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Many a problem can be solved by paying someone to solve it for you. Conversely, if you can do something useful, you can charge money for it. Hiring a person to work for you is the extended version of paying someone to do something, and a business venture is the extended version of charging someone money to do something for them. The two often go together. This page gives rules for both.
Hirelings
| Trained hirelings | |
|---|---|
| Level | Cost per day |
| 1 | 5 sp |
| 2 | 10 sp |
| 3 | 20 sp |
| 4 | 35 sp |
| 5 | 55 sp |
| 6 | 80 sp |
| 7 | 110 sp |
| 8 | 150 sp |
| 9 | 180 sp |
| 10 | 230 sp |
Hirelings may be trained or untrained. (Spellcasters make up a special category.)
Untrained: Laborers, porters, cooks, maids, and other menial workers. These are generally 1st-level commoners, and cost 1 sp per day to hire.
Trained: Mercenary warriors, masons, craftsmen, scribes, teamsters, and other trained professionals. Anyone with combat training or ranks in relevant skills falls into this category. The cost to hire a trained character depends on their level; see Table: Trained Hirelings, at right. (Characters of a level higher than 10th are generally not available for hire on a per-day basis, though they may on occasion agree to serve as henchmen.)
The prices given here are for relatively common professions, whose practitioners are widely available for hire. People with rare or unusually valuable skills may charge more for their services.
Spellcasters: A spellcaster generally charges for their services on a per-spell basis (priced as a magic item with an item factor of 10 gp, or higher for rare spells). However, keeping a spellcaster on retainer means that they are available whenever you need them (and also gives you access to, e.g., the caster’s Knowledge or other skills). This costs as much as paying a trained hireling (in addition to the fees for spells actually cast).
Hazard pay & other factors
The costs given above assume a typical amount of danger for the job (which means something different for a scribe than for a mercenary warrior). Unusually hazardous conditions can double or even triple the amount of money demanded for the work. Anyone hiring for sufficiently dangerous jobs may find no takers at all, for any price.
Finding low-level hirelings is easy in any community of a respectable size. Higher level hirelings are rarer and more difficult to employ, particularly in the long-term. The reputation a PC has will also influence their ability to find people willing to sign up with them. If a PC earns a reputation for getting their employees killed or reneging on contracts, for example, they’ll find it difficult to hire more.
Henchmen
People with rare or valuable skills (such as members of character classes typical of adventurers), especially those of a level close to that of their employer, may not be willing to journey into dangerous situations for a mere daily wage. However, such characters may be willing to join an expedition as henchmen.
Henchmen are not paid by the day; rather, they receive a split of any rewards or treasure gained by the party during the course of their service. The amount of the share is generally in proportion to their level. (For example, if four 3rd-level henchmen join a party of three 8th-level characters, each of the henchmen would expect to receive one-twelfth of the treasure, because the combined party has 36 levels in total.)
Ventures
Business ventures, mercantile or otherwise, involve providing some service to people who want it.
A business venture typically has a startup cost (initial investment to get the business off the ground) and a maintenance cost (which must be paid each month to keep the venture going). A successful venture generates some revenue each month (which may vary based on many factors). Ventures of various kinds may have additional rules associated with them.
There are many possible business ventures—too many too enumerate. One example of a business venture is provided here: running an inn.
Example venture: inn
Inns provide lodging. The simplest version of a business like this offers little more than shelter from the elements. More expensive inns provide private rooms with doors that lock, as well as auxiliary services, and can be used as places to live for extended periods of time.
An inn typically provide accomodations of different quality levels. Poor accommodations at an inn amount to a place on the floor near the hearth. Common accommodations consist of a place on a raised, heated floor, the use of a blanket and a pillow. Good accommodations consist of a small, private room with one bed, some amenities, and a covered chamber pot in the corner. These may be combined: a single inn may have some private rooms (good accommodations) as well as a warm sleeping area with common accomodations.
Costs (initial and maintenance) and revenue for an inn are all calculated on a per-“bed” basis (i.e., per guest that is to be accommodated).
Startup cost
- Poor: 25 gp/bed
- Common: 100 gp/bed
- Good: 500 gp/bed
At the DM’s discretion, subtract up to 25 gp/bed if construction materials are freely available (e.g., a locale that permits mud-brick construction) and labor is provided by the owner (doing it yourself, using magic, etc.).
Maintenance
2% of the standard startup costs (not counting reductions) must be paid monthly for maintenance. This comes to:
- Poor: 5 sp/mo/bed
- Common: 2 gp/mo/bed
- Good: 10 gp/mo/bed
This includes the cost of hiring one or more people to keep the place clean (typically 1 employee is needed for this purpose for every 1,000 gp of startup cost), as well as expenditures to repair damage from normal use, etc.
(If maintenance costs are not paid, the inn very quickly falls into disrepair, and revenue falls to zero as no guests choose to stay there.)
Revenue
- Poor: 2 sp/day/bed (6 gp/mo/bed)
- Common: 5 sp/day/bed (15 gp/mo/bed)
- Good: 2 gp/day/bed (60 gp/mo/bed)
These revenue numbers assume that the inn is occupied continuously at full capacity. This may not be the case, so actual revenues may be lower, and may vary from month to month, as determined by the DM.
Additional rules
The costs above cover only the basic services: a place to sleep, kept reasonably clean and warm (with possibly a pillow and blankets or even a bed with sheets and a chamber pot, depending on quality of accommodations). An innkeeper may wish to employ guards, to deal with unruly guests; have stables for guests to keep their horses or other mounts (and may even employ stableboys to take care of those animals for the guests); may serve meals to guests; etc. All such additional services and amenities add to startup costs (if they require additional infrastructure), maintenance costs (to maintain that infrastructure and/or employ help to provide the service), or both.
The owner of an inn may choose to hire someone to run the inn for him; see “Delegating management”, below.
Delegating management
While running a venture may be fun, sometimes there’s just no way to combine the day-to-day responsibilities of an owner-operator with the adventuring lifestyle. Fortunately, management is itself a service, and may be purchased just like any other.
Delegating the nitty-gritty of running a business to someone requires hiring a suitable person for the task. This is a trained hireling (see “Hirelings”, above), typically a person with an above-average Intelligence and/or Charisma, and relevant skills. Besides the cost of paying the hired manager, the owner of the venture must provide an initial budget (to cover startup costs, if any), and dispense general instructions on what he wants done. The details are then left to the hired manager to determine.