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My players gathered 20,000 gold pieces of technological items during the second module, Lords of Rust, but wanted to keep only a few items. No-one in Scrapwall could afford to buy the rest. I had a black market merchant visit Scrapwall but she could buy only 2,000 gp of items, because only a down-on-her-luck dealer would visit Scrapwall. They found more items in Iadenveigh during The Choking Tower. but, of course, kept them secret from the anti-technology residents of that town. They sold some skymetal in their hometown of Torch, but they worried that selling technology there would attract unpleasant attention from the Technic League.
And they seriously needed to upgrade their equipment before visiting the Choking Tower itself. I hinted they should visit one of Numeria's black markets.
The Pathfinder Player Companion: Black Markets lists The Tarnished Halls as one of the major black markets in the Inner Sea area, so that was the obvious place to visit. It is described as:
The Tarnished Halls
Community: Hajoth Hakados
Specialties: Alien technology, skymetals
Regularly moving up and down the length of the Seven Tears River and protected by an unofficial council of river pirates, the Tarnished Halls are one of the few places outsiders can find or purchase the various technological wonders and strange creatures endemic to Numeria.
That is great! Torch is at the headwaters of the Seven Tears River, so it is not far from their home base.
Alas, Black Markets is a Player Companion book, not a Campaign Setting book. It primarily tells how to design a black market, but gives only a short settlement-style description of existing black markets. It is nice to know that the Tarnished Halls have Population 228 (167 humans, 19 halflings, 13 half-orcs, 8 androids, 7 dwarves, 5 orcs, 4 ratfolk, 5 others), Marketplace Base Value 4,000 gp (6,000 gp alien goods and technology), Purchase Limit 24,000 gp (32,000 gp alien goods and technology) and Spellcasting 5th, but none of that describes how to find this mobile marketplace or the experience of shopping there. Therefore, I used the techniques in the Player Companion and constructed it myself.
Locating the Tarnished Halls
Once a week, Captain Drakenda Kuldar sets up the Tarnished Halls at one of two dozen cooperative villages along the Seven Tears River. The day of the week varies randomly. She sends out advance notice of the location to several trustworthy people who regularly shop there or who serve as guides to visitors. The guides in Torch are in the Ropefist gang led by Garmen Ulreth and an occasional caravan master who does some smuggling. The city of Hajoth Hakados has several guides, including the alchemist witchwyrd Cythrul, who will send an assistant rather than going herself, and several members of the local pathfinder lodge. A DC 15 Diplomacy check at the shady taverns of Hajoth Hakados will also yield a lowlife guide.
My own players went to Hajoth Hakados but the player of the diplomatic strix skald was out sick that day. My wife, the highly experienced player of the non-diplomatic dwarf gunslinger, stayed in character as an introvert, so she guided party to good locations such as the alchemist shop and the pathfinder lodge but did not interact herself. The other two PCs did not ask relevant questions. Sigh. I gave them the worst possible guide, a lazy bard named Giacomo. He offered to lead them to the Tarnished Halls that would meet in two days, but instead, they arranged to meet him at the small fishing village of South Bend in two days.
The Market
The Tarnished Halls spends most of the daylight hours setting up. The full market is conducted at night. Most villages hosting the Tarnished Halls try to keep their people away from it and its customers away from them. However, any village large enough to have a tavern that attracts lowlife scum will do good business before the Tarnished Halls become fully active.
In the morning, twenty small, fast sailing boats show up on the shore of a clearing near the village and begin setting up booths, walls, and traps. The perimeter around the Tarnished Halls is staked out with portable traps (the PPC: Black Markets has a section on portable traps), and they have some underwater traps for the riverbank, too. No-one is allowed in until the perimeter is secure.
In the afternoon, a cheap tavern and a swapmeet open up for business. Attending the swapmeet requires a 100 gp fee and an inspection of items to ensure they are not forgeries. This is the primary place to buy and trade access cards and timeworn technology.
In the evening, the booths of non-technological items open up. Armor, weapons, and magic items up to 4000 gp price can be found at these booths. The Tarnished Hall's trapsetter, a middle-aged dwarf who goes by Nana Trapsmith, has her own booth selling portable traps. Food booths and a better tavern run by Nana's husband open up, too. A brothel ship docks on the river. The owners of a livestock pen herd alien creatures ashore. Blood Gar pirates, who are 5th-level barbarians, guard the booths.
