Market Places Again (test)

 

Im testing to see why this post was blocked by google so reposting until I get a clue as apparently, only 35 ppl saw it and its quite a large piece that took me days rather than hours - a reader suggested it was the religious propaganda image I used so I'm trying that first. I quit google ads over their vague complaints which isn't helpful when I do 50k words a month,

Most of this month I wrote last month and I was ahead a few months. New PC and laptop have some issues killing my workflow and making it feel like work more than fun and its stopped my PDF production. Nothing from Patreon about problems there so I'm on hold until resolved. Ill be reviewing how I work this year and might do less and try and make a single finished resolved thing for charity (Queensland Frog Hospital) as I can't really earn much money currently as I'm on a partial pension. Im not really motivated by money.

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update
- fine so far - might delete the old version
out performed old version fast 
google basically punished me for a satanic panic moloch=drugs image

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Original post
https://www.blogger.com/post-interstitial.g?blogspotURL=https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2024/12/markets-making.html
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Im having a busy December in meatspace so slowing down writing - I war 2 weeks ahead so merry xmas in advance new year etc if I end up busy. Gaming good and one blog log shortly. My new computers + software licencing + fonts have killed my pdf production currently so 3fold is easiest to do currently.

This took a while and is for grimy/poor fantasy villages or cities

This post is apparently behind a warning by google so might do poorly
hoping this doesn't become as unusable as other platforms have become from this

Size
1 Crossroad market, d4 stalls, open weekly
2 Hamlet market, 2d4 stalls, open weekly 

3 Lesser village market, 3d4 stalls, d4 permanent traders open weekly

4 Major village market, 4d4 stalls, 2d4 permanent traders, open d4+1 market days a week

5 Town market, d4x10 stalls, 2d6+4 permanent traders, open d4+2 market days a week

6 City market will have a d4+1 specialist town markets, double numbers for a metropolis (I only have a few in the world at a time), open d4+2 market days a week

extra market days may happen on festivals
or
some events might close a market a few days

5+ stalls = a free performance of some kind hourly or 

d10 Stall
1 Edibles

2 Liquids
3 Livestock

4 Farming 
5 Foraged
6 Tinker
7 Crafters
8 Vice
9 Documents
10 Strange

d100 Stalls
01 Rat delights d4 1=kebab on a stick 2=battered 3=crispy skinned 4=rat sausage roll
02 Pies d6 1=eel 2=kidney & onion 3=mushroom 4=oxtail 5=donkey 6=definatley not human flesh

03 Poached root vegetables with butter d4 1=turnip 2=beetroot 3=parsnip 4=carrot

04 Mystery meat offcuts at discount prices, mind the flies and best cooked straight away, also used as dog food by locals

05 Slop from a pot and a bun the cheapest meal in town

06 Fish, fresh or dried or smoked fish 

07 Orc food d4 1=Stinkmelons 2=stewed beef heart chunks on a stick 3=horse sausages on bub 4=hog feet & beans

08 Huge cooked and candied bug treats on a stick
09 Mushrooms, mushroom burgers, mushroom steak, mushroom surprise from some local cavern, goblins might run it
10 Sausage man in his sausage wagon - served on a bun with sour kraut and mustard d4 1=rat 2=marsh hog 3=beef 4=blood sausage
11 Fresh water, byo cup or pot, some bring livestock here

12 Sly beer stall, give a coin to owner and sit and drink with them, its not selling beer at all

13 Wine merchants selling cheap wine in clay bottles or by the cup, winter will be spices and warm with honey

14 Milkmaid selling milk, cream, butter or cheese (might be goat or cow or other species occasionally might meet a minotaur selling milk)

15 Soup sold from a pot speciality every day and varied prices

16 Gruel seller, mild warm slop, thickened with grain starch and some flavour like d4 1=dried fish 2=peppers 3=bacon 4=chicken stock. Some include bread or a dumpling

17 Shots or bottles of alchemist distilled wood alcohol, gets you drunk, blind or dead but cheap, a shifty criminal alchemist assistant

18 Sweet energy drink made from molasses and warm barley water flavoured with herbs or roots like aniseed or flowers

19 Kvas mild barley beer good three meals a day

20 Miracle healing mineral water from a sacred spring reputed to heal various ills
21 Puppies or kittens for sale
22 Poultry in stick or woven cages with a chicken or a duck

