JUNGLE TRADER
Someone’s got to get Imystrahli pearls to Katagia, or find a new source of rare iron alloys now that Kal-Zinan has closed its gates. That someone is you. You’re willing to crisscross the continent, brave savage monsters, and overcome countless obstacles ... as long as the balance sheet is black at journey’s end.
Lots of people call themselves “traders” or “merchants” in Thule, but you don’t have much in common with the farmer bringing his vegetables downriver or the wagoneer selling ceramic pots from village to village. You favor high-margin cargoes and dangerous routes. You’re also comfortable with speculation—you’ll observe a shortage and buy (or otherwise “acquire”) the available supply. Everything from spices to silks to alchemical reagents to magic-imbued materials is in your hands just long enough for you to get it to the buyer and collect your profit.
The narrative is named Jungle Trader, but you’ll go anywhere in search of a profitable gap between supply and demand. That means classes with a predilection for travel (such as rangers, rogues, and bards) are suited for the trader’s life. Really, though, if you like money, life as a jungle trader should hold at least some appeal.
Key Identity: Human, ranger, rogue, bard.
JUNGLE TRADER BENEFITS
Unlike other narratives that provide skill, spellcasting, or similar bonuses, the jungle trader’s benefit is primarily economic. All other things being equal, you’re going to have somewhat more money than characters in other narratives. You can, of course, convert that economic bonus into a combat or skill bonus (another sort of trading, really), but you’ll always be tempted to keep your funds liquid so you can pounce on the next moneymaking opportunity.
You also gain bonuses related to travel and commerce. You know merchants and their dealings, and eventually you can take advantage of rivalries and inefficiencies among Thule’s great merchant houses. You also gain a modicum of trail savvy, because the unwary, oblivious jungle trader winds up in a tribal stew-pot, not counting coins at the trade route’s destination.
JUNGLE TRADERS IN THE WORLD
Jungle traders are generally well-liked, because the vast majority of Thule’s population lives in a state of fundamental isolation. Even residents of the city-states are keenly aware of wonderful things from far-off lands that they don’t have access to (and that lack gnaws at many a potential customer). A jungle trader is the person that brings you news of far-off lands and provides you with necessities and luxuries you simply couldn’t obtain any other way. Jungle traders who use underhanded means such as thievery to handle the “supply” part of the equation have more enemies than most, of course.
Only two groups hate jungle traders as a matter of course. The first group are those victimized by economics—the local trader that you undercut, or the noble who finds herself paying four times the price for high-end mead because you’ve cornered the market. The second group is other jungle traders. Among traders plying the same routes with the same goods, the phrase “cutthroat competition” often becomes a literal description.
PERSONALIZING THE JUNGLE TRADER
Most of a jungle trader’s affiliations are business arrangements; that’s the nature of the profession. The key thing that defines a particular jungle trader is what she’s selling. You’ll deal with countless sorts of goods as you advance your narrative, of course, but if you’re looking to make a profit, consider some of the following goods.
Low Levels: Leave the basic, staple commodities
like grain and wood to mere teamsters; you want high-margin items like rare spices, gourmet food and drink, and fine textiles. Rare alchemical re- agents and spell components can often be harvested in the jungle or purchased from friendly tribes, then brought to a city-state for a tidy profit
Middle Levels: Now your resources have grown, and your eye for an opportunity has sharpened. You’re interested in goods where the supply is inherently low and the demand is sky-high. The decadent elves of Imystrahl prize the black lotuses that grow in the southern jungles ... but could perhaps be cultivated in hothouses elsewhere. Art objects and other treasures belonging to Atlantis before it sank under the waves will fetch a price—both to nostalgic Atlanteans and art collectors who realize that the supply can only dwindle.
High Levels: By this point, only the rich and powerful can afford you, so you’re selling the most valuable commodities on the continent of Thule. Everyone wants iron and other metals that only the dwarves can smelt, for example. Magic items, substances from other worlds, and curiosities from exotic, ancient cultures are your stock in trade.
JUNGLE TRADER
You crisscross the continent of Thule in search of vast riches—or at least a profit margin better than the other traders are making. Your keen sense of supply and demand takes you deep into Thule’s jungles, across
its treacherous glaciers, and into the underbelly of its wicked city-states.
Skill Bonuses (1st level): You gain a background of Jungle Trader at +2 and can use it on a variety of checks when you’re negotiating a deal. Examples include:
Convincing two tribes to end their bitter war
Bluffing the tax collector that your fine Katagian ale is really bilge-water
Intimidating a rival to fold in a card game with coins on the line
Insightfully noticing which statue the noble really wants to buy
Profit Margin (4th level): Whenever you sell an item for gold, you obtain 10% more than the standard price.
Trusty Steed (8th level): As a side benefit to a deal or as the winnings in a wager, you obtain a well trained, loyal exotic steed—anything from a warhorse to a rideable dinosaur. Work with your GM to determine exactly what mount you get. It’s primarily a cool means of transport, not a combatant in fights, though it should be tough enough to survive the ordinary travails of the adventurer’s life. As long as you don’t abuse the mount, it will serve you faithfully and well. You can replace a fallen steed when you reach a new level. The presence of your steed gives you a +2 bonus on skill checks related to your narrative.
Adventurer Feat, Greed is Good: Once per day, you can earn a special boon by taking a quick action to loot a corpse in the middle of combat. Once before the end of the battle, you can add or subtract 1d6 from an attack roll or saving throw that you make or that is made against you.