These rules provide a structured framework for a PC to establish and maintain an ongoing business endeavor throughout the course of a campaign. Unlike existing Profession rules, this system is designed to scale alongside the natural progression of a character. Using these rules, a PC invests a meaningful portion of their own wealth in order to generate long-term revenue and reputation from a continously expanding business operation. Instead of determining profits based on the passage of time in-game, this system uses a single income check made at the beginning of each real world game session. Income potential is scaled with this concept in mind, to ensure a long-term balance of wealth generation over the course of any campaign. An additional focus of these rules is to avoid overcomplicating the underlying aspects of business management within a roleplaying game, consolidating all of the various factors that determine a businesses' success or failure into simple checks that are supported by your Profession skill.

With this alternative system, use the following version of the Profession skill instead of the original rules.

Profession (Wis; Trained Only)

You are skilled at a specific job. Like Craft, Knowledge, and Perform, Profession is actually a number of separate skills. You could have several Profession skills, each with its own ranks. While a Craft skill represents ability in creating an item, a Profession skill represents an aptitude in a vocation requiring a broader range of less specific knowledge.
Training in Profession allows you to own and operate your own business, which can be used to passively generate income and reputation over the course of your adventures.

You may only ever have one active business at any time. If you have multiple Profession skills, you must choose a single Profession skill to use for your business.
Alternatively, you may have one active business per Profession skill. This is subject to GM discretion, and is not recommended if you wish to keep player wealth balanced.

Profession Check: This check is made whenever you need to engage in activities related to your profession.
It represents your ability to use the tools of your trade, perform your profession's daily tasks, supervise and train employees, and handle common problems relating to your trade.
You can also answer questions about your profession. Basic activities or questions have a DC of 10, while more complex activities or questions have a DC of 15 or higher.

Business Check: This check is made whenever you are dealing directly with the operational aspects of your business.
It represents your ability to negotiate dealings with the towns and nations you do business in, properly respond to audits and inquiries, manage your marketing and clientele, and covers any actions neccesary to expand or manage the procedural aspects of your business. The DC for these checks are typically equal to your Hit Dice plus a fixed number according to the difficulty of the task. In most cases, failure only represents an unexpected delay in negotiations, a sudden need for the refiling of papers, or perhaps a momentary lapse in the effectiveness of your strategies. Thus you may usually retry the check after a certain amount of time has passed.

Income Check: Once per session, you make a single income check that represents the overall recent performance of your business.
This check determines a Profit Factor, which is then multiplied by your Employee count to produce your total income earned for the session.
Unlike other Profession-based checks, this special check receives bonuses only from your purchased business ranks, wisdom modifier, racial bonuses, trait bonuses, and feats.

Types of Businesses

The full function of the Profession skill allows you to own and operate an independant business venture successfully. A player's business expands and evolves over the course of a campaign, increasing in size and worth alongside the player's own progression. Although smaller, potentially mobile businesses can still exist in the framework of this system, the player is encouraged to establish a permanent operation in a static location, such as a small shop in a local town, and over time nurture it into a far-reaching enterprise. Whether this means a single highly successful superstore, dozens of profitable chains, or maybe that small shop has simply become so renowned for its quality and services that your profits are through the roof, the eventual design of your business is completely up to you. Although like everyone else in the world, you must first start small and work your way up.

Phase I: Establishment

A player begins a business venture by first deciding what type of service they will provide to the world. This decision must be directly supported by your chosen Profession skill.
At levels 1 through 4, you will only be able to start a small business. As you put Ranks into your business, you gain access to new size tiers that directly scale both the cost of your overall investment and the potential profits you can make.

To establish a business, travel to the location where you want to set up, or send an NPC envoy with the appropriate instructions, funds, and skills to negotiate in your place.
Your ability to know or find a trustworthy NPC is of course dependant on your GM, but a DC 10 Profession or Knowledge: Local check may suffice.
Assume that any NPC you have working for you in this way will require some form of compensation for their efforts.

Establishment Check

Once you or your envoy have arrived, perform an Establishment Check to represent your forthcoming dealings with the local population.
This check is a broad representation of many different tasks, such as acquiring licenses and permits, leasing land or building space, hiring staff, etc.

