I've got a PC in my RotRL game who's pretty intent on construction an elaborate blacksmith's shop, and I was wondering if there had been any rules for pricing this sort of thing out anywhere?
Trouble so far is that he's drawn up a rough blueprint, and we've got a very different idea of time and cost required to get it up and running. It's all stone, and three stories if the basement is included. It's got a showroom, three work station, quarters that can house three seperate apprentices, and a magically sealed door to house any magic items he makes later. They just came away from Thistletop, and now he's hoping to put 600gp towards the thing and make some meaningful progress, but to me, that just sounds kind of meager. Any advice?
Nothin' for PF afaik. There's the stronghold builders guidebook for 3.x but other than that I don't think there's anything.
But yes, 600 gp sounds a bit meager. I'd probably put the base price at maybe 600 per floor, an additional 400 for smithing equipment, 100 per apprentice's quarter. The cost of an Arcane Lock is 2*3*10+25=85 gp, but it has the weakness of leaving it open for the caster. A good lock with that has a DC of 40 to break into, which makes it very safe, but the cost in total is 165 + door.
So yeah, 600 would not be enough in my games. At 2000-2500 somewhere we're talking. But I would allow him to get a decent schack with some basic smithing equipment in it.
Oh wow. I'd been comparing it to the price of ships, and had figured it would be between 8k and 10k before EVERYTHING was finished, though that was just me eyeballing it.
Also, I should mention that I do plan for this to create an income and to be the ground floor of him bringing more dwarves into the town of Sandpoint, another big goal of his (I'm afraid he's going to try to spur them to genocide later, though). Additionally, he'll be able to wholesale magic weapons and armor he finds on adventures once it's built, getting full market price for them.
Well, now that you mention it, if we look at living costs, it should probably be somewhere between:
Average (10 gp/month: The PC lives in his own apartment, small house, or similar location—this is the lifestyle of most trained or skilled experts or warriors. He can secure any nonmagical item worth 1 gp or less from his home in 1d10 minutes, and need not track purchases of common meals or taxes that cost 1 gp or less.
Wealthy (100 gp/month): The PC has a sizable home or a nice suite of rooms in a fine inn. He can secure any nonmagical item worth 5 gp or less from his belongings in his home in 1d10 minutes, and need only track purchases of meals or taxes in excess of 10 gp.
I don't really know. Anything between 2k and 10k would be okay in my book. But hey, if he wants it, and it doesn't break the game: Try to allow him to get it. As long as you can keep the verisimilitude, there's no reason not to. Enable your players whenever possible, as long as it doesn't hinder the fun :)
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3.5 dungeon masters guide had this: Buying Buildings
which may be helpful for purposes of comparison.
"Grand House" with a markup for being built in stone instead of wood sounds right. Perhaps 7-8 grand. I would price out the magic door separately, perhaps as a wondrous item based on arcane lock.
Try to nab a copy of the 3.0/3.5 stronghold builders guide.
looking in mine a fancy smithy (no showroom, no storage) is 2,000gp base.
thats just the working area. it does give a small bonus to skill checks tho.
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hello!
I'm glad I found this thread. My PCs are wanting to build a small fort on an island and I have no idea where to begin! I remember the Stronghold Builders Guide but I don't know if I could get my hands on it.
Are there and "open" resources out there for this? I had tried to base some prices off the cost of buildings or parts of buildings (doors/walls/ etc.) but there are a lot of variables that I can't sort out.
Thanks for the helpful information.
If you want the book, Look here
I price stores and farms for single families at 3000 GP in my game, and manor houses for wealthy nobles who have their fields worked by serfs at 30,000 GP. I'd put the three story stone building with a magic door on the upper end of that.
3000gp for a single-family home? Considering the baseline income for a skilled NPC (defined by the profession skill), that's in the area of 10 year's pay for the average craftsman. I had no idea the housing bubble had gotten so bad...
One of the Kingmaker books has details on building settlements - some of those rules might be usable.
There is no question that the 3.x Stronghold Builder's Guide is the best resource for trying to do what people want in this thread.
My group and I use that book heavily to this day (and I bought it on release day).
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Thank you all for your information.
I did pick up the Kingmaker book (Blood for Blood) and looked at those rules. As Mijoszew points out, it doesn't break down to individual buildings very well.
I'll take the advice of picking up the Stronghold Builder's Guide. I'll consider myself lucky to get my hands on it.
The 3.5 Players Handbook II presented rules for PCs owning and running businesses, including the setup costs.
HOWEVER.. these were rules designed to drive home the approach/attitude that Adventurers are not merchants. It is very hard to just buy in and get started under these rules (8,0000 gp +) and hard to make a successful business unless the PC quits adventuring and devotes full attention to the business.
They might still be worth looking at, and the prices are not out of line considering Absolom.
Also, the Guide to Absolom, Guide to Korvosa, and Guide to Darkmoon Vale various prices for purchase or rental of homes in those cities, which are variable by neighborhood. For the OP in RotRL, the Guide to Korvosa might be ideal.. it presents a wide range of prices based on the many neighborhoods.
I'm looking to build a temple to Iomedae for my Paladin but he also has monks that have joined his faction.
So I was thinking to start with the building in the DMG p 101 (1000 for a small dwelling) and over time add 3 more to it so it would be a compound.
Add gold over time to change from thatch to tile roofs etc. improve the decor, add decorations and so on...
Is that a doable plan?
If yall can't get a hold of the Stronghold Builders Guidebook (which I also recommend; I would support a kickstarter for an update if it ever happened) yall can always ask on here. Several people here have the book and can give yall some info on any particular projects.
