Entrepeneur (PrC)

[Lysander]

A PrC not built for violence, but rather for commerce and economic conquest. Taking several levels in the class would leave a character much weaker in combat, but able to get rich without needing loot. In many cases it might be best just as a one or two level dip for roleplaying reasons. There are also some cases where it might be best to roleplay a business instead, but if you want a business as a class feature with a set rate of return this might be useful.

Your comments are welcome.

Entrepreneur

Hit Die
d4

Requirements
To qualify to become an entrepreneur, a character must fulfill the following criteria.

Skills
Appraise 4 ranks, Bluff 4 ranks, Diplomacy 4 ranks, Sense Motive 4 ranks, Profession or Craft 8 ranks

Feats
Leadership

Appropriate Economic Climate
Entrepreneurs can only flourish in societies with plentiful trade and commerce. You may not take levels in the entrepreneur class when cut off from that environment, and can only apply entrepreneur abilities to places suited for them.

Class Skills

The entrepeneur’s class skills are Appraise, Bluff, Craft, Diplomacy, Disable Device, Forgery, Gather Information, Intimidate, Knowledge (Geography), Knowledge (History), Knowledge (Local), Knowledge (Nobility and royalty), Profession, Search, Sense Motive

Skill Points at Each Level
8 + Int modifier

{table="head"]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort|Ref|Will|Special
1|0|+0|+0|+2|Bodyguard, Business Savvy
2|1|+0|+0|+3|Business Savvy
3|1|+1|+1|+3|Business Savvy
4|2|+1|+1|+4|Business Savvy
5|2|+1|+1|+4|Business Savvy
[/table]

Weapon and Armor Proficiency
Entrepeneurs gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.

Bodyguard
An entrepreneur receives a bodyguard, a loyal npc warrior cohort with a character level that is always two below that of the entrepreneur. The bodyguard is in addition to any cohort granted by the leadership feat. Although a paid mercenary the bodyguard costs the entrepreneur nothing - assume their salary is budgeted into the expenses of the businesses granted by their business savvy abilities. Should a bodyguard be killed it usually takes a month to find a replacement, although it might be longer should the entrepreneur get a reputation for having their bodyguards repeatedly die off.

Business Savvy
With each level an Entrepreneur may select one form of business savvy, a talent that provides an edge at commercial ventures.

Venture
A venture is a business or investment of some kind that the entrepreneur has developed a business plan for, is run by subordinates, has its own small building, and does not need to supervised by the entrepreneur on a day-to-day basis. Start-up costs are provided by investors and require no money out of the entrepreneur's pocket. A venture accumulates profit for the entrepreneur each week on its own equal to half their craft or profession check. The entrepreneur may visit the venture to collect their money, or have it sent to them by some other means. By choosing the venture business savvy more than once an entrepreneur can open multiple businesses, each earning their own revenue stream. Each venture in one city must be based off a separate profession or craft skill as to not compete, but ventures in separate cities may be based off the same skill and considered branches or affiliates of another. An entrepreneur must still supervise a venture to some extent, either by visiting or maintaining a correspondence over a distance. After three months without any supervision a venture only makes half money, after six months with no supervision a venture earns no income for the entrepreneur but never closes. Should a venture no longer be feasible due to outside forces (such as a city being destroyed or a war) an entrepreneur may replace it with a new venture elsewhere at the earliest opportunity. An entrepreneur receives +2 to all diplomacy, gather information, intimidate, and knowledge (local) checks in cities they have a venture in.

Master Haggler
The entrepreneur is able to receive a 10% discount off the standard sale price of all non-magical goods and services. Each time this skill is selected they receive an additional 10% discount, to a maximum of 50% off the list price. No cost can ever be reduced lower than one copper, or an equivalent amount in goods. Any item that can be considered a trade good cannot be haggled over.

High Seas Merchant
Using money from investors an entrepreneur purchases a stake in a sailing ship and hired crew. Each week they earn an amount of gold equal to half their Profession (Merchant) check, which is sent to them by courier or some other means. The sailing ship provides free passage and board to the entrepreneur and up to five companions, but only on its normal schedule and route between major trading ports. Each time the high seas merchant business savvy is taken they invest in a new ship, providing a separate stream of income. Should the ship ever be destroyed by outside forces the entrepreneur may invest in a new ship for free.

