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Has anyone else wondered about this? I'm not sure how having higher prices would help him stay afloat. Do your parties patronize him at all? What kind of changes has anyone else made to make things make more sense? I can see the Lathenmire smithies undercutting Gurnezan to drive him out of business, but I don't see why he'd charge more than standard prices.
i considered the guy selling masterwork and exotic weapons only and the lathenmire's selling normal weapons in mass production. this way they used him several times.
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Did you still have him charging 25% extra? My players are in the position of liking the guy but wondering why they should patronize him when they are short on cash to start with.
If he were the only source of exotic and masterwork items and still charged 25% extra that would feel a bit like railroading to me.
i still applied the +25% cost to his warez. the story says that he is a bitter fella who has a difficult time selling his weapons, so dont bother with the PCs being "offended" by the prices. at higher level you should maybe consider gurnezan selling all kinds of magic weapons as well (maybe a new wizard biz partner showed up? :)). the PCs will have plenty of loot as the game develops and will have significantly less trouble with money then at lower levels. till then, have them buy the regular stuff from the lathenmire's and maybe some limited number of magical weapons from skye's treasury.
RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16
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Higher quality isn't always reflected in game stats but in character perception. In my campaign he is the best source (read most likely to have what the PC's want)in masterwork weapons.
I sell the masterwork weapons at standard price increases (thus normal price+20% then add the masterwork cost modifier) and for the "mundane" stuff I maintain the +20%.
Whether masterwork or normal, it is a status symbol to own a Gurnezan blade. Gurnezan's weapons are more attractive and higher quality just not at a level that can be quantified in the rules.
In the context of the game world fighters in the know would choose Gurnezan's smithwork over another (given the funds). The wealthy will choose his work just because it has his mark on it (and they can afford to pay).
I have also carefully placed weapons bearing Gurnezan's mark in a few places to reinforce this perception of status.
... What kind of changes has anyone else made to make things make more sense? ...
In my game, I decided that the Lathenmire smithies have a standing contract with the city guards. They're usually busy making stuff for them. Unless they want standard town guard equipment, there's about a two week waiting period to get a job started. However, Gurnezarn can start working on it immediately.
fungimuncher :) funny name! i wonder what kind of fungi those are :)
anyway, Locke1520, this mark on blade thing is really cool i think! the idea of having a prestige to wielding those blades or maybe even givin a +1 diplomacy in noble environment to those who wield them, would also add a funny element to my game! thanx!
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RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16
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anyway, Locke1520, this mark on blade thing is really cool i think! the idea of having a prestige to wielding those blades or maybe even givin a +1 diplomacy in noble environment to those who wield them, would also add a funny element to my game! thanx!
No problem. Let me know how the Diplomacy modifier works out. I've been going back and forth on that idea myself.
Has anyone else wondered about this? I'm not sure how having higher prices would help him stay afloat. Do your parties patronize him at all? What kind of changes has anyone else made to make things make more sense? I can see the Lathenmire smithies undercutting Gurnezan to drive him out of business, but I don't see why he'd charge more than standard prices.
Yeah, I basically just ignored that part of the text and made it a standard smithy. However, he does make a good mentor for the PCs with Craft (blacksmithing/armor making/weapon making).
Has anyone else wondered about this? I'm not sure how having higher prices would help him stay afloat. Do your parties patronize him at all? What kind of changes has anyone else made to make things make more sense? I can see the Lathenmire smithies undercutting Gurnezan to drive him out of business, but I don't see why he'd charge more than standard prices.
In MC I've stated that he improve weapons Hardness and HP by a 25%, thus incresing the price of it.
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You can create another nonlathenmire smithy in cauldron. Has everybody forgotten the forge in the malachite fortress already?
Assuming it wasn't destroyed at least cut off from the surface, the party can find and convince a disgruntled ex-smith from the lathenmire smithies to set up shop. there will be no competition because basically the malachite fortress isn't near (ok below)cauldron to undercut Gurnezan or the lathenmires. The dwarves in town would approve.
I have used the ideas posted in this thread for my campaign. Specifically:
- Gurnezan has masterwork, exotic, & special materials weapon available for sale in his shop.
- Lanthemire only has regular simple and martial weapons immediately for sale.
- Nonregular weapons would have to be special ordered from Lanthenmire smithies, which would take some time to make.
- Gurnezan blade is a status symbol that has a perception of higher quality. The wealthy proudly showcase his blades.
- Lanthenmires has contracts with the city guard. But certain guards buy Gurnezan blades for themselves for the perceived superior quality, attractiveness, and status.
- Although, Gurnezan doesn't grant bonuses to social skills, they do negate any potential social skill penalties when dealing with nobles since Gurnezan count as "noble-class" equipment.
The reason I'm playing this up is because the player of Kyra Lanthenmire, younger daughter of the Lanthenmires, really wants to "buy him out" as a player goal. It would be an challenging political move that would impress her parents. So I have added these additional details.
- Gurnezan is not interested in selling his business for any price. He has enough money for his wants and is doing what he loves and what he would want to do with his live if he was rich anyway.
- The repeated attempts by the Lanthenmires to acquire his business has earned them his enmity.
- If he is maintaining his business while selling his wares for +25% book price, then undercutting him isn't going to work.
- He has a very strong established brand and reputation that is valuable in it's own right. Trying to slander him would be difficult to do.
- The Lanthenmires acquiring Gurnezan would fast-track them into nobility.
I'm trying to set this up as a difficult but achievable CR 12 political challenge. What I need to know is what would it take for the player to succeed? He is maxing out the character's Diplomacy and keeping up on K(local) and K(nobility), even though he is playing a fighter (gestalted with aristocrat). It could simply be a Diplomacy contest, but it would be unsatisfying if it came to that. What I would like to have is some secret desires and fears for Gurnezan. Something that he would love to have or happen but he unable to achieve himself. Or, something that he would dislike so much that he would be willing to give up his business to avoid it. He could also have a secret that he wants to keep quiet, something that would ruin him.
I would also like some ideas of what "Microsoftian" attempts to take his business over that the Lanthenmires has already tried, and why they didn't work.
Any ideas would be appreciated.