Retry? Yes, but you must wait until the next session before reattempting this check. This represents a resubmital of your applications, and a reconsideration of your efforts.
Special: Reduce the DC of this check by 1 for each previously failed attempt.

Alternatively, you may attempt a series of lower DC Business Checks in accordance with the individual needs of your operation.

Table: Establishment Checks lists some example checks one could use in place of a single Establishment Check.
Determine at least 5 that are appropriate for your business. Once you have succeeded at all of them, your establishment phase is complete.

Retry? Yes, but you must wait until the next session before reattempting any failed checks. You do not need to reattempt checks you have already passed.
Special: Reduce the DC of a failed check by 1 for each previously failed attempt.

FYI...

These checks represent a significant amount of planning and work. Your GM may rule that a reasonable amount of in-game time must pass before you can proceed further.
Roleplaying these interactions is typically not neccesary, although you and your GM may certainly choose to do so regardless.

Alternative Options

• Early Start: With your GM's approval, you may begin play with a Rank 1 small business already established if your backstory supports it. You must have invested at least one skill rank into the Profession your business is based on during character creation. Subtract 25gp from your starting wealth for each Employee you have.

• Late Start: Players who decide to open a business later in a campaign may start with the highest Ranks and Size they can afford. Typically, your reputation as an adventurer allows you to acquire the neccesary permits and staff for a larger business despite having no prior experience, on the condition that you succeed at your Establishment Check.

Phase II: Investment

Investment

After your initial preparations are complete, and your business is approved, you must now provide the neccesary funding. The total amount of your initial Investment depends on the options you decide to start with. Employees, Ranks, Masterwork Ranks, business Size, and Insurance packages all impact the total sum of your Investment. As you expand your business, the amount of money you need to invest will continue to increase. The more you invest, the more income you will produce. You have complete control over the rate at which you expand your operation, and you do not have to immediately purchase options you qualify for.

Investment Value: The value of your total Investment is always equal to your Employees x (Ranks + (Masterwork Ranks x 1.25)) x Size x Insurance x 100gp

Whenever your Investment increases for any reason, you must immediately pay the difference in order for any changes go into effect.
If your Investment ever lowers below an amount you have already paid for, immediately refund yourself the difference.

Employees

The number of Employees you hire is your primary profit multiplier. Each Employee you have represents not just an increase in staff, but also an overall increase in productivity and labor. Increasing your Employee count raises your Profit Factor, but increases the total cost of your Investment. Each Employee also imposes a stacking -1 penalty to your Income Check. Therefore, having too many Employees can actually result in a net loss of money if your supporting bonuses are not high enough to offset the penalty to your check.

The value of your Employees fluctuates with the scale of your business. They are simply one of the modifiers impacting the total value of your required Investment.
Hiring more Employees adds their total current value to your total required Investment. Reducing your Employees results in an immediate refund on their current value.

Employee Value: The value of a single Employee is always equal to your (Ranks + (Masterwork Ranks x 1.25)) x Size x 100gp

Employee Penalty: For every Employee you have, your Income Check receives a -1 penalty

Employee Limit: The maximum number of Employees you may have is always equal to your Hit Dice x 2

Managing Your Employees

Your Employee count can be raised or lowered at any time as long as you have the means to relay your orders to your business.
Once per session, you may attempt a Business Check with a DC equal to 10 + the number of Employees you would like to hire or let go.

Retry? Yes, but you must wait until the next session before trying again. This represents complications in finding new staff or handling severence conditions for existing employees.

Tip: To obtain the best income averages, your Employee count should not exceed the combined total of your Income Check modifier.

Ranks

As you put more ranks into your chosen Profession skill, you will need to increase your total Investment in order to actually use those ranks during your Income Check.
Purchasing a Rank for your business represents an overall increase in the size and scope of your operation. They are essentially level increases for your business.

You can only purchase Ranks in your business up to the maximum amount of skill ranks you have in your chosen Profession. You do not have to immediately purchase a Rank once it becomes available, but until you do, your Income Check can only benefit from the highest number of Ranks you have paid for instead of the total number of skill ranks you possess.

Ranks do not have any value on their own, but instead increase the total cost of your Investment by scaling the value of your Employees. If you cannot afford the adjusted price of your Investment due to a Rank increase, you may first decide to reduce the number of Employees you have to lower the overall value of your Investment.

