, computer, car, etc, for a while"?

For the price of 10 times my monthly income, we would have a deal

Given that D&D economics never made much sense and the PCs simply have a lot more cash than the average citizen, this shouldn't be a big problem. I use upkeep rules in my game and I would allow my players to "settle down" in a rented place for the usual 45 gp a month. Smithing equipment is a couple of 100 gp extra, of course.

 

[Gregor]

Let me chime in here if I may, I am the player in BobROE's group who will be using the forge. It appears that living in the smith's home would probably be out of the question. However, I can imagine renting a house somewhere in town, as I am sure it would be common...in FR anyway. In regards to the smith, in a city like Silverymoon - which maintains a rather large military, smiths are fairly common.

Thus, to simplify, what would you say the costs would be to rent a home or building with enough room to sleep 6 individuals. In regards to the use of a forge, assuming I have my own tools (which I do) how much would the average smith charge for the use of it?

My thanks to all the responses and to those coming in advance,

Cheers,

 

[Gizzard]

DrNuncheon (?) started a thread about a week ago where the cost of renting commercial property was discussed. You might want to sort by Author and see if you can find that one.

OTOH, I personally agree with jgbrowning about the idea that anyone who came in to town and started throwing money around in a way that seems extravagant and foolish to the locals will certainly lose the respect. You can see a similar effect in modern tourist economies; the weathly foriegner visitors 1) may be tolerated to their faces, 2) are certainly taxed and squeezed for the cash they bring, and 3) are generally not liked by the local populace.