23 Fancy bird for sale d4 1=goose 2=big rooster 3=pheasant 4=huge duck
24 Small pony perfect for a pit mine cart or a treadmill
25 Goat for sale and possibly gives milk, 1% chance it is Nanny Binx or one of her children working on a case vs a cult or chaos goats
26 Pig on a rope for sale will grow 4 times its size eventually
27 Small cow or calf 
28 Donkey or ass or mature cart horse
29 Dog for sale, trained as d4 1=guard 2=fighting 3=tracking 4=shepherd 5=ratter 6=bird
30 Farm tools on a blanket for sale, all worn and well-used
31 Apples sold from a basket
32 Small woven reed baskets of berries from a cart
33 Root vegetables by d4 1=turnip 2=beetroot 3=parsnip 4=carrot
34 Bales of straw or sacks of manure sold by the sack
35 Pickles from a barrel
36 Flagons of applejuice
37 Eggs sold in baskets of a dozen
38 Buns or cakes from the home kitchen
39 Feathers sold by the sack
40 Vegetables from a cart d6 1=pumpkins 2=beans 3=marrows 4=cucumbers 5=cabbage 6=spinich
41 Herbalist selling edible and medicinal herbs
42 Mushrooms by the basket 1in6 sell secret mushrooms on the side
43 Hunter selling skinned rabbits and fur
44 Trappers selling fur and traps
45 Woodcutter selling firewood and torches
46 Hunter selling mystery bush meat
47 Bird trappers selling baskets of small birds (pigeons, starlings, starlings, blackbirds)
48 Fisher selling catch of the day or eelcatcher with buckets of eels
49 Bugtrapper selling huge bugs in cages and baskets of huge grubs
50 Ratters selling dead rats, skinned rats, rat skins and some giant specimens 
51 Brush seller from a trunk
52 Tinker fixes pots and sharpens blades
53 Second-hand rope comes in various lengths, wear and strength
54 Jewellery, luck charms and trinkets sold on a blanket
55 Man selling old adventurer's gear and clothes he gets cheap from dungeon monsters, he has seen some goods three times now and sells dungeon maps on the side made by monsters
56 Second-hand clothes, accessories and repairs to clothes (1in6 are stolen goods dealers)
57 Brass trinkets and jewellery for personal or home decor sold on a blanket from a donkey pack
58 Second-hand weapons sold from a blanket, dungeon quality, discount for any flaws
59 Scrap dealer with cart of junk and a blanket with interesting stuff
60 Rag and bone bought and sold

61 Candle maker assistant selling cheap smelly tallow candles from a crate
65 Boot polisher and repairs from a wooden box
66 Pottery stall from a cart, potter works from the kitchen or shed at home
67 Knife seller and sharpener with a grindstone and tools on a cart
68 Engraver will write on weapons and armour and metal goods, needs to take big jobs home but can do a name quickly
69 Woodcarver selling walkingsticks, spoons, beer steins and animals from a blanket
70 Artists will draw or paint portraits but needs a week for serious work in own studio
71 Clay pipes for smoking various designs from simple clay slip moulds and some glazed
72 Tattoos buy a local d4 1=folk artist 2=ex convict 3=ex sailor 4=guild gang member
73 Apothecary assistant (possibly side hustle of crooked apprentice or has a criminal master) d4 1=sell forbidden drugs on the side 2=sells colourful fake potions 3=treat mild symptoms 4=addictive healing potions extra cheap!
74 Coin changer and money lender on the side, a guild agent (bankers guild or crime guild)
76 Saucy card dealer also deals in prints and naughty scrolls the church warned you about
77 Attractive prostitute with a bodyguard and a small tent or a curtained alley
78 Beggers collecting for their family's supper, many pitifully injured and often have pets that help beg, are part of an organised beggers fraternity
79 Shifty bard selling trinkets, clothes and tells fortunes (cheap divination is mostly a scam, magic ones cost more but also might have identify or detect magic). Knows a guy who can buy or sell real magic stuff in a tavern
80 Bard selling personalised poems and will write or read letters, specialising in love letters
81 Scribe will read or write messages and provide simple legal tips
82 Bookbinder assistant selling blank bound books, and journals and will take commissions
83 Second-hand books sold on a blanket are often "found" in some old house or bought from funeral estates
84 Second-hand pamphlets and small published booklets often scandalous or works of popular alarmist pundits with scary-sounding titles
85 Second-hand maps including kingdom and city map prints
86 Treasure and dungeon maps bought and sold
87 Scribe supplies including ink, paper, wax, clay, stylus and quills
88 Writer will create witty epitaphs and other literary labours with extra pizzaz and offers etiquette lessons from his hovel
89 Jester will write nasty slanderous limericks about your enemies in rhyming verse and other literary tasks
90 Legal advice from a well-read peasant who profits from the courts often and is despised by land owners. In the farm courts, he wins most cases

