Venturer

VENTURER

Venturers honor Ffloy and his ideals by bringing the light of commerce and mercantilism to places in which they are rare or unknown. They specialize in exploring new lands, opening new trade routes, and spreading the concepts of free trade and commercial law. If they make a decent profit at the same time, all the better!

Venturers always consider Ffloy as a patron, but venturers are not always priests. However, venturers must be skilled in the merchant arts, and they must be able to use magic in striking the best bargain. People from many classes become venturers, but most have some clerical experience.

As NPCs, venturers promote trade in dangerous areas, bringing exotic and rare goods through hazardous terrains, great distances, and threatening hordes. Inexperienced venturers serve as junior merchants on rough but established routes; experienced venturers blaze new trails and encounter new cultures in unknown areas. They often specialize in high-value, low-volume goods, such as gems, spices, objects of art, and magical items.

Hit Die: d8

Requirements

To qualify to become a venturer, a character must fulfill the following criteria.

• Feats: Alertness

• Skills: Appraise 6 ranks, Profession (Merchant) 6 ranks

• Spells: Mending; Tongues; Enthrall OR Suggestion

• Special: Must pay an initiation fee of 500 gp per character level.

Class Skills

The Venturer's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Appraise (Int), Bluff (Chr), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Gather Information (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge [commerce] (Int), Knowledge [law] (Int), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Speak Language, Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis), and Survival (Wis).

Skill Points per level: 6 + Int modifier

Class Features

Square Dealer Ethos: Because the venturer is an example of the advantages of commerce and trade, she must steer clear of all practices that give certain merchants a bad name. No promising one thing and delivering another. No taking advantage of a buyer's or seller's gullibility, inexperience, or stupidity. No bald-faced lies about products you sell. No usury, money lending, or fees for changing currencies. No gambling or bookmaking. No deceptive accounting. No advocacy of positions, rules, taxes, tariffs, or laws designed to give yourself an advantage over others. No favoritism or gifts in goods or services to friends, family, business associates, or fellow party members. In all things, conduct business such that you are always welcome in the community.

Weapon & Armor Proficiency: Venturers are proficient in all armor and shields (except tower shields). They are proficient with all simple weapons.

Spells Per Day: When a new venturer level is gained, the character gains new spells per day as if she had also gained a level in a spellcasting class she belonged to before she added the prestige class. She does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (better wildshape, metamagic or item creation feats, and so on). This essentially means that she adds the level of venturer to the level of some other spellcasting class the character has, then determines spells per day, spells known, and caster level accordingly. If a character had more than one spellcasting class before she became a venturer, she must decide to which class she adds her venturer levels for purposes of determining spells per day when she first adopts the PrC.

Sect: The sect of venturers primarily consists of trading companies and backage houses. The trading companies (usually younger venturers) organize and send out teams to explore new lands, open markets, and establish trade. The backing companies (usually older venturers) invest capital in and provide funding for such expeditions. All of these are active in temple activities, especially in advising and teaching.

Trader: While other player characters very seldom buy and sell outside the Catacombs Magic Shop, a venturer often buys, sells and trades goods outside the Catacombs, and at better rates of exchange than non-Venturers would receive. Per the PHB, PCs generally sell goods at 50% book value. Venturers may get 100% of book value or more, depending on local supply and demand. This allows the venturer to take advantage of regional price differences, buying at low prices where goods are common, and selling at high prices where goods are in demand. For example: A venturer discovers a colony of wild gnomes. They hunt with their own kind of tanglefoot bags. Normally, PCs go through the Catacombs to buy tanglefoot bags, but the venturer can buy them from the gnomes at a bargain price, the DM tells him after much negotiation and diplomacy. When he returns to his hometown, the venturer bargains with local merchants and discovers he can sell each tanglefoot bag for double what he paid. However, the venturer cannot sell goods at the Catacombs that he bought at a discount using this ability -- to take advantage of regional price differences, the venturer must move goods from one specific region to another region. Before he sells anything, a venturer must own the product -- he may not act as an agent or middleman. The trader ability is limited in use to transactions with NPCs only.

Negotiator: A venturer gains Negotiator as a bonus feat.

Wholesaler: Using a successful Profession (Merchant) roll, the venturer can gain access to markets, traders, and sources that others would find difficult or impossible to track down.

