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Fabula Ultima: the Merchant
🕑 Added 2019-10-23 18:15:44 +0000 UTCHi everyone!
Here we are with another hypothetical class for Fabula Ultima: the merchant! I know I know, this is a bit of a weird one - it's not that common in JRPGs, and the main examples are the Merchant crown in Four Heroes of Light (that's where the picture above comes from) and the Merchant asterisk in Bravely Default and Bravely Second.
... such as this charming gentleman.
But without further ado, let's move on to the juicy bits!
MERCHANT
Also: Entrepreneur, Hustler, Trader
Even in a world rife with magic and wonder, money holds great influence. Trade and commerce are key to the development of nations and kingdoms, and those who understand the value of coin are known as Merchants.
It may not seem very heroic for a person to be a trader or entrepreneur, but like many tools, money can be both good and bad: a kind heart can use it to foster community, improve relationships and improve welfare.
MERCHANT FREE BENEFITS
- Permanently increase your maximum Inventory Points by 1.
MERCHANT SKILLS
Fistful of Zenit [+3]: You may use an action to spend 20 to 100 zenit and throw them at a target as a free attack; this is a ranged thrown weapon with the following profile:
Haggler [+5] : Whenever you sell or purchase an item, you may increase or lower its price by a percentage equal to [SL x 10]%. This does not apply when recharging Inventory Points or selling items created with them. Additionally, you always know the exact price of any item you see.
Nose for Money [+5]: Money always finds its way into your hands. Whenever you rest inside a settlement, you may earn [SL x 20] zenit at the end of said rest.
Additionally, you can now spend opportunities to stumble upon valuables: when you spend an opportunity this way, you earn [SL x 5] zenit.
Pay to Win: You may use an action to choose a hostile creature present on the scene and offer them a bribe. If the amount you offer is equal to or higher than the target's level, multiplied by 10, you may force them to leave the scene. This skill has no effect on elite or champion adversaries, or on adversaries who wouldn't have any use for money (the Game Master must tell you who is a valid target).
Comments
Emanuele Galletto
You know, a Merchant that takes some levels in Sharpshooter can actually throw those coins to slow down or even scare off targets XD That's what I like about Fabula... ridiculous builds are often dumb good!
Emanuele Galletto
Several classes have definitely been merged into others - for instance, the Elementalist's Spellblade skill basically covers for the need of a Spellblade archetype in the game. Another example will be the Cook class, which will simply be added as an alternative Invention type for the Tinkerer. In this case, I wanted a full-fledged Merchant class because I love this kind of archetype a lot and wanted to allow players to build a "full merchant", basically! :D
Andrea Parducci
PS, reasoning on the Classes. Maybe you don't need full-fledged classes for those kind of niche archetypes. Maybe you could build some kind of "prestige class", or DW-like "Compendium Class". So I can have 10 levels as Warrior and 15 levels as Mage, but only 3 levels (because, let's say, there's only 3 available) as Merchant.
Andrea Parducci
You could add a move for efficiently throwing away handful of coins, obtaining distraction and confusion, both in battlefields or urban environments. Helpful for stealthy retreats, runaways, or friendly backstabbing :D "As seen on Assassin Creed!"
