A wealth creating scheme a day for January

Games Discussion Post a Day
21

Day 9: Magic Smithing

A magic factory can be made quite easily – items of The Phantom Blacksmith (covenants p51) to create a huge number of cheaply turned out items.
Using City & Guilds, we have the following prices:
Brassware £150/ton shoddy, £300 standard.
Pewterware £375/ton shoddy £750/ton standard.
ironware £125/ton shoddy £250/ton standard

Note that Iron is £120/ton so 1 ton of nails, horseshoes, knife blades, etc. of standard quality makes enough profit to buy in iron and run a modest covenant. It can also be used to turn the produce of magical mining/metal creation into higher value forms .

1 Like
22

Pewter would be far more profitable- lead is ₤60 per ton, tin is £250 per ton, which puts pewter at £155 per ton and pewterware at £375 to £1500 per ton, depending on quality.
Of course reconciling the pewtersmith's earnings of £10 per year with a profit of £220 to £1345 per ton (with a profit of £595 per ton being standard) would suggest the pewtersmith works 33.6 pounds of pewter per year. Though of course the price list also ignores basic rules of trade such that prices will be lower where it is produced...

1 Like
23

Day 10: Weaving

Like the previous one, there's another area where the input materials are a modest part of the finished product's value - raw wool to wool cloth, flax to linen, raw silk to silk cloth – all show a big value increase from skilled labout. See MoH p57 – the wizard’s spindle is level 4 (ReAn 1 with +1 touch +2 group). Tapestries are very difficult by finesse but colossally expensive by C&G, so theoretically a real specialist in Finesse could make money.

24

Day 11: alternative uses for timber from conifers

Pitch and fuel – If you dry heat wood to get tar and pitch (£2/ton) dripping away, you also leave behind charcoal (fuel, £2/ton). Birch-tar is fine, used for adhesive, leatherworking, and chewing gum. Pine pitch makes good waterproofing. Anyway, this is a good use for a barn or storage building heated with CrIg.

Does this count as a processed liquid for CrAq purposes? (Yes, I know you can get better than £2/ton by conjuring beer, wine or olive oil, but it depends on what your local market demands)

1 Like
25

Keep in mind that the charcoal you produce will be 35-50% the weight of the wood you start with. Normally this is done with scrap wood rather than bulk wood, for example the scraps from a city worth of carpentry shops...

26

also shoddy timber is £2.5 per ton, superior fuel is ₤3 per ton, so converting shoddy 2.5 tons of shoddy timber (₤6.25) to 40% charcoal (1 ton=₤3) means you have to make up ₤3.25 with the other products...
tar yeild appears to range from about 8% to 12% of the original weight, however the price (assuming oil as a close product on the charts from city and guild) is at least more promising- ₤2 ₤10 ₤20 or ₤100 depending on quality equivalency to oil. not that at 8% production at ₤100 per ton you are only getting ₤8 per ton, and at lower values the profit margin disappears quickly.

27

Day 12: Magic baths

Normally, baths use a lot of fuel or require handy geothermal hot springs. However, magic can do this at quite a low level, allowing magi with a bit of ignem and aquam to provide a useful place that makes money.

Magic baths – CrIg base 2 (warm to touch) +1 touch +2 sun is level 5, with Aq casting requisite to heat 1 base individual (or small swimming pool). A steam room can be provided by CrIg making red hot rocks to pour water over.

If you're worried about cleanliness, maybe CrAq the water into existence and then CrIg the heat, so at sunset it all disappears and you can brush the swimming pool out?

28

You probably want base 3 CrIg (hot to the touch) for the bath instead of 2 (warm to the touch).

29

By baths I am guessing you mean the Roman style baths (a thermae or balneae) or some other version of public bathing (such as the Greek) which would be closer to a spa in modern thinking. The Roman style saw a boom in popularity across Europe during the 11th and 12th century.

Different base heats would be appropriate for different parts of the baths, depending on the style chosen. For example the Greek style would require cleansing sands, hot water bath, a steam room, and a cooling plunge/shower. So for daily spells you would need a CrTe to produce the fine scrubbing sand, CrIg base 3 to heat the baths, CrIg to heat the underfloor element in the steam room (with a drain bringing the condensing water back to it), and a ReAq to move the water up into a holding tank for the showers.

The Roman style has examples by Vitruvius in De architectura. I will skip over things like the Atrium (with possible Oecus or Exedra) and Apodyterium. For the baths you need a Tepidarium (warm bath, CrIg base 2), a Caldarium (hot bath, CrIg base 3), and a Frigidarium (cold bath, PeIg effect). Additional possible rooms are the Sudatorium (steam bath, CrIg base 4) and Laconicum (dry sweat/sauna, CrIg base 4).

The Tepidarium would be the largest and central, with the other two to four rooms connecting off of it. This is the center and most important room of the baths, so additional minor magics would be helpful. You want the whole room to have a pleasant warmth (CrIg base 2), with sunlight coming in at roughly a 45 degree angle (construction or CrIg), and things like 'Chamber of Spring Breezes' would fit. An other options include CrIm for soothing background music/sound.