91 Peasant selling ancient chunks of statues on a blanket they found in the family fields, says they found mozaic floors and building foundations also 
92 Trader from the inscrutable western continent across the sea selling exotic spices, foreign fruits and possibly an agent of the Lotus Emperor of a sinister underground civilisation
93 Foreigner selling several old light hunting muskets with powder horns and balls
94 Old murder hobo selling some old magic items for their party but includes some cursed items
95 Stranger selling strange tiny idols, charms and medallions based on other planar sigils and arcane script on a folding table with a velvet cover to show items. Occultists and magic folk will all be curious. Some of the charms are magic aids that give +1 for a single attribute-based roll. They know odd planar lore and have had some magic training. May be convinced to cast a spell for cash
96 Peasant selling worn ancient weapon they claim is a heirloom and detects as magical, he wants to avoid magic item sales tax
97 Bard selling old adventurers gear, maps, weird old books and other adventure hook items. Anything might have a hidden map or perhaps a spirit in it keen to get mortal aid through dreams
98 Perfumes, charms and love potions from a colourful attractive magical charlatan. The right customers will offer them some real item by accident then come to regret it when back at the office to check edgers. Tiny glass bottles, incense, aromatic oils, scented candles and dried herbs
99 Witch selling potions for healing and other petty magic effects and first aid, locals either love or fear them and they keep a low profile as a healer or herbalist. Has local magical lore
100 Merchant hoping to show some adventurers magic items and offer them a job to get a discount, they have done this for guild business many times and might eventually reveal their organisation

d10 Traders
1 Hospitality
2 Local shop

3 Crafter
4 Specialist

5 Warehouse

6 Literary

7 Vice

8 Financial

9 Guild Halls

10 Schhols

d100 Traders
01 Seedy small grog shop full of vice and crime
02 Small tavern frequented by highwaymen and gang members
03 Small tavern for local farmers and rural labourers
04 Tavern full of mostly old people who complain how everything in the world sucks now
05 Tavern full of water workers including fishers, sailors, dock workers and guards

06 Tavern for cheap travellers with beds in crowded rooms or common room floor
07 Eatery with kitchen serving meals as long as they legally can stay open, often local comfort food or some foreign stuff
08 Inn for cheap travellers with private rooms
09 Hostel or boarding house with rooms or a bed
10 Coach house inn with stables preferred by merchants, traders and shopkeepers with VIP rooms and dining hall
11 Common goods store with tools, equipment, farming goods, dried food, seed and more
12 Corner store sells common food items, snacks, items and common household utensils
13 Store sells basic produce food items and for locals bottles of beer 
14 Store selling cleaning products including fermented urine, sand, buckets, soap, ash, mops, brushes and chamber pots. Knows all the local gongfarmers
15 Store sells farm produce brought in daily
16 Bakery selling bread and possibly pies, pretzels, buns, pasties, sausage rolls and cake
17 Butcher selling choice popular local cuts and slaughters animals for locals
18 Open kitchen diner where locals get food and bring food to be cooked, outsiders are strange 
19 Grain and fodder selling sacks and bags of seed, beans and animal fodder and some stables
20 Junk shop where a tinkerer repairs goods and sells scrap and oddments. They have all kinds of found items brought to them from gleaners, mudlarks and anyone who digs holes
21 Smith is usually a blacksmith but various specialities like bronze redsmiths or gold or silver
22 Leatherworkers shop with various hides being treated and various completed goods and apprentices. Often, it may also be a cobbler or armoured in the workshop. Belts, bags, coats, aprons and other leather goods will be in stock
23 Carpenters workshop with apprentices making commissioned goods with some small ready-made items 
24 Weapon trader, various used items
25 Masons shop with some blank headstones, small gargoyles, a fireplace and doorsteps from various local contractors and quarries in the area. Often know of local monster-infested holes in rocks and local building projects
26 Armoury trader, various used goods
27 Weavers shop selling baskets, fish traps, rugs, bundles of reeds or sticks, wool and weaving supplies
28 Tailor makes custom clothing and sells accessories like bags, belts and other clothing. Might have a few pretty dresses or outfits on display and some popular work wear like rain coats
29 Toolmaker works on precise instruments and tools for speciality trade and crafts
30 Wheel and wagon maker or if wetlands a boatbuilder with apprentices
31 Funeral parlour selling coffins and prepaid adventurer funerals. Have a memorial shrine and workshop with a coach house and stable
32 Mining & logger supplies including tents, tools, pans, saws and more
33 Denture and artificial limb maker, will buy teeth no questions asked

