Public Space Spends
Ongrid, public spaces, such as shops, restaurants, and so forth are a welcome addition to Tenebrae. They tend to represent a character's investment in a local business or public space of some sort or kind. For ease of use, though these spaces are not limited to shops, the term "shop" will be used in the descriptions below.
Public spaces are as their name implies--open to the public. Since our focus is on adventure and more open roleplay, this spend is not for private rooms. Your private business is just that, private, and should not be part of the grid. This means that personal rooms are not purchasable.
Maintaining and running a shop take energy--that means that this is an exclusive spend. It is a little more "exclusive" than other RPP spends. That is, a shop is limited to one per player, not character. This is in an effort to reduce ongrid clutter, and to give everyone a chance to build.
See the guidelines and descriptions below for additional shop options, as well as guidelines. A public space is the type of spend that's expected to take some time to build and roleplay. That is, it's not something that turns into a finished product overnight.
Public Spaces Spends
Limited Spends | ||
Reward | Benefit | Cost |
Adjust the Grid | You may adjust the grid in a small way for flavor, such as adding a framed dent where someone bashed your PC's head against a wall, a modest commemorative statue about a recent IC battle you were part of, and so forth (a 1-story marble-and-jewel encrusted statue dedicated to Reos in the Temple District would be an example of two things not to do). Changes must be approved by staff. You may not use this spend to adjust PC-maintained areas. | 10 RPP |
Exclusive Spends | ||
Reward | Benefit | Cost |
Acquire a Land Lease | You gain a lease to the land where you'll build your shop. | A Face About Town, 25 RPP setup, 1 RPP/month maintenance, Level 5+ |
Build a Room | Once you have the lease, start adding rooms! There are a number of types available, and some of them grant bonuses, or may be upgraded. Others are more descriptive or thematic. See below for details. You may purchase up to 3 rooms. | Land Lease, 5 RPP setup first room, 10 RPP each additional room. |
Hire a Shop Manager | You gain the service of a skilled employee. Earnable once. See below for details. | Land Lease, 15 RPP |
Repurpose a Shop Room | Change a room's type and function. Takes 5 days, during which the room confers no benefits. | 5 RPP |
Upgrade a Shop Room | Some shop rooms are upgradable. | 5 RPP |
New Coat of Paint | When you first build it, the paint's cracked, there are stains on the floor...there's that odd, floating smell that appears once every full moon. It's time to improve that. Benefit applies to entire shop. See description. | 10 RPP per tier |
Relocate Your Shop | With staff approval, move your shop to a different place ongrid. Takes 5 days, during which the shop confers no benefits. | 1/2 of shop's setup costs, including rooms. |
Purchase an Existing Shop | Sometimes PCs leave, or want to try something different. This doesn't mean that their shops do, or can't be refitted. In fact, this is almost always cheaper than purchasing new. | Area Influence, 1/2 of shop's RPP value |
Descriptions
Acquire a Land Lease
By investing in an area or related venue and learning which hands to shake or which to grease (represented by A Face About Town), you're able to open and maintain a local shop, or other small to medium-sized location. When initially opened, it's essentially featureless, not unlike opening a lease on an empty lot, with intent to develop. At this time, your shop exists ongrid but is not an official room. You'll develop that later.
Once you own a shop, you are expected to purchase and maintain rooms for it. Rooms purchased should fit the general theme of the shop, and not a drive for specific bonuses. For example, if you're running a small graveyard, it probably should not have a laundry attached.
Shop and Room Maintenance
Leasing a property ongrid requires dedication and maintenance on behalf of your character. That is, there are bills to be paid, employees to support, orders to fill, and so forth. To represent the effort that goes into a business, your PC will be responsible for its monthly upkeep costs. A shop's ongoing maintenance in RPPs represents your activities and efforts to keep the business moving.
Generally, these RPPs are automatically deducted from your PC every 30 days.
If after 20 days past due, you haven't been able to maintain your shop (which would happen because you had 0 RPPs and hadn't been ongrid), the employees begin to run amok, managers position themselves for your spot, expenses and paperwork pile up on your desk, your competition gets a leg up, and so on. At this time, a notice is sent to staff and your PC ceases to receive any benefits associated with the business, if any, and the shop's doors temporarily close. The property is there, but inaccessible and will confer no benefits (if any). You may reopen them and regain benefits at any time by investing the time to sort things out. This takes 5 IC days, and you must pay the RPPs owed up until that point.
