Trading company magnates sit at the same tables as kings and generals but are beholden to no one. Their agents travel the length and breadth of the known world, encountering trading partners civil and sav- age, magical and mundane. Given the adventures that trading ships and caravans are prone to encounter, a trading company regularly employs the finest swords- men, spies, and courtesans that gold can buy.
the challenges of the trade routes. Without a trading company, trades between organizations and lands are expensive or impossible due to distance, failure to find middle ground, or lack of financing. To provide trading services, a trading organization must master many different disciplines. It must protect its merchan- dise in transit, negotiate in exotic locales, subdue or avoid magic, and grease the palms of border guards throughout civilization. No organization is as diverse as a trading company. It is common for a large trading company’s master ledger to include in the same month payments to mercenaries on the battlefield, whores in the bedchamber, and engineers in the laboratory. Scope and abilities. At each even scope increase, raise your efficiency or force by one. At every level divis- ible by five (5, 10, 15, 20, etc.), increase efficiency, force or shadow by one. At each odd level scope increase, choose one of the following abilities.
• Free transaction. You can make or facilitate one trade per week that does not count against your normal total of actions. Nor is there an
action or gold cost for other parties involved in the trade. Charge what you like for this service.
• Beneficial trade. In any trade you make or facilitate, every organization rolls efficiency
vs. the doom. An organization who succeeds gains 100 gold for every scope level you have. For example, if you are a 9th level organization, a benefiting organization gains
900 gold.
• Efficient capital. One new building, ship, or other purchase that generates gold
generates one-quarter more gold than normal. You may choose this ability multiple times,
designating a different piece of capital each time.
• Shortcuts. At a moment’s notice, you can jump on a trading partner’s caravan,
zeppelin, or galleon, and you know all the fastest routes. Your knowledge of the trading
routes and your access to the trading network reduces travel time by one day for every week of the journey. Charge what you like for this service. You can use this once per week,
but if you select this ability multiple times, you can use it a number of times equal to the number of times you have selected it,
up to five.
• Exotica. Your company’s contact with an exotic culture has taught it novel ways of
doing business and allowed you to purchase items otherwise unattainable. Choose one of the following at no cost. Its normal cost cannot be more than two above your current wealth level.
o One research advancement o One war beast
o One regional secret (chosen by the trading company subject to GM veto)
o Treasure trove. Roll randomly on the treasure table corresponding to your highest wealth level.
o New philosophy. An exotic idea extends and deepens current thought in the Kingdoms. Choose one idea or action. Many people cultivate inspirations based on that idea. Any member of your trading company can take a reputation (3) as a
thinker, explorer, or ambassador for bringing the idea to the Kingdoms. If he adopts that philosophy
himself, he gains 1 free inspiration point that does not count toward his
normal maximum.
• Single-mindedness. You roll your efficiency as a bonus die against any disaster, attack, or other event that would cause a loss of income. • Cultural ties. Pick one culture. When
dealing with that culture, anyone in your trading company rolls its efficiency as an
additional dialogue die once per social scene. This benefit may be chosen multiple times;
designate a new culture each time. This does not count as your company’s action for the week. How to handle NPCs living in dangerous cultures The GM rolling every month or week for every NPC in the realm is unreasonable. As GM, you should only roll for NPCs who come “on stage” and are interacting with the
PCs. Even then, if you forget to roll for an NPC who just sold the PCs a bouquet of peonies and three ounces of honey, it doesn’t matter.
In short: roll when it’s important. Most cultural effects are designed so that the players, and not the GM, can roll for them. The players note the effects on a character sheet and carry on quickly. The GM does not have to track the effect of the culture on every single NPC in the kingdom!
• Cultural force. You roll your force score as a bonus die when attempting to change
the culture in your home region. Here are some typical savage cultures you might install:
o Culture of wealth. Anyone with a wealth level above 7 receives a Mood
increase of 1 each week.
o Culture of material. The default quality of all items manufactured in your demesne increases by one. o Culture of tolerance, in the name of gold. Anyone can use your efficiency
as an extra dialogue die, but it must be used on the side of tolerance, freedom, and respect for the customs of others (not a common thing in the settled lands!).
There are two ways to diminish the characteristics and scope of an opponent’s organization: war and shadow war.
War is just what it sounds like: open mass combat. For every battle you win, you reduce one of your opponent’s characteristics or his scope by 1. You cannot reduce the same characteristic two battles in a row.
A shadow war is everything that an open war is not. It is conducted in secret. Narrate your organization’s attack on the enemy organization, and roll the appropriate dice. For example, if you narrate a gang of thugs shattering windows at mid- night and dragging the merchants of your enemy’s guild out into the streets and beating them, then you roll force to attack. Your enemy can narrate his own defense using force, arcana, or shadow (though it would be highly unlikely that a merchant guild has significant access to arcana!). If you successfully attack, then reduce one of your opponent’s charac- teristics, wealth level, or scope by one. You cannot reduce an organization’s scope by more than one per season.
Shadow war attacks require exquisite timing and planning to remain out of the public eye. You can- not attack the same characteristic (or choose scope) two attacks in a row. You cannot attack more than once per week (or round).