The Campaign Builder's Guild

OK, I've run through this a number of times with a small tavern run in a widow's home.  She has one long table that seats 8, two square 4 seaters and two small two seaters.  She runs the only tavern in town on a busy road to the capital (about a day's travel out) and she is the only importer of Velunan Fireamber and Furyondian Emerald Pale outside the city.  Now here's what I'm seeing:

[table=Daily Patronage]
[tr][th]Day 1[/th][th]Day 2[/th][th]Day 3[/th][th]Day 4[/th][th]Day 5[/th][th]Day 6[/th][th]Day 7[/th][/tr]
[tr][td]40[/td][td]42[/td][td]41[/td][td]30[/td][td]36[/td][td]40[/td][td]47[/td][/tr]
[/table]
                                                                        
[table=Drinks Served]
[tr][th]Drink Name[/th][th]Day1[/th][th]Day 2[/th][th]Day3[/th][th]Day4[/th][th]Day5[/th][th]Day6[/th][th]Day7[/th][/tr]
[tr][td]Velunan Fireamber[/td][td]6[/td][td]1[/td][td]2[/td][td]5[/td][td]2[/td][td]1[/td][td]3[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Furyondian Emerald Pale[/td][td]11[/td][td]12[/td][td]8[/td][td]13[/td][td]11[/td][td]16[/td][td]12[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Whiskey[/td][td]11[/td][td]10[/td][td]19[/td][td]17[/td][td]21[/td][td]16[/td][td]9[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Brandy[/td][td]17[/td][td]22[/td][td]14[/td][td]16[/td][td]16[/td][td]14[/td][td]17[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Rum[/td][td]14[/td][td]32[/td][td]18[/td][td]22[/td][td]18[/td][td]23[/td][td]15[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Gin[/td][td]11[/td][td]37[/td][td]31[/td][td]26[/td][td]18[/td][td]34[/td][td]15[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Table Wine[/td][td]21[/td][td]31[/td][td]32[/td][td]33[/td][td]41[/td][td]23[/td][td]20[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Mead[/td][td]32[/td][td]42[/td][td]50[/td][td]44[/td][td]41[/td][td]42[/td][td]31[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Ale[/td][td]42[/td][td]39[/td][td]35[/td][td]45[/td][td]42[/td][td]61[/td][td]26[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Beer[/td][td]63[/td][td]62[/td][td]67[/td][td]71[/td][td]54[/td][td]64[/td][td]43[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Total Drinks Each Day[/td][td]228[/td][td]288[/td][td]276[/td][td]292[/td][td]264[/td][td]294[/td][td]191[/td][/tr]
[/table]

The problem is that with only 30 customers on Day 3, she's still selling nearly 300 drinks.  That's 10 per costumer.  While she does keep a very well stocked and varied supply, 10 drinks/customer is quite high even with her famous drinks.

I modified the drinks table as follows:

[table=Drinks][tr][th]gp/gal.[/th][th]Demand number[/th][th]#sold/people[/th][/tr]
[tr][td]21+[/td][td]1[/td][td]2d10/100[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]16-20[/td][td]2[/td][td]1d4/90[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]11-15[/td][td]3[/td][td]1d6/70[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]6-10[/td][td]4[/td][td]1d8/50[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]1-5[/td][td]5[/td][td]1d10/45[/td][/tr]
[tr][td].81-.99[/td][td]6[/td][td]1d12/40[/td][/tr]
[tr][td].61-.8[/td][td]7[/td][td]2d6/35[/td][/tr]
[tr][td].41-.6[/td][td]8[/td][td]3d6/30[/td][/tr]
[tr][td].21-.4[/td][td]9[/td][td]2d10/25[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]0-.2[/td][td]10[/td][td]3d10/15[/td][/tr]
[/table]

I am also rounding to the nearest 5 instead of nearest 10.  The result is that now our widowed tavern owner is selling between 25 and 100 drinks a day with much wider variations.  The interesting thing that this provides is that it is now entirely possible for our little tavern to see days where no drinks are bought at all excepting one or two of her specialty drinks.

  NOTE
You can easily make the above changes to either spreadsheet by simply editing the Calculations sheet and changing the demand values in the Drinks Sold table.