34 Horse trader stables, can mind animals, sells feed and medicine for horses and has several for sale. Some may have their own breed with colours, habits and advantages 

35 Orphans and widows store for second-hand goods to help the needy families of soldiers and sailors. May even have a sweatshop for orphans to learn skills

36 Healers shop with a medicinal sales counter and a surgery

37 Barbershop or hair salon but often also a healer and dentist, but nothing too fancy, old timers hang around playing cards or boardgames and drinking. Sells various grooming products and caries hard spirits for anaesthetic

38 Herbalist store with all kinds of medicine and petty potions, where old folk make strange brews. Some people ask for poison even

39 Hat shop busy making specialist occupation and regional hats

40 Cobbler making shoes and boots and specialist footwear for custom customers. May have old repaired shoes or boots that can be modified quickly

41 Warehouse of barrels dry food and a merchant trader's office

42 Warehouse of crates usually crafted goods and a merchant trader's office

43 Warehouse of cloth bolts, spools of twine and clothing and a merchant trader's office

44 Warehouse full of wine and beer bottles and barrels with bar guards and a merchant trader's office

45 Warehouse of oil, tar or bitumen in barrels and a merchant trader's office

46 Warehouse of building supplies and a merchant trader's office

47 Warehouse of old cobwebbed farm equipment and a wagon or carriage

48 Warehouse of preserved meat or cheese or pickle jars

49 Warehouse workshop of some craft item, in some places, might be slaves or indentured labour

50 Warehouse of livestock pens 
51 Scribe office with various document services and legal advice
52 Old books mostly from deceased estates or bought from the desperate
53 Shop selling exotic tea and new books and pamphlets attracting local literary types to gather. Poets and performers often visit
54 Scholar with records of heraldry, family trees and genealogy expertise often used for legal claims. May secretly serve a noble house or cult
55 Antique shop full of old furniture, paintings, urns, pots and other vintage decor. Many of the old shelves are stacked with crumbling old books

56 Magical paraphernalia shop selling spell components, ritual items and books
57 Scribal office specialising in land transactions, but also claims on mines and dungeons or claiming unused haunted houses. Has many records of local land use and ownership for hundreds of years. May have details of properties available  
58 Religious paraphernalia and idols store selling scriptures, scrolls, statuettes, holy symbols, holy water and jewellery for the faithful. Usually linked to a church and may sell other church goods like beer or give bread to the poor
59 Music shop with instruments and sheet music dating back over 100 years with non human musical writing systems
60 Exotic formulae and recipe books used for spell and alchemy research, herbalism, apothecaries and other laboratory or kitchen-based manuals, most handwritten and stuffed with notes
61 Gambling den, run by crime or by licence to the crown or local nobility
62 Brothel run by d4 1=matriachal clan 2=lotus cultists 3=local crime 4=local noble
63 Seedy music hall and bar, which is also a brothel and gambling den where local gangsters like to do business. Even a few rich visitors come here but usually rakes and adventurers
64 Lotus Tea House is a front for a drug den run by a mysterious lotus cult of the mysterious western subterranean emperor. Important customers help it stay open and the vicious thugs they employ. They are accused of cannibalism and occult practices also
65 Gang clubhouse a members-only club for a crime gang but sells food and drink and can be used to contact the gangs services like credit or hiring thugs. Are more violent local thug type of gangs who like brawling and initiation ceremonies

