A business is just a collection of building that you purchase to produce an income for you, personally. The basic Capitalist set up - you pay to set the business up, and reap a regular reward in return for your investment. However, there is a catch. There is always someone who owns the land you want to build on (Such as the Local Lord, or the Town Council) and you need to get their permission before you can build. They will probably ask you to contribute (in BPs) to building some Civic Infrastructure, before they give permission for you to build. In the end, it could cost you twice the listed price (or more) before you are able to build. Some business investments do not need balancing, and these include Boats, Trade Caravans and Magic items, so you may not need to ask the land owners permission before you purchase them. All of the Special Economy items are upgrades to existing buildings - and the landowner might ask you for a larger contribution than normal when you ask to develop the buildings (Jetties, Serai, Magic shops etc) that enable these Special Economy items.

NOTE: If you want to be charitable towards, or help, a community – you should look at the Community Developments Page. However, you should be aware that you will never benefit from those developments - any profit they make goes to serve the community, either through direct distribution or via a Community Representative.

There are a number of different classifications :-

• Commercial - General and service businesses.
• Manufacturing - Businesses that make things.
• Retail - Shops and Markets
• Hospitality - Bars, Hotels and entertainment.
• Magic Businesses - businesses selling magical items or providing magic services
• Residential - Every one needs somewhere to live. Slum landords to proper rented accommodation.
• -
• Leisure - A mixture of commercial, civic and community ventures, all associated with sports and leisure.
• -
• Religious - Shrines, Chapels, Monasteries - right up to Cathedrals
• Academic - Schools, Colleges - Academic Organizations are the most straightforward part of the World Building Rules.
• Guilds - Merchant Guilds, Mages Guilds, Mercenary Guilds … and anything similar.

Profitability

Profitability defines how much ‘profit’ you make each campaign round. In a really fast development area, it might be as high as 0.5 – which means you make 1bp profit for every 2bp you have invested. In other areas it might be 0.25 – which means you make 1bp profit for every 4bp you have invested. Even 0.25 is much higher than most modern businesses would expect to achieve, and many run at a loss during their early years, but this is a game that is supposed to be a hard-core economics lesson.

You get this for every point of Econ and Special Economy recorded against your businesses.

Phase 1 – Income

BPs earned = (Econ + Special Econ) * Profitability.

Example 1

Example 2

Phase 2 – Debts and Obligations

If you have any debts or obligations that are due in this Campaign Round, you must pay them before moving to the next phase.

Phase 3 - Developments

This is when you can develop your business, if you want to. Once everything is settled up for the turn, you know how many BP you have to play with. You could :-

• Build something New (with permission from the Land Owner)
• Upgrade an existing Development (with permission from the Land Owner)
• Make a voluntary gift to another player, stronghold or the state.
• Do a good deed (Build a Shrine, Graveyard, Orphanage etc (with permission from the Land Owner)
• Lend one (or more) BP to a different PC (You can charge interest, if you agree it beforehand)
• Save BP until next turn so you have more to spend.