Excel version of the spreadsheet
File: 1184005937_376_FT33502_tavern_generatorxls.zip

OK...first run of the spreadsheet in  OpenOffice format.  There is one macro embedded in the spreadsheet called DiceRolls.  One modification that I made was to remove the Banquet Hall from the Seating table as it has no effect on every day operation.  Feel free to email me (use the link below) with questions or problems.  Once it's finalized, I'll look at converting the spreadsheet into Excel format.

File: 1183836472_376_FT33502_tavern_generator.zip

Quote from: Stargate525

Quote from: Dark Lotusi already have a spread sheet made in excel.... cuz im in stargates campaigne.... and our tavern rocks....

Hello Josh. :)

That spreadsheet only does subtraction of inventory and addition of alcohol. I think the above is talking about adding in a function to hit a button and get all the information spat out at you, right?

Yes, so far the thing allows you to enter the number of tables available, indicate which of the non-seating modifiers are in effect and set the quality of the tavern.  Once all of these are set, just run the macro and it spits out all of the data for one full week of business.

Now that I have a basic model in Excel, I'll convert it to OO today and see about posting the file.

Quote from: Stargate525

Quote from: NarytThanks for the clarifications, great information all around.

Adding in fixed costs would be a grand addition as LordVreeg mentions.

I'm trying to fit all of this into a spreadsheet for a bit more ease of use and will share it here when/if I can make it work.

Thanks, that will be added.

The irony is since I don't have excel, the system's creator won't be able to use it!

While I am writing the spreadsheet in Excel, I am also using it as an exercise in learning OpenOffice Basic and will also post the converted OpenOffice spreadsheet here...when it's done.

Quote from: sparkletwistOn the issue of quality, I would suggest that it would not necessarily be a completely linear arrangement, and would depend on the environs as well.

If the community is more affluent, the modifiers may be even more harsh for a sub-par tavern, for example.

The reverse is more interesting: A five-star establishment in a poorer community might be seen as an uppity extension of the ruling oligarchy, and people wouldn't go there-- or the local bourgeoisie might take a liking to the place, and try to keep the plebs out. To take this one step further, it may even be seen as a symbol of the fundamental class struggle in society, and prone to the wrath of the third estate. There's a couple of adventure seeds in there, too, I dare say.

It seems to me that you could take the current tables as a tavern perfectly fit to its environment and then apply another multiplier for lower quality fit:

 [table=Overall Tavern Fit]
[tr][th]Fit[/th][th]Modifier[/th][/tr]
[tr][td]Perfect Fit[/td][td]x1[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Tavern is a bit out of place[/td][td]x.75[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Local "Rebels" go there to make a statement[/td][td]x.5[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Sticks out like a sore thumb[/td][td]x.25[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Locals despise it[/td][td]x.1[/td][/tr]
[/table]

Quote from: Stargate525[table=Drinks][tr][th]gp/gal.[/th][th]Demand number[/th][th]#sold/people[/th][/tr]
[tr][td]21+[/td][td]1[/td][td]2d10/100[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]16-20[/td][td]2[/td][td]1d4/10[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]11-15[/td][td]3[/td][td]1d6/10[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]6-10[/td][td]4[/td][td]1d8/10[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]1-5[/td][td]5[/td][td]1d10/10[/td][/tr]
[tr][td].81-.99[/td][td]6[/td][td]1d12/10[/td][/tr]
[tr][td].61-.8[/td][td]7[/td][td]2d6/10[/td][/tr]
[tr][td].41-.6[/td][td]8[/td][td]3d6/10[/td][/tr]
[tr][td].21-.4[/td][td]9[/td][td]2d10/10[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]0-.2[/td][td]10[/td][td]3d10/10[/td][/tr]
[/table]

Quote from: Stargate525

Quote from: NarytAfter you have the rolls and modifiers finalized, how are you using that final number to determine the profits?  How does the number of people walking into the tavern today figure into the number of drinks sold, what about meals?

that number is rounded to the nearest ten, then noted. Say you had 50 people walk in, and the only thing you sold was ale (for this example a 9 on the demand number scale) so for every ten people, you roll 2d10, making the total number of ales sold 10d10.

