Exploratory Thread: Mercenaries (3.5e)

[Pinoy]

And also bartender if we wanted a tavern

[Spartacus]

You don't get it: if we buy our lackeys' equipment for them, we can optimize them, too

There's little point in paying someone else to manage our employees' equipment when they can do it themselves anyway, is what I mean, unless we want to have a company armory/armorer.

[Pinoy]

You don't get it: if we buy our lackeys' equipment for them, we can optimize them, too

There's little point in paying someone else to manage our employees' equipment when they can do it themselves anyway, is what I mean, unless we want to have a company armory/armorer.

ok so they have to give the loot to us first then buy the equipment only by that time. No inventory, good for us. I just though we will have an armoury

We can hire a caster (high level) to put some enhancement on some equipments which may take months.

We should make our equipment better than what is offered in the market, because what would be their advantage if we buy from us or from the market?

[Carrikature]

So that would basically mean the guild cut would need to be around 90% for option 2, since magical equipment and item costs are far more than 'living' costs

Something like that. I'd think more like 95% to the guild and 5% to the character, but the actual numbers are up to you.

So, do we want to micromanage our lackeys' equipment? How many people can we optimize at the same time?

You don't get it: if we buy our lackeys' equipment for them, we can optimize them, too

Exactly. It's not just a reward distribution question. It's as much about how much control you want over the NPCs.

There's little point in paying someone else to manage our employees' equipment when they can do it themselves anyway, is what I mean, unless we want to have a company armory/armorer.

ok so they have to give the loot to us first then buy the equipment only by that time. No inventory, good for us. I just though we will have an armoury

We can hire a caster (high level) to put some enhancement on some equipments which may take months.

It's my expectation that you will eventually have smiths and casters on staff.

[Ben Zwycky]

ok, option 2 sounds good with a guild take of 95%, all equipment we buy would be guild property, NPC's returning it to the guild once a mission was completed so it can be reused for other missions?

[Pinoy]

ok, option 2 sounds good with a guild take of 95%, all equipment we buy would be guild property, NPC's returning it to the guild once a mission was completed so it can be reused for other missions?

This is ok for powerful equipments, we can loan them some equipment so that they can defend themselves even when not on assignment (they may have encountered some enemies that will go looking for them).

[Ben Zwycky]

This is ok for powerful equipments, we can loan them some equipment so that they can defend themselves even when not on assignment (they may have encountered some enemies that will go looking for them).

We can also eventually use some of the low-powered equipment as temporary replacements for when our more powerful equipment is being upgraded. We'll see how things work out. OK, Carrik, I think we're all agreed on this now, unless CV or Chrs have some strong objections. What's next?

[Pinoy]

Sorry for additional adjustment but can i add mirthal in my celestial armour. it is additional P1,000 only and it add hardness.

If i add mirthal will i get this benefits?
Spell failure chances for armors and shields made from mithral are decreased by 10%, maximum Dexterity bonus is increased by 2, and armor check penalties are lessened by 3 (to a minimum of 0).

[Ben Zwycky]

No, it is already made of a special material that gives even better benefits than mithral, the same reduction to weight (halved), armor check penalty (3) and armor category (light instead of medium), better reduction on arcane spell failure chance (15% instead of 10%) and a much better maximum dexterity bonus (+6 instead of +2). You would be much worse off going for mithral, I'm not sure if it would be possible to make it a celestial breastplate instead of chainmail to further reduce the weight, armor check penalty and arcane failure chance for an extra 50 gp, that's the only way I could see of it being improved, but that would be up to Carrik.

If Carrik allowed it, the maximum dexterity bonus would then be +9, weight 15 lb, arcane failure chance 10% and armor check penalty -1, but he might not since it is already very good as it is; he could rule that the extra bonuses are inherent to the item itself as a whole, rather than its manufacturing technique. As it is, it doesn't need to be glammered because it can be worn under normal clothing without betraying its presence, You would most likely lose that perk if it was a breastplate, since breastplates are not flexible like clothes, and chainmail is flexible.

If he allowed a celestial breastplate, the other alternative would be celestial full plate for an extra 6350 gp, meaning counts as medium armor (so would reduce your speed back to 30ft per round) a non-magical armor bonus of +8 (three higher, i.e. +12 with +4 enancement, +13 with +5 enhancement), maximum dex bonus of +7 (meaning you'd fully use it exactly), armor check penalty of -3 and arcane spell failure chance of 20%

[Pinoy]

No, it is already made of a special material that gives even better benefits than mithral, the same reduction to weight (halved), armor check penalty (3) and armor category (light instead of medium), better reduction on arcane spell failure chance (15% instead of 10%) and a much better maximum dexterity bonus (+6 instead of +2). You would be much worse off going for mithral, I'm not sure if it would be possible to make it a celestial breastplate instead of chainmail to further reduce the weight, armor check penalty and arcane failure chance for an extra 50 gp, that's the only way I could see of it being improved, but that would be up to Carrik.

If Carrik allowed it, the maximum dexterity bonus would then be +9, weight 15 lb, arcane failure chance 10% and armor check penalty -1, but he might not since it is already very good as it is; he could rule that the extra bonuses are inherent to the item itself as a whole, rather than its manufacturing technique. As it is, it doesn't need to be glammered because it can be worn under normal clothing without betraying its presence, You would most likely lose that perk if it was a breastplate, since breastplates are not flexible like clothes, and chainmail is flexible.

