I will be starting SWW next week, and my group has always had a particularly mercantile bent. With 60 tons of cargo space (30 after horse and balista) and a few thousand gold between them, they will be looking for trade goods intstead of magic. Does anyone have any ideas for cargo, with approximate weights and costs?
I figure they (PCs) can try to use thier affiliation scores to "borrow" based on expected future return. When the ship gets hulled and the cargo lost/spoiled it will leave them with some heavy debt back in Sasserine.
I figure they (PCs) can try to use thier affiliation scores to "borrow" based on expected future return. When the ship gets hulled and the cargo lost/spoiled it will leave them with some heavy debt back in Sasserine.
You'd think (especially in such magic heavy places as Eberron) that every bank loan of over a 1,000gp would also have an Augury surcharge (naturally added to the cost of the loan for the borrower to repay) asking if the bank would have Weal or Woe in getting its money back.
SJE
You'd think (especially in such magic heavy places as Eberron) that every bank loan of over a 1,000gp would also have an Augury surcharge
Nice idea but Augury only sees into the immediate future (about half an hour) not long enough for the duration of most loans.
More on topic, a new colony is likely going to need fashioned steel goods (tools, household goods, lamps, etc.), and other things it can't produce itself yet. Seed for crops that aren't found on the colony but enjoyed by the colonists. Grown Crops that aren't likely to perish on the voyage and can't be grown locally due to climate. Livestock, chickens, pigs, goats, could be more trouble but would be welcomed.
Hmm what commodities can I remember from playing Patrician III...
Barrels of honey, whale oil (Sasserine is a whaling community so you should get it cheap there, Farshore probably won't have a whaling fleet), pottery, wine, olives, beer, leather...
They need to consider what they can find in Farshore that they can't get on the mainland (particularly in Sasserine), hardwood perhaps although Sasserine is near a jungle, this I'm having a harder job of thinking of unless Farshore has a diamond mine I don't know about.
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The ship's cargo isn't necessarily lost. It may be rifled through by the future squatter(s) but not all is really lost unless you rule that it is. I would say that section of the ship either wasn't damaged or was minimally damaged and between lose and whatever the squatter deemed worthy, the party loses 15-35% of the cargo. They wouldn't necessarily spoil while wrecked as they were packed to withstand a 3 month sea voyage. If they went with supplies like livestock, or clothe, instead of, say, smithing equipment and supplies, building materials (kegs of nails, wood, tools, etc), weapons or arms, or other hardier stuff, then they may have a much larger loss on their hands as the livestock would die if left unfed (or they may be eaten) and any linens may have had their crates damaged and molded up with the dampness.
The Sea Wyvern is stranded high on a reef, so I don't see the items being dunked underwater or the boat may have slipped free and really sunk.
I wouldn't neccessarily write off the whole cargo without considering those variables.
FH
I will be starting SWW next week, and my group has always had a particularly mercantile bent. With 60 tons of cargo space (30 after horse and balista) and a few thousand gold between them, they will be looking for trade goods intstead of magic. Does anyone have any ideas for cargo, with approximate weights and costs?
I figure they (PCs) can try to use thier affiliation scores to "borrow" based on expected future return. When the ship gets hulled and the cargo lost/spoiled it will leave them with some heavy debt back in Sasserine.
I would suggest
1) quality finished goods. including cloth and textiles.
2) metal ore
Spices
Grain
Beer, Ale, Wine or Spirits
Great ideas, everyone. I especially like the augury surcharge, and I hadn't considered how much would be salvagable when they go back. I assumed all would be lost from the table in SWW showing what PC's could find before going overland.
My own ideas were coffee, spices, nails and hinges, and "professional tool kits" for building. I was hoping the PCs would come up with more. Whale oil is a great idea.
Now, any ideas what the prices for these would be? DND stands for Dungeons and Dragons, and I always get thrown for a loop when they start playing Lawyers and Accountants instead.
I would not have thought that a metal ore would be that useful, as they would probably lack a foundry at Farshore or even someone with the skills to smelt metal.
i had this idea of letting my players take the following biz risk: whatever they bring to Farshore has to be logically sellable, while the risk is that they might buy and bring more then the gp limit of the town... this way they can sell some and have some stay on them. i am looking forward for my pcs sitting on 4 tons of whale oil or rum which that they weren't able to sell :)
They probably couldn't sell much of the cargo they bring to Farshore, first wave colonists are usually pretty poor, having usually spent the little money they have on passage and supplies to set up their homestead. What they are likely to get instead is goods the colonists have acquired to trade.
What trade goods Farshore has available I'm not sure here's some ideas: Hides and skins are likely (dinosaur hides might get a good price), exotic plants/fruits, hardwoods, ancient Olman artifacts, fish (although Sasserine probably has an adequate supply of these already), rare birds and exotic animals that Sasserine has a good market for.
A good side quest might involve hiring some colonists as guides and trappers so you can hunt exotic and/or dangerous animals for the market and arena in Sasserine, in return the colonist would get tools and equipment to help them establish their town.
