A bookstore seems like a natural choice. Other options that adventurers might appreciate would be an armory, tavern, or adventuring supply store. If your DM is okay with it, you could try something more eccentric like a music store or magic item shop. You could even go with a tutoring service, instructing people in self-defense, fencing, or basic arcana.
My bard is building an Import-Export business, which will also allow him to build a spy network. The I-E business was started (at level 2) because the starter town and surrounding area was blessed with a magic that allows perfect growing weather year-round. The populace decided to emphasize growing fresh fruit because other food can be grown and stored, but there is nothing like fresh fruit in December, January, February ...
My bard bought a cart and mule, barrels and sacks to transport the fruit in, a horse and stuff for himself, and then hired party members to be his caravan guards. They use this as a cover as they move from one town to another taking on missions at their low level. The bard trades the fresh fruit at a nice profit and buys goods he can use to trade back at the home town, and spices with his profits. The spices are a commodity he can trade with out in the wilderness because a bunch of miners or loggers don't care about a pouch of silver pieces unless they are making a journey to trade in a town. They need salt, pepper, cloves, rosemary, ... So the bard keeps pouches of spices as his special bribe when he gets information he can use and to generally build up good will among the common man as he travels the countryside.
His next step will be to build a trading store (an Import-Export outlet) in a couple towns where he has the best business (I figure this begins at about level 7). He will arrange for goods to be transported from other towns to his I-E outlets, and this will include regular shipments of fresh fruit. But all the while he is building his information sources.
In stage three (somewhere around level 10) he hopes to have already found the best ales, ciders, wines and meads to serve in a tavern. Then he will have a tavern and inn built that includes the best stocked spirits and the best entertainment. He will hire a real chef to cook and use some magic to help the cook the best meals with the best ingredients and spices from his network. He will have good quality rooms available with amenities provided by the staff not found in normal taverns, so that his tavern and inn will become the standard that other taverns are measured. He will hire bards that are members of his information network to perform at his tavern(s).
Of course, this will not generate piles of money, because until the countryside is tamed he will have to pay armed escorts for his many caravans which will eat up a lot of money, but he will have some money coming in. Other profits go into paying his spy bards and buying spices for trade. He will have to hire some capable managers to run things when he is out of town, and that will be often, because he isn't going to give up adventuring. The game is Dungeons and Dragons, not Taverns and Trade after all.
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Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
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Making a pc bard that owns a shop (Works as a book keeper at first, but starts own shop ). What kinda shop should I go for?
A bookstore seems like a natural choice. Other options that adventurers might appreciate would be an armory, tavern, or adventuring supply store. If your DM is okay with it, you could try something more eccentric like a music store or magic item shop. You could even go with a tutoring service, instructing people in self-defense, fencing, or basic arcana.
Wizard (Gandalf) of the Tolkien Club
Antiques and oddities dealer.
Every item in her shop has an interesting past, and an entertaining story to go with it.
My bard is building an Import-Export business, which will also allow him to build a spy network. The I-E business was started (at level 2) because the starter town and surrounding area was blessed with a magic that allows perfect growing weather year-round. The populace decided to emphasize growing fresh fruit because other food can be grown and stored, but there is nothing like fresh fruit in December, January, February ...
My bard bought a cart and mule, barrels and sacks to transport the fruit in, a horse and stuff for himself, and then hired party members to be his caravan guards. They use this as a cover as they move from one town to another taking on missions at their low level. The bard trades the fresh fruit at a nice profit and buys goods he can use to trade back at the home town, and spices with his profits. The spices are a commodity he can trade with out in the wilderness because a bunch of miners or loggers don't care about a pouch of silver pieces unless they are making a journey to trade in a town. They need salt, pepper, cloves, rosemary, ... So the bard keeps pouches of spices as his special bribe when he gets information he can use and to generally build up good will among the common man as he travels the countryside.
His next step will be to build a trading store (an Import-Export outlet) in a couple towns where he has the best business (I figure this begins at about level 7). He will arrange for goods to be transported from other towns to his I-E outlets, and this will include regular shipments of fresh fruit. But all the while he is building his information sources.
In stage three (somewhere around level 10) he hopes to have already found the best ales, ciders, wines and meads to serve in a tavern. Then he will have a tavern and inn built that includes the best stocked spirits and the best entertainment. He will hire a real chef to cook and use some magic to help the cook the best meals with the best ingredients and spices from his network. He will have good quality rooms available with amenities provided by the staff not found in normal taverns, so that his tavern and inn will become the standard that other taverns are measured. He will hire bards that are members of his information network to perform at his tavern(s).
Of course, this will not generate piles of money, because until the countryside is tamed he will have to pay armed escorts for his many caravans which will eat up a lot of money, but he will have some money coming in. Other profits go into paying his spy bards and buying spices for trade. He will have to hire some capable managers to run things when he is out of town, and that will be often, because he isn't going to give up adventuring. The game is Dungeons and Dragons, not Taverns and Trade after all.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt