- See also Trader.
| Ability Requirements: | Intelligence 10, Wisdom 15, Charisma 12 |
| Prime Requisite: | Wisdom, Charisma |
| Races Allowed: | Aarakocra, dwarf, elf, half-elf, human, pterran |
Individuals capable of providing the basic necessities of life wield enormous influence in a world where everything is in short supply. Traders as a class specialize in finding the impossible and getting it to market for the maximum profit. Because of their ability to provide goods otherwise unattainable, traders are tolerated everywhere, from the cities of the sorcerer-kings to the slave tribe villages in the distant wastes.
All traders aspire to become masters of major trading houses, but most have to start much lower on the scale. On their rise to power and riches, they have no problem accompanying adventurers. A trader PC acts as a negotiator, interpreter, and diplomat for his group, appraising the treasure they find and bargaining for the supplies they need. Those adventurers who travel with a young trader often form the core of a new merchant house, get adopted into the trader's family, or earn spots as senior agents after the trader becomes successful.
Traders have no restrictions as to the weapons or armor they can use, but any armor heavier than leather prevents the use of thief abilities. In daily life, traders usually wear ordinary clothes and carry weapons that can be easily concealed. Traders may be of any alignment.
A trader learns the arts of stealth, double-dealing, and thievery from an early age, for intrigue and espionage are normal parts of everyday business on Athas. A trader PC may use all thieving abilities as per the normal thief rules. These are modified by the character's race, Dexterity score, and armor being worn. Like a bard, a trader adds no points to the base values at 1st level. Each time the trader PC advances a level, he receives 20 points to distribute among the skills. No more than 10 points can be assigned to a single skill at one time, and no skill can ever be raised above 80%. As PCs start play in a DARK SUN campaign at 3rd level, a trader PC receives 40 points to distribute among his thieving skills.
Unlike thieves, however, traders don't get the backstab attack ability, though he does learn languages as a matter of course. At every three levels of experience, a trader PC gains a bonus slot that must be used to add a new language (and only a new language) to his list of proficiencies. Likewise, a trader PC who has Wisdom and Charisma scores of 16 or higher gains a 10% bonus to the experience points he earns.
A trader develops a natural ability to fast-talk through situations. Fast-talking is the verbal equivalent of slight of hand, the art of distraction and misdirection. It's the ability to con another into a certain course of behavior. The uses of fast-talk range from outright fraud, to talking one's way out of a sticky situation, to simply getting a better price for a particular piece of merchandise. The success of a fast-talk attempt is determined by a Charisma check, applying any penalties and bonuses from the target's Intelligence and Wisdom to the score needed, as well as a situation penalty (if desired). Note that all modifiers are cumulative.
Example: A trader whose Charisma is 16 attempts to fast-talk an official whose Intelligence is 17 and his Wisdom is 8. The situation is routine. The trader needs to roll a 15 or less (16–2+1+0=15). A roll of 20 is an automatic failure, regardless of the check needed.
| Target's Attribute Score |
Intelligence Modifier |
Wisdom Modifier |
|---|---|---|
| 3 or less | na | +5 |
| 4—5 | +3 | +3 |
| 6—8 | +1 | +1 |
| 9—12 | 0 | 0 |
| 13—15 | -1 | -1 |
| 16—17 | -2 | -3 |
| 18 | -3 | -5 |
| 19 | -5 | na |
| 20+ | na | na |
Note that targets who have an Intelligence score of 3 or less are so dim that attempts to fast-talk succeed automatically, while those who have high Intelligence or Wisdom scores are impervious to the skill. Like the skill bribe officials, fast-talk should never be used in place of good role-playing, only to show the skills a character might possess beyond the player running him. Further, fast-talk can't be used on other player characters.
| Situation | Modifier |
|---|---|
| Routine | 0 |
| Moderate | -3 |
| Very difficult | -6 |
Of course, modifiers shown above are guidelines only; the DM is free to assign any modifier he or she sees fit. Situational modifiers are also determined by the DM, and they are defined as follows:
- A routine situation is a normal transaction for a trader, including receiving up to 10% more or paying 10% less for an item than it's worth, or persuading a target to believe a plausible exaggeration or falsehood.