If your PC is idlepurged, you lose ownership of your shop, and staff may place it on the market.
At any time, you are welcome to "shore up" RPPs for your shop. Alternately, if you're headed on vacation, just let us know.
Hire a Shop Manager
A shop manager is a skilled worker who helps you perform tasks, organize minions, and helps with the day to day run of the shop. Assistants tend to be a 3rd level adept, commoner, or expert with 3 ranks in the appropriate skills and the basic NPC ability score array. This gives them a +8 for class skills, and a +5 for non-class skills. Unless otherwise specified or allowed by the DM, a shop manager may not accompany you on adventures. That is, they are not meant to replace PCs. However, at the DM's discretion, they may provide indirect assistance.
When chosen, you will work out the manager's skills with staff, as well as their specific role. Examples of types of managers include, but are not limited to:
- Shrine manager (diplomancy, heal, knowledge/local, knowledge/religion)
- Stage manager (diplomacy, disguise, perform (any two))
- General partner (bluff, diplomacy, knowledge (any one), profession (barrister)
- Doctor (heal, perception, sense motive, survival)
...and so on.
New Coat of Paint
This spend lets you, over time, invest in and improve a shop. These spends do not change a shop or room so much as they provide a more pleasing look (a "New Coat of Paint"). For example, a shrine is always a shrine and not a temple. A temple would require the support and input of the greater city. This does not mean the shrine cannot look nice, however, just that it would not possess full-story marble statues. That is, areas must resemble what they are.
New Coat of Paint | ||
Cost | Benefit | Tier |
Tier One | Everyone starts here, and so do you. The paint is cracked, or it's just the quickest you could find. In the meantime, it'll do...but did it have to peel? There are stains and cobwebs, and occasionally, there's this smell... | 0 RPP |
Tier Two | You've gotten rid of the traveling smell, and the paint is a decent color. Perhaps just a little...bland. There's some dirt on the entryway, and one of the pictures is askew, but everyone does, right? You're just so /busy/... | 10 RPP |
Tier Three | An overall serviceable look. You stand out a bit from your neighbors in a good way. There's some vibrancy to your colors, and you may have some art objects lying around. Your windows are kept clean and your entryway swept. | 10 RPP |
Tier Four | You've hired a local artist and they've perhaps crafted a sculpture for the front room. The paint is a pleasing color, and there's the occasional inlay. Your windows have curtains or shutters. It looks nice. A nobleman could sit here for a while, and feel not too uncomfortable. You've something to be proud of. | 10 RPP |
Relocating Your Shop
With staff approval, a business or shop may be relocated at a cost of half its setup fees (including rooms).
Purchasing an Existing Shop
Due to a number of circumstances, a shop may be offered up for purchase to the general playerbase. Generally, businesses may be purchased for half their setup costs (though the purchaser must still possess some form of Influence...it's all about who you know!).
As the transaction takes place, the shop "closes down" for 5 days so that the IC transition may occur. Once the purchaser gains control of the shop, they then become responsible for its maintenance.
At any time, a PC may elect to sell a shop. Once sold, the original PC may not repurchase the shop outside of staff discretion. This mostly exists to prevent a "ping pong" effect. In addition, staff will keep an eye open for "clique buys."
Build a Room
Once you own a shop, you may outfit it with a number of functional rooms.
- A shop in Tenebrae may possess up to three rooms at a time.
- Some rooms may grant a bonus--this bonus applies locally. That is, just because you own an alchemy shop in Alexandria, doesn't give you the bonus when you're in the wastelands of Dran.
- Some rooms may be purchased at a base cost, then upgraded later.
- Only one room with an * may exist within a shop.
Generally speaking, shops are not personal manors or houses as much as they are part of a functioning business, library, and so on. For example, your business might include a magical research repository, but this might be part of a mage's tea shop where mages gather and talk about current theories. Visitors therefore may visit both the repository and the tea room.
This means that all rooms are open to the public. However, while anyone may visit, your shop primarily benefits you when it comes to the mechanical sense. Some rooms are exceptions to this rule. If so, they will state so in the description. However, other PCs will still need to arrange with you before gaining these bonuses (not dissimilar to arranging to checking out books at a library).
