Merchants enjoy two advantages: buying in bulk and owning a business. Both revolve around their preoccupation with money and trade. To qualify as a merchant, a PC must have an agreed Background, Trait or Feat that references Merchant, Trade or Business - or have spent 5 ranks in Profession:Merchant

This is the core of the Traveling Merchant - “buy in bulk” at rock-bottom prices, transport it somewhere else and sell it for a profit.

Merchants may buy any common item in 1,000-unit lots if the item’s price is listed in copper or silver pieces. If the price is listed in gold pieces, merchants can buy the item in 100-unit lots. After paying bargain prices, they sell the items to another merchant elsewhere (not in the same city) for the normal price. The merchants, of course, pocket the difference. Only items typically available in bulk can be bought and sold this way. For example, a merchant rogue would not normally be able to purchase a hundred ships over the counter. The DM has final say on whether a given product is available in large amounts. Magical items and objects listed as “rare” or “unique” are never available in bulk. To receive this benefit, a merchant must oversee the entire “bulk buy”—from purchase to delivery. That kind of supervision may involve a long trip across dangerous terrain, which could be the basis for an adventure. A PC merchant might reduce expenditures by hiring fellow adventurers as mercenary guards. Gold earned in this process doesn’t count toward experience, but treasure liberated from monsters and attackers does.

Initial discount is half of your haggling skill - up to a maximum of 10% discount. Larger discounts can be had for stolen or fenced items - although there is always a risk in transporting stolen goods. The best profits come from buying trade goods where they are common, and selling them in areas where they are less common. For those items in the ‘Trade Goods’ list the GM might rule that they are particularly abundant in one area, but less common in other areas. Exploiting these differences will bring the best profit.

Merchants may also establish a self-sustaining business that operates while he or she is away on other business or adventures. The company’s employees handle all of the local and mundane trade on behalf of the merchant When the Merchant-Adventurer attains a new level, they make Trading Check and compare it to the Trading Table to determine how well the business has done. A specialist manager can be employed to make the business more robust and focussed, which gives +5 on the Trading Check, but reduces the base income by 5gp. A manager who is mistreated or feels little loyalty may cheat on his or her boss, reducing the modifier for the Trading Check roll to +2.

After the Trading Check, Merchant-Adventurers (and external Investors) may withdraw any profit or investment money from the Company as they see fit. A merchant may only run one business at a time, however, if the business’s value below 2,000 gp, it folds, and all investments are lost, unless the deficit is reinvested immediately.

Establishing and running a trading company is a background activity, which is not meant to overwhelm the high adventure of merchants. They can still discover new trade routes, bring back gems and rich fabrics, and bear tales of how bravely their employees have fought for them. The business makes such adventures possible; it doesn’t displace them. As a general rule, most trading companies with a value of 10,000 gp or less are considered small. Those with a value around 100,000 gp are still modest. When a company’s assets have climbed to 500,000 gp or more, it is a mighty trading empire, and is accorded the attention of those of import.

For an investment of 1,000gp, a merchant can set up a Local Trade Base, which covers the costs for business space, employees and initial stock Note (use the Town Hall, reskinned). It has an office, space for keeping records and some very limited storage space. Goods for shipping, etc, are not kept on-site, but stored in a commercial warehouse. A Trading Company may have more than one trade base, but they must all be in different towns or cities.

(Note: A Trade Base does not generate an income, but enables you to make investments that do generate an income for you. They also help with your Trading Check each time you level up.)

The more you invest in your trading company, the larger the profit you can make.

Obvious investment expansions are a Pier, stable and Ships. The merchant House facilitates trade for others, rather than actually trading goods in their own right.

A Merchant, with an established Trade Base and Pier, can buy a ship to establish a trade route. The costs, listed below, include the vessel, crew and a full hold of cargo. There are three classifications of vessel available to merchants.

• Keel Boat 5,000gp (Restricted to shortish coastal, or river, voyages) Adds +1 to the Trade Check.
• Coaster 10,000gp (Longer coastal voyages) Adds +2 to the Trade Check.
• Sailing Ship 15,000gp (Un-restricted trading) Adds +3 to the Trade Check.

Rework this: one vessel per trade base, and to take the cargo costs out of vessel prices as well.

GM Notes on Crew

Trading Checks - D 20 + prof (merchant) - (Modifiers= Trade Base +1, Keelboat +1, Coaster +2, Sailing Ship +3)
This check is made when the character goes up a level You may not Take-10 or Take-20 on this roll.

Deductions to covers the normal taxes, tariffs, fees for paperwork, permits, and the like are already accounted for in the table. However, draconian, corrupt or suspicious governments may add extra tariffs and fees that need to be paid, before the final income for the trading period is finalised.