Little DM help for my game on Sunday. The players have run Rangolin out of town, gave him 24 hours to bug out or else they turn him over to the authorities for the cult stuff etc...
The PC's want to buy the mine. They've mentioned on numerous occasions that they want to "save" Diamond Lake. I'm not opposed to the idea, so this might be a good way to start.
My question then is, how much would the mine cost? And what kind of revenues can be generated from the mine? I expect to give them a hard time hiring miners, running the mine, etc, but I need a general place to start for purchase and ongoing revenues etc.
Any ideas?
Thanks all!
Mike S.
Because of catastrophic events in the later part of the module, I reccomend not allowing the players to purchase the mine. I don't want to spoil too much, so thats all I will say. Your likely to end up with some upset players.
Regardless, If they pay and treat their miners decently they will probably make very little money off the mine (or possibly lose money). Most of the mine managers don't have good alignments for a reason ;p I think the way the campaign sets up, Diamond Lake is pretty much unsalvageable, and the later events don't help.
Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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I set up the entire first arc of my campaign around the players acquiring the mine. They initially gathered together with an npc friend who worked in the records office in the local keep. The npc informed them that there was an abandoned mine and that under local laws, if they could find it and get it working, they would have title through adverse possession.
Of course, their first lead wasn't the mine at all. It was the Whispering Cairn.
They've just finished 3FoE and are in the process of performing various legal wrangling to get the mine. Because it wasn't abandoned, they're having to jump through more hoops than expected. To complicate things, Balabar Smenk has begun proceedings in the Free City courts to get the mines in his name. He will be my hook for HoHR, when he is replaced with a doppleganger and lures the PCs to the Free City in his attempt to contest their title to the mine.
They should also establish contact with some sort of noble to get the proper feudal relationship. In my campaign, that noble is the guy who also sponsors them as gladiators in the Champions Belt.
Anyway, I would let them have it basically for free but require that they pay back the profits back into paying for the land. That way you can use it as a plot hook.
Yeah, let them have it if you want, maybe for a few thousand gp depending on condition, but it's easiest if everyone's happy to assume any profit gets ploughed back into purchasing land, repairing buildings etc.
In my campaign, the PC's got Allustan to buy the title to the Whispering Cairn and urrounding lands (the PC's are non-local, and in my game only locals can own land). They leased it off him, and "mined" the iron balls. Later, after the PC's trounced Dourstone Mine, Allustan bought that too, so he had a "front" for his iron business (the mine actually collapsed when the ebon aspect was defeated). They have put a fair bit of their adventuring loot into helping Allustan pay for this, and have signed an agreement that a % of the ongoing profits (after expenses) go to him too. But as I say, there will be no profits, ever few months I just say they have managed to build another addition to their new manor (the old abandoned mining office, which they paid to get cleaned up etc).
Everyone's happy, and there's no major book-keeping required. In fact, the PC's are busily stuffing all the left-over weapons and armour they are collecting from various enemies (up to HoHR) into their newly acquired bag of holding, so they can take it all back to give to their security guards!
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Little DM help for my game on Sunday. The players have run Rangolin out of town, gave him 24 hours to bug out or else they turn him over to the authorities for the cult stuff etc...
The PC's want to buy the mine. They've mentioned on numerous occasions that they want to "save" Diamond Lake. I'm not opposed to the idea, so this might be a good way to start.
My question then is, how much would the mine cost? And what kind of revenues can be generated from the mine? I expect to give them a hard time hiring miners, running the mine, etc, but I need a general place to start for purchase and ongoing revenues etc.
Any ideas?
Thanks all!
Mike S.
If your party run Ragnolin out of town, then why not make it this way: Players tell Ragnolin, that officialy he sells his mine to them for 10000gp, because he wants to retire in a land far away. Inofficialy he'll get 2000gp from the PCs and must never come back to Diamond Lake, or else...
If, in "Return to the WC" Diamond Lake gets grilled, your PCs will want to get the one responsible even more! Btw, the mine can survive the attack on DL anyway.
You could use the business owner rules from DMGII. Consider the initial investment of the business the price of the mine(s), equipment and workers first months wages.
The rules for business ownership are not that great and it’s hard to make a great deal of money from the rules but it is an option.
FYI A player in our campaign has leadership. He is using a handful of his followers as merchants/business men so that he doesn’t have to invest feats or skill points into running the business. His character is just a business partner and will receive a % of the profits based upon his initial investment(s).
In my campaign, I viewed the mine as such a politically sensitive part of society, that I never he allowed the possibility of PCs owning the mine... instead the Church of St. Cuthbert moved in and bought the mine. In the best interest of the people of Diamond Lake... of course, I've set up a little intrigue between Heironeous (PC cleric) and St. Cuthbert (PC palidin) by sowing doubt about the CoSC's motives...