Advice needed: 1st book treasure lottery

[Hjard]

So my group started playing this adventure path. When they found the 5 smaller chests in the first tomb (containing some scrolls, little bit of money / stuff to sell) instead of opening them they had the idea to auction of the closed chests.

I liked the idea and plan to let them go with this when they complete the tomb.
Now I'm looking for ideas on how to handle the auction from a mechanical standpoint as me just shouting increasing numbers in different voices for a couple of minutes to simulate the auction audience would be incredibly boring.

What I already have:
They will need to find a venue. Maybe co-operate with some merchant or simply rent a space at the market. Depending on how "good" their solution is, more people will turn up which should increase the amount of money they get out of this.
They will need to do some advertisement. Hard to sell stuff when nobody knows about the auction.

Both of these things can easily be handled with some RP and normal skill use (the bard will finally have something to do).

But I have no ideas for the auction itself :/

[Boaty McBoatface]

There is an auction at the start of book 2 and it has some rules for running it. Perhaps let the party know there is an upcoming auction and to keep hold of the stuff until then. When you get to the start of book 2 its the first event.
If you want to do it sooner then just use the location "The Canny Jackal" as its a recognised auction house and will get the PC's familiar with it.

[Hjard]

Wow thanks!
I did not expect that there are actual rules for something similar. Much less in this exact adventure path...

[archmagi1]

Ooh, I like the idea of getting into the Canny Jackal and having a short "Unopened Containers" auction prior to the Economic Crash that necessitates the auction in Book 2. It gets the players familiar with both the venue and the process so that when that certain Pulse emanates, it's that much more fun.

Hjard wrote:

Wow thanks!

I did not expect that there are actual rules for something similar. Much less in this exact adventure path...

Oh this AP is pretty solid for thematics. There are Fantasy Economics simulations, Bureaucracy simulations, Cultism, and massive aerial assaults.

[drsparnum]

There are some bargaining rules here you could adapt from:
http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/ultimateCampaign/campaignSystems/bargain ing.html

I think the idea will be fun so I don't want to squash it but...unless the buyer can actually verify the PCs have not opened the treasure I don't know why anyone would trust the PC. People buy sealed collectibles in our world because the packaging is sealed and you're reasonably assured a typical person could counterfeit the sealed package. I don't see such a system applying to treasure chests.

Perhaps they could submit to a zone of truth spell or something.

[archmagi1]

I can see the stuff from the tomb of akentepi maybe being clay sealed as it was a burial site (vs the estate or library from the rest of book 1). That would be sufficient handwavium for the fidelity of the sealed coffers.