Purchasable Rooms
Purchasable Rooms | |||
Room | Benefit (if any) | Upgradable | Benefit is Owner-Specifc |
Lab, Artifice | +2 to Craft/artifice checks | Yes | |
Lab, Arcane | +2 to Spellcraft checks | Yes | |
Smithy, Armor* | See description, below. | See description, below. | Yes |
Smithy, Weapon* | See description, below. | See description, below. | Yes |
Smithy, Firearms* | See description, below. | See description, below. | Yes |
Bow and Fletchery* | See description, below. | See description, below. | Yes |
Workshop, Herbalist* | See description, below. | See description, below. | Yes |
Workshop, Alchemist* | See description, below. | See description, below. | Yes |
Workshop, Tannery* | See description, below. | See description, below. | Yes |
Animal Pen | Housing for a variety of land-based creatures. +3 to handle animal checks for purposes of training. | Yes | |
Auditorium, Small | +2 bonus to perform checks made in this room, for all performers. This auditorium would have a small stage, and some benches. | No | |
Ballroom, Small | +2 bonus to perform checks made in this room, for all performers. | No | |
Bar | After spending time with local people in this room, for the next 24 hours you gain a +1 to Diplomacy for checks made to gather information in the bar's immediate area (district). If you are the owner, you receive a +2. This stacks with your Influence, for a total of +3. | No | |
Book Repository or Small Library | This room is associated with a specific knowledge (choose category at creation). After spending 1 hour researching here, receive a +3 bonus on the knowledge check to answer 1 question. | No | |
Brewery | +3 to craft or spellcraft checks to brew potions | No | |
Burial Ground or Crypt | Up to 20 medium or smaller corpses may be buried here. | As an upgrade, the grounds of this room may be consecrated. A corpse buried in holy ground may not be animated as an undead creature. Unholy grounds are not permitted (knowingly) within Alexandros, and are therefore not a PC option. | No |
Ceremonial Room | A person leading or officially speaking at an event here receives a +1 to Bluff, Diplomacy, and Intimidate checks to influence others at the event | As an upgrade, the PC may install an altar. An altar counts as a permanent fixture dedicated to your deity for the purpose of consecrate and similar spells. | No |
Classroom | |||
Common Room | No | ||
Courtyard, Small | No | ||
Dock | No | ||
Dojo | No | ||
Farmland | No | ||
Game Room | The master of the house receives a +2 to profession/gambler rolls, at their discretion | Yes | |
Garden | No | ||
Greenhouse | No | ||
Hatchery, Small | For birds, lizards, owlbears, and the like. No dragons. Does not confer an animal companion or mount. | No | |
Infirmary | Counts as a healer's kit. | No | |
Kitchen | +2 bonus to Profession/Cook. | No | |
Laundry, Small | Local residents who make use of the laundry receive a +1 to fortitude saves versus disease when within the area/district. | No | |
Mill Room | No | ||
Orphanage | Orphanages automagically receive Lady Sandiel as a noble patron. | No | |
Observation Dome | After spending 1 hour researching, the researcher gains a +2 bonus on Knowledge/Geography, Knowledge/Nature, and Knowledge/Planes checks to answer a question about the heavens. | No | |
Pit | No | ||
Scriptorium | Counts as masterwork artisan's tools for crafting skills and craft/calligraphy checks. | Yes | |
Scrying Room | A caster using scrying, locate creature, or a similar targeted divination from here increases that spell's DC by 1 | Yes | |
Sewing Room | Counts as masterwork artisan's tools for: Craft/cloth, craft/clothing, or craft/baskets. | Yes | |
Sitting Room | No | ||
Sports Field | No | ||
Stall | No | ||
Store Front | No | ||
Work Station | Counts as a masterwork artisan's tools for one Craft or Profession skill. | Yes |
- * Items with a * are limited. That is, you may only purchase one room of this type per shop (a shop may not be a weaponsmith, tannery, alchemist-lab, basically).
Mundane Crafting Shop Rooms
Owning a shop lets you craft and build items ongrid. With the right tools, setup, and assistants, you're able to produce them at a reasonable time and a reasonable rate. The following rules replace the Pathfinder Mundane Crafting rules for shop owners. Unlike other room benefits, these may not be "loaned out." These benefits are exclusively the right of the shop owner.
- Mundane items, like their magical counterparts, are sold and crafted at 1/2 cost.
- Special materials cannot be crafted at 1/2 cost. A crafter or a buyer can "grease the wheels" (5 RPP) to purchase them at 75%, however. This is to keep them from flooding the market.
- Mundane items may be crafted at a rate of 100g per day.
- Shop owners who are active and invested in their shop may craft these items with ease--that is, for mundane items, there is no DC to meet.
