This may sound ridiculous, but my players want to start a fish hatchery to breed fish and sell them for money. I thought it was so hilarious that I told them they could. They've also gotten their hands on quite a bit of gold (it's a long story with some well placed natural 20s), and I think that their investing it in a business will stop this terrible inflation. The DMG has info on business maintenance but I'm not sure what the costs for that would be. They'll have to buy a plot, build some sort of facility, get some hirelings, but beyond that I'm not sure. I honestly just want them to sink all their money into this business because I'm tired of level 3 adventurers having 1,000 gold -_-
For a start: turn the acquisition of the land into an adventure! Maybe there's a kingdom with a bit of swampy land infested with monsters that would otherwise be perfect for the farm. The ruler agrees to let the PCs have the land if they can get rid of the monsters.
If you want to go the simple route, have them pay upkeep costs as though running a temple (25 gp per day) and after a generation (for the fish) has passed allow them to start making rolls for running a business.
If you want to go the extremely detailed route, well, there is a lot they need to buy and a lot they need to do, and I'd be glad to get into it, but I'm not wasting the effort if you don't want the talk about the minutia of irrigation, filtration, and methods of improving the life of the fish in order to increase spawn outputs (note: I'm not an icthyologist, but I have spent more time at fish hatcheries than most non-fish-hatchery-employees).
That's impressive! I didn't expect anyone to actually know stuff about fish hatcheries haha. I guess I'd be interested in what sorts of things go into building the facility (and the estimated amount of gold that would go into making it)
BamCam wrote:
Wow, thanks man! That helps me out quite a bit; I think I'll make them buy land near a river and take some time building the facility. Just gotta calculate the costs for building it since I'm assuming such an operation is unheard of in this setting
BamCam wrote:
pukunui wrote:
"When I first came here, this was all swamp. Everyone said I was daft to build a fishery on a swamp, but I built in all the same, just to show them. It sank into the swamp. So I built a second one. That sank into the swamp. So I built a third. That burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp. But the fourth one stayed up. And that's what you're going to get, Lad, the strongest fishery in all of England."
Getting the PCs to invest in buildings/land/etc. is a great way to siphon off extra gold. And that sort of thing is way more meaningful than just having a bunch of gold squirreled away. What I do is look at the building/maintenance costs for comparable structures/services in the DMG and go from there.
pukunui wrote:
They will also have to protect their tanks from the scrying eyes of the Druids For Free Fish Society (DFFFS). Hard to keep those fish inside when those pesky tree huggers keep warp wooding the tanks.
As adventurers, they would generally lack the specific knowledge or time to run the business unless they take significant periods of downtime. The details of the business should probably not enter the minds of the players as much as how much they have to pay specialized npcs to construct and run the business for them.
It was suggested that the characters should quest for the land. This plays right into what adventurers are all about. The land being one of many materials they could quest for for the healthy maintanence of their business.
The way I would structure it is the players would have to find a specialist in the area of fish/business/etc... They must then offer them the job and make an attractive offer. Perhaps the individual or individuals are willing but a quest/some help would encourage them more. Afterward, they perform the necessary jobs and details in exchange for the completed quests and may some money for the components.
With business constructed and running, it can then run itself. A weekly or monthly profit could then be given to the players. As time passes, perhaps the adventurers wish to take a more hands on approach or maybe they wish the profits were better, they can then receive a quest from the npcs they leave in charge of the business. Issue X or requirement Y needs dealt with. Since the npcs are preoccupied with running the business, the players may then choose to perform the quests. Failure results in less profits or failure of the business. Success means sustaining business and/or increase of profits.
Ideally the whole fishery idea will just be a side thing. Their main focus will be general adventuring. The hatchery will just become a gold generator for them when at the higher levels prices for things like castles and legendary gear skyrocket. If they maintain it, perhaps the company could eventually expand into other locations and/or business.
The old 3e Stronghold Builder's Guidebook has just been released in pdf form on dndclassics.com. It *might* have something of use for you in it. It'd be worth checking out, I reckon.
You might also want to check out the Ultimate Campaign rules from Pathfinder. They have some very nice Kingdom Building/management rules. It also includes rules for running businesses and organizations.
- Eck
3e Power of Faerun also has long detailed and complicated rules for starting and running a business. You seem to be looking into the soggiest "farm" I ever have heard tell of. 
(Except maybe cranberries)
Depending on the area, trying to get ahold of the fish could be an adventure too - watch a film of bears catching salmon, then think about keeping the fish alive and healthy after you get your hands on them.
Ignore the DMG rules because they are crap. Like the rest of the downtime rules, they probably got a whole 5 minutes thought, and will result in players who feel actively discouraged from participating in your world in any way other than killing things and taking their stuff.
I would heartily suggest that you take up some other poster's ideas about turning the business into some mini-adventures. Then hand out the loot for those mini-adventures in the form of profits for the business.
Really, since 5e has largely divorced PC power from gold, you can feel free to drop piles of gold on the PCs whenever you want. At worst, they'll go out and spend it to change the world by buying armies or businesses and whatnot. IMO, that's something to be encouraged.