Informants
The entrepreneur recruits informants in a city of their choice, allowing them to make a gather information for that city each day with no time or effort, even at great distances. From character levels 1-10 you must arrange to meet a messenger at a place or at a list of places each day or miss the message, and you must be within a hundred miles of the city. From levels 11 onward your informants use sending spells to contact the entrepreneur whenever they might be (often by using their connections to get free spells from the local church). This news always includes useful business information, and if you can relay this knowledge to a venture or ship granted by business savvy before a week passes this usually allows you to double your profession check for the week that business. Should the city you choose ever be destroyed or similarly made no longer applicable for this ability the entrepreneur can recruit

Base of Operations
You earn use of a furnished mansion in any city. You do not truly own the mansion and cannot sell it; instead it is usually leased to you free of cost by an investor or business partner. The mansion is maintained by two servants per character level, and can host a banquet for up to a dozen people per character level each day at no cost to the entrepreneur. The mansion can often be used to provide a +2 circumstance bonus on many uses of the bluff, diplomacy, gather information, and intimidate skill. Each time this business savvy is taken they receive use of a new mansion in a new city. Should the mansion ever be destroyed by outside forces they may replace it.

Banker
You are talented at finding worthy candidates for loans. You may give out any amount of your own money in a city, and receive one percent of that original amount back as interest each week. You may have a cumulative 10,000gp given out at one time, in any number of places, per time this business savvy is selected.

Local Connections
The entrepreneur has a business relationship with the governments, churches, or criminal organizations. Where applicable you may receive one of the following in any one city of your choice:
*+4 to all diplomacy and bluff checks to get out of legal trouble
*One free 4th level or lower cleric spell cast for you each day by a low level cleric. Casting the spell must not require them to leave the city, must not be risky or violate their deity's alignment, have no xp cost, and you must provide any material component or costly focus.
*Using criminal ties to have an npc rogue or rogue/assassin two levels lower than you attempt to kill anyone within the city once a month for free. Only targets that provide a fairly reasonable chance of success and escape will be attempted by the assassin.

Immunity to Mind Tricks
The entrepreneur is immune to suggestion spells and effects.

[TheLash]

I just read this class. I really can't believe people passed it up. I am going to use it in the next adventure of my game. I was working up a crime organization. This works perfectly, great work.

[Obrysii]

This is not necessarily a strong PC class, but it is a perfectly excellent NPC class.

The game needs more classes like this.

[imp_fireball]

You should really consider expanding upon the reputation mechanic.

Since the entrepreneur depends entirely upon investors, reputation is very key. With a high reputation, you'll attract richer investors who are willing to do more for you.

This PRC is probably quite imba otherwise. Really, a free base of operations? You could get more servants in there then the wizard's conjured mansion with its unseen servants, not to mention body guards, magical booby traps from hired casters, the works! Money is everything after all, and a clear example that something so mundane can triumph over even magic. Hell, you could hire adventurers to defeat the BBEG for you or become party leader by sheer weight of your coin and purchase epic level artifacts (assuming you can find and retrieve them from whatever lost civilization of course).

The entrepreneur should have to go the extra mile to expand upon a reputation pool or something in order to gain access to each of their class features as they level up.

And since reputation would scale the business saavy abilities, you should include a few extra ones - maybe a bonus feat and some SLAs to substitute (which would not scale with reputation; basically just there to fill up slots when the player runs out of ideas of what to put business saavy into at top levels).

That said, brilliant idea, but needs work to measure up with other classes.

[Fizban]

Pretty good stuff. Not for adventuring, but gives you some passive benefits for maintaining a business in your off hours. If you pick a big city, or even a planar metropolis (as you haven't prohibited it), those free gather information checks could allow access to almost any knowledge with a decent check (based on your own skill, no less). How many ventures does one contact allow you to double? The mansion is probably the least eye-popping of the choices, but the upkeep would likely rival that in a source of income, and could be very valuable depending on the game. Likewise, if the PCs have a city they use as a base and don't have a cleric of their own, the church connections could be very useful as well. Basing the assassin's level on your own is great, giving them an actual chance to succeed.

I wonder, do vehicles and buildings count as non-magical goods? Getting a discount always feels good, but if it only applies to non-magical gear you can carry, there aren't gonna be many things it's gonna matter on. Weapons and armor made of special materials maybe, but those are one-time purchases.

[herbe]

Immunity to Mind Tricks
The entrepreneur is immune to suggestion spells and effects.

You can get immunity to all mind-affecting spells and abilities (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects).