Thief Kit: Merchant

Description

The Merchant's role is as old as civilization itself: to make money. Be it through legitimate or shady dealings, high-risk adventuring or high-stress marketplace haggling, the Merchant strives to make money and use that money to make more money, all the while managing a lifestyle proportional to the profits. Since Merchants make a living dealing with people and working out profitable deals on the spot, a PC must have a minimum of a 13 Charisma and a 13 Intelligence in addition to the normal thief requirements. The character of Silk in David Eddings' The Mallorean is an excellent example of a thief Merchant.

Role

The Merchant is an unusual type of thief (or a very common one, depending on whom you ask) in the sense that the Merchant has an income from a legitimate source (trading, shipping, etc.). A thief Merchant will have either started out as a thief, eventually building up enough capital to enter the commercial arena, or he robs for fun, not out of necessity, much like the stereotypical upper-class thief. The Merchant is at least a member of the lower middle class, and commands at least some respect. The ceiling to the stature a Merchant can eventually attain is virtually limitless -- more money equals more status. The only bar to prestige at the uppermost levels is lack of a noble title, but even this can sometimes be acquired with enough money. A Merchant is rarely neutral to the local thieves' guild. He either exploits it, using his money and influence to rise quickly to power within its ranks, or he is vehemently opposed to it, since the presence of thieves eats into his profits. The former case is rare, since few Merchants who boast the capital to accomplish guild rulership are willing to risk that money by involving themselves in the criminal underworld.

Legal Penalties

The Merchant is served and protected by the law, since he and those of his profession are essential to the economic health of any nation. For those Merchants that choose to involve themselves in shady dealings or even directly with the criminal element, the law is a double- edged sword: it both threatens the guilty Merchant, but protects his legitimate interests from the depredations of other thieves.

Secondary Skills

The PC Merchant may choose from Trader/Barterer, Scribe, and Navigator

Weapon Proficiencies

Merchants may learn any weapon available to the thief class, but most prefer lighter weapons that may be worn openly, usually weapons from the Fencing Blades tight group (rapier, sabre, main-gauche, dagger, stiletto).

Nonweapon Proficiencies

The Merchant receives the Appraising and Reading/Writing proficiencies for free. The Reading/Writing is for the trade language used most commonly around the Merchant's native area (usually Common, but not always). Recommended proficiencies include: Etiquette, Fast-Talking, Forgery, Gaming, Gem Cutting, Local History, Modern Languages, Reading/Writing. Merchants may purchase Reading/Writing proficiencies for one slot instead of two.

Skill Progression

Merchants don't rely as heavily on their thieving skills as other thieves do. When they do develop their skills, however, Merchants tend to work on the less overt skills: Read Languages, Pick Pockets, and Open Locks. Other, full-body skills like Climb Walls tend to be of little use to most Merchants, but PC's rarely fit the norm.

Equipment

Merchants cannot conduct business successfully if they look slovenly or poor in appearance. Therefore, a Merchant will always pay more for clothing and personal items, including any weapons which they wear openly (rapiers, etc.). This increase is usually about 50% more than normal price, and it reflects the extra ornamentation that puts the Merchant closer to the height of fashion than other, less cultured thieves. Equipment not used in the normal course of business, however (like armor and other adventuring equipment) can be of as great a quality as the Merchant desires, since it doesn't reflect on him publicly.

Special Benefits

A Merchant must have wares to sell. A PC Merchant begins play with 1d6 units of cargo, relevant to the PC's area of business (wines, fabrics, weapons, etc.). each unit takes up one ton of space on a ship (for the purposes of spelljamming), but can be smaller or larger, depending on the actual nature of the cargo. Every time the Merchant arrives in a new port or city, he may trade with his cargo, gaining 1d10gp for each unit of cargo he owns. Also, the Merchant may trade in the same city once per week (doing so more often would glut the market). Each unit is worth about 50gp, and the Merchant may add to his total at any city that is capable of supplying the required goods. Conversely, the Merchant may sell off one unit each week for 1d10+50gp. If the Merchant needs to rapidly liquidate cargo, he may sell any number of units for 1d6x10gp per unit. Finally, a Merchant's constant exposure to foreign cultures in the form of other merchants makes him by nature more cosmopolitan, giving him a +10% bonus to his Read Languages skill.

Special Hindrances

While Merchants and their activities are essential to any nation's economy, the general populace often sees them as greedy bloodsuckers, and tends to distrust them. This manifests itself as a -2 penalty to reaction rolls when dealing with commoners. Merchants do not usually learn Thieves' Cant, but may spend a proficiency slot to do so at first level only.

Races

Humans usually make the best Merchants, since they are most likely to satisfy their profit motive by engaging in mercantile activities. However, all races field Merchants of some type, and racial stereotypes tend to break down in the cosmopolitan atmosphere of the marketplace. Any race that can be a thief can be a Merchant with no penalties.

Notes

Merchants have different followers than other thieves. Instead of attracting a band of cutthroats and fences, the Merchant's followers are usually of a higher class. They all know etiquette and how to read and write, and all have some mercantile ability of their own. When the Merchant gains these followers, he may dispatch them to open and operate an office in city other than the Merchant's base of operations. This requires a start-up cost of 1000gp for one office, but within six months, the follower will start making a profit for the Merchant, usually to the tune of 1d12x100gp per quarter (every three months). This profit assumes the follower has already taken his share from the money. Also, having a office in a city gives the Merchant some influence there, and the follower can often get the Merchant information he would not otherwise be privy to.