Mercantile Venture · Wizard

In order to engage in __mercantile ventures__, the adventurers must first travel to and enter a __market__. Markets allow adventurers to buy and sell __merchandise __such as such as “wheat & vegetables,” “pottery,” and “tools.”__ __There are 21 different types of common merchandise and 10 types of precious merchandise__ __available in each market. (The complete list is found on the Common and Precious Merchandise tables below.) These 31 types of merchandise collectively but abstractly represent all available goods in the market. Markets also allow adventurers to find __passengers __who want to book passage to other markets and to accept contracts from __shippers __who need fleets or wagons to carry goods from port to port. Finally, markets offer __investment __opportunities for adventurers with spare cash.__ __In short, markets are to mercantile venturers what dungeons are to adventures — they’re where the action takes place\!

When adventurers enter a market, the Judge should guide play through the following steps.

###### 1. Determine the Market’s Characteristics

A market can be anything from a humble county fair to a city-state’s outdoor bazaar to the ports of a major metropolis, but each has different characteristics. Each domain generally has its own separate market. 

Markets are rated by __market class__ from I to VI, which rate their size and importance. The market class of an urban settlement determines:

- the __baseline merchant cargo __required to make an impact in the market; 
- the __toll__ charged to enter the market and __tariff __imposed on imported merchandise;
- the volume of __merchandise__ available to buy and sell;
- the number of __shipping consignments __available for carriage; and
- the number of __passengers__ interested in booking passage.
…

Once a party or character has entered the market, they can begin to engage in mercantile ventures. The available mercantile ventures are __arbitrage trading__, __passenger and cargo transport__,__ __and __mercantile investment. __Each is discussed separately below.

Vehicle/Animal

Moorage/Stabling

Anchor/Pasture

Ship

1gp per 50 shp

1gp

Wagon*
…

The riskiest, but most lucrative, form of mercantile trade is arbitrage: The movement of merchandise across long distances from markets where they are cheap to markets where they are expensive. Arbitragers must identify an opportunity, front the cost of purchasing large quantities of merchandise, safely transport it across long distances to distant markets by cart or ship, and then find a buyer willing to pay enough of a premium to earn the arbitrager a profit. Because it requires large sums of treasure and risky travel across the wilderness, arbitrage is a common choice for merchant-adventurers. 

Each day that a character or party engages in arbitrage trading, follow the steps below to adjudicate the outcome.

###### 1. Assess Supply and Demand

The first step to arbitrage trading is to assess supply and demand in the market in order to learn its demand modifiers. As noted above, demand modifiers affect the price for merchandise in the market. A low demand modifier indicates that there is a low demand for that type of merchandise available, usually because the market is a surplus producer of that merchandise. A high demand modifier indicates that the merchandise is hard to get and very expensive, usually because the market is an importer of that merchandise. 

__Assessment of Supply & Demand__

__Adjusted Die Roll__

__Result__

2-

False Assessment

3 – 5

…