| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Exploit |
Posted - 11 Apr 2007 : 18:58:34
As a 9th level Red Wizard of Thay, I've been toying with the idea of setting up my own Thayvian Enclave in the Shaar (all those slaves to sell back in Thay). After reviewing the Powers of Faerun section on Merchant Princes and the DMG II rules on starting a business, I've come to the conclusion that there really is no way under these rules to be profitable until many years later.
Assuming the most extreme total that I can imagine of a 125 profit check (becomes 100), then in a high risk business the owner would earn 5000 gp a month. To achieve such a total would take hundreds of thousands of gold pieces taking about 5 years or more to pay off (excluding interest if the gold was borrowed).
In the end, my analysis is that under these rules my business will require me to sink a lot of gold into it, which I am unlikely to ever recover within the campaign time line. I may still do it since I like the idea of trying out the mercantile aspect of the game.
I was wondering if anyone has incorporating these rules into their game and if so what kind of results have they seen? |
| 8 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 25 Apr 2007 : 16:54:47
You make some good points there, and some bad. Sure, while you wait to sell those slaves (or transport them back to market in one big group via teleportation circle) they can improve the new enclave and setup some basic crops. They could help by doing the grunt work that their Mulan and Rashemi masters want done.
However, it would be rare if they were allowed to actually craft things, even if they are already trained craftsmen. To do so would be to allow them to gain the advantages that Free Thayans have. You must always remember that they are slaves. Of course, such a well trained slave could be sold for a good profit... or he could be put to work as a teacher of young Thayan apprentices in the basics of the crafts. He might one day catch the eye of a red wizard and be taken in as his personal craftsman, but that red wizard must be careful about doing such too often for political reasons (the Thayan middle class (aka the mob) wants to remain useful and they would prefer to be the ones making the items sold at enclaves).
As to teaching them wizardry, I see this as something that would be considered an outrage and would result in the death of the red wizard involved (if he were to try and involve them in circle magic). If they are already trained wizards of low level, they might be allowed to work to scribe scrolls, but upper level wizards would be seen as a threat. |
| Gray Richardson |
Posted - 22 Apr 2007 : 06:16:30
Not to mention you can use the slaves to generate income, build infrastructure, help to capture other slaves, etc. while you are waiting to sell them. The slaves you capture are themselves a resource and you could use them to build your offices and improve your real estate, grow crops to feed the other slaves, craft items, and perform any other manual labor tasks that a business might need.
Plus, you could diversify your business, selling magical items and other trade wares to help supplement the slaving side of your business while you are getting that on its feet. It seems like slaves might be able to help greatly with the crafting of magic items, especially if they were talented slaves, either by crafting the masterwork items the magic will be put into or helping to gather the ingredients, and do some of the manual labor involved.
Teach some of them a level or two of wizardry and they can participate in spell circles to augment your power. If you have some dark magic or spells that allows you to use their xp or compel them to contribute their xp to the manufacture of magic items, so much the better. |
| questing gm |
Posted - 22 Apr 2007 : 02:13:04
of course, as a Thayan....we don't normally follow 'realistic' business plans.... |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 12 Apr 2007 : 14:04:24
>>There are real life success stories of businesses paying back their intial investments in >>mere months which as far as I can tell is impossible under these game rules. Just an >>observation.
Actually, in the slave trade business, the initial investment (if you have a cheap means of transport to and from market..... hello, Thayan wizards) should not be that hard to achieve. Nothing says that when they go on small-scale slave raids they have to be wearing party colors of red and showing tattoos. In fact, they probably would use the vast magic at their disposal to frame another local group to increase animosity between said groups. Again, this kind of thing would only cost time for spellcasters.
Thus, someone who wanted to head down to the Shaar to start a Thayan enclave could start out by raiding some folk, framing another group, then with the raid-ed folk start attacking the supposed raid-ers the Thayans show up and offer to provide some assistance. In return, they could ask the supposed raid-ers to turn over any battle captives from the people raiding them.
This kind of thing could very easily turn a profit, and it doesn't have to be a permanent type enclave settlement. This is exactly why the slave trade was taken up by so many, there was very little money put down and a huge return on investment. With the magical ability of teleportation in the beginning, once they make enough of a profit, they can return it into their investment to build a portal. With the portal in place, they can start bringing in foodstuffs and such to sell and become less dependent on slave trade. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 12 Apr 2007 : 13:42:36
Not necessarily... Amazon.com was founded in 1994, and didn't post a profit until 2003. That's nine years. |
| Tio |
Posted - 12 Apr 2007 : 12:42:51
A realistic business plan should start giving pay-back within three years of starting. If the earn-back is longer it's not a viable business.
Thus the rules are screwed... |
| Exploit |
Posted - 11 Apr 2007 : 20:01:06
I agree it's realistic that the payback for an average successful business should be measured in years however in the cited example this was for the most obscenely successful business that could be justified by numbers.
There are real life success stories of businesses paying back their intial investments in mere months which as far as I can tell is impossible under these game rules. Just an observation. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 11 Apr 2007 : 19:03:59
That's actually kinda realistic... A lot of real-world businesses operate in the red for a long time after they start, and don't start making a profit until they've been open for a couple of years. |
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