The PCs I’m running just defeated Zarskia Galembar in the Jasperleaf Apothecary. They captured her alive and turned her over to Tessa Fairwind.
Then they had a brilliant idea. The bard in the group used disguise and pretended to be Zarskia so the PCs could “buy” the apothecary from her. So as far as a legal stand point in Port Peril, the PCs own Jasperleaf.
The group is now searching for a way to set up teleportation circles to and from their ship into the apothecary, so they can sell plundered items directly at the new Jasperleaf Emporium.
They have not done this yet, as they are pricing costs and trying to figure out if they will be able to trust a wizard powerful enough to cast the spells needed. Since the group is 8th level average and is not able to do so on their own.
My biggest concern (besides using ultimate campaign to figure out how profitable it will be) is what other problems would they run into trying to and running a shop directly connected to a sailing ship?
I can’t find anything about guilds within Port Peril. OR if there would be a business fee, or they have to pay taxes to the Hurricane King.
I also wonder, since the group is planning on keeping the wizard at the store (if they get a teleportation network set up) and having him make magic items and sell them. I’m thinking other wizards within Port Peril won’t take to kindly to new competition. And with it being a pirate port I was thinking that a gang of thugs or constant attempts at robbery would happen.
I don’t want to discourage my group from coming up with their plans regarding this. But I’m trying to have realistic “repercussions.”
Also, I know they will be kicking themselves for going to far into a business in Port Peril, when the Island of Empty Eyes is just around the corner.
Any thoughts or suggetions?
It sounds like you have some good ideas for potential conflicts. I'd also add a stipulation in becoming a Free Captain that you can't own a business in another Free Captain's port. This could lead to some tough decisions before long, and add a small bonus to the AP finale.
Leadership can get a trustworthy wizard.
For business advice, check out the downtime rules in Ultimate Campaign.
What you want is a gate between your ship and the shop. 3.5 had rules* for making such, but I have not seen a PF version.
Ring_Gates is a 3.5 item that might be tweaked.
Note also, per the Skull & Shackles Player's Guide:
"Because ships are constantly in motion, the caster of spells of the teleportation subschool must have line of sight to teleport onto a ship. Otherwise, a caster must scry upon a particular ship first, then immediately teleport to the scryed destination. Any delay in casting means the ship has moved from its scryed location and the spell fails."
/cevah
*Create Portal 1/3 down the page.
Prerequisite: Craft Wondrous Item.
Benefit: You can create any portal whose prerequisites you meet. Crafting a portal takes one day for each 1,000 gp in its base price. To craft a portal, you must spend 1/25 of its base price in XP and use up raw materials costing half of this base price.
Some portals incur extra costs in material components or XP as noted in their descriptions. These costs are in addition to those derived from the portal's base price.
Also found in Stronghold Builder's Guide
EDIT: added Create Portal