Valinard's Tower

A key part of downtime is giving players somewhere to sink their ill-gotten gains into. PCs can develop extensive Holdings, find more expensive and luxurious places to live, and trade in obscure treasures.

Action: Invest in a Holding

To upgrade a holding or create a new Trivial holding, the PC must spend a downtime and the listed upgrade cost.

Tier		Upgrade Cost	Description
0	-	100	Starting from scratch.
1	Trivial	500	A food cart, a handful of street urchins, a busking corner, a shelf of mouldering tomes. It’s not nothing, but it’s nearly nothing.
2	Minor	1000	A small shop, a local gang, a regular gig at a dingy tavern, a study library. Insignificant and unmemorable.
3	Notable	2500	A cosy but thriving cafe, a criminal operation with a small but well-defined turf, regular shows and a small but devoted fanbase, a specialist library. A small but successful holding with a distinct niche.
4	Major	5000	A large and busy restaurant, racketeers cornering the city’s smuggling or gambling operations, nightly shows to a full house, a library that other wizards wish to consult. Whatever the holding is, it’s an important example of it in the local scene.
5	Influential	10000	A restaurant booked up for weeks in advance, perhaps the most feared syndicate in the city’s underworld, a star troupe playing their own venue to an avid fanbase, the most complete library in the city. Defines the scene.
6	Famous	25000	People travel from afar to sample the cuisine. The troupe’s music influences the very mood of the city. The crime cartel receives tribute from the underworld of other cities. The wizard’s library is known far and wide as a trove of arcane lore. Its influence extends both geographically and thematically.
7	Legendary	-	Unique, fabulous, and known throughout the land.

• Poor: The holding does not advance, and 1d6x10% of the upgrade cost is lost.

• Mixed: A complication occurs. If the complication is resolved, the holding advances to the next tier.

• Good: The holding advances to the next tier without incident.

Holding Complications

Roll 1d8:

1. Rumours: Vendors won’t sell the wizard books for his library because they’ve heard he’s involved in a sinister cult; customers are led to believe the PC’s restaurant secretly serves osquip meat; false reports circulate about the mercenary company’s mortality rate, drying up the supply of new recruits; the cleric’s shrine is said to be a front for demon-worship; word on the street is, the thief’s gang as gone soft.
2. Competition: Another wizard is buying up all the rarest tomes; a new restaurant has opened across the street; sleek, black-armoured mercenaries are picking up every contract; a travelling priest holds an exciting revival on the edge of town, drawing away the faithful; a neighbouring gang is muscling in on the thief's turf.
3. Sabotage: Cursed tomes smuggled into the library, rats released into the restaurant, a rust monster in the armoury, someone peed in the font, the watch have set up a sting operation.
4. Shortage: That one vital series of volumes can’t be found for love or money; local merchants can no longer keep up with the restaurant’s demand for its signature spice; there aren’t enough armourers to equip the troops; the trade route that delivered incense to the shrine has been cut off by bandit activity; customs officers have seized so much contraband the black market is languishing.
5. Blackmail: Roll again, but the problem can be made to go away by doing a favour for the NPC behind it. If you roll blackmail twice, two blackmailers with competing agendas know of a weakness the holding has and seek to exploit it at cross purposes.
6. Red Tape: The authorities want a piece of the action, and seek to levy taxes or assess fees equal to 300 cn per tier.
7. Shakedown: Criminals seek protection money equal to 100 cn per tier every downtime until dissuaded.
8. Alliance: An NPC or organisation with a similar holding of higher tier seeks to pool resources. If the PC accepts, the next upgrade attempt is half price due to the assistance, but automatically rolls on the complication table due to attention from the NPC’s rivals.

Action: Obtain Lodgings

The PC specifies what she is looking for – general budget, location, or vibe. The DM creates an appropriate lodging which the PC can move into if she meets the requirements – a down-payment may be required, or particular relationships or quests.

• Good: Bargain! Ignore the first upkeep result in the new lodgings, or reduce any initial payment required.
• Mixed: No additional effect.
• Poor: Complication. There’s a problem with the new lodging – maybe it’s haunted, in poor repair, or has troublesome neighbours.

Action: Find a Buyer

Obvious treasures – gold statuettes, jewelry, gems and so on can always be sold for face value in a large enough town. More obscure treasures – fabrics, rare books, furniture and so on – require a buyer. Any number of roughly similar items can be sold together with one DT action.

Roll modified by CHA.

• Good: Roll 1d6 on the boon table.

• Mixed: The items sells for full price.

• Poor: Roll 1d6 on the complication table.

1D6	Boons	Complications
1-3	Sells for 1d6x10% over the listed price.	Will only sell at 1d6x10% discount.
4	Grateful buyer gives small gift or useful information.	No sale.
5	Gain a contact who will buy similar items automatically in future.	Swindler attempts to obtain item without paying.
6	As above, but contact likes the PCs and will pay +10% per relationship level.	Sells at full price, but causes a problem – NPC or faction is angered, item turns out to be dangerous, stolen, etc.

These rules can also be used to Find a Seller when looking to buy unusual items, or to fence illegal or stolen goods.