At sunset, the boats containing Tallend Halant's tent and goods arrive. This is the place to buy technology that is not timeworn and sell to any technology. Tech items up to 6000 gp are sold, and more expensive items can sometimes be found. Artificial lights keep the market dimly lit.
Any visitors entering the market by the one safe entrance will be scanned with chipfinders to check for Technic League tracking chips. Technological communication devices are not allowed.
The Tarnished Halls' booths shut down and pack up before dawn. The walls and traps are removed in the morning.
My party showed up in the morning because their lazy guide had not mentioned the schedule. They had to kill time watching the black market set itself up. When they wanted to enter, they almost had their communicators confiscated, but the guards were willing to lock the gadgets in a box to be carried by their guide. They picked up a few parts for tech crafting at the swapmeet, but did most of their selling at Tallend Halant's tent. They mostly purchased magical reagents for crafting their own magic items, because their previous lack of cash had given them the habit of saving money.
The People
The leaders of the Tarnished Halls are Tallend Halant, who reconditions timeworn technology back to full function, and Captain Drakenda Kuldar, who commands the boats and guards.
Tallend Halant CR 8
XP 4,800
Female human sorcerer (crossblooded) 7/technomancer 2
CN Medium humanoid (android)
Init +2; Senses low-light vision, darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +3
DEFENSE
AC 20, touch 15, flat-footed 17 (+5 armor, +3 Dex, +2 deflection)
hp 45 (9d6+favored class bonus)
Fort +2, Ref +4, Will +7
Defensive Abilities: Androids count as both humanoids and constructs. +4 racial bonus on all saving throws against paralysis, poison, and stun effects, are not subject to fatigue or exhaustion, and are immune to disease and sleep effects.
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +1 dagger +6 (1d4/19–20) [add nanite strike]
Ranged arc rifle +3 touch (2d6 electricity/×2) range increment 150 ft., 20 charges
Special Attacks: Nanite strike, nanite surge 2/day
Spells Known (CL 8th; concentration +9)
4th (3/day, 0 known)—rebuke technology (via technic mastery +1/day)
3rd (6/day, 1 known)—beast shape I*, gaseous form
2nd (7/day, 2 known)—invisibility, detect thoughts (DC 15), id insinuation I (DC 15)
1st (7/day, 4 known)—alarm, color spray (DC 14), comprehend languages, disguise self, technomancy
0 (at will, 7 known)—daze (DC 13), detect magic, detect poison, flare (DC 13), mending*, message*, read magic
* transmutation school, affected by nanite bloodline arcana.
Bloodline bonus spells: disguise self (1st), id insinuation I (2nd), gaseous form (3rd)
TACTICS
Before Combat: She relies on the defenses of the Tarnished Halls. She secretly casts Detect Thoughts on suspicious characters.
During Combat: For small threats, she relies on the arc rifle, despite her –4 non-proficiency penalty. For larger threats, she casts Invisibility and runs. If anyone follows using technology, she disables it with Rebuke Technology. Or she casts Beast Shape I to turn into a seal and swims away in the Seven Tears River. Her employees will rescue the valuables on display in the Tarnished Halls. They recognize that her main duty is to protect herself.
STATISTICS
Str 8, Dex 16, Con 10, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 16
Base Atk +4; CMB +3; CMD 15
Feats Logical Spell (1st), Technologist (3rd), Empathy (5th), Craft Technological Item (7th), Skill Focus (Knowledge[engineering]) (7th bonus), Craft Technological Arms and Armor (9th)
Skills: Appraise +7, Bluff +6, Craft (mechanical) +5, Disable Device +9, Fly +7, Intimidate +7, Knowledge (arcana) +5, Knowledge(engineering) +13, Profession (Merchant) +5, Perception +3, Sense Motive +5, Spellcraft +10, Use Magic Device +7
Languages Common, Androffan
SQ bloodline arcana: nanite and psychic, recondition, technical expertise, efficient construction, technic spell mastery (rebuke technology)
Gear: +1 mithril shirt, +1 dagger, arc rifle, ring of protection +2, potion of barkskin, potion of cure moderate wounds (3), scroll of dispel magic, scroll of obscuring mist, wand of fireball (21 charges), muleback cords, 3 batteries, 7500 gp
DESCRIPTION
Tallend Halant is a blue-skinned android with white hair, white lips, and blue nanite markings on her skin. Her demenor is professional and her emotions are subdued, but she is willing to talk at length with strangers about her background or technical matters. Androids age more slowly than humans, and she appears 10 years younger than her current age of 53.