For income, you are looking at roughly a quarter penny per visitor per day before expenses (labor being the big one, especially since magic reduces the other cost). So if you are getting an average of 1000 visitors a day, you are looking at 365 pounds per year before expenses. That sounds like a lot, but remember that without magic a large chunk of it went to fuel, water, and labor. You would also most likely not be opened every day so 260 a year per 1000 daily visitors would be a better base. We can ignore cost of water and fuel since you are doing it with magic. Labor would be 1 pound per 20 daily visitors (based on Servant requirements in Covenants), so 50 pounds a year, leaving you with 210 a year per 1000 visitors. Other odd and end cost should knock that down to ~200.

So 1 pound per year for every 5 daily visitors. Figure half the population of the location (Church doesn't like mixed gender baths) for the max and you can work out how popular the bath is to get a % of that. I would start low (~10%). But even that low rate in a city of 5000 people would generate 50 pounds per year.

All of this makes me want to do a write up on my groups Covenant. One of the buildings we have is a large Roman style baths powered by enchanted items.

1 Like
30

There were also Scandinavian saunas that this method works for, though those tended to be less commercial and more communal.

31

Continuing my earlier post, I dug up the files. Our baths have 11 enchantments.

Sun Stone (CrIg 34: base 4 light, +1 Heat, T/S/S, and Constant Effect) This fills the whole baths with light as bright as a cloudy day and maintains a stable warmth.

Stone of Spring Breezes (CrAu 24, as the spell modified to T/S/S, and Constant Effect) Creates fresh circling air in every room of the baths. Sigil makes it smell of roses.

Purity of the Baths Stone (MuAq 24, base 2, T/S/S, and Constant Effect) Continuously changes all water in the building to crystal clear water.

The Warm Bath Stone (CrIg 19, base 2, T/S/R and Constant Effect) Makes all water in the room warm

The Hot Bath Stone (CrIg 24, base 3, T/S/R and Constant Effect) Makes all water in the room hot

The Cold Bath Stone (PeIg 19, base 4, T/S/I and Constant Effect) Chills water it is in contact with

The Steam Bath Stone (CrIg 19, base 4, T/S/I and Constant Effect) Boils water it is in contact with, located in drain basin in room.

The Baths Everfull Wand (CrAq 15, base 2 create water, T/S/I, Unlimited Usage) Creates enough water to fill the Cold Bath and individual baths in the Warm and Hot Bath rooms. More than capable of filling Steam Bath drain basin.

The Drying Ring (PeAq 15, base 4 dry, T/M/C, Unlimited Usage) Drys everything in the ring when the command is spoken. Sigil makes everything dried smell of roses.

Soothing Tones of the Relaxing Bather (CrIm 10, Apollo's Lyre effect from HoH, P/C/I, 3/day, Maintains Concentration) There are three of these, created in a single season. One is a calm lyre song, one is gentle rolling waves, and the last is light rain. They can be played individually or in combination.

2 Likes
32

It's January again, so time to try and finish it this year.

DAY 13: WHALING

Whales in period are hunted by Basque and Scandinavian sailors (Wikipedia claims 1059 as first record of Basque whaling, and Faroe Islands from the 9th century).

However, whales can be gathered for oil and meat (which counts as fish for purposes of eating fish and abstaining from meat on Holy days) and their bone. Ambergris from sperm whales was also used medicinally.

How to gather them? Well, the magical way is a killing spear (PeAn 30 base +1 touch +3 for size up to +10) which is coincidentally useful if you want to go monster hunting and have put some penetration in. I would also recommend fixing an Arcane Connection to it so you can find it again or magic it back after use. For non-magical whales, an effect like The Invisible Sling would work to automatically hit the target. Butchering it and gathering the parts would be labour intensive and time consuming, so magic effects to speed up the harvesting would be very useful.

This is useful for coastal or ship-based covenants.

33

Useful, but InAn to find them first is probably a bigger help.

34

I decided I couldn't improve upon the little-used spell from ArM5 p118 "Hunter's Sense", although maybe a vision target version would be even better.

35

Since this is a wealth creating scheme a day not a spell a day it would have been worthwhile to note that.

36

DAY 14:GLASS

To create glass from sand (and it needs to be the right sort - nicely smoothed alluvial sand, not coarse desert sand) - “Prepare the raw glass” - ReTe base 2 “treat dirt as if a craftsman had worked it” +1 glass +1 touch for level 4, turns a pile of sand into glass without requiring a kiln.

This then forms the raw materials to use “The invisible glassworker” (covenants p51) on it. Also a ReTe of same level with a group target to take alchemical salts/dyes and use them to colour glass. Maybe you could turn out fake gemstones (2000/ton according to City & Guild – but how much can you realistically sell though?)

37

DAY 15: SALT

City & Guild gives a price of 120 mythic pounds/ton. In historical Europe, cost varies wildly depending on tax and location (distance from the sea and distance from salt producing areas increase the cost).