- A moderate situation isn't beyond a trader's ability, but it isn't one he wants to find himself in on a regular basis. Such events include getting as much as 30% more or paying 30% less for an item than it's worth, persuading a target to believe an implausible falsehood, or convincing a band of raiders of equal or lesser level not to attack.
- A very difficult situation is probably beyond the skills of the trader in question, but the payoff is such that he has to try. These include receiving 50% more or paying 50% less for an item than it's worth, convincing a target of an outright and obvious lie, or talking higher level opponents out of making an attack.
Once a trader reaches 10th level, he starts to attract agents. These agents are individuals of exceptional ability, rather than the groups of low-level characters that a high-level fighter attracts. A trader PC never has to accept the services of a given agent, but if an agent is rejected the player can't roll again for a new agent until his character earns another level. Using TABLE XXII below, check the number of followers gained at each level, roll for their levels, and check to see if any of them are special agents by rolling the given percentage or less. If the roll does not succeed, roll on TABLE XXIII for the agent's race and class. If the roll succeeds, roll on TABLE XXIV for that follower.
| Trader's Level |
Number of Agents Gained |
Agent's Level |
% Special* |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 1 | 1d4+1 | 0 |
| 11 | 1 | 1d4+2 | 5 |
| 12 | 1d2 | 1d6+1 | 10 |
| 13 | 1d2 | 1d6+2 | 15 |
| 14 | 1d4 | 1d8+1 | 20 |
| 15 | 1d4 | 1d8+2 | 25 |
| 16 | 1d6 | 1d10+1 | 30 |
| 17 | 1d6 | 1d10+2 | 35 |
| 18 | 1d8 | 1d12+1 | 40 |
| 19 | 1d8 | 1d12+2 | 45 |
| 20 | 1d10 | 1d12+3 | 50 |
- * Roll the given percentage or less; if successful, check for type of special agent against TABLE XXIV: TRADER'S SPECIAL AGENTS.
| 1d100Roll | Agent's Race |
|---|---|
| 1-5 | Aarakocra |
| 6-14 | Dwarf |
| 15-26 | Elf |
| 27-39 | Half-elf |
| 40-46 | Half-giant |
| 47-49 | Halfling |
| 50-75 | Human |
| 76-92 | Mul |
| 93-95 | Pterran |
| 96-100 | Thri-kreen |
| 1d100 Roll | Agent's Class |
|---|---|
| 1-5 | Bard |
| 6-15 | Cleric (roll 1d10) |
| 1-3 | earth |
| 4-5 | air |
| 6-8 | fire |
| 9-10 | water |
| 16-20 | Defiler* |
| 21-25 | Druid |
| 26-40 | Fighter |
| 41-48 | Gladiator |
| 49-55 | Preserver |
| 56-65 | Psionicist |
| 66-70 | Ranger |
| 71-86 | Thief |
| 87-100 | Trader |
- * Accepting this agent is considered an evil act and is subject to rulings by the DM.
| 1d100 Roll | Agent's Type |
|---|---|
| 1-15 | Fighter or gladiator and followers (if any) |
| 16-25 | Agent is a multiclass character (as designed by DM) |
| 26-35 | Roll for agent as normal, but add 1d6 levels |
| 36-45 | Belgoi* |
| 46-55 | Genie, jann |
| 56-65 | Gith* |
| 66-81 | Kenku |
| 82-86 | Pseudodragon |
| 87-96 | Tarek |
| 97-100 | Exceptional situation† (roll 1d20):
|
- * Accepting this agent is considered an evil act and is subject to rulings by the DM.
- † Subject to DM's approval.
- ‡ Usually a one-time event.
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