She was born in captivity, a slave to the Technic League. Her previous incarnation had been a nanite bloodline sorcerer in bondage to the Technic League. The Technic League hoped she would manifest those powers again. She was taught to be a loyal slave, with the belief that machines like herself were created to serve humans. She developed nanite-bloodline abilities as predicted, but appeared deficient in her spellcasting. Unknown to everyone she cast everything as a Logical Spell because she was born a psychic caster without emotions. The Technic League trained her as support for their field agents.
The cruelties left in the wake of her field team shattered Tallend's loyalties. Pushed to her limits, she manifested emotions, but kept them secret. That boosted her psychic casting and let her escape 30 years ago. She loves freedom almost more than she loves her life.
She found work using her technological training in Hajoth Hakados on the Seven Tears River. Yet even in that android-friendly city she was not safe, for the Technic League offered a bounty to recapture their valuable slave. She teamed up with young Blood Gar smuggler Drakenda Kuldar and moved her business upriver to a secret location. Their trade in refurbished technological items became popular and they set up a black market fair, The Tarnished Halls, in random villages along the Seven Tears River every week. The fair attracts a violent, criminal element. Tallend views them as free to chose violence, but will intervene if it disrupts her commerce.
Captain Drakenda Kuldar CR 5
XP 1,600
Human slayer 6
NE Medium humanoid (human)
Init+4; Perception +9
DEFENSE
AC 21, touch 14, flat-footed 18 (+7 armor, +1 deflection, +3 Dex)
hp 52 (6d10+6+favored class bonus)
Fort +7, Ref +10, Will +3
Defensive Abilities
OFFENSE
Speed 20 ft.
Melee +1 keen rapier +11/+6 (1d6+1/15–20)
Ranged zero pistol +10/+5 touch (1d8 cold/×2), range increment 50 ft., 10 charges
Special Attacks: studied target +2, sneak attack +2d6, power attack -2/+4
TACTICS
Before combat: Drakenda Kuldar is willing to intimidate customers to keep order in the Tarnished Halls, "Black markets attract customers who lie. Believing you would be stupid."
During combat: She uses Weapon Finesse and Power Attack with her rapier to try to deal 1d6+5 damage. She calls on Blood Gar barbarians for help. If her opponent damages her, she retreats and uses Ranged Feint with her zero pistol for sneak attack damage, with slowing strike so that her opponent stays out in the open. If she is down to 25 hit points, she runs and gives the evacuation order for The Tarnished Halls.
STATISTICS
Str 13, Dex 18, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 13
Base Atk +6/+1; CMB +16; CMD 20
Slayer talents: Range Combat Style(Deceptive: Improved Feint), Rogue Talent(Firearm Training), Slowing Strike
Feats: Power Attack, Ranged Feint, Shadow Strike, Weapon Finesse
Skills: Acrobatics +6, Bluff +10, Climb +1, Heal +4, Intimidate +8, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +4, Knowledge (geography) +5, Knowledge (local) +6, Linguistics +1, Perception +9, Sense Motive +9, Stealth +9, Survival +4, and Swim +1.
Languages Common, Orc
SQ
Gear +1 rapier, zero pistol, acid (2), alchemist's fire (2), +1 breastplate, cloak of resistance +1, ring of protection +1, 581 gp
DESCRIPTION
Captain Drakenda Kuldar is a quick-tempered 50-year old brunette Kellid woman of the Blood Gar tribe. She leads a group of pirates who switched from raiding to illegal commerce solely because commerce was more profitable. Every week without warning, a set of small sailing ships docks at the fair grounds of a cooperative village on the Seven Tears River to hold The Tarnished Halls black market for an evening and a night. Cooperation includes clearing and maintaining suitable fair grounds. Villages that do not cooperate are raided and pillaged instead. Villages that do cooperate gain immunity to Blood Gar raids and sometimes Blood Gar assistance against orcish raids.
She began as a captain of one raiding ship, but met Tallend Halant while buying weapons in Hajoth Hakados. The pair teamed up to create a black market too mobile to be shut down by the Technic League, backed by a Kellid tribe too powerful for the Technic League to wipe out. Drakenda pays a sizeable tribute to the Blood Gar tribal leaders for the protection of her illegal business.
Glorium Kane, NE human cleric of Bright 9
Kane grew up in a shipbuilding family and kept to that trade even after he followed a divine calling to serve Brigh, goddess of invention. He worked with his smuggler brother to design faster ships for smuggling, but was lured away by a better offer from the Tarnished Halls to design fast ships for them. At the Tarnished Halls, he takes nighttime orders for spells and then prays just before dawn to prepare those spells for his customers. He also knows Brew Potion and keeps the potion booth well stocked with divine potions.