Farshore's potential resources:
--live animals (maybe the Meravanchis want to break into the illicit dangerous animals trade in Sasserine)
--pearls (cf. LD for dangers involved in getting them)
--obsidian, diamonds, or other volcanic minerals
--tar (if Sasserine doesn't have a good source of this, it might be worth shipping back)
--"primitive" artifacts (tribal art, ancient Olman artwork in gold, jade, etc.)
--beche de mer or other tropical marine life that could be dried and sold as delicacies back in Sasserine
--coral (for carving)
--plantation crops (something must grow well in Farshore that doesn't grow well back home--my nomination is cacao beans to feed the chocolate craze that recently hit Sasserine; tobacco, copra or sisal for ropemaking, and sugar might also work; tropical fruits are out due to the long voyage).
Goods in demand in Farshore:
--wine and liquor (beer doesn't travel well in the tropics, is easily brewed locally, and has low per-volume value). Note that unscrupulous traders might trade rum to the natives, who probably have no experience with such strong stuff, in exchange for various products of the island and surrounding seas.
--cloth and clothing (for the colonists)
--beads and jewels (decorative items for the natives)
--finished tools (colony is too small to support extensive manufacturing, as yet)
--steel spear and arrow heads (assuming the natives use stone or bronze)
--oil (for lamps--whale oil works well)
--adventuring gear
--products for repairing and outfitting ships, such as rope, nails, etc.
--preserved food such as salt beef, dried fruits, nuts, cheese, etc.
All significant trade in Farshore has to be done by barter, as the colony has very limited supply of cash. The natives probably don't bother with money, but might use cowrie shells or the like as a form of symbolic wealth against which the value of goods is measured. They might be willing to pay for things using cowrie shells, but the shells would be virtually worthless back in Sasserine, so they would only be useful to the party if they can use them to purchase something valuable from other natives.
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Great ideas, everyone. I especially like the augury surcharge, and I hadn't considered how much would be salvagable when they go back. I assumed all would be lost from the table in SWW showing what PC's could find before going overland.
My own ideas were coffee, spices, nails and hinges, and "professional tool kits" for building. I was hoping the PCs would come up with more. Whale oil is a great idea.
Now, any ideas what the prices for these would be? DND stands for Dungeons and Dragons, and I always get thrown for a loop when they start playing Lawyers and Accountants instead.
Without looking in any books, I believe the DMG has a listing of "trade items" and their costs. Anything not on the list I would just find a similar item (liquid, semi-solid, solid or something in the same family like textiles, ore, etc.) and use that as a base for pricing. If they are buying TONS of the stuff then maybe start allowing the "diplomacy" bartering to lower the prices down by 5-20% depending on how generous you feel and how good the bargaining was. I will pick up the books and see if I can find a page number for you also.
FH
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Sorry. Not in the DMG, it was in the Arms and Equipment Guide on page 38-40 with the table I was thinking of on page 40.
lists of price ranges for things like
Bulk fabrics (common, fine, unusual and exotic)
Furniture (plain, fine, exotic)
Furs of varying qualities
Dried Goods
Cosmetics (rouge, anyone?)
Lumber (local, unusual, and exotic varieties)
Paints and Dyes
Perfumes (popular in most well populated areas to mask the stench of the unwashed masses)
and Rugs and Tapestries of varying qualities.
They give a unit size description by weight and have a fairly large range of prices based on the Commodity demand within the community you are purchasing from. If you don't have the A&E guide but would like to make a quicky list of certain items that your group may want to obtain in Sasserine, let me know what you might like and I will post a list for you based on what Sasserine may have available and what is in demand.
FH
Thanks, everyone. The last post with the list of trade goods in the Arms and equipment guide was what I was looking for, but the rest was great, too.
I figure that Lavinia is bringing most of the tools, food, supplies, etc. The PC's would probably want to bring luxury goods (wine, spirits, expensive cloth, beads, coffee, sugar), which they can exchange at great rates for trade goods from farshore. After all, how do you sell an axe when they are giving them away down the street.
I am also leaving four berths on the ship empty, to encourage the PCs to try to recruit useful settlers (for example: craftsmen with specific skills or a cleric from their favorite church). Any slots they can't fill, Meivanchi is going to want to fill with "working women" from one of the family establishments. The poor treatment of these women, and the services they provide, will add more fuel to the Vanderboren-Merivanchi political contest.
Thanks all!
My PCs, ever the sticklers for details and "reality in their fantasy" wanted a detailed cargo manifest of what was on the Sea Wyvern. Let me just say.... AAAAAARRRGGH!!!!
But that is long since passed, so I'm off the meds now. Anyhow, they wanted to know, so I figured a lot of the cargo was stone and metal. Considering Farshore's location, I saw mining as the least likely of resources they could develop, making cut stone and metal ore being tremendously valuable. It doesn't take much to set up a smelter/foundry/smithy, but a mine, in a place like the Isle of Dread, would be a collosal project. Prospecting alone would be high risk, but the attention a mine would gather from hungry critters is nuts in "normal" D&D land, much less the Isle.
So yeah. That also helped explain why there was so much room to move around in the hold. Raw metal and stone doesn't take up nearly as much space per ton as cloth, spices, and wine.