Shop owners eventually gain the ability to enchant their craft. This ability follows the normal rules for MI crafting, but uses the related Craft skill to make the check. They possess this ability so long as they own and maintain the shop. Casters potentially gain no benefit from T3 in this area, and do not need to purchase it.
Tiers follow the normal RPP rules for Tiers. That is, you may advance up to your Level/2.
Armor Smithy
- Tier 1: Mundane armors
- Tier 2: Masterwork armors and special material armors
- Tier 3: Magic armors (Craft/Armorsmithing)
Weapon Smithy
- Tier 1: Mundane weapons
- Tier 2: Masterwork weapons and special material weapons
- Tier 3: Magic weapons (Craft/Weaponsmithing)
Firearms Shop
- Tier 1: Craft firearms
- Tier 2: Craft masterwork firearms and special material firearm ammo
- Tier 3: Magic firearms (Craft/Firearms)
Bow and Fletchery
- Tier 1: Craft mundane bows and crossbows
- Tier 2: Craft masterwork bows and crossbows and special material bows and crossbows
- Tier 3: Magic bows, arrows, crossbows (Craft/Bowmaking)
Alchemical Workshop
- Tier 1: Craft mundane alchemical items
Herbalist's Workshop
- Tier 1: You may manufacture any healer's kit, antitoxin, alchemist's kindness, antiplague, bloodblock, smelling salts, soothe syrup, or sneezing powder. This list may expand as we add additional items.
Tannery Workshop
- Tier 1: Mundane leather goods (such as leather and hide armors) and animal tack
- Tier 2: Masterwork leather goods and animal tack (such as masterwork leather armor, military saddle, and so on)
- Tier 3: Magic leather goods and animal tack (Craft/Leatherworking)
Guidelines and FAQ for Public Spaces
Can I RP having a shop without purchasing one through RPPs?
Yes! This system exists only if a PC wants to invest in and build a physical location that may be shared with everyone.
What type of shop may I open?
- Any small to medium-sized craft shop or business. Examples might be a smithy, floral shop, small theatre, or shrine (a temple is large enough that it would require city maintenance; however, multiple shrines exist in various places to service smaller areas).
- Any open space dedicated to a theme such as a dojo, a pub, a water garden, etc.
What are the restrictions on player-operated shops?
- Shops are intended to enhance roleplay for everyone and may not be (or include) private rooms and housing. This includes crafting a personal bedroom with its four-poster bed or even a wizard's tower--this falls under private use and is not the focus of the game.
- As organizations are run by NPCs, PCs may not own shops whose purpose is the running or "main home" of an organization. This sort of thing places things in a sort of precarious position, with the NPC being head of an organization, but a PC owning the lease on the building, and so on. This does not mean that shops may not be part of an arm related to an organization (such as a Hearthguard-run hospice, for example); it merely means, don't try bypassing the no PCs as org-heads rule. Shrines too, are ultimately responsible to their Temple.
- Similar to PrPs, shops exist for general roleplay. That is, they are not intended as a private club, any more than someone may run "circle PrPs." That is, if the shop is used consistently for only 2 people or as a means of direct or indirect exclusion, this may result in staff intervention or eventually, suspension of the business. This also means that PCs may freely visit your shop when you aren't present, though it may not necessarily confer them any mechanical benefits (see below).
- Shops are not generally a place for idling, anymore than other places ongrid.
- Businesses, NPCs, and so forth, should not replace normal PC involvement in a plot. That is, a business may not exist for the sole purpose of making plot-related rolls for other PCs, although they may still approach you on a personal level for assistance, so long as you yourself are involved in the plot.
- Shops are affected by DMs and city events. For example, if goods of a type become more expensive, your base crafting cost increases as well, until the issue is resolved.
- As a player, you may operate one shop at a time.
Who can benefit from my shop?
While anyone may visit, your shop primarily benefits you when it comes to the mechanical sense. That is, if another PC wants to use your library's bonus, this is something they would need to arrange with you ICly (and which you might reasonably charge a fee for). ICly, this might involve them checking out books, an extended research session, and so on.
May I operate a business with someone else?
At this time, shops may only be owned by one person, though may certainly roleplay employing other PCs, and so on. This is due to the amount of paperwork that would be involved.
Where may I not build?
The following areas may not possess public spaces: Temple Square, Castle Alexandria, Druid Cove. Staff may edit this list over time.