Nana Trapsmith, N dwarf trapsmith ranger 5
Nana's main job is to set up traps so that no thief sneaks out of the Tarnished Halls after filching expensive items. She has mastered portable traps that can be dismantled for re-use elsewhere. After dark, she and her son run a booth that sells portable traps. Her husband runs the better tavern in the Tarnished Halls.
Tarnished Halls Guard CR 4
XP 1,200
Human barbarian (urban barbarian) 5
NE Medium humanoid (human)
Init+2; senses low-light vision rage power, Perception +
DEFENSE
AC 18, touch 14, flat-footed 18 (+4 armor, +2 deflection, +2 Dex)
hp 37 (5d10+5)
Fort +5, Ref +3, Will +1
Defensive Abilities trap sense +1, uncanny dodge, improved uncanny dodge, rolling dodge rage power
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +1 falchion +10 (2d4+6/18–20)
Ranged mwk composite (str +4) shortbow +8 (1d6+4/×3)
Special Attacks: controlled rage 13 rounds/day, crowd control urban barbarian feature, combat reflexes, power attack, point-blank shot, precise shot
TACTICS
Before Combat: A Tarnished Halls guard guards a particular merchant or wanders the Tarnished Halls watching for trouble. He attempts to intimidate any rulebreaker into submission and will confiscate any stolen items.
During Combat: The guard calls for help as he attacks, so that several guards can surround the opponent. The goal is to not let suspected thieves escape.
During Evacuation: If evacuation is called, his job is to carry the merchandise for the fleeing merchant to the getaway boat.
Morale: If down to 10 hp while other guards are in better shape, he backs away, drops out of rage, sheathes his falchion, and draws his bow.
STATISTICS
Str 18 Dex 13 Con 12 Int 13 Wis 10 Cha 10 (non-raging statistics)
Base Atk +5; CMB +9; CMD 20
Feats: Combat Reflexes, Point-Blank Shot, Power Attack, Precise Shot
Skills: Acrobatics +5, Climb +7, Intimidate +8, Knowledge (local) +4, Perception +8, Profession(sailor) +8, Sense Motive +4, Swim +5
Languages Common, Hallit
SQ crowd control
Combat Gear potions of cure moderate wounds (2); Other Gear mwk chain shirt, mwk composite (str +4) shortbow, +1 falchion, 50 gp
DESCRIPTION
The Blood Gar barbarians who guard the Tarnished Halls are not as bloodthirsty as fellow Blood Gar pirates, but they don't have an ounce of sympathy. The job pays well but bores them. If a fight breaks out among customers, as frequently happens, they gather around to protect the merchandise in the booths and then exchange bets on who will win. Only if someone tries to hurt the Tarnished Halls merchants or steal the merchandise do they take action, usually brutal and often fatal. Their bravery is also extreme, for they will remain to pack up the merchandise during an evacuation as Technic League shoots at them.
The Danger
About twice a year, the Technic League raids the Tarnished Halls. Their primary goal is to take as much technological items as possible. Their secondary goal is to shut down the black market, but they acknowledge that that particular marketplace is too stubborn to stay shut down. Collateral damage in blowing up customers is a side benefit, since those customers are defying Technic League rules. Most customers can run away unless unlucky.
The greatest danger besides the Technic League is the other customers. Black markets attract lawbreakers, including bandits, gangsters, and thieves. Add in excessive drinking from the sudden wealth from selling a piece of high-tech scrap, and even ordinary looters and prospectors become ready to tussle on the slightest provocation. The guards don't interfere at fights between customers, because the winner will spend the loser's money at the Tarnished Halls regardless.
One likely scenario is a gang war breaking out in the aisles of the black market. If buyers from one gang discover buyers from a rival gang. The adventuring party could be mistaken for a gang from anyone who encountered them in another town. Another scenario is a drunk brigand who takes offense at some aspect of the party, such as exotic races. The guards do not interfere in fights between customers unless one side accused the other of theft. The regulars at the Tarnished Halls know better that to accuse each other of theft.
Finally, anyone accused of theft will be searched by the guards. Theft from a merchant has a death sentence, unless the captured thief pays a fine equal to half the price of the stolen item. Theft from another customer results in the supposedly stolen item being confiscated permanently by the guards, since they don't care who owned it originally.
