Official ICE Forums
Gamer's Corner => General Discussion => Topic started by: Colin-ICE on May 24, 2017, 02:21:01 AM
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In our most recent blog I discuss some ideas for magical businesses that you don't often see in RPGs (read the blog here (http://ironcrown.com/blog/2017/05/24/magical-businesses-that-should-be-in-your-rpg/)).
I thought I'd open the topic up to the forum and ask what magical businesses do you most often use in your campaigns and why? What did you think of the businesses suggested and how does magic (and the sale thereof) work in your setting?
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In cities being able to control fires or water would make fire insurance a viable business for magicians (this isn't my idea, the magic users in Waterdeep can earn a small retainer if they agree to answer the fire alarm calls).
Animists could run some pretty special apothecary shops.
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Animal control reminds me of the Witcher (which is going to be a TV series now on Netflix): an order devoted to fighting monsters.
If you think of the things that most plagued people in the past, they were things like disease, famine, fire. There would be a lot of money in businesses that addressed those concerns. You've already noted the fire departments. If magic were as ubiquitous as it is in say Shadow World, I can imagine Channeling casters hiring themselves out as healers and food/water summoners. The latter would be especially useful in sieges: a commander who had enough food/water summoners could hold out indefinitely against a blockade.
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I use Magic brokers and Trinket type businesses in my campaigns along with apothecaries and magical schools that sell scrolls of low to moderate level (magic training for students) to fund their schools.
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We rarely buy magic stuff other then maybe a refill of a staff or ring.
weapons can be ordered, but with a wait time for it to finish!
Most magic items are found in treasures!
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Most of what the blog post mentioned was analyzed in depth in the series of articles titled "The Social Implications of Magic" in the Guild Companion site.
I think there were specific ideas for each spell list.
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Yes, our groups also found the item creation times so slow that we had to rely on NPC alchemists for them. The creation times in RM2 were too long to be practical for PCs, at least in our playstyle.
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In the last RM2 game we played, we created a small town on a magic node. As the area was cold and snowy, business that started up included things like:
Warm / Heat Solid: someone would come around once a day to heat the water tank in your home, this would provide underground heating and hot water to wash with.
The many digging type spells were used in construction and usually buildings were created with wall spells. This became a cultural thing in this town. Magicians and the like would develop an artistic skill or might use something like the targeting skill to make the walls unique.
Alchemists also did a roaring trade with light spells and warm solid. Bricks were put in the paths to melt snow.