• • DC 15: Find a seller/buyer of rare goods, gain access to "insider" forums and markets.
  • DC 20: Find a seller/buyer of magic items outside the Catacombs.
  • DC 25: Find a safe and reliable fence for selling/buying illegal or controversial merchandise.

NOTE: Add 5 to 10 to the DC in small towns and villages; add 10 to 15 in other unusual places. Also, no roll will succeed if the DM determines that the desired source or buyer is simply unavailable in the area.

Diligent: A venturer gains Diligent as a bonus feat.

Interpreter: At level five, and each time a new venturer level is gained, the venturer acquires an extra skill rank that must be used to learn a new language. If one half of one rank is applied to a language, the venturer can communicate in a merchant lingo, or pidgin, sufficient for most trade. If another half of a rank is applied, either immediately or at a later level, the venturer gains full fluency. A new language must be one to which the venturer has been exposed, by experience or tutor.

Banker: The venturer can store physical goods at any Temple of Ffloy, paying an upfront fee of one gold piece per cubic foot of goods stored. There is no insurance for lost or stolen goods, but Temples of Ffloy are well known as secure and safe places. The venturer can also deposit wealth in coins or gems at a Temple and redeem it in other coins or gems at any other Temple, less a ten percent transaction and storage fee. The fee is reduced by two percent at each level above sixth: 8% at level 7; 6% at level 8; 4% at level 9; and 2 % at level 10.

Investigator: A venturer gains Investigator as a bonus feat.

Mentor: The venturer gains the Leadership feat, which he can use to establish agents, train brokers, and educate people in a community about how to better conduct commerce. This network of contacts can range far and wide, and the individuals in it are inspired by the venturer's example. However, the venturer must still pay a competitive wage to followers, agents, and employees.

Persuasive: A venturer gains Persuasive as a bonus feat.

Solon (Sp): In fulfilling Ffloy's injunction to spread the values of mercantilism, hard work, and good planning, the venturer can call on his god's power to encourage trade and to help others set up systems of laws, judges, taxes, banks, and so on. In order to speak with supreme authority, the venturer sacrifices a magic item (which disappears) and prays as a full round action. Then he "speaks from the top" -- his voice becomes gravelly and slow, and very wise. While he is speaking, others are enthralled, and must make a will save vs. DC 25 to interrupt and vs. DC 35 to attack or leave. The venturer generally uses the voice to propose a deal (Diplomacy or Bluff) or make an offer that cannot be refused (Intimidate check) -- these checks gain a +1 sacred bonus per 100 gp value of the magic item offered in sacrifice. The venturer gains the same bonus when using the voice to convince others that trade is better than fighting, when negotiating trade agreements, and when offering legal advice. The duration is one round for each 100 gp value of the item sacrificed. If this ability is used frivolously, the venturer loses all spells (arcane and divine) until he has atoned. Usually, the venturer may say whatever he wants when using this ability, but on rare occasions, the Voice will speak with the actual words of Ffloy, and then they must be obeyed utterly and without fail.

Note to the DM

The Venturer prestige class does not lend itself to traditional D&D play -- it focuses on trade routes and killer products over noble quests and killer monsters. It means a more merchant-oriented focus to the game that you or the other players may not desire. The other players and you, the DM, should be interested in letting the game go in that direction, at least to a degree, before you allow a venturer in your game. And even if you are excited about having a venturer, be aware of the extra work, such as keeping track of trade goods and prices for different regions.

If you do allow a venturer, be ready for the unexpected. That acid pool trap in those ruins, for example -- after the group escapes, expect the venturer to come back with hundreds of bottles. After all, acid is a valuable commodity. And what will happen to acid prices after your venturer floods the market? And once acid prices drop, more people will be using it as a weapon -- maybe against the party!

You'll want to provide ideas and hints for your venturer, especially when visiting a new place. For example, in a new town, you post, the sun shines on the pink stone houses and street vendors hawk Olallieberry Tarts. The venturer immediately starts to think about rose marble prices and the rarity of Olallieberry Jam back home. You need to be ready to deal with that!

A venturer can offer novel depth to the traditional D&D game, but only allow it if you and the other players are happy to explore new ways to play.