Karrth's page

Good for him, and for you, it means that the player is actually interested in the game world you've put together outside of simply following along to the next adventure. Getting into politics and wanting to make a mark in a world is a great aspiration for a player character to have, and can be the driving force behind lots of adventures if you want. I'll trade you both of my players who are uninterested about the game world and zone out during anything that isn't combat or mechanics related for one player like you describe!

That said, if you aren't interested in running a game where the PCs become movers and shakers in the world and have problems that don't involve the next adventure then you need to tell him so that he doesn't get too invested in the idea before it is shot down. Tell him he can roll profession merchant checks any week he has off, say that the funds he receives are equal to the profits his business has, and leave it at that. Maybe throw him a bone once in a while with people in the town his business is based out of giving him and the party slightly special treatment if his business is successful, and concentrate on running the game you want to run.

If all he is interested in is the gold gain this might work out wonderfully, though if he is interested in the social and roleplaying aspects he may be a little disappointed. Still, you're running the game and if you won't have fun running a game where characters have political and social aspirations then tell him. It's not worth running a game you won't...

I am very happy about my players and I am happy that they want to involve themselves in the game world. I don't mind that they want to become movers and shakers. They ARE the heroes of my tale and if thats they way they want to go then it's fine by me.

My problems is this:

I try to deliver quality stories, adventures and in general a good time playing at my table... I can't do that if I don't understand what I'm doing. I was never good at math and I simply can't keep all the numbers he's using in my head. Which means gold is starting to loose it's value in our game. I don't use greed as a factor for my players but gold sort of need to have a meaning so it's not like my last adventure "we failed to rescue the bishop of the church, he died a horrible death at the hands of the rebels... Lets spend 15000gp to build him a grave and put the church back on our good side. After all it's only a months pay...."

Hope I'm not coming over as a bad GM but I really am lost on how to make both my players happy and make me able to deliver a quality story.

Well, I had a talk with the player in question and he admitted it was a combination of the gold and role playing.

I'm not sure what to do. But he didn't like the sound of his profits falling like a rock when I offered the Profession check as a neutral ground and I see his point, merely going from some modified prices in the core book he's making 13.000 gold a month and with the profession check he'll be lucky to make 50gp in a month.

So he is now trying to make an entire trade system.... Not sure what to say really. I like his spirit but I just wish he'd was using the energy to kill goblins or save damsels in distress :P

We started with the amount of gold the core book advised (33.000 gold if I remember correctly).

And it didn't really start of with him wanting to become a trader it just sort of happened, first it was small things like candles and honey, then he got a taste for it so he expanded his little shop into iron mining and steel production and the trade there off. But Right not I think it's a combination. He likes gettting gold and the prestige it gives him but he also likes the micromanaging I think. Him and the party cleric have spent lots and lots of hours talking about how they are going to change the political part of the game world.

Because I know he isn't reading this I might as well say it. I don't want to play Merchant D20 with a dash of politics.... That's why I'd like to know if there is some easy way for me to just say "roll this and get that" without having to worry about him getting the gold to buy the king of his throne. If not I guess I have to take the fight head on and see if I can talk them out of this trade thing. If not... well, I really have no clue what to do then.

**EDIT**

I forgot to say thanks for all the imput you guys have come with :)

Hello.

I'm a new GM and I've never really run Pathfinder games before and I've run into a problem with one of the players. Unlike what I thought the problem would be it's not power gaming or some other thing related to that... He wants to make a trading empire and since the party started as level 8 I figured it'd be okay.

Problem is I've got no clue on how to make a trading system that doesn't shower him with "free" gold. So far I've tried to base it of a class I found on the web but that didn't go as planned. He ended up getting 44.000gp a month without even lifting a finger. Of course it didn't take into account that his caravans could get attacked or his men get greedy but still. It's way to much gold.

Any idea's that don't involve micromanaging ?

Thanks in advance, Karrth.

just a quick question before I go wild building my character.

Do you plan on having everyone in one party or more? I'll be honest and say it out right, I probably won't apply if combat between the characters is allowed and I can't see how that is not going to happen if it's as one party.

Karrth