66 Hellfire Club for rich hooligans and rakes to have wild parties in but mostly a members-only dining hall and tavern

67 Pawn Shop sells second-hand junk and is an underworld fence that can get black market goods. Has a few thugs on hand at all times and other traders in human misery hang around. Drug peddlers, shifty slavers, gang recruiters or people seeking desperate losers to do forbidden jobs

67 Filthy gang tavern for a probably illegal fighting pit using local gang members for money or slave gladiators on the fight pit circuit. Also crooks come here to learn to fight and work out

68 Brothel but also cover for slave traders who move their prisoners around constantly. Most are debtors and purchased from bankrupt parents. They also lend money to parents with family as collateral
71 Money changer will change coins and gems for a slight fee and can arrange money to be sent to other towns or make loans if you have collateral. Will be secure with guards
72 Bank branch of one of the two great banking houses of the continent the Klauger and the Mugger banks who hold, move and invest money for clients and lend money to desperate people with attractive property. They have hooks across the continent and often employ adventurers and pay well. Often well fortified 
73 Templar bank with warrior priests who lend money to nobles and land owners who offer their property as collateral. Often well fortified 
74 Jeweler buys and sells trinkets and precious metals. Mostly semiprecious stones and silver locals can afford with maybe one masterpiece a year unless a wealthy district or settlement
75 Merchant Bank for merchants which also underwrites certain goods and ventures to improve markets

76  Pawnshop mostly farmers junk and tools from workshops and gained traders. Frequently conflicts with craft guilds in court and knows them all. Knows worst industry owners and farmers 

77 Pawnshop specialising in adventurer's junk and stuff from ruins and dungeons. Will pay half listed price for quality good or offer more for exclusive deals for trading all new loot first. Sold goods normal prices, some flashy trendy junk is costly but  there are rare sale or unidentified goods 

78 Pawnshop of magic paraphernalia, often will only sell to guild or church members or nobility. They actually offer spellbook and magic items to regular customers who want the market restricted. Will sell components and some herbs but petty magic items are often on sale. Auctions are held monthly for VIP clients. Owner at least Lv5 magician or a supernatural shapeshifter operates it

79 Pawnshop for wealthy discreet nobles, sale goods may have a famous clan crest on them and a poor family longing for the items to come home. The owner also recovers lost items and hires adventurers to help

80 Coin collectors will change money for ingots but buy ancient coins that nobles collect which common folk seldom value as highly. Adventurers often bring strange coins here and the owner for a fee will evaluate and offer historical information. Open by appointment
81 Underclass Guild Hall for a poor and miserable career like gongfarmers, beggers, grave diggers, potters, street cleaners, porters, labourers, muck rakers, miners, ratters, basket weavers, wood gatherers, dyers and underrated jobs rich don't even think about
82 Workers Guild hall of a successful working guild with a members bar and feast hall that perform regular marches with guild banners to show their numbers. Usually, hard labouring trades like masons, builders, dock workers that everybody knows are the lifeblood of the economy
83 Craft Guildhall of a specific precision craft or industry like smithing, woodworkers, cobblers, tailers, cloth weavers, spinners, butchers, bakers, and jewellers. Will buy bulk goods to supply members at better rates
84 Merchants Guild for local and travelling traders to meet and feast. Provides caravans with accommodation 
85 Shopkeepers Guild for small local storekeepers to keep shopping districts and markets  prosperous and complain about each other and the local governance
86 Scribes Guildhall for people of letters to meet and drink with a library and writing supplies in bulk. Also employ reliable messengers regularly to other settlements. May specialise in other people of letters like scholars, librarians, historians, and accountants in a big city. Some call themselves colleges or universities if huge 
87 Farmers Guild for agricultural workers and traders to drink and feast in but includes accommodation for families and a barn. They help good labourers get work and blacklist bad ones. In a city it's a waypoint for farmers to sell goods in the market and avoid ciity folk. They protect members from local traders
88 Mariners Guild for sailors, fishers, ferry operators, boaters, and lock operators to drink and feast in. Many slander them with accusations they look fishy and have mermaid lovers 
89 Mercenaries Guild where you can hire guards, instructors, soldiers or get an apprenticeship. Members train here and learn a new technique. Member competitions are popular with gamblers 
90 Guild charity operated by a guild for orphans, widows, and the elderly of a profession. Sells used goods and may offer food and accommodation for the needy  
91 Magic School for non-religious wonder-workers but most often wizards. Will operate a library, school or possibly a university in a big city. Will often run a magic shop to sell petty potions, scrolls and components 
92 Adventurers School for dungeon looting and freelance adventurers. Most people are resentful such guilds exist for murder hobos and worry what secretive activities happen inside. Old adventurer gear and even magic items might be sold here

