If you are still here with me, I presume that you are not entirely satisfied with just pulling the highest possible price as fast as possible. After all, being a merchant might be a very large part of your character's in character actions, not to mention a great way to pass time and get those role-playing experience rewards trickle down in your direction.
So you want to be a merchant. Just place items in the in game Consignment Store, or put them up for Auction the Auction House subforum. To pull off either, you are not really required to role-play much at all.
But what about when your Merchant character is standing in a street corner or under a market stall trying to sell off his or her goods?
Trying to present items by listing their properties as we do in the Auctionhouse suddenly does not work. It feels misplaced, awkward, and you start to wonder if someone forgot the "///Slashes" or failed to send a tell.
- Hear me, hear me, selling +3 enchantment longswords!
- Is there anyone interested in +3 Stealth Items?
- I am the guy who sells your discount +2 Strength Bracers!
Another attempt is to use words like "Tiers" to describe the potency of a weapon. The problem lies in whether a "Tier Three Blade" is a Blade with +3 Enchantment Bonus, or possesses the required enchantments to be a "Third Tier" weapon in "Volo's Guide to Enchanted Items" - a book that does not exist by an author who has not reached his fame yet. It might be marginally better than the above, but it still sounds clunky to use. Not to mention it can be difficult to determine the 'Tier' of an enchantment. For example, what is the Tier of 1d4 fire damage? Is it four because the dice d4? Or is it two or three because the average damage is 2,5? What about elemental damage reduction and elemental damage resistance? One reduces a stock block of the damage, other reduces the damage according to a certain percentage.
- Hear me, hear me, selling tier three longswords!
- Is there anyone interested in tier three Stealth Items?
- I am the guy who sells your discount tier two bracers of strength!
- Selling an epic weapon for an adventurer, the weapon has tier three enchantment, tier three fire enchantment, tier two strength enchantment, and tier eight enchantment for intimidation!
So if you feel that the above does not quite to fulfill your mercantile needs, how about doing in character mercantile bussines like I do?
There are two parts in no specific part:
1) A simple tell that provides the mechanical aspects of the item for sale.
2) The in character sales pitch.
1) What should the tell contain?
I think the tell should contain all mechanical details of the weapon noted down as briefly as possible.
Here are some examples:
- Scimitar, +3 EB, +2 Str, +1 Fire
- Full-Plate, +2 EB, +2 Heal, +3 Diplomacy
- Mithral Tower Shield, +1 Regeneration
EB = Enchantment Bonus
AB = Attack Bonus
Fire = Fire Damage
Cold = Cold Damage
Sonic = Sonic Damage
Acid = Acid Damage
Elec = Electrical Damage
DR/Cold = Cold Iron Damage Reduction
DR/Silver = Alchemical Silver Damage Reduction
DR/Adam = Adamantium Damage Deduction.
Blunt = Bludgeoing Damage/Damage Reduction/Resistance
Piercing = Piercing Damage/Damage Reduction/Resistance
Slash = Slashing Damage/Damage Reduction/Resistance
STR = Strength
DEX = Dexterity
CON = Constitution
WIS = Wisdom
INT = Intelligence
CHA = Charisma
"Skill name" = Skill that is improved.
Ref = Reflex Save
Fort = Fortitude Save
Will = Will Save
This list could be continued, of course, but I believe the above is enough to cover most common items you have to sell.
2) What should the sales pitch contain?
A sales pitch in short; a line or lines of talk that attempts to persuade someone or something into buying something or even someone.
In other words, you have to attract attention, you have to present the goods in favourable light to make them see appealing enough to be purchased.
So if your merchant character is for example at a street corner, he or she could shout to people who pass by to attract their attention.
- You there, is your armour dented? Is your blade broken? If yes, do I have things to show to you!
- Longswords, get your longswords! The swords I sell are long! Longswords, get yours today!
If we consider the following as an example:
- Longsword, +3 EB, +2 Str, +1 Electrical
- Just look at this curved blade. Can you see how refined the metal work is? [The merchant presses the blade against a wall, and pushes it hard enough to make it bend. Once he lets go, the blade reassumes its proper shape.] This blade will not fail you in combat. [He swings it neatly in the air.] This blade has been carefully balanced not to be just a sword, but an extension of your own arm. [And he presents the blade to you, urging you to touch the blade itself.] Did it hurt? Did you see that flash electricity? Can you imagine what it would feel like to be wounded by this blade? If you have 20 000 gold pieces, you never have to find out. [The merchant grins while waiting for the adventurer's response.]
So when you are advertising an item, you try to come up with some roughly correct things to say about the items. For example, a longsword that has no elasticity is a bad sword. It is a brittle sword, and it will shatter in combat. Lightness is another good attribute to market on, because if you are going to swing a sword for hours, your arm will tire faster if the weapon is too heavy. Not to mention that doing it this way allows you to use more adjectives, focus on detailing the weapon, how it appears and if someone has written a detailed item description, you could tell about the history of the blade. And of course it is important to encourage the buyer to partake so that it is not just him or her listening to what you have to say.
It might be better send the tell after your sales pitch, so that the buyer payes more attention to it. But by sending sending those tells first, followed by short emotes of presenting items, you allow the buyer to show their own interest or the lack of it. And it is a faster way to go through the inventory.
And unfortunately, even though characters can be stupid, the players behind them are not. They are very rarely willing to pay overprice even if their characters would. Not to mention that some players just want the transactions to be over as soon as possible. But this does not mean you could not, or should not try to be as good merchant as you can.
Now, if someone has questions, or comments, just feel free to post them.
