Main Page » Domain action summary » Ply trade action



This action is summarized in Domain action descriptions. This page expands upon the basic description and adds various alternative interpretations and options.


[top]Basic


Ply trade, as the name suggests the character themselves does some work, if they have commercial skills or talents these are likely to be used, if not the only thing they may be fit for is manual labor. Generally a regent has, of course, some significant skills or talents, although the modesty of state may restrict them from making use of them. In general this is not one of the more useful actions as it has little direct impact on their holdings, however it is a convenient backstop for the impecunious.

In mixed parties of regents and non-regents, the regents will often be tied up performing domain actions while non-regents have little to do. Non-regents might adventure, conduct research, or ply a trade to earn money.

[top]Expanded


Your ability to find work, negotiate wages, and make a profit is based upon your bonus in Craft (Any), Profession (Any), or Perform. Highly skilled individuals are rare and can earn an increasingly large salary. The listed incomes are appropriate in provinces of level four. Increase profit by 25% for each level of the province above four. Decrease income by 25% for each level less than four. For example, a character with a +10 skill bonus in Profession (Soldier) can make 300gp per month in a province 6; their base salary of 200gp (+10 bonus x 20gp/bonus) plus an additional 50% for the province level (+25% x (province[6]- province[4]) ).

Ply trade has few applications for a powerful regent - their holdings provide them with funds beyond anything that mere labor could provide. However some regents may benefit greatly from using this action:

Regents with holdings which generate minimal income. Ply trade can, for a highly skilled character, generate significant funds - what price the aid of a mighty archmage, the life-giving talents of a talented priest, the generalship of a master tactician? These funds can then be converted into GB using the Finance action or used to directly see to the PC's needs.


Regents whose skills overlap their holdings. Ply trade may seem irrelevant when the PC is highly skilled at administration, but by using the skill on their own organization they can root out inefficiencies (at least until their attention is diverted elsewhere) or they can identify weaknesses in the bureaucracy of a neighboring organization - the exact benefits being left for the DM's discretion, but a bonus on relevant actions within a domain turn or two, a few extra RP, etc sound fair.


Scions who have not yet founded a holding. Everything must start somewhere, before an organization musters sufficient power to be a holding, it must be brought into existence in some way. Ply trade is the obvious place to start, the warrior who gathers a band of honest men and sets about scourging the roads of bandits will win fame, fortune and the reverence of their troops all at once - and in doing so forge the nucleus of a nascent holding. The exact mechanical benefit is best left to the DM's discretion, but founding a L0, perhaps even a L1 holding through great acts is not inconceivable.


Regents with great artistic skill. Little wins true lasting fame better than the creation of a truly great piece of art. Little destroys another regent's reputation than a mocking play whose cutting barbs are the toast of every dinner party and whose songs resound in every tavern. While the most likely variant of this skill to fail (or at least fail to be sufficiently magnificent to grant a bonus) it is also the use most likely to have a significant impact. RP gains are the obvious benefit, as are long term bonuses to the effective level of the court. More subtle outcomes might be bonuses or penalties to diplomacy - will the vassalage of the church endure once the regent is a figure of fun or publicly thought to worship some perverted god? Bonuses to agitate actions are another good reward for great use of this skill.

[top]Variants


PCs could also spend a month engaged in work for a patron. Instead of negotiating pay and finding work, the PC has a patron who will pay for some specific work. Perhaps the patron wants a high quality sword, or an epic poem composed. If a character spends a month on this kind of work, they are effectively engaging in the Ply Trade action for the specified reward.


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