93 Bardic School where bards recruit new students and practice solo and band work. A famous bard is in charge who's work is well known and its a good place to research music or get a second hand instrument or meet a maker

94 Religious School for clerical students, possibly talented ones on scholarships to one day serve in the administration of a religion. Includes a shrine and may sell holy paraphernalia and approved food

95 Healers school operated by a master at first aid, surgery, herbalism and alchemical apothecary. Students learn basics and practice on local sick and maimed. May also use a system of magic, usually divine healing

96 Supernaturalist occult school for psychics, mediums, clairvoyants, mystics, astrologers and other magical practitioners. Many discuss spiritual matters, look for ghosts, perform rituals, make wild theories of the cosmos and other weirdness. Some are shams or even cults and actual magical ability varies

97 Scribal School teachers students from young to adults the basics of writing in classes day and evening. Large ones might be called a college or university. Some linked to churches of state to recruit the best and recognise talented commoners instead of just unrecognised bastards or low-ranking noble children. Most end up working for nobles, government or the church. Commoners learn mostly for legal disputes

98 Fighting school specialising in the style of a master, most students are part-time but the expert ones aid and guard the teacher. Schools often fight or feud with others for reputation and hold tournaments. Some are affiliated with a religion or clan 

99 Deportment School to learn posh proper taking and manners. Mostly idle rich girls aiming to marry above class by rich mean family. A few male bastards come here to try and get recognition or parental approval or If a legitimate heir dies previously unrecognised offspring and send them here. Rich upstarts might come here too. May include skills like stewarding, diplomacy, music, calligraphy, hospitality, weaving, sewing or duelling

100 Gymnasium where people come to train, get fit, pretty, play sports, dance or have athletic contests. Some include combat, possibly spas or a sauna or a bathhouse. A small one might just be a shed or just a suna and a lot of ground where athletes meet

Guilds
A guild has a d3 evening of member meetings a week with food and beer (wine for posh guilds). Smaller subgroups or project teams had another d4 meeting a week with only a few members. 

A guild has a d3 extra events a week

Guilds help find apprentices and may operate a school
Some will train unskilled labourers to work for guild members
Guild might employ a healer and other experts

Guilds act as member aid groups, performing charity, community halls for weddings and holiday events, feast halls and other uses. They operate own courts to resolve member disputes. Member meetings include beer and singing. Holiday parades include guilds marching with members. Many have a band or sports team.

poor guild 1cp a week
prosperous guild 1sp a week
rich guild 7gp a week

d12 Guild Events
1 Parade around with banners singing in guild regalia
2 Inaugurate new members or senior member to new office
3 Angry meetings about industry drama or trial against member
4 Members here to receive new goods and tools they imported
5 Comunity open day celebrating history with family events 
6 Apprentice day where the guild inspects prospective new apprentices, parents bring children and offer money to take their children on as workers
7 Charity second hand goods and home made cake sale
8 Funeral or wedding service for a member
9 Guild election with lots of free beer from candidates
10 Guild talent night with a stage and various member performances
11 Members using skill to aid a charity making goods for poor or needy locals or war effort
12 Members display best work for contests, first shown to nobility then displayed for common folk to see. Contest categories based on guild ranks and winners get more work

d20 Market Features
1 Paving
2 Fountain or well
3 Guardhouse
4 Speakers corner
5 Local court 
6 Artisan scene
7 Latest fashion
8 Best gossip
9 Healer shrine

