PARTY CONTROLLED SHOPS

A party may be fortunate to acquire a license to run a shop. A license can be acquired a number of ways: -

• A party can attempt to purchase a license by using a SA in a settlement. The license can cost anywhere in the region of 250,000+ gold; so only the rich parties should attempt this approach. Settlement Officials are also unlikely to give an adventuring party a shop license, adventurers are generally believed to be too fickle and not business minded, and thus unreliable.
• A chance to buy a shop license could be offered to an Alliance, or party (Alliance or Independent) for completing a special quest, or more likely several special quests; this license could be at a hefty discount, or even free.
• An Alliance can attempt to persuade their Organisation to sort out a license at a discounted rate. This method will normally require several SAs to arrange, and can still cost quite a lot. Most important for an Alliance to keep in mind is that the shop is run by only one party and they are using Alliance status, so two options can be used.
  • A) A party is nominated to run a shop on behalf of the Alliance. A tag is set on the shop that means if the party ever leaves the Alliance, or if the Alliance Hierarchy decides the shop can be given to someone else. This means that all items in the shop are passed on with it. The Alliance can decide to use a SA at any time and give an Alliance shop to another Alliance party to manage. The Alliance can decide to use a SA at any time and hand over a shop to a party to not just run but own.
  • B) The shop is totally run and owned by the party. This could be a good way of rewarding productive parties in the Alliance. If the shop is set-up in this manner only the party owner can give it to the Alliance.
    Important Note: There is a limit on how many shops there are in quest currently so if there is not an empty building available then the cost will likely be twice the standard fee. It is however more likely that no license will be offered at all.

When a shop is first set-up the type of shop and blurb can be decided as a FA; see Shop Blurb next for more details.

SHOP BLURB

As a Free Action upon successfully setting up the shop the player can submit a blurb to phil@kjcgames.com.
The blurb cannot be outrageous, for example: "The walls are jewel encrusted with a magical throne behind a golden counter." This links in with the following three settings for the shop: - Opulent, Fine, Basic (Some would say scummy). Along with the blurb the player determines what level of expense is spent on the shop. The player needs to make sure the required amount of gold is in their party or their Alliance's bank account. The first time the level of expense is chosen it is a FA.
If a level of expense is chosen but no blurb then the GM will add a blurb to the shop, any further changes will count as the 2nd time, and so on.
If a blurb is chosen but no level of expense then the shop will default to the basic level, any further changes will count as the 2nd time, and so on.

 

Level of Expense

1. Opulent - 30,000 gold - The shop is extremely well designed and has lush fittings. The shop has a very good construction. The shop blurb can be opulent.
2. Fine - 10,000 gold - The shop has what would generally be considered a fine and solid construction. The shop blurb can be fancy.
3. Basic - 0 gold - This is the default setting for the shop. The shop is pleasant enough, but nothing special. The shop blurb needs to be basic.

See the 'Shop Services' section the additional affect of these settings.
Once a blurb and level of expense has been set-up it cannot be changed unless a SA is used. An independent party, since they do not have SA, can use 10,000 gold to change the blurb and level of expense.

MODERATION AND SHOPS

You can use an action, be it a Power or a SA, to attempt to Infiltrate or Rob a party shop. Using an action on a shop is an easy undertaking, with a high chance of failure, before modifiers, and thus should be undertaken after weighing up the worth of the action versus the potential consequences.

If the protection money is being paid then any actions on a shop are more difficult, and more likely to have even harsher repercussions if the action fails.

An additional modifier to an actions success or failure is the shops setting. A basic shop is easier to break into than a fine or opulent shop. Whilst an opulent shop is more difficult the rewards will be better if the action is successful.

If you have a shop that is in a settlement with an Alliance that has Rank 2 with one of its goals they have more political power than your party has. This is an important consideration, as setting up a shop in a Settlement that belongs to an enemy Alliance is likely to result in a lot of wasted gold and/or SA.A SA can be used to attempt to have any shop, including a player-controlled shop closed down. However it is important to remember that for a party to have a shop in the first place they must have paid a lot of gold, or carried out favours for the settlement, so without a good reason, a big bribe or other incentive the SA will likely not work.

ORDERS FOR ANY PARTY INTERACTING WITH A PARTY CONTROLLED SHOP

As an ordinary punter you may interact with these shops in one of three orders:

Buy Item

B [character (1-15)] [shop (20-89)] [slot (1-8)]

This order is used in a slightly different way than the normal buy order, as the slot number is used instead of the item number.

Rob Item

RI [character (1-15)] [shop (20-89)] [slot (1-8) or anything (0)]

A failed robbery generally results in not just being kicked out but being banned from the settlement; so it is not something to attempt unless you are willing to take the risk.

Investigate Shop

I [shop (20-89)]

This order investigates the shop and gives the shops blurb to the party.

OWNER INFORMATION

The shop costs 200 gold per game week to run, which is taken directly from the party's bank account. If there is not enough gold in the account a debt of 1000 gold is incurred. Failure to pay this debt before the next game week will result in the loss of the shop, and all the items.

An additional fee costing another 200 gold a week can be paid to protect the shop from Thieves. This gold is also taken directly from the party's bank account.