In my campaign, I originally planned to have the party caught in the crossfire of a gang war, but when Boffin brought along her robot cohort Dwalin, I instead had a pair of drunk techslingers use the robot for target practice. Boffin shot the laser pistol out of the hand of the first techslinger and the second was wise enough not to take his shot.
Biggest problem in this case is to establish list of (mostly) timeworn technological items and alien goods, cause I belive that typical rules for 75% chance of finding shouldn't be valid in this specific case (even if we talk about batteries or nanite canisters
There is my homemade list for my game:
two flare guns,timeworn stun baton, panic suit,3x batteries, a gravity clip, 1x nanite canister, timeworn magboots, 2x trauma pack, skillchip mark II Ride +4 , zipstick x2,ion tape, power cable, medlance, zero grenade, flechette grenade,d4 Numerian Fluids,d6 Bloodbrush Extract, d3 starspore
Alien monsters in cages :Pilo, Akata, Tsaalgrend
Next,I would add Bluff/Diplomacy/Intimidate test for each bigger transaction to see if Technic League catch wind about PC with great bag of techno gadgets. Constantly failing should wind up prices and even merchant should refuse to deal with non-discreet heroes.
Biggest problem in this case is to establish list of (mostly) timeworn technological items and alien goods, cause I belive that typical rules for 75% chance of finding shouldn't be valid in this specific case (even if we talk about batteries or nanite canisters
I used the standard rules from the Gamemastery Guide, including the 75% chance. However, in my case, the party was interested in selling technology and buying magic, so their purchases were not particularly exotic.
In addition, I wanted the players to have access to fully functional technology, so I declare that Tallend Halant reconditions timeworn technology for resale. She is the main profit-maker for the Tarnished Halls.
There is my homemade list for my game:
two flare guns,timeworn stun baton, panic suit,3x batteries, a gravity clip, 1x nanite canister, timeworn magboots, 2x trauma pack, skillchip mark II Ride +4 , zipstick x2,ion tape, power cable, medlance, zero grenade, flechette grenade,d4 Numerian Fluids,d6 Bloodbrush Extract, d3 starspore
Alien monsters in cages :Pilo, Akata, Tsaalgrend
Is that a list of what is available? It seems too small for a marketplace run by 228 people, even if most are sailors, roustabouts, guards, and regular customers.
The alien monsters list, however, is something I should have developed further, but didn't. My PCs were not interested in buying alien animals. I did mention pilos and ghelarn in pens as part of the background.
Next,I would add Bluff/Diplomacy/Intimidate test for each bigger transaction to see if Technic League catch wind about PC with great bag of techno gadgets. Constantly failing should wind up prices and even merchant should refuse to deal with non-discreet heroes.
I presume that a few other customers are Technic League informants, but they will have little to report to their Technic League contacts. "A group with an half-elf magus, a dwarf gunslinger, three humans who looked martial, a strix skald, and an advanced repair drone, using obviously false names, sold a lot of technology." The Technic League already chased that group out of Scrapwall, because that traveling black market merchant I mentioned already was an informant. (The Technic League had caught her and put a tracking chip on her.) Boffin deliberately brought her robot to attract attention, so that the Technic League has fresh reports on the party and does not dig up older reports about heroes in Torch. The party has Local Ties to Torch and is very protective of that town.
What would adding a Bluff test to transactions with Tarnished Hall merchants accomplish? The merchants are not the informants. I gave Tallend Halant the Detect Thoughts spell for this reason, to weed out spies.
And the prices are fixed by Ultimate Equipment and the Technology Guide. That is one principle I follow in Pathfinder: this is not a game about economics, so nothing affects the prices.
1. Reconditioning timeworn technology isn't possible under the current rules. Of course technomancer can attune specific item to be fully charged by him and only him,but that's not very profitable to players.
2. My list is small for reason- I checked black market in Starfall which is described in "Palace of the Fallen Stars". Offer there was better but not as good as to be expected from shady deals done by the silent approval of prominent Technic League Captains. By default in this campaign, even nanite canisters and batteries are rare and fully functional piece of useful technology is rara avis. That's why I mentioned problem of settlement buy/sell rules earlier. BTW,in fluff section autor mention about "timeworn technology and alien goods", so I belive that is intended.
3. Black markets has prices up to 150% value, so in this specific case you are wrong. What I propose is mechanism that utilize PC concerns about selling too much technology in one place (which is ovethinking, since Pathfinder is not game about economics)