You could magic up rock salt (it’s a base rock – CrTe level 3 + 1 touch, so to get level 20 minimum ritual is 10,000 cubic paces – best of luck making somewhere waterproof to store it all!).

You can evaporate it like the Romans did. The Salt Association has a page on how salt was extracted in England historically, and mentions Roman lead pan usage. To evaporate the water, you can heat it - yes, it's a chance to make money using Creo ignem! You can use CrIg(Aq) on salt water directly (base 4 "Heat an item enough to boil water", so CrIg(Aq) 4 + 2 voice range +2 sun duration for total 20 will cause water to boil all day and you can scrape it out. Alternatively you could use CrIg(Te) with the base 5 "heat an item to be red hot" on the container - you can safely drop the range to touch for the same level of 20.

Alternatively, use ReAq(Au) base 3 to turn water to vapor and leave the salt behind (base 3, +1 touch, concentration duration should be enough so a total level 5).

The coastal method where it is warm is to dig out evaporating pools, let the sun create water vapour, and you slowly concentrate the water until you can get salt out. You can ReTe to dig channels and pools to fill up with seawater and let the sun do its work, but you will need labour to harvest the salt and keep the rain off.

Methods of mining work where you have large underground salt deposits. When Munich is founded in 1158, it becomes the centre of the Holy Roman Empire’s salt trade. Pliny mentions salt mines. Halstatt in Austria, Arc-et-Senans in France, Wieliczka in Poland all have mines at some point in the 13th century.

Transforming Mythic Europe p119 contains another method - turn salt water into salt and water through rego craft, claiming ReAq 4 is enough at touch range but the Finesse total is 12 as you are doing a month's work in a day.

Salt itself varies in taste and quality depending on where it's from and all the trace minerals, so sea salt has one taste, but rock salts vary greatly - I read that the Romans had many terms for salt depending on the type. Those trying to use salt in the lab (whether magically or for natural philosophy) may find the extra ingredients affect results.

2 Likes
38

my personal quibble with TME, the spell should have a Te requisite.

39

DAY 16: ANIMAL PELTS

Bear pelts – according to internet forums populated by hunters, bear pelts can be anywhere from 20-50 lbs, so 40-100 to the ton. (An internet trader says a bundle of 100 rabbit skins weighs around 11-12 pounds for regular rabbits, so you’d need 2000 to get 1 ton of fur). 1 ton of fur will fetch 50 mythic pounds (standard quality) or 100 for superior, according to City & Guild.

Creating these ritually - "Conjuring the beast's hide" CrAn Base 5 +1 touch + 2 group for level 20 gets 10 skins, or a variant for 10 tusks, as elephants, rhinos and walruses all have fine sources of ivory. Maybe it is worth travelling to Africa to see elephants or rhinos in the wild or seeing their tusks freshly harvested?. Ritually creating them will require adding magnitudes to get many more created to get the amounts needed for bulk trade.

Actually trapping requires clean kills, so instead of using PeAn 30 base +1 touch (+ maybe size modifiers for large creatures) for a level 35 minimum effect , it would be easier to use ReAn to lure animals in to regular strangulation traps. You certainly can't use Pilum of Fire based traps!

Of course, you could just have a large amount of hunting land and enough skilled grogs, as the example of typical and greater Forestry income in Covenants (page 60) assumes. A great choice for frontiers like Novgorod, Scandinavia, Iceland or Greenland.

41

DAY 17: HEALING SERVICES

Your covenant could provide a secular alternative to the monastically provided hospitals. Items with The Physician's Keen Eye would be very low level InCo and provide a great help, allowing Intellego specialists a chance to help earn.

Against the Dark has a chapter mentioning the Tremere's special healing sanctuaries called Zenodochium - page 98-99 of that book contain The Hippocratic Staff which has enchantments to help, and also casting tablets.
Note that disease recovery and wound recovery require separate spells (see Creo Corpus guidelines box in the main rules).

As a base level effect CrCo base 1 for +1 to recovery rolls, +1 touch, +3 structure +2 sun duration for a level of 15 - enchanted into an item with 2 charges a day and sunrise/sunset trigger for a constant effect means a CrCo 19 item can give a whole hospital building a slight bonus, and the effect increased with each extra magnitude. Alternatively a moon duration spell could be cast by a magus, but if that magus is absent from the facility at renewal time (new or full moon for maximum effect) then the hospital will suffer.

As a facility, this allows a lot of use for grogs or companions with Chirurgy or Profession:Apothecary, and for Doctors of Medicine from Art & Academe. Also, seeing that having a pallet as a feature in a lab allows for a bonus to corpus or mentem, and having extra people adds a bonus of +1 to Co or Me at the cost of a point of safety, you could hide a Corpus specialist lab in plain sight as "the experimental physic lab" where a magus uses apparatus to create fresh medicines and draws horoscopes to determine treatments (which looks perfectly respectable but expensive to patients, while the wizard actually studies their bodies).