Once you buy a Rank, it is permanent. Any skill points you have spent to purchase new Ranks cannot be retrained or removed, unless your business is closed or sold off entirely.

Purchasing Ranks

You may purchase Ranks that you qualify for at any time, as long as you have the means to relay your order to your business.
Once per session, you may attempt a Business Check with a DC equal to 10 + the highest Rank you would like to purchase.

Retry? Yes, but you must wait until the next session before trying again. This represents an unexpected delay in the finalization of your expansion.
Special: Reduce the DC of a failed check by 2 for each previously failed attempt at your current Rank.

Masterwork Ranks

As you level, your business gains access to increasing tiers of Masterwork Ranks. Identical in function to regular Ranks, they allow you to boost your Income Check result higher than your total skill ranks would normally allow. Only a single Masterwork Rank can be purchased initially, and an additional one may be purchased for every 5 levels a player has.

Once you buy a Masterwork Rank, it is permanent. Masterwork Ranks increase the value of your Employees 25% more than a regular Rank.

Purchasing Masterwork Ranks

You may purchase Masterwork Ranks that you qualify for at any time, as long as you have the means to relay your order to your business.
Once per session, you may attempt a Business Check with a DC equal to 10 + four times the highest Masterwork Rank you would like to purchase.

Retry? Yes, but you must wait until the next session before trying again. This represents an unexpected delay in the finalization of your expansion.
Special: Reduce the DC of a failed check by 2 for each previously failed attempt at your current Masterwork Rank.

Tip: Masterwork Ranks are best purchased when your business is already running at peak performance, i.e., you have reached your Employee Limit and are overcoming the penalty.

Business Size

As you level and put Ranks into your business, its scale and potential continues to grow. Every 5 Ranks, you gain access to a higher size tier that you may choose to upgrade to.
This represents a major milestone in the player's entrepreneurial achievements, and its reflection in the game's world can be handled in any way you and your GM see fit.

Choosing to increase the size of your business is a significant financial investment, but your income potential is also greatly increased.
The size of your business is a global multiplier for both your total Investment and your Profit Factor. Once you upgrade to a new size tier, it cannot be lowered again.

Upgrading Your Size

Once you qualify for a new size tier, travel to the primary location of your business, your presence will be neccesary to conduct the expansion.
Make a single Business Check with a DC equal to your Hit Dice + 10. Increase the DC by 2 for each size tier beyond Medium.

Upon success, immediately increase your total required Investment in accordance with your new size tier. Once this is paid for, your size upgrade is complete.

Retry? Yes, but you must wait until the next session before trying again. This represents an unexpected delay in the finalization of your expansion.
Special: Reduce the DC by 2 for each previously failed attempt at your current Size.

You only need to be present at your business headquarters for your initial check attempt. Even in the event of failure, you have still performed the required preparatory work.

Insurance

A cautious player who wishes to safeguard their Investment may choose to increase their total required Investment in exchange for an Insurance package.
Perhaps your business resides in a nation embroiled in warfare, maybe one of your storefronts is just a bit too close to a nearby dragon's lair, or you fear you've simply made one too many enemies throughout your adventures. Whatever your reason may be, Insurance is always a smart option to protect your Investment in the face of financial ruin.

There are three types of Insurance: Basic, Standard, and Premium. Higher tiers are more expensive, but cover a larger percent of your potential losses.
Insurances will always cover the listed amount they are liable for, no matter the total sum of the damages, up to a maximum payout of your entire Investment.

Basic Insurance: Increases your total required Investment by 5%. Covers 50% of the cost of any damages or losses you sustain.

Standard Insurance: Increases your total required Investment by 10%. Covers 75% of the cost of any damages or losses you sustain.

Premium Insurance: Increases your total required Investment by 15%. Covers 100% of the cost of any damages or losses you sustain.

Managing Your Insurance

Insurance packages may be bought or sold at any time, as long as you have the means to relay your orders to your business.
Buying an Insurance package increases your total required Investment by the amount listed. Selling an Insurance package results in an immediate refund on its value.

Once per session, you may attempt a Business Check with a DC equal to your Hit Dice + 10. If you succeed, your Insurance order is complete.

