fires of ccreation question

[moon glum]

fires of creation spoiler:

After the fight in the warehouse with Garmen Ulreth, what happens to silverdisk hall? What with all of the gambling proceeds, it has got to be worth a lot-- more than 4th level characters should have, probably. How have people handled this? My players will definitely clue in to to the potential for the quick accumulation of riches that Garmen's demise creates.

So, is it taken over by an only slightly more scrupulous 2nd in command? Do I let the players try to manage a gambling hall? What have other DMs done?

[Misroi]

Spoiler:

Hmmm, good question. Since the PCs will be leaving Torch after the events of Fires of Creation, I think that if they do want to assume control of Silverdisk Hall, that they'll need to put someone they trust in charge of it. Khonnir Baine would be a good solution there - he's already predisposed towards the PCs, and would either take care of it himself, or know someone in town who could do so if he doesn't want to give the impression that the town council is getting into the "sin trade." That way, the PCs can get a small percentage of the proceeds from Silverdisk Hall without disrupting the economy of the game.

If they really want to control it themselves, then I'd look at the Downtime rules for inspiration. Honestly, though, there's big things going on in Numeria. They have bigger fish to fry than making some quick cash at the Hall.

[N'wah]

Suggestions:

I don't think my group would plan on trying to take over the gambling hall, so I've only given it the barest of thought, but I think a few things could stand in the way of a group just taking the place over.

First off, simply killing Garmen doesn't make the killers the owners (that's more River Kingdoms than Numeria). In fact, I think the Torch town council would be pretty predisposed to prevent murder-as-property-acquisition being a legal precedent. They're all owners of successful businesses or large pieces of property (or both) after all, and sure, Garmen was scummy, but if the PCs or another person or group realized that killing the owner of a piece of property made you the new owner, they could all expect some attempts on their life sooner rather than later.

So let's assume the property sits without an owner (minus a good portion of its portable valuables- I'd bet dollars to donuts that the Ropefists barge in, start grabbing everything of value they can carry, and announce that Garmen's dead on their way out the door before ditching town). So now it probably reverts to ownership by the town, and goes on the market to buy. So if your group really wanted to won it, they'd have to buy it, same as with the warehouse or any of Garmen's other alluded-to properties.

An easier option that would cut off that avenue of inquiry entirely might be the idea of some second-in-command (let's say a legit bookkeeper or some other working stiff able to do the legitimate work and leave the criminal stuff to Garmen) taking over, probably by putting a down-payment on the place and setting up some sort of payment deal to the town council. That'd clear out the idea of the PCs just moving in, though some players might feel it is kinda railroad-y to close off their planned asset acquisition.

As for how much the Silverdisk Hall would go for on the open market, well, I got my handy-dandy Ultimate Campaign book out. So...

SILVERDISK HALL
Create 64 Goods, 6 Influence, 58 Labor (2,620 gp)
Rooms 1 Bar, 1 Bedroom, 1 Escape Route, 1 Game Room, 1 Guard Post, 1 Lavatory, 1 Office, 1 Secret Room, 1 Torture Chamber, 1 Vault

So 2,620 gp to buy the building outright. That's tight but doable for a group of 4th-level adventurers, though if you've ever looked at the Downtime system, I think they'd find it more hassle than it's worth. But if they decide to go for it, I guess now you got something to work with, I hope?

[N'wah]

Also see Misroi's suggestions. Good stuff. :)