Cargo Prices

[Andrew Jensen 488]

Okay, so I've got a player who is embarked on a naval adventure and he wants to buy cargo to resell elsewhere.

Without making the whole thing a giant mini-game, I was trying to find list of prices. For example, how much is a barrel of spice? Just a list of standard prices would help considerably. Failing that, I might go for a simple mini-game.

Any recommendations?

[Mathius]

trade goods

This should be a place to start. Beyond that you will need to add in a scarcity modifier and maybe a haggling system. Ultimate campaign might also be useful for its downtime rules.

I have no idea ifcaravan rules are any good but they are there. There is even some feats for them.

[Skeld]

Without turning into a mini-game, you could just ask the player what he wants to buy and how much he wants to spend and when they arrive at their destination, have them sell the goods for a slight profit. Make it enough that they make a little money from the endeavor, but not enough that they're encouraged to turn your adventure into a game about trade.

-Skeld

[Mathius]

investments return 5-15 percent a year but since he is transporting it himself then he should make more.

If you make the cargo a good source of income then it will be something he will want to protect. That is handing you a good plot hook. If he invests his earning is more cargo then this really does not effect WBL at all. Let PCs use trade to become wealthy but make sure they no how unbalancing a load of magic items can be to a game and tell them to use their extra money for social power.

[Hugo Rune]

Simple solution, roll 1d20 for each good transported. Start at 90% of base price and add 1% for each point. Do the same whether the player is buying and selling.

If you want to go up a complexity level look to adjust valuation based on the Appraise skill for quantity and quality 'there's got to be half a ton of quality wool there' and the various social skills to get a better deal.

[Hugo Rune]

Thinking about it a bit more. If the player always bought low and always sold high they would eventually make enough to be unbalancing. It would be counteracted a bit by them having their cash tied up in trade goods, but eventually they will be profitable if they wait. If you added a taxation on entry and/or exit i.e. an import and/or export duty then you could make it more of a gamble for the player and less of a way to make more money than you intended. The tax needn't be high, say 1-2% of the local price, but that would be enough to make it a financially risky affair. The player cannot simply keep hold of the goods and visit port after port until the price is right unless they wish to lose money.