10 Great prices
11 Rare quality
12 Exotic trade item
13 Non-human traders
14 Multicultural
15 High literacy
16 Religious diversity
17 Ancient and mentioned in texts
18 Famous heroes or petty gods visit here 
19 Local protective spirit cults
20 Magic items for sale here

d20 Problems
1 Thieves & pickpockets
2 Beggers guild
3 Zealous preachers 
4 Gloomy prophets
5 Sewerage 
6 Ranting speakers
7 Stingy merchants
8 Shortages 
9 Local rates only for locals
10 Treat non locals badly
11 Gang fights
12 Vermin
13 Stocks and/or whipping post
14 Execution place
15 Old out of fashion goods
16 Goods not up to standard
17 Cultists among merchants
18 Sneaky tax collector
19 Secret police or spies
20 Haunted by night

d20 Common Entertainers
1 Lone athletic acrobat, juggler or fire eater
2 Puppeteer for children and simpletons
3 Performing beast and master d4 1=bird 2=dog 3=horse 4=squirrel

4 Pugilism or wrestling display with betting

5 Shell game of sleight or prestidigitation tricks

6 Petty magic or a few cantrips

7 Creepy Monkey Keeper puts on shows and is a bit mean to monkeys

8 Freak in a tent with a spruiker at the entrance

9 Jester telling tasteless jokes, falls and cheeky slander

10 Drunks sing for coin to stop until law chases away

11 Fortune teller looks real!

12 Traveling beginner bard 
13 Local folk dance with band and costumes
14 Church play (it's true! I saw a play about it!)
15 Travelling theatre troop on way to a propper gig but perform on way
16 Local folk band with odd instruments only found hear
17 Local musically talented child watched by a relative
18 Local folk singer sings about a local dungeon
19 Old bard sings historic folk poem a very solemn affair for some
20 Traveling band of bards that drive youths into great fits of enthusiasm

d20 Weird Entertainers
1 Royal propagandist spreading patriotism and the royal house
2 Cult trickster puts on puppet shows or card games for adults 

3 Bardic evil agent stirring up trouble and mocking local leaders 

4 Goblin jugglers and tumblers, hilariously drunk and flatulent

5 Flagelants will whip selves till people pay but the law chase them away

6 Taunt my owlbear 1sp a go and tell people how tough you are, if injured your money back

7 Animal spirit changeling puts on a show for money to buy human goods. Might bring an animal friend to help with the show (d4 1=cat 2=rabbit 3=snake 4=sheep)

8 Lycanthrope sleazy bard sings bawdy songs and sells drugs (d4 1=werewolf 2=wererat 3=werefrog 4=wereraven)

9 Faerie folk spy with magic disguise here to spy on comings and goings playing a bard singing elf songs in common an unusual feat

10 Stab my troll in a cage 1sp a go! (surely an easy XP gain) It cant fight back guaranteed

11 Pet my unicorn 1sp Ride him 10gp (a fake old mining pit pony with a spell cast on it)
12 Doppelganger acrobat, tries to make money and to seduce someone for a bed and human bloodbath. Unusually attractive and flexible when a human of either gender. Acrobats & Jugglers guild are looking for them and offer a reward
13 Local idiot chants in a deep throat prehuman language and draws strange maps for beer 
14 Old man tells funny dungeon death stories of his youth as a lampbearer, "There was a pervert dwarf, a shaven bugbear, a young paladin and me went into a dungeon and.."
15 Sword swallower uses volunteer swords and uses sleight and illusions to give back an illusion on a stick (might have a hidden assistant)
16 Eating contest with some regional favourite recipe
17 Weird clowns nobody knows dance to instruments they play then they depart with any offerings, bothering them is dangerous because they are evil faeries
18 Medicine show selling miracle potions, new formula d6 1=less snake venom 2=less addictive 3=now with more miracle mercury and pitchblende 4=less flatulence formula 5=less vomiting 6=less explosive
19 Traveling magician has a cabinet of curiosities in a tent (inside the cabinet is a light spell and lots of nice coloured vials with creatures bodyparts and a collection of tiny artefacts from strange ruins
20 Hell cultist magician has an invisible imp familiar who makes his tricks work like moving silk scarves or a ball to move or a rope. It also spies and murders and protects its master. He can offer curious people the chance to sell souls to hell and explains the ritual. You get a wish for your soul's market value its pretty cool actually. Offers oaths to hell and diabolic advice to cults and witches

Gamelog: Inside the ruined offices of the ancient ones

I doubted a pre xmas game would happen but everyone seems to be starting early, having more smaller events we ended up with three players. Have an uncanny xmas and remember to blame rich for everything at family gatherings. Last post given a warning by google and 15 ppl seen vs hundreds viewing previous post before.