Retry? Yes, but you must wait until the next session before trying again. This represents an unexpected delay in the processing of your order.
Special: Reduce the DC by 1 for each previously failed attempt at a single Insurance order.

Alternative Options

Insurance options may exist under different guidelines, or not at all, depending on the unique circumstances of your campaign and setting. Your GM may decide that Insurance is instead freely packaged in with your total Investment, more limited in function than the options above, or if they are particularly evil, an outright scam that you are unaware of.

Regardless, depriving a player of a way to recuperate at least half of their Investment in the event of tragedy, or significantly increasing Insurance prices is not recommended.

By the Way... Insurance fraud is a very serious crime. Do not be surprised if you incur the wrath of your GM for attempting it.

Phase III: Profit

The following session after establishing a business, and each subsequent session after, a player makes a single Income Check to determine their personal income.
The check result is multiplied by your total number of Employees and your Size modifier to produce a Profit Factor, which is then again multiplied by your Employees.

Income Check

When making an Income Check to determine your Profit Factor, roll a d20 and add your Ranks, Masterwork Ranks, Employee Penalty, and your bonus to your Profession skill.
In addition to your Wisdom modifier, only certain types of bonuses are usable in your check result. Refer to Table: Income Check Bonuses for a list of valid sources.

Income Check: The total result of your Income Check is equal to your Ranks + Masterwork Ranks + Skill Bonus + Employee Penalty + d20

Profit Factor

Your Profit Factor is a representation of the overall potential of your business to generate profit.
To determine your Profit Factor, multiply the result of your Income Check by your Employee count and your Size modifier.

Profit Factor: Your Profit Factor is equal to your Income Check x Employees x Size

Income

Once your Profit Factor has been determined, multiply the result by your Employee count. The resulting value is immediately added to the player's total wealth as GP.

Income: Your total income for a single session is equal to your Profit Factor x Employees x Speed

Game Speed

These rules balance wealth generation around the assumption that it will take about 3.5 sessions on average for a PC to level up.
As this is not always the case, an additional multiplier to your Income exists to account for the overall speed of your game. You and your GM should decide early on which setting is appropriate for your campaign, and it may then be adjusted as needed. Refer to Table: Game Speeds for a list of suggested settings for this multiplier.

Taxes

Using these alternate rules, savy players will typically exceed their wealth by level ratio by approximately 20-30%. This is the intended outcome of the business system. Of course, a truly dedicated player will always find ways to push this ratio higher and maximize their returns. Taxes can be used to moderate a player's wealth intake on a case by case basis.

Operating a business requires significant financial investment and long-term care on the player's part. It is not free money. A GM should keep this in mind when imposing taxes.

Tax: Your tax is a percentage of your total Income that is subtracted from your wealth upon completion of an Income Check.

The intended purpose of taxes is less about roleplaying your character's actual tax situation, and more about providing the GM with a way to adjust your total Income.
A GM is encouraged not to heavily tax a player simply for roleplay purposes. If you wish to use the tax system this way, use the following guidelines to determine an appropriate rate.

5% - A fair, standardized tax rate that a PC can expect to see under most normal economic circumstances.

10% - An unusually high tax rate, typical of a nation with stricter regulations and guidelines for business operation within their borders.

15% - An outrageously high tax rate, encountered only under the most extreme circumstances. A PC would want a very, VERY good reason to still conduct business here.

Tax rates beyond 15% are not recommended. It is perfectly acceptable to not impose any tax rate at all, and instead rule that taxes are already factored into your Income.

Optional Rules

Co-Ownership

With a GM's permission, multiple PCs could invest in a single business, utilizing their combined wealth and Profession skills to create a shared enterprise between them.

A business can only be co-owned by PCs who have Profession skills that compliment one another. For example, a PC with Profession (Blacksmith) could co-own an arms manufacturing company with another PC who has Profession (Soldier). A PC with Profession (Scribe) could co-own a large scroll shop with a PC who has Profession (Librarian). Conversely, a PC with Profession (Barrister) probably would not be able to assist in a brewery run by a PC with Profession (Brewer). Professions such as Merchant and Engineer have a broad range of application and may be able to more reliably assist other Professions. Ultimately, it is for the players and the GM to decide when co-ownership makes sense.

