starwarsdrip

To preface this doesn't exactly require cults in the title, but these examples are perhaps most fitting, especially once the Cults book is released. One player character with a focus in Riding, and another with a focus in Bargain are what's really important, as well as their characters ambition to make some silver. What i'm trying to uncover with this thought experiment is player business and making money outside of simply following the Occupation role. Deciding to go into a Horse-training/trading partnership, the Hyalor horse trainer, and Issaries merchant take out a loan for 200 gold. Interest is 3d6+6 (Core rules pg. 406), lets assume worst case scenario 28% interest on a one year loan for an overall 256L of debt. At sacred time they go to a city and purchase 5 Daron meat horses for 40L each, 200L overall. Using the training times from weapons and equipment, the Horse Trainer spends his five weeks of time not adventuring to train each meat horse into a riding beast. The merchant spends negotiating buyers with the Bargain skill for market price during this time. Selling 5 Daron riding horses for market price will net 375L, 200 of which will be spent on 5 new Darons to train next season, with a profit of 175L . Repeat this for 4 seasons, leaving sacred time free, and you'll have 700L at the end of the year. Pay taxes, 20% to be left with 560L, pay off your debt, down to 304L, split it between partners, 152L each, pay 60L for living expenses, and you've both earned 92 additional silver for your work, and still have 5 Darons to start over in the spring! Next year without debt, you'll go from 92L after taxes, living expenses etc, to 220L each, a small fortune. Where this gets, either exciting or absolutely broken (i'll let the forum inform me which way they see it) is in hiring followers in expanding the business. Assuming a follower who has riding at 50% they can train a meat horse into a riding animal on a 50% roll, give them 2 weeks to each animal, make them work 8 weeks and not go on any adventures, pay them 60L for their service, and they're training 4 horses a season. That is, 388L a year after taxes and paying them. Hire a bodyguard to protect each apprentice horse trainer, and its still 328L to the business or 164L per player. Get five followers, five warriors to guard them, you're looking at around 820L from the apprentices, and the 220L from the player horse trainer, for a total of 1,040L a year PER PLAYER. Obviously, these players would have to deal with raids, jealous rivals over their new wealth, and more. I guess the question is would anyone allow a pair of players to try this scheme, and if you have any thoughts on a similar idea for crafters or redsmiths?