If he allowed a celestial breastplate, the other alternative would be celestial full plate for an extra 6350 gp, meaning counts as medium armor (so would reduce your speed back to 30ft per round) a non-magical armor bonus of +8 (three higher, i.e. +12 with +4 enancement, +13 with +5 enhancement), maximum dex bonus of +7 (meaning you'd fully use it exactly), armor check penalty of -3 and arcane spell failure chance of 20%

If that is the case then i am ok with what i have, i will just remove glammered (saving me 2,700gp).
Thanks again for being patient with me.

[Carrikature]

We can also eventually use some of the low-powered equipment as temporary replacements for when our more powerful equipment is being upgraded. We'll see how things work out. OK, Carrik, I think we're all agreed on this now, unless CV or Chrs have some strong objections. What's next?

FWIW, I had assumed initially that this would be the setup, but I figured I'd give you the option.

[Carrikature]

Here's a general review of process.

Guild Duties:
- Recruit new members as needed/desired.
- Get contracts.
- Delegate members to complete tasks.
- Manage finances and equipment.


My plan for actual gameplay is a bi-weekly (game time) administrative session followed by actual questing. The administrative session is when you can look at new recruits, assess contracts, determine to make/buy equipment, pay general upkeep, delegate quest roles, get information from contacts etc. The question session would take place after quests are delegated. The players would determine which quest to do themselves and which characters to use (doesn't have to be your personal chars). All other quests will be handled off scene by me with the results posted at the next admin session, and levelling up would generally be done then.

My intent for recruiting was to provide you a list of characters available for recruiting at each admin session. There would be something in the way of hiring cost based on profession/level for you to consider, as well as alignment, personality, whatever else. I'll probably give you a stat sheet with a basic background blurb and hiring cost. How many you hire (if any) would be based on your available funds and desires.

Contracts would be presented at the admin session in a similar manner. You'd get a list of contracts with general descriptions, rewards, prestige value, and time limit (if any). I'm not going to give you approximate ECL level. Most descriptions will have enough info that you will know what you're up against, and your main characters are big enough to know strategies and difficulty. Some will be more vague. Guessing wrong could get people killed, and that too is part of the game.

Since you have two characters each, you're more than capable of keeping the 20s at home while sending the 7s out exploring the world (or vice versa). There's no rule that you have to leave any guild members at home each period, either. Who does what and when are up to ya'll.


I'll post the geography information in a bit. After that, we'll be ready for finalized character sheets. In the meantime, I'd welcome feedback on the above.

[Carrikature]

Here's a good question. Most recruits are going to be either level 1 or level 0 to start with. If they're level 1 you won't get to choose the starting profession. Level 0 recruits can be assessed and trained as you want. Would you like the ability to leave recruits at home to train? There'd be a limit (no higher than level 5, say), and the exp rate would be lower than normal questing. The flip side is that the attrition rate would be lower.

[Ben Zwycky]

FWIW, I had assumed initially that this would be the setup, but I figured I'd give you the option.

It was good of you to ask, it makes us really feel we're on the same page now.

No, it is already made of a special material that gives even better benefits than mithral, the same reduction to weight (halved), armor check penalty (3) and armor category (light instead of medium), better reduction on arcane spell failure chance (15% instead of 10%) and a much better maximum dexterity bonus (+6 instead of +2). You would be much worse off going for mithral, I'm not sure if it would be possible to make it a celestial breastplate instead of chainmail to further reduce the weight, armor check penalty and arcane failure chance for an extra 50 gp, that's the only way I could see of it being improved, but that would be up to Carrik.

If Carrik allowed it, the maximum dexterity bonus would then be +9, weight 15 lb, arcane failure chance 10% and armor check penalty -1, but he might not since it is already very good as it is; he could rule that the extra bonuses are inherent to the item itself as a whole, rather than its manufacturing technique. As it is, it doesn't need to be glammered because it can be worn under normal clothing without betraying its presence, You would most likely lose that perk if it was a breastplate, since breastplates are not flexible like clothes, and chainmail is flexible.

Could I go for a celestial breastplate +5 without the fly ability, can't be worn undetected under clothing, but grants +2 to hide and move silent (costing 31550 gp: Celestial armor minus cost of chainmail (150) plus cost of breastplate (200), minus 1.5 times cost of fly once/day CL5 (8,100), plus 16,000 for the increase in enhancement from +3 to +5, plus 1200 for the skill boosts) The only positive difference it would make to me now would be a reduced arcane failure chance (10% instead of 15%), but it would be a very nice base to build on in the future if I can ever boost my dex higher once we're past level 20.

[Ben Zwycky]

Here's a good question. Most recruits are going to be either level 1 or level 0 to start with. If they're level 1 you won't get to choose the starting profession. Level 0 recruits can be assessed and trained as you want. Would you like the ability to leave recruits at home to train? There'd be a limit (no higher than level 5, say), and the exp rate would be lower than normal questing. The flip side is that the attrition rate would be lower.

That's an interesting option, but it's going to cost us money rather than making it on a quest, isnt it? It's kind of hard to imagine what to prioritise without some numbers to play with (how much does finding a new recruit cost, once we recruit them, are we paying them wages or just allowign them a percentage of quest income, etc.)