Managing a Co-Owned Business

A co-owned business operates similarly to as if each PC had their own separate business. Each player manages an entirely separate Investment in order to purchase their own set of Employees and Ranks for their side of the business, up to the maximum their level allows. Each owner makes separate Income Checks using their own modifiers to determine how much their Profession has contributed to the overall profits of the business. Typically, each player’s personal earnings are decided by their own check results, but co-owners may distribute or reinvest the total sum of the profits however they see fit.

The primary benefit of a single co-owned business in comparison to multiple separate ones comes down strictly to ease of management. Although potential profits remain the same as if each player had their own business, a single business run by multiple players means that important milestone checks for Establishment and Size upgrades only need to be completed once. Additionally, co-owners may choose to use the Aid Another action (DC 10 + Hit Dice) to assist with each other’s personal Business Checks, and for checks that affect the entire business (such as Insurance orders or Size upgrades), each owner receives a check attempt, and only a single owner needs to pass for the check to succeed.

Example:

Torethumir is a level 9 dwarf with Profession (Miner), Zechariah is a level 10 human with Profession (Jeweler), together they run a company that mines precious gems to then polish, cut, and sell. Thanks to Zechariah's involvement, the duo have upgraded their Size to a large business, even though Torethumir is still level 9. Torethumir has hired 18 Employees, and purchased 9 Ranks, the max his level allows, for a total Investment of 16,200gp. Zechariah, on the other hand, has decided to invest less of his wealth into the business than Torethumir, and has only hired 15 Employees, and purchased 8 Ranks, for a total Investment of 12,000gp. A new session begins, and each player makes an Income Check. Torethumir has a modifier of +9, and rolls a 4, earning 1,296gp before taxes. Zechariah has a modifier of +7, and rolls a 15, earning 3,375gp before taxes.

Next session, both characters have leveled up, and after performing their Income Checks, each of them decides to purchase two Employees and one Rank. Torethumir also decides to purchase his first Masterwork Rank,and both players agree that they should purchase Basic Insurance for their business. Torethumir attempts three Business Checks; one to increase his Employee count from 18 to 20 (DC 12), another to increase his Rank from 9 to 10 (DC 20), and a final check to purchase Masterwork Rank 1 (DC 14). Zechariah attempts two Business Checks; one to increase his Employee count from 15 to 17 (DC 12), another to increase his Rank from 8 to 9 (DC 19). Zechariah also decides that he will attempt to use Aid Another (DC 20) to add +2 to Torethumir's Business Check results, and Torethumir attempts to do the same for Zechariah (DC 19).

After each player succeeds at their personal Business Checks, both Torethumir and Zechariah attempt a final Business Check (DC 20) to purchase Basic Insurance. The DC is determined by the owner with the most Hit Dice. Zechariah's check result is an 18, but Torethumir's check result is a 21, so the Insurance purchase is considered successful. Zechariah's Investment is now increased to 16,065gp, and Torethumir's Investment is increased to 21,000gp. Zechariah decides that he hasn't been pulling his weight, so he pays for 2000gp of the 4800gp that Torethumir needs to pay for his Investment increase.

Profession Unchained

About This Section Optionally, a character who reaches 5, 10, 15, or 20 ranks in a skill unlocks various bonuses and abilities unique to that skill.
The unchained rogue uses these rules extensively, but others can gain access to them with a new feat.

In this system, characters unlock additional abilities when they attain 5, 10, 15, and 20 ranks in a skill.
The skill unlocks system interfaces with the unchained rogue to make the rogue the true master of skills.

Skill unlocks give characters new abilities and ways to use their skills upon reaching 5, 10, 15, and 20 ranks in a skill. Any character with the Signature Skill feat can earn skill unlocks for a single skill, and they are a prime feature of the revised version of the rogue who uses her rogue’s edge ability to gain skill unlocks for several of her most iconic skills. Alternatively, you might make skill unlocks a universal part of the game, but you should be aware they add significant power and flexibility to skills, so giving them for free to all classes would grant power boosts to other highly skilled classes such as the investigator and bard, particularly in comparison to the rogue. Another alternative is to eliminate access to the Signature Skill feat, limiting skill unlocks to rogues and rogues alone.

With sufficient ranks in Profession, you earn the following.