OWNER NEW ORDERS

Put Item:

PI (character 1-15) (slot 1-8) (item 101-800,10000+)

This order is used by the shop owner to put an item into the designated slot in the shop.

Get Item:

GI (character 1-15) (slot 1-8)

This item allows the shop owner to take an item from the designated slot in the shop.

Set Price:

SP (slot 1-8) (price, 0=don't sell 0-1,000,000)

This order sets the price for any items in the designated slot. Setting the price of 0 means that the item is stored at the shop and will not be sold unless another price is given.

Buy Permission:

BP (slot 1-8) (any1 party or alliance 0,1001-2000,101-150)
(n.b. If a permission other than 0 is set, a price of 0 indicates don't charge)

This order gives another party permission to collect an item. If a price has been set then they still pay the price, whilst a price of 0 means there is no charge.

Protection Money:

PR (Off/On 0-1)

Setting this option to on, PR 1, means that the party is giving protection money to the local Thieves Guild, Bankers & Merchants Guild, Settlement Officials, or a similar Organisation to help protect the shop. A shop with this setting cannot be affected by the Wait and Rob order; only moderated actions can attempt to affect the shop.

The fee of 200 gold per game week is automatically taken from the party's bank account until the option is switched off, PR 0.

Pay off Debt:

PD

If a party's bank account does not contain enough gold to pay the running costs of the shop then the party will be given a 1,000 gold fine.

Failure to have the standard running cost of 200 gold in the party's bank account by the end of the game week will result in the loss of the shop and all its items.

The 1,000 gold fine gives a party an expensive gap in-between payments, something that should not be used on purpose to avoid a one-week 200 gold fee.

The Protection Money will be automatically switched off if there is not enough gold to pay it. The party will need to reactivate it when this occurs.

SHOP SERVICES

An Alliance HQ or player-controlled shop can have one of the following three services: Cheap, Standard and Extravagant Recreation Services.

A player-controlled shop can only have a service of equal or less standard than the shops level and only an upgraded HQ can have the Extravagant Recreation Service.

The gold generated by NPCs by a shop service is linked to a settlement's economic situation; it is extremely unlikely that a settlement without outstanding trade will generate maximum gold. Bear in mind that the gold generated by the shop service may not cover the cost of the service, but other weeks the service could not only cover the cost of itself but possibly even the entire shop costs

 

(650) Cheap Recreation Service - Any Alliance HQ, Basic, Fine & Opulent Shops
Set-up Fee: 500 gold + see below regards SA
Maintenance cost: 200 gold
Income Generated: 1 to 500 gold per game week
Fee to use: 3 gold per character
Blurb: CHEAP RECREATION
This service covers a multitude of different cheap recreations. The service could be something like a basic restaurant, a basic relaxation spa, even possibly a quick lap dance.

(651) Recreation Service - Any Alliance HQ, Fine & Opulent Shops only.
Set-up Fee: 1000 gold + see below regards SA
Maintenance cost: 300 gold
Income Generated: 1 to 1000 gold per game week
Fee to use: 5 gold per character
Blurb: RECREATION
This service covers a multitude of different recreations. The service could be something like a nice restaurant, a full relaxation regime, even something as crazy as counseling for those needy characters.

(652) Extravagant Recreation Service - Upgraded Alliance HQ & Opulent Shops only
Set-up Fee: 5000 gold + see below regards SA
Maintenance cost: 600 gold
Income Generated: 6 to 2000 gold per game week
Fee to use: 10 gold per character
Blurb: EXTRAVAGANT RECREATION

This service covers a multitude of different extravagant recreations. The service could be something like a lavish restaurant, a magical theatre, or possibly even high-class escorts.

Each player-controlled shop and Alliance HQ has a Free Action (FA) to set-up a service. In addition to the costs noted above.

As a FA upon successfully setting up the service the player can submit a blurb to phil@kjcgames.com. The blurb can contain up to 50 words, also make sure you spell check and grammar check before submitting the blurb. The blurb is given out when the service is purchased so the blurb should be something appropriate to the service having just been used:
For Example: Thank you for visiting our fabulous restaurant we hope you tried the Dragon Heart dish.

Once a blurb has been set-up it cannot be changed unless a SA is used. An independent party, since they do not have SA can use 10,000 gold to change the blurb.

To change a service from one type to another requires a SA for Alliances and 10,000 gold for an independent party, in addition to the set-up fee noted above,

 

As a Free Action a shop can drop its service, however if it does drop the service another cannot be set-up for at least two weeks.

Only 1 Recreation Service can be in use at a shop at any time.

Once a Recreation Service has been dropped, it will require a SA for Alliance members or 10,000 gold for an independent party to set-up again.

The fee to use is currently fixed, and it only affects the price party members pay. This addition allows party's to interact with the shop but it has no effects on stats, currently it is a role-play addition. The main point of the service is that in settlements where the economy is good the chances of making a lot of gold vastly improve.

The service is like any other service in the regards to taking up one of the shop slots.

CHANGING MANAGER

There can only be one manager of a shop, but the manager can be changed. To change the manager of a shop a SA is required for an Alliance party or 10,000 gold for an independent party