An Unusual Concern (longish) [Archive] - Wizards Community

An Unusual Concern (longish) [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Rhomphaia
01-17-06, 02:58 PM Okay, I know this is an unusual concern from a player, and it requires a little bit of background, but my core concern is what do I do with my character now?

The background is this. After hunting goblins for a little while, our group (a cleric, swashbuckler and my character, a wizard) went to a larger town to get the swashbuckler's rapier enchanted. While there we hear rumors of a mansion that has been abandoned and boarded up with rumors of hauntings. The local authorities have been unable to sell the mansion or sizable piece of property.

In short, we bought it, cleaned the house of undead and are currently working on clearing the property. We have hired servants and laborers to clean the mansion up and make it presentable, and have made deals with woodcutters for the hardwood in the small woodland behind the property and a deal with a spice merchant allowing him to grow saffron there (for a percentage of the cut on the expensive stuff). We are now assured of plenty of money given about a year's time.

In addition, my wizard now has a guaranteed place to rest, research and craft items, as well as the money to do so. Also, our fame is spreading fairly quickly throughout town, so we have some favor here. Along with the money, my character is now a major step closer to realizing part of his personal dream of founding a magic academy, and has the property and means to do so.

I do not expect everything on a silver platter overnight, nor do I expect any guarantees, but our characters are only 6th level. So far, the DM has been good about using our unexpected buying of the property (for dirt cheap) as a catalyst for adventures, but I am concerned about a few things.

*Have we unnecessarily railroaded ourselves out of campaign plot hooks for a while?
*What do we do with our potential newfound wealth other than securing it?
*Not so much a question, but I really hope I can find some in-character reason to go adventuring once everything has settled. I know the cleric has one, and maybe the swashbuckler, but I am not sure if my wizard does.

Any advice here? I also want to speak with my DM about it as well.
phelanarcetus
01-17-06, 04:30 PM Well, you've accomplished a goal, and you have property to protect. Now, until word spreads somewhat more about this property of yours, it shouldn't need much protecting. But that's no reason not to start early.

As long as keeping the property secure isn't an overriding priority, you've railroaded yourself out of some types of plot hooks while setting yourself up for others. Now you have a reputation and a place to be found, meaning that you could be approached to take on some task (especially if it relates to undead). Then while on the road just about any plot hook you railroaded yourselves away from is available again.

For now, you just want to get it secure, and make it feel like home.

Now, as to why your wizard might adventure... well, if you want to open a magical academy then you probably need more of a reputation; you have the property to open it on, but is anybody going to come learn from you? And of course, presumably your party have become your friends by now, and at least for a while you may adventure with them out of loyalty. During which time you may find new reasons to adventure (and if you're worried, talk with the DM about it as well).
ConfoundedReptile
01-17-06, 07:18 PM Well, I can think of a lot of reasons a wizard with a goal of starting a magic academy someday wouldn't want to rest on his laurels. You will want to establish a reputation, learn more spells, start collecting tomes for your library (spellbooks, as well as historical, arcana, language, etc information), establish connections with other academies (if they exist), recruit wizards to teach at the academy, study magical beasts, practice your wizard dueling, find new potions, get hands-on experience harvesting spell components, etc. In fact, the only thing you wouldn't want to do, is sit at home and let your magic skills get rusty and your reputation (what reputation you have at sixth level) be forgotten.
tsuyoshikentsu
01-17-06, 09:45 PM And even once the school gets fully running, you can take a promising student out to see "prectical applications of the arcane arts," IE adventuring.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Rhomphaia 01-17-06, 02:58 PM	Okay, I know this is an unusual concern from a player, and it requires a little bit of background, but my core concern is what do I do with my character now? The background is this. After hunting goblins for a little while, our group (a cleric, swashbuckler and my character, a wizard) went to a larger town to get the swashbuckler's rapier enchanted. While there we hear rumors of a mansion that has been abandoned and boarded up with rumors of hauntings. The local authorities have been unable to sell the mansion or sizable piece of property. In short, we bought it, cleaned the house of undead and are currently working on clearing the property. We have hired servants and laborers to clean the mansion up and make it presentable, and have made deals with woodcutters for the hardwood in the small woodland behind the property and a deal with a spice merchant allowing him to grow saffron there (for a percentage of the cut on the expensive stuff). We are now assured of plenty of money given about a year's time. In addition, my wizard now has a guaranteed place to rest, research and craft items, as well as the money to do so. Also, our fame is spreading fairly quickly throughout town, so we have some favor here. Along with the money, my character is now a major step closer to realizing part of his personal dream of founding a magic academy, and has the property and means to do so. I do not expect everything on a silver platter overnight, nor do I expect any guarantees, but our characters are only 6th level. So far, the DM has been good about using our unexpected buying of the property (for dirt cheap) as a catalyst for adventures, but I am concerned about a few things. Have we unnecessarily railroaded ourselves out of campaign plot hooks for a while? What do we do with our potential newfound wealth other than securing it? *Not so much a question, but I really hope I can find some in-character reason to go adventuring once everything has settled. I know the cleric has one, and maybe the swashbuckler, but I am not sure if my wizard does. Any advice here? I also want to speak with my DM about it as well.
phelanarcetus 01-17-06, 04:30 PM	Well, you've accomplished a goal, and you have property to protect. Now, until word spreads somewhat more about this property of yours, it shouldn't need much protecting. But that's no reason not to start early. As long as keeping the property secure isn't an overriding priority, you've railroaded yourself out of some types of plot hooks while setting yourself up for others. Now you have a reputation and a place to be found, meaning that you could be approached to take on some task (especially if it relates to undead). Then while on the road just about any plot hook you railroaded yourselves away from is available again. For now, you just want to get it secure, and make it feel like home. Now, as to why your wizard might adventure... well, if you want to open a magical academy then you probably need more of a reputation; you have the property to open it on, but is anybody going to come learn from you? And of course, presumably your party have become your friends by now, and at least for a while you may adventure with them out of loyalty. During which time you may find new reasons to adventure (and if you're worried, talk with the DM about it as well).
ConfoundedReptile 01-17-06, 07:18 PM	Well, I can think of a lot of reasons a wizard with a goal of starting a magic academy someday wouldn't want to rest on his laurels. You will want to establish a reputation, learn more spells, start collecting tomes for your library (spellbooks, as well as historical, arcana, language, etc information), establish connections with other academies (if they exist), recruit wizards to teach at the academy, study magical beasts, practice your wizard dueling, find new potions, get hands-on experience harvesting spell components, etc. In fact, the only thing you wouldn't want to do, is sit at home and let your magic skills get rusty and your reputation (what reputation you have at sixth level) be forgotten.
tsuyoshikentsu 01-17-06, 09:45 PM	And even once the school gets fully running, you can take a promising student out to see "prectical applications of the arcane arts," IE adventuring.