Merchant Ranked Skill Proposal

[Miss Magical]

So, this thought goes hand-in-hand with what I had in mind for the Boatworks Quests involving hauling cargo across the world for profits and the like. You can see what I wrote here. This was just a fun idea to give characters with the ability better chances at profits in these type of quests.

Merchant (Any Class)
Novice - You have a way about you of convincing people of the usefulness of an item.

+1 to Merchant-related rolls.

Apprentice - More trained, you are able to key in on an object's selling points better than many.

+2 to Merchant-related rolls.

Journeyman - You are an experienced salesman.

+3 to Merchant-related rolls.

Expert - Few are better at making people think they need to buy what you're selling at your price.

+4 to Merchant-related rolls.

Grandmaster - If Coffee is for Closers then your middle name is Java.

+5 to Merchant-related rolls and able to re-roll one failed merchant check per scene.

Note that this skill is not required to run merchant-quests, it just gives benefits to those that do.

[Zaira]

I'll make sure to read over the quest part and offer feedback there, but my concern for the ranked skill group on it's own, is that ships are already pretty heavy in the skill-investment (reaching someplace between 8 and 12 skill points to captain an ocean going vessel), that adding another set (no required, I know) causes worry.

That being said, I do not have a solid alternative. Could try to fit/be based off another ranked skill that is already required for captaining (cartography, navigation - but neither of those really fit) or group it in with Etiquette (which does not really get rid of the bloat of skill investments), or steal from shop stealing and have it based off of the times a class as been chosen (Maybe a sea-going advance class? Ooh.)

It's good, it fits, it's just a struggle to get the needed skills for boating already.

[Miss Magical]

Agreed, and I did think up another possibility about halfway through writing up the thing I outlined above that I also liked, so I'll present it here. It should be noted, too, that this skill isn't that big a thing outside of the final level: getting to re-roll is a very big advantage, much much more useful when compared with a +5 to a roll out of 100 (which still is nice, and can turn a close miss into a close hit, which is the point).

If the Merchant/Seller has a skill relating to the items being sold then they get the bonuses explained above equaling their level in that skill. For example, if a merchant is selling wood supplies and has an Expert level in Carpentry, they would receive a +4 roll to selling those supplies. If one is selling naval supplies and is a Grandmaster in Navigation, then they receive a +5 roll and the ability to re-roll once. Now, the downside to this is that this isn't a catch-all and a DM might decide to break down rolls based off of smaller details, but that could be left up to them and wouldn't require any defined rule as to how it was done, as so much of these quests are left up to the decisions of those involved.

This also makes plenty of sense: one who knows more about what they are trying to sell is going to be able to sell it better, and it wouldn't require a new skill, so that's nice too.

[Zaira]

Seems like every time I make a suggestion I end up making life harder on poor Zaira.

I like it, and think this is a good way to make cargo and crew selection more important and even get characters along for the voyage that would not usually be inclined towards it. I am unsure of how the numbers go (they may end up being too stacked in favor of the players) but my suggestion would be to handle it as a group modified roll. The crew (the player character members of the crew at least) meet with the buyer(s) and the negotiations start. For every piece of cargo that a character has training directly relating to (strict that it has to be exact to the nature of the skill), there is a plus 1 given on the 1d100 roll - with only the highest in that skill being counted and etiquette always counting as applicable.

So, Zaira, a bard, a weaponsmith, a jeweler, and a warrior are gathered around a noble's table preparing to dine and negotiate business. It is usually the captain's responsibility to make introductions and facilitate dealings - but Zaira knows she does not deal with people well (rank 2 etiquette) so she lets the bard take charge (rank 5 etiquette) who manages to captivate the noble and his underlings. Some chit-chat is made before moving on to the cargo - a shipment of weapons, jewelry and food. The warrior knows a bit of on smithing arms and armor (rank 1), and is able to contribute a little bit - but the MMR has sent along one of their Masters (rank 5) who (with some help from the warrior) manages to personally guarantee the quality of each and every piece of the cargo's weapons. Next up is the jeweler (rank 3), who while not working for the General Store can talk impartially about the high quality of the pieces he had no hand in making. Finally, the food is addressed - a nervous glance amongst the crew before Zaira firmly declares that the food is without a doubt edible (rank 0).

On their bargaining roll of 1d100, they receive a bonus of 13 (bard's 5, smith's 5, and jeweler's 3 with Zaira and the warrior offering no bonus).
If they fail the roll, the bonus if halved.

Option of each character only able to use one skillset each (preventing taking along one high level character who can stack up a 20 plus bonus on their own).

[Miss Magical]

On their bargaining roll of 1d100, they receive a bonus of 13 (bard's 5, smith's 5, and jeweler's 3 with Zaira and the warrior offering no bonus).
If they fail the roll, the bonus if halved.

Option of each character only able to use one skillset each (preventing taking along one high level character who can stack up a 20 plus bonus on their own).

I like the idea, definitely, but if that were the case I'd remove the ability to re-roll failed rolls for a Grandmaster, as it'd be ridiculously overpowered in that case. Really, it's ridiculously powerful anyways, and if we did anything but the "Merchant" skill itself I suppose it'd be wise to remove that bonus. But I do like this suggestion, though there is one problem:

How many people you can take with you and honestly hope to make a profit is really dependent on how much cargo you have to start with. While this makes sense, to be sure, I'd really want to pay each of those involved at least 100mhl for their efforts; now that I think about that, though, this could be done via rewards gained by looting pirate ships or other attackers, so it wouldn't be as much an issue as I was just thinking.

[Zaira]

I like the idea, definitely, but if that were the case I'd remove the ability to re-roll failed rolls for a Grandmaster...

Oh yes, definitely. I somehow managed to leave out that bit of feedback from my original draft (which ended up incomprehensible). The rerolls are powerful and I would leave them out (save for merchant skill, if that is the way things end up), complete agreement.

[Lloathe]

If I might interject...
Does the Merchant skill cover anything that cannot be/is not covered under Etiquette/Tending?

I -really- like applying skills to more than just how much you get paid every month, so I support the idea in general. Another thing to look at is Unranked skills as well, such as Public Speaking and the like.

That said, I can see an argument for saying that Tending/Etiquette fits the bill nicely for this application, given the context of the time period. Bartering is a huge thing (not represented in game), so anyone who is supposed to be manning a shop should know how to barter properly. I would almost suggest making an unranked skill that allows a ranked skill to apply, or to modify things somehow, lest we require 10 levels of skills to be a properly schmoozing type.

[Miss Magical]

If I might interject...
Does the Merchant skill cover anything that cannot be/is not covered under Etiquette/Tending?

I would personally say they are two different things entirely; it was my understanding that those were for serving people, like a "Servant" type of skill, or one that suggested one knew, say, secret hand-languages of nobles, things of that nature. Bartering, now, that's a whole different beast entirely.

I'd also be hesitant to ever make unranked skills officially "apply" anywhere, as that's not their purpose. A DM can always give bonuses for having certain unranked skills, but that's entirely up to them, in the end, to decide what is and what is not fair.