E M E R A L D C I T Y C H R O N I C L E S
GAMEPLAY: PERMUTATIONS: BACKROUNDS: BUSINESS
Unique Background - Business: Businesses are a unique background that we made up. Like other backgrounds, they range from 1 to 5 dots. All businesses begin at 1 dot.
A business in this system may represent particular perks or incoming cash, but isn't needed to justify a simple Resources rating. Your character's backstory for why they have the completely separate Resources background can contain any number of businesses, without having to do with these five dots. In the same way, what your character's business is, story-wise, largely doesn't matter, per se. You can roleplay that the business is a chain of hotdog stands and a money laundering operation with a side of used car sales and prostitution, but you still get only one perk, and only one track of the business background. The mechanics can be a little bit separate from the story (within reason) and that's ok. Just remember that this system simply serves to offer a few concrete extras that Resources don't.
The levels of a business roughly:
0 Strip mall store, small workshop
00 Boutique outlet, Sawmill
000 Destination store with thriving E-Business, Iron Foundry
0000 Franchised big box, Shipyard
00000 Ubiquitous All Purpose Retailer, Industrial mega-complex
Existing mortal enterprises may be able to be purchased in game, but control of them is only as complete as the level of the business purchased with XP and still takes a Downtime Action. Businesses represent Seattle-based industries, franchises or corporations. Businesses remain persistent in the world once created unless destroyed through plot and story. Like all backgrounds, if purchased with XP, they cost the same as Abilities on the V20 XP chart.
YOUR MONEY OR YOUR PERK
The benefit of owning a business comes monthly, either in the form of money taken off the top (after operating expenses), or a special perk unique to the format of the business. You can choose to use one or the other once per month. The perk can either be one unit (which may be more than one actual item) of what the business provides per dot of the business, or you can potentially combine them together for one higher quality or more useful result.
If you choose the 'cash option', a business pays an amount in cash equal to 1⁄4 of the Resource background of the same level if you elect to not use your Perk. In-game, this is represented by a signed and stamped notecard with the amount of cash printed on it, which represents a stack of bills equal to that amount.
 Allies |
|---|
 Alternate Identity |
 Anarch Information Exchange |
 Armory |
 Black Hand Membership |
 Buisiness |
 VampireClans.png |
 Communal Haven |
 Contacts |
 Domain |
 Fame |
 Generation |
 Herd |
 Influence |
 Mentor |
 Mob.jpg |
 Prestation |
 Resources |
 Retainer |
 Rituals |
 Status |
 Titles |
PERK PAYOUT
Every business has a Perk which it can provide your character. Selecting a perk is generally defining a Feat or types of Feats with a storyteller that add non-combat related dice equal to the level of the business to specific checks that must be defined beforehand, or maybe some extra items, or extra blood. Perks may also provide justification to purchase certain Backgrounds after character creation.
Example perks:
-
Construction Company - Perk: Adds dice equal to its level to Influence checks utilizing the Industry sphere of Influence.
-
Mafia Cleanup service - Perk: Masquerade Cover Ups - Add dice equal to the level of the business to a roll related to a masquerade cover-up scene.
-
Nightclub - Perk: Blood - Easy access to blood provides 2x the level in blood points per month to use any time or be traded IC.
-
Forgery Outfit - Perk: Alternate ID - Justification for levels of Alt ID equal to the level of the Street/Underworld Influence.
Unused monthly business perks don't stack or compile over time. If player dosn't use it in a given downtime period, its assumed the business simply sold its perk to sustain itself.
ITEMS AS PERKS
Your character's business can potentially produce things of value. For example, if the business is an Automotive Factory, it may produce one Common car per level of the businesses. A 2 dot Factory could produce 2 common cars that you could take home with you, OR one uncommon car. (Basically half the rating, round up for Uncommon items). Define with your storyteller what 'one unit' of items is. For most common items with working stats, (weapons, armor & vehicles) it's a 1 to 1 dots to items ratio available per level. Businesses will never be able to create Rare items, which takes a true spark of genius, and a unique, questable component (See Craft rules). Items created are generally restricted in value to roughly the level of Resources that business could otherwise provide. As with most things at ECC, the motif of common, uncommon and rare follows items as well.
BUILDING A BETTER BUISINESS
Businesses are grown using a similar extended successes system to many others in V20. The main difference is that a Resources, Influence or cash prerequisite must be met first in order to attempt the roll. WIthout the appropriate amount of starting capital, you cannot attempt to build a business.
The prerequisites for building a business are as follows:
1 - $50,000.00 or Resources 2 or Influence 1
2 - $100,000.00 or Resources 4 or Influence 2
3 - $250,000.00 or Resources 6 or Influence 3
4 - $750,000.00 or Resources 8 or Influence 4
5 - $5 million or Resources 10 or Influence 5
The level of the business determines both difficulty and helps determine the number of successes needed for growing to each level. The formula for growing a business is as follows: roll Intelligence + Finance, difficulty 3+ the level you're growing to. You must accumulate that level times 5 successes at that difficulty to succeed. For example, if you are attempting to grow a business from a level 2 business to a level three business you would need to have $250,000.00, Resources 6 or Influence 3. If you have those, you would roll your Intelligence + Finance at a difficulty of 6. In order to succeed you would need 15 successes. It is an extended roll, and you receive four rolls per downtime. Please note that if you do not have the Finance ability, you may not attempt the roll yourself - however you can have someone else make the roll on your behalf.
-
Players must submit a downtime request to grow a business. Per normal downtime rules, a downtime represents a month, which means there can be up to 4 rolls in a single downtime to achieve the total successes needed. If not enough successes are gained in the first downtime, each month another downtime may be submitted for another set of rolls, and those successes will add and accumulate until the character is eventually successful.
-
In addition, you may add your Influence dice to this roll for the cost of an additional downtime action (each month if it takes multiple months). You'll need to include a story explaination for how your character's influence would help as well.
-
Your character must have a prerequisite amount of cash or Resources to attempt the roll as mentioned above.
-
Only one track of the business background per character.
-
Retainers with Finance as one of their 3 things they are good at can make the roll with 8 dice, per normal on behalf of the character. Retainers (other than embodied PC ghouls) cannot own businesses.
-
Business do not cost XP if grown organically, and their ownership can be transferred IC to another character simply by giving them the item card that represents control of the business.
See your ST to get your character's monthly payout the first game of each month, or simply inform us of which benefit you'd like to gain normally we will write you a card for it right then and there.
A Business on an item card looks like this:
Business: Last Supper Club Nightclub
Level: 5
Perk: Blood - Provides 2 blood point per month per level.
(Blood points may be used or traded IC)
Grow Finished: - 8/14/14
Business: Mob "Cleaning Service"
Level: 3
Perk: Masquerade Cleanup +1 dice per level.
(Usable on any roll related to body disposal)
Grow Finished: - 10/4/14