OK, the table is listed in gold pieces per gallon but as per the second quote, we're actually figuring servings and not gallons sold (unless we're selling ale by the gallon tankard :huh: ).  That being the case, am I correct in thinking that we'll need a price per drink as well to actually calculate each day's incoming coin or am I just missing something obvious?

Quote from: Stargate525

Quote from: NarytAre you rolling once for each table type or once per each table?

Once per table.

Quote from: NarytAfter you have the rolls and modifiers finalized, how are you using that final number to determine the profits?  How does the number of people walking into the tavern today figure into the number of drinks sold, what about meals?

that number is rounded to the nearest ten, then noted. Say you had 50 people walk in, and the only thing you sold was ale (for this example a 9 on the demand number scale) so for every ten people, you roll 2d10, making the total number of ales sold 10d10. Once you know how many are sold, I assume you know how to figure out profit.

Meals would be handled the same way, except they would probably have a table with smaller rolls on it, simply because no one walks into a bar and orders 2+ meals.

Thanks for the clarifications, great information all around.

Adding in fixed costs would be a grand addition as LordVreeg mentions.

I'm trying to fit all of this into a spreadsheet for a bit more ease of use and will share it here when/if I can make it work.

Quote from: Stargate525Take all the dice and roll them, then take that and multiply by the quality modifier. The result is how many people walked into your tavern today. Once you have the number, note it, as it will be used to determine the profits.

Are you rolling once for each table type or once per each table?  e.g. Roll 2d6 once for the three Large Circular Tables or roll 2d6 three times, once for each table?  I'm guessing once for each table.  After you have the rolls and modifiers finalized, how are you using that final number to determine the profits?  How does the number of people walking into the tavern today figure into the number of drinks sold, what about meals?

OK, I've been waiting for Pyrandon to reply but since he hasn't (bad GM, bad, bad GM  :D ) I'll field the questions.

Quote from: RavenspathPyrandon,
I've been going through your site some more and I have a few questions.

The first is (and I know nothing about wikis other than they are very cool) is how did you set your wiki up so that other's cannot modify it? Is that a normal feature on wikis as I thought there were designed to allow others to edit. I want to use a wiki as you have don't understand enough about them.

If you want help setting up a Wiki like I did for Westaven--I'm a player, GM (for a different campaign) and the tech guy for our group--it's not too difficult.  Feel free to email me and I'd be happy to help you.

Quote from: RavenspathYour house rules for magic are very indepth which is impressive. It seems that per your comments most mages only have spells they start with and then it takes hours upon hours to learn new spells. Is that correct? That is an interesting way to limit to the magic of the world while making sure there is still some around. And I gather they can create their own spells rather than having to find one to copy. Very nice. I never understood that part of D&D.

The general premise for magic in Westaven is defined in GURPS Fantasy on page 18 for Intrinsic Magic and pages 43 and 44 for the normal and low aspects of mana.  As I was the only one playing a mage (still am actually), Pyrandon allowed me to flesh out the magic rules.  You are correct that magic takes hours and hours of study and practice.  We had to provide some way for mages' to learn new spells without the aid of a teacher or books (study using teachers and books follows the normal study hours rule) and so I adapted GURPS' basic study rules and added the requirement for Thaumatology rolls to add that bit of chance to the process.

Quote from: RavenspathYour write up of the OAKS is amazing. You have a very detailed history, lots of fluff and all the crunch there too. I am somewhat familiar with GURPS but the lens you mention at the bottom of the page and then in the house rules page are unfamiliar to me. Can you explain?

NastyGuns, another player, did most of the leg work (if not all) on the OAKs (Order of Aenean Knights).  Lenses are basically miniature templates that can be added to any character.  If Gereth, my mage, decided to become a member of the OAKs, I would have to add the Base Knight Lens to his character sheet along with its attendant Advantages and Disadvantages.

Quote from: RavenspathWhat did you use for your city maps? They are very nicely done.

He likes Photoshop and actually discusses how he does it at The Cartographers' Guild.

Quote from: RavenspathAgain, very nicely done. I will continue to watch your site for more information.

Pyrandon's a great GM, provides us with fabulous material and allowing us to help flesh out the game world (when appropriate) is a stroke of brilliance.  It cuts down on his prep time and allows us to be much more familiar with the game world.