Average Income for House of Ill Repute? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Average Income for House of Ill Repute? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
OlderThanMTV
08-08-06, 12:58 AM My player's characters have come into partial ownership of a medium sized house of ill repute, and I've realized that I have no idea of what the monthly income should be or even what would be reasonable. I'm using a normal style economic system with pricing on common goods lifted right out of the player's handbook and don't intend for the characters to be either too wealthy or too poor. The 'tavern' is a great base of operations for them and their having a stake in it is already working out very well for the game as far as interest and plot oportunities, but it is about time for them to get their first share of the profits and I have no idea what would be reasonable. Anyone have any ideas? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks
Harrowdroth
08-08-06, 01:20 AM [QUOTE=OlderThanMTV]My player's characters have come into partial ownership of a medium sized house of ill repute, and I've realized that I have no idea of what the monthly income should be or even what would be reasonable. I'm using a normal style economic system with pricing on common goods lifted right out of the player's handbook and don't intend for the characters to be either too wealthy or too poor. The 'tavern' is a great base of operations for them and their having a stake in it is already working out very well for the game as far as interest and plot oportunities, but it is about time for them to get their first share of the profits and I have no idea what would be reasonable. Anyone have any ideas? Any help would be appreciated.

1: If its a high Quality "establishment" call it a "Brothel" or "Bath" house"
(Otherwise call it the "The Wraslin' pit" :eek: ).

2: Depending on how much business is coming through.
and the price of the "Entertainment" roll 1d20 add 4xthe number of owners In gp /month. 1d20 +6x#owners Silver.

3: What are your PC's Alignments??? (irrelevant)

I am probably wrong on the second one.

However, The first one I stand strong with.

Harrowdroth.
TRCEttin
08-08-06, 01:31 AM The PHBII may have rules on running an establishment, I'm not sure. I don't have it on me. You could look into it though. :)
Azezel
08-08-06, 05:53 AM I beleive TRCEttin meant the DMG II - and it does have rules for running a business, and for how much money sucha business would make.

Which I am not going to look up now.
TRCEttin
08-08-06, 07:05 AM Me? Wrong but close when stating the location of something in a book off the top of my head? Never.

You see, what happened was that Wizards decided to spite me because I'm just too awesome and, the second I posted the true location of the item in question, moved it from Page 180 of the Player's Handbook II to page 180 of the DMG II using the epic spells Change Rule Location, Mass Modify Memory and Assay Jerk Resistance.

Jerks.
Shaggy_Shaggs
08-08-06, 07:39 AM The OGL-compliant Book of Erotic Fantasy is good for these sorts of questions, as well as the consequences of such actions.

http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/7043/pricesjl9.jpg

Just work out how many girls you've got working, how many nights a week they work and their relative skill (ranks in Perform: Sexual Techniques and/or Profession: Courtesan, Masseuse, Master/Mistress (with Intimidate) or Prostitute) to figure out gross income. Add the price of staying the night in the inn for the customers, subtract cost of living and whatever the owners figure a fair wage is, and you've got your profit margin.
CzarGarrett
08-08-06, 08:32 AM Without getting too complicated, perhaps treating the workers as normal hirelings- Profession checks to determine cost per hour, could work?
Cthulhu-LQ
08-08-06, 09:35 AM Just work out how many girls you've got working, how many nights a week they work and their relative skill (ranks in Perform: Sexual Techniques and/or Profession: Courtesan, Masseuse, Master/Mistress (with Intimidate) or Prostitute) to figure out gross income. Add the price of staying the night in the inn for the customers, subtract cost of living and whatever the owners figure a fair wage is, and you've got your profit margin.
This sounds like maths. Are you sure this is a game? It's supposed to be fun!
wonlee76
08-08-06, 11:12 AM Instead of finding a rule, make something up akin to a chart.

Make it a simple Profession roll following the profession rules.

Profession (Business Management) or some such. For every PC in the group helping in the management add a +2 bonus to the roll (Aid Another) to the PC with the highest ranks in this ability.

Put modifiers to that roll based on certain factors. For example, bonus to the roll when the PCs are actively managing the day to day operations of the business and a penalty when some manager NPC type is running the business when you're out adventuring (managers and employees are known to skim from the boss when the boss is out of town). Maybe a random -5 or +5 modifier for possible special events or special disasters. Winter might be slower then say the summer when all the convetions are in town.

Maybe even set up some really obscene disasters that might occur which results in not only 0 profits for the month, but the PCs having to expend money to fix the problem. Fire, robbery, etc. These are things that as an owner of an establishment, you need to worry about this kind of stuff.

End result, calculate out the monthly earnings from the profession roll and let your PCs do real adventuring. :P In one campaign, my players had a business where they basically poured the profits they would've earned back into the business to expand it and put aside some of the profits for normal upkeep type of stuff or emergencies such as repairs to the leaky roof and the like. Net result was no extra money for the PCs but very happy employees since the money was going back into the business.
Pandaemoni
08-08-06, 11:34 AM It's no different than any other business. If it earned substantially more money than (say) the fantasy staple, the tavern, then many more people would start setting up brothels rather than taverns, until competition drove the profits down to tavern levels.

Paying two silver pieces is a bit high, given that that is two full days wages for the common man. Two silver seems like what the prostitues might charge a wealthy man or a member of the clergy. Actual medieval prostitutes often worked for a penny (a copper piece), though they sometimes earned more through blackmail or from repeat, long-term customers. (See Common Women: Prostitution and Sexuality in Medieval England (Studies in the History of Sexuality) by Ruth Karras).

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
OlderThanMTV 08-08-06, 12:58 AM	My player's characters have come into partial ownership of a medium sized house of ill repute, and I've realized that I have no idea of what the monthly income should be or even what would be reasonable. I'm using a normal style economic system with pricing on common goods lifted right out of the player's handbook and don't intend for the characters to be either too wealthy or too poor. The 'tavern' is a great base of operations for them and their having a stake in it is already working out very well for the game as far as interest and plot oportunities, but it is about time for them to get their first share of the profits and I have no idea what would be reasonable. Anyone have any ideas? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks
Harrowdroth 08-08-06, 01:20 AM	[QUOTE=OlderThanMTV]My player's characters have come into partial ownership of a medium sized house of ill repute, and I've realized that I have no idea of what the monthly income should be or even what would be reasonable. I'm using a normal style economic system with pricing on common goods lifted right out of the player's handbook and don't intend for the characters to be either too wealthy or too poor. The 'tavern' is a great base of operations for them and their having a stake in it is already working out very well for the game as far as interest and plot oportunities, but it is about time for them to get their first share of the profits and I have no idea what would be reasonable. Anyone have any ideas? Any help would be appreciated. 1: If its a high Quality "establishment" call it a "Brothel" or "Bath" house" (Otherwise call it the "The Wraslin' pit" :eek: ). 2: Depending on how much business is coming through. and the price of the "Entertainment" roll 1d20 add 4xthe number of owners In gp /month. 1d20 +6x#owners Silver. 3: What are your PC's Alignments??? (irrelevant) I am probably wrong on the second one. However, The first one I stand strong with. Harrowdroth.
TRCEttin 08-08-06, 01:31 AM	The PHBII may have rules on running an establishment, I'm not sure. I don't have it on me. You could look into it though. :)
Azezel 08-08-06, 05:53 AM	I beleive TRCEttin meant the DMG II - and it does have rules for running a business, and for how much money sucha business would make. Which I am not going to look up now.
TRCEttin 08-08-06, 07:05 AM	Me? Wrong but close when stating the location of something in a book off the top of my head? Never. You see, what happened was that Wizards decided to spite me because I'm just too awesome and, the second I posted the true location of the item in question, moved it from Page 180 of the Player's Handbook II to page 180 of the DMG II using the epic spells Change Rule Location, Mass Modify Memory and Assay Jerk Resistance. Jerks.
Shaggy_Shaggs 08-08-06, 07:39 AM	The OGL-compliant Book of Erotic Fantasy is good for these sorts of questions, as well as the consequences of such actions. http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/7043/pricesjl9.jpg Just work out how many girls you've got working, how many nights a week they work and their relative skill (ranks in Perform: Sexual Techniques and/or Profession: Courtesan, Masseuse, Master/Mistress (with Intimidate) or Prostitute) to figure out gross income. Add the price of staying the night in the inn for the customers, subtract cost of living and whatever the owners figure a fair wage is, and you've got your profit margin.
CzarGarrett 08-08-06, 08:32 AM	Without getting too complicated, perhaps treating the workers as normal hirelings- Profession checks to determine cost per hour, could work?
Cthulhu-LQ 08-08-06, 09:35 AM	Just work out how many girls you've got working, how many nights a week they work and their relative skill (ranks in Perform: Sexual Techniques and/or Profession: Courtesan, Masseuse, Master/Mistress (with Intimidate) or Prostitute) to figure out gross income. Add the price of staying the night in the inn for the customers, subtract cost of living and whatever the owners figure a fair wage is, and you've got your profit margin. This sounds like maths. Are you sure this is a game? It's supposed to be fun!
wonlee76 08-08-06, 11:12 AM	Instead of finding a rule, make something up akin to a chart. Make it a simple Profession roll following the profession rules. Profession (Business Management) or some such. For every PC in the group helping in the management add a +2 bonus to the roll (Aid Another) to the PC with the highest ranks in this ability. Put modifiers to that roll based on certain factors. For example, bonus to the roll when the PCs are actively managing the day to day operations of the business and a penalty when some manager NPC type is running the business when you're out adventuring (managers and employees are known to skim from the boss when the boss is out of town). Maybe a random -5 or +5 modifier for possible special events or special disasters. Winter might be slower then say the summer when all the convetions are in town. Maybe even set up some really obscene disasters that might occur which results in not only 0 profits for the month, but the PCs having to expend money to fix the problem. Fire, robbery, etc. These are things that as an owner of an establishment, you need to worry about this kind of stuff. End result, calculate out the monthly earnings from the profession roll and let your PCs do real adventuring. :P In one campaign, my players had a business where they basically poured the profits they would've earned back into the business to expand it and put aside some of the profits for normal upkeep type of stuff or emergencies such as repairs to the leaky roof and the like. Net result was no extra money for the PCs but very happy employees since the money was going back into the business.
Pandaemoni 08-08-06, 11:34 AM	It's no different than any other business. If it earned substantially more money than (say) the fantasy staple, the tavern, then many more people would start setting up brothels rather than taverns, until competition drove the profits down to tavern levels. Paying two silver pieces is a bit high, given that that is two full days wages for the common man. Two silver seems like what the prostitues might charge a wealthy man or a member of the clergy. Actual medieval prostitutes often worked for a penny (a copper piece), though they sometimes earned more through blackmail or from repeat, long-term customers. (See Common Women: Prostitution and Sexuality in Medieval England (Studies in the History of Sexuality) by Ruth Karras).