Arsh the dog beast boi who is now Lv4 Abhuman and a 1st Lv Druid
-got a flashy new +2 ring of protection and fire resistance with an oath
- mostly a good guy who wants to help good and stop bad

Nebos a 7"6 sky giant youth Lv5 
-has become a famous builder and engineer  
-his jester now carries the party banner 
-tends to look after Balzac a fleshy 4 foot golem they are trying to raise proper
-even did divination to determine if Balzac should eat all corpses they find or make

The man with no name Lv thief - contemplating being a mutant or wizard
-an alchemy based thief worked well and I have more rules on a blog soon
-with Rat Sonya a swashbuckling 7-foot-tall rat lady

The party is quite good, but now whenever they meet neutrals, they are suspicious. They could do anything and call it self-interest!

"I sense the neutral presence here!"

I gave them starting point options and assumed characters had spent weeks training and crafting. The nameless man has taken to entering battle with a long-lasting fuse in his teeth so he can light bombs. Also teamed up with the dogman who can cast druidic ignite on thrown bombs. 

So from Marsh village they went to the gatehouse on the plateau and the orcs let them in. The orc chief was keen to remind them of the deal for 50% cut and a choice of magic items first. He showed off an orc sorcerer and priest. 

They considered the kobold entrance but the party priest who spoke kobold was away for a religious conference. So they decided to wait. They had made trade with former kobold enemies before.

Up a great ramp they went with orcs slamming a gate behind them.

They came to a great conjunction where a pentagonal outer highway passage met a huge outer circle inside the pentagon and a smaller circle of the local segment. The saw 6 train station entrances at the great intersection and looked at signs. The straight highway had offices running east and west and there were signs indicating the segment circle was half admin (tax and banking) and some kind of workshops adjacent to the Ministry of Information.

Explored some offices noise entering glass and iron doors attracted three ghouls which actually paralysed half the whole party and was a worry. No-man used a light spell to blind a ghoul breaking the undead resolve and finishing them. Arsh and the man with no name had done some save-boosting things and it helped. They rested and searched offices finding some documents and Black Sphere dark ale bottles. Found more documents that made them realise the Ministry of Information was the secret police and the workshops for special spy equipment and examining strange objects. There were many petty poltergeists and haunt phenomena. Did find some potions including age-reducing ointment.

So they headed for the workshops and found a turnstile gate so Rat Sonya squeezed through and returned when she found signs of a blood trail of a dragged corpse. So they found corpses of river pirates with eyes and mouths that arose as sniffing tracking zombies they defeated and found unpleasant. One office had a spectral secretary menace them and only some had the magic required to harm it. Found two weird chests with magic locks so left them hidden.

One has an evil tree seed from the stars
The second a piece of star metal from a hairy star

Inside the first workshop was a bullet-headed worker automaton repairing another one. They asked who authorised this and it explained was under orders to repair other units. It kept stopping to watch the party as they searched. There were 7 benches beside the robot one. with weird items the party could not identify so they grabbed the portable stuff. It was weird stuff from the global reach of the 

A strange metal sarcophagi they left (a star person mummy nobody would touch)
A dried tentacle tip of an extinct kaiju squid
A metal head-size box (vampire head)
A jade idol in a wooden box (a small golem)
A purple crystal from the stars (See Gus L crystal adventures)
A sealed metal box with a frozen sphere of green slime from a glacier
An urn with storm runes (released a cloud)

They grabbed the portable stuff but avoided the frozen slime and alien coffin. They released a storm cloud that covered the ceiling providing an indoor microclimate. 

So made their way back to the orcs. As they had not identified the stuff they took turns grabbing loot. The cackling orc magicians were pleased with the dark tree seed and the vampire head in a box. They also got the crystal and pray watched them snap it and sneeze from the dust. Party learned with divination what they missed and wondered if the orc stuff meant trouble later.

So made it back to marsh village to rest. They got the jade idol to talk